WWE: Why The Miz Will Be Successful on Raw
The Miz and Maryse were the first SmackDown Superstars to appear on Monday Night Raw in the Superstar Shakeup and they’ll be the most successful Superstars to make the jump.
The Miz and Maryse opened the Superstar Shakeup edition of Monday Night Raw. Though they did it dressed up as John Cena and Nikki Bella, there was no mistaking that “The A-List Couple” had made the move to Monday nights. Miz completely remade himself since the WWE Draft sent him to SmackDown Live, but him and Maryse will have no problem continuing that momentum on Raw.
SmackDown has spent the time since the Draft creating a culture of change and opportunity. It could be argued that many SmackDown Superstars wouldn’t have reached the level they did if they were on Raw, including Miz, AJ Styles and Baron Corbin. However, Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan promised that SmackDown would be different and the powers that be delivered.
Only on SmackDown would Styles have been allowed to be world champion. Only on SmackDown would Corbin have been put in a world title match with Styles and John Cena. Only on SmackDown would Miz be allowed to get multiple Intercontinental Championship reigns, including one that came during the best feud of his career and the best of Dolph Ziggler’s.
The Miz and Maryse capitalized on that. Miz remade himself. He was the Intercontinental Champion going into the Draft. He defeated Apollo Crews at SummerSlam. He feuded with Dean Ambrose, he feuded with Ziggler, and him and Maryse had a WrestleMania feud with Cena and Bella. It seemed like Miz’s career had hit a dead end before the Draft. All of a sudden, his career was completely revived.
Maryse was a big part of this as well. Obviously, she was crucial to the feud with Cena and Bella, however, the feud with Ziggler needed her too. Maryse was as big a part of Miz’s renaissance as anything. She added a new element to his character and when it all came together, it made Miz into a heel who gets serious heat and is respected by the crowd.
Now that Miz is on Raw, that momentum is going to carry over. In his first appearance, he helped Ambrose to a more positive reaction than the Intercontinental Champion already received. Miz and Maryse then moved on to a match with Sami Zayn, where Maryse got involved and tried to help Miz when, but Zayn countered with a roll-up and Zayn had himself a win he desperately needed.
While this may seem like a step in the wrong direction for Miz, it’s clear that Raw has big plans for him, as evidenced by him opening the show. On top of that, Miz showed all his value in his two segments.
First, his ability to get on the mic and get a crowd going. They were ready for him to take the Dirty Deeds and they popped when he did.
Second, the crowd thought he would get the win over Sami and were annoyed when Maryse got involved, then Sami surprised them with a roll-up and they popped again.
Miz is never going to be booked as a credible heel. He wasn’t on SmackDown and the odds of it happening on Raw are even less likely.
Still, he’ll be used often and put in spots with important characters and asked to get them over. He’ll do it and he’ll make it as entertaining as possible, because he’s The Miz.