Stars in Progress: Wade Barrett, The Miz, Jeff Hardy Down

The MizThe Miz – One Step Down

I'm a Miz supporter, so I hate to say it, but I'm ready to call this face experiment a flop. You could argue it's too early to tell, but I have to go with my gut in cases like this, and it rarely steers me wrong.

The whole situation has just felt arbitrary and forced, and I can't even explain how we really got here in the first place.

It doesn't help matters when Miz has to work with one of the least-over champions in the company in Cesaro. And are we supposed to forget that he was a WWE Champion less than two years ago, beating Cena at WrestleMania 27? Or that he lost his IC title just a short few months ago? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the pattern here.

His downward spiral was much easier to accept when he was a heel, but a face turn should generally give your career at least a moderate shot in the arm (see: Alberto Del Rio). The second wind might end up short-lived, but it's a chance. Miz turns good and immediately gets positioned opposite a guy with more creative support and even less success than him. He was dead in the water from the word "go".

MizTV isn't good enough to save him either, even with Ric Flair as a guest.

Some characters work best as a heel (Orton, Sheamus, HHH), and some work best as a face. I use the word "character" because I think the individual can often do both, depending on the circumstances. Miz's arrogant and smug approach to everything makes him an easy "character" to despise, not like. He hasn't changed a bit since turning face, and that only works when the gimmick is too cool to boo anymore, a la Austin or even Punk. Miz wasn't at that point before the turn happened.

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