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Continuing with our series of the top 10 overrated superstars in WWE history, we come down to number 6. There will always be performers who receive undue push; many strange incidents have occurred in professional wrestling. From David Arquette winning the WCW World Heavyweight championship to wrestling promotions bringing in mainstream stars to grab the attention of the normal fans, it has always been a ploy used by the promoters and bookers to get some media attention. With professional wrestling and WWE now seen as an opportunity for bush league actors to knock on the doors of Hollywood, it is commonly believed that every two cent actor dreaming of getting into Hollywood tries out for the WWE.
Today, we look at a performer who started off in the WWE because of his success in “The Real World” TV show. Vince McMahon always had the knack of recruiting those who didn’t want to become professional wrestlers, but “entertainers” who’d rather try and get into Hollywood, and Vince found someone who shared the same idea. With Mike Mizanin achieving fame through his hit reality show, WWE opened doors and gave him a try out, and he was later selected as a candidate for the fourth season of Tough Enough. With Miz earning himself a WWE developmental contract, he was sent to the developmental territories before he eventually made his debut on WWE TV.
Miz’s initial run on Smackdown! was halted, and he was then drafted to ECW and was paired with John Morrison. Although I always enjoyed the duo (And their subsequent mockery of Cryme Tyme), everyone always called Miz as the Jannetty of the team. People expected John Morrison to be the breakout star of the two, and when JoMo landed himself in hot waters with the management, they decided to derail his push and instead, hand it over to The Miz. Miz then teamed up with The Big Show and won the WWE Tag Team championships, but with Miz being the more marketable face in the company, the WWE management decided to give him a singles push.
Miz won the prestigious United States heavyweight championship, and later won the RAW Money in the Bank ladder match to face the WWE champion at any time he wanted. He later defeated Randy Orton to win his first and only WWE championship till date. There were a lot of praises from the WWE management about how hard The Miz was working to earn the opportunity, and by that point, he was slowly proving his doubters wrong. The Miz was taking over from John Cena as the company’s ambassador, doing interviews and weathering the grueling WWE schedule. Miz went on to successfully defend the WWE championship at WrestleMania 2011 against John Cena, but later dropped the title. It was around this time that reports were flying around about Miz’s lack of commitment.
Since 2011, The Miz was given multiple opportunities to climb the ladder once again, but with the management not high on Miz anymore due to his sudden lack of passion, he wasn’t able to recapture his lost momentum. Miz also starred in Marine 3, and although WWE tried to capitalize on that, Miz wasn’t able to get over with the fans, and has since been lost in the shuffle. With his recent involvement in the storyline against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, it is possible that the WWE might try to push Miz as an anti authority figure in the coming months.
WWE’s attempt in trying to push The Miz can be understood by the fact that they associated the legendary Ric Flair with Miz, and even gave him the patented signature move of Flair, the figure four! Miz has been the WWE doghouse for a while, as the management believed that he couldn’t elevate himself, and wasn’t improving his work ethic and ring work. Although he has achieved quite a lot in a relatively short time, he was never a talented in – ring worker. All these factors contributed in The Miz making it to the number 6 spot on our list of the top 10 overrated superstars in the history of the WWE.
Read other articles in the series here: Top 10 overrated performers in WWE
