Smark Out Moment

Welcome to the ninth installment of BELT OR BURY, wherein you must choose between two different options for a particular wrestler in question: a) should they be given a push to a higher spot on the card and a championship or b) should they be jobbed out or possibly even released? Factoring in that wrestler's past as well as their potential future, do they have anything left to offer but aren't being utilized well enough, or should they step out of the limelight and be pushed aside in favor of others?



HISTORY & CURRENT STATUS: The inspiration for The Miz being the latest featured person on this segment is his recent Intercontinental Championship win after having defeated Zack Ryder roughly 24 hours after he had won the Intercontinental Championship.

TAG TEAM BELT: YES

Before this current Intercontinental Championship win, The Miz was operating on a bit of a dry spell as far as having gold around his waist. The last time he had a title was when he and Damien Mizdow were tag champs from Survivor Series 2014, which they lost to The Usos the next month.

Back when Tyler Breeze made his main roster debut, I was hoping he would be teamed up with The Miz and they would go on to have a tag title run. The idea of the pompous movie star having the pompous model just works in my opinion, as the two have such similar traits. The Miz calls his face "the moneymaker" and they both have entrances that start in the same way to an extent. Also, if Dolph Ziggler were to ever turn heel, I'd love to see him and The Miz become a tag team. We know they're friends in real life and the only thing really separating the two as far as their personalities go is that one of them fights heels and the other fights babyfaces. They both tout themselves as being great and they both get under peoples' skin.

MIDCARD BELT: YES

Your mileage may vary, but I love the idea of The Miz with the Intercontinental Championship. Kevin Owens has had his time with the belt twice and is about to move on to bigger and better things, while The Miz is perfectly positioned to be someone who champions (literally) the midcard scene. He's established enough that any wins against him are meaningful for a younger star like Sami Zayn—who I think will be winning the championship from him down the line—but he's also credible enough to beat nearly everybody who could be challenging him as well.

When you look at the piss poor job WWE has done with Kalisto as the United States champion, someone like The Miz commands enough attention that that won't be happening to him. He'll continue to be on the card for Raw and pay-per-views to come because he's not someone that will just slink away in the background and become forgettable while he has a title.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BELT: MAYBE

At this point in his career, The Miz isn't quite on par with a lot of other names. For instance, if you were to ask me who I'd rather see as the head of the company between The Miz and Dean Ambrose, I have to go with the latter. That being said, I think The Miz doesn't get as much credit as he deserves for his potential as a main event star. The guy carries himself very well in so many aspects that the company wants in a top guy and with enough momentum behind him, I could see him winning the belt again. While I don't think that actually will come to pass, I would be okay with it, so I have to at least give him a "maybe" for this section.


The Miz is very underrated and if I give him a pass for all possible title reigns, there's no way I'm thinking he should job out and start being booked as a joke. This guy is a lifer in the company and should be treated as a future Hall of Famer in the making. Giving him the Intercontinental Championship is one of my favorite decisions WWE has made this year, and I'm excited to see what the future holds for him carrying that belt.