Why The Miz Should Have Won at WWE No Mercy 2016

With Miz’s Intercontinental Championship reign cut short, one can only wonder where his career will go from here, and what could’ve been had he retained.

At No Mercy, Dolph Ziggler defeated The Miz to capture the Intercontinental Championship and to retain his job. In doing so, he ended Miz’s 188-day reign and crippled the momentum of what was SmackDown’s best heel.

This was a devastating blow to the Intercontinental Championship scene, as the A-lister was in the midst of arguably the biggest run of his career. Even if Ziggler’s career was on the line, there are many reasons why The Miz should have the match.

First, as stated above, The Miz is SmackDown’s top heel, bar none. Somehow, he has managed to become even more of an obnoxious character than before (as if that were even possible). Everything he does, from his in-ring mannerisms to his promos to having his wife accompany him all make him even more detestable. He also appears to have considerable upward momentum stemming from that now-famous promo on Talking Smack.

The Miz was in the middle of a major Intercontinental Championship run and was gaining more momentum with every passing victory. His stock was rising rapidly, and it looked like he’d finally pierce the barrier between mid-card and main event. He desperately needed a win at No Mercy to continue that upwards momentum.

Now that he has been defeated, that momentum has been halted and everything’s returning to the status quo. The Miz is in the very same spot he was before he won the IC Championship:  just another loud-mouth. In many ways, that IC Title reign was his way of proving that he really could carry a show. Had his reign continued, he would’ve eventually been rubbing shoulders with the top tier talent on SmackDown.

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While some might think it farfetched to believe Miz could actually share the spotlight with A.J. Styles, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, and others, he would’ve had a better chance if he were still IC Champion.

Given his character’s cocky persona, Miz would’ve fit right in with the SmackDown main-eventers in terms of promo abilities. Though he might not have been able to put on the same wrestling clinics as, say, Styles, he’d still get a huge benefit from sharing the spotlight with those top wrestlers.

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Instead, both Miz and Ziggler are now firmly entrenched in the mid-card scene, in an eerie repetition of matches past. The two feuded over and exchanged ownership of, the IC title back in 2014. Ziggler’s victory is actually a step backward for both of them. Miz lost a belt he was defending in solid matches and played the role of obnoxious heel champion perfectly.

Meanwhile, Ziggler regained a belt he already won four times prior, three of which were between August and December 2014. Why should we care so much that he won a belt for the fifth time, given how, based on previous instances, it didn’t do him any favors?

As for the future, it looks like Miz and Ziggler will continue their feud over that belt. Based on which one of them is a bigger star and more reliable hand, Miz is likely to regain the championship in the future. If that happens, what was the point of the No Mercy match? If Miz wins the championship back, it’ll prove that Miz was right about Ziggler and that he’s a loser. Sure, Dolph will still have his job, but he’ll be in the same place as he was before the No Mercy Match.

Second, the heat Miz would’ve gotten would’ve been enormous. Ziggler still has a substantial fanbase in WWE, and if he lost, they would’ve turned on him hard. Fans would’ve booed Miz mercilessly for taking away one of their heroes. That would’ve made fans more excited to see him lose in the future, as payback for ending Ziggler’s career.

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Remember in 2000 when Triple H ended Foley’s in-ring career? He received monumental heat from the audience for doing so. Hunter had forcibly retired one of the most beloved and indestructible wrestlers of all time. He became the top heel in WWE and it further catapulted him into the main event scene.

WWE had all the right elements in place to replicate this at No Mercy. Ziggler was beloved by the audience for his athleticism and his underdog status. The Miz was a top heel that needed to get more heat from the audience. Whether he’d have won cheaply or decisively, Miz’s victory would’ve gotten him over huge as a heel.

Instead, Miz lost, Dolph won and both guys have nowhere to go from here. It’s the status quo of WWE. Two mid-card guys have high stakes in a match, one of them needing to win the match to save his career, the other to prove he’s the bigger star. Ziggler has a history of concussions and failure to capitalize on main event success, while the Miz wanted was desperate to recapture former glory by climbing the card.

But instead, WWE’s bookers decided it was easier to give Ziggler the victory so that he can keep his job…in the mid-card.

Think about it. Ziggler wins the Intercontinental Championship again, and does the same thing he’s been doing for years now. He does his crazy bumps, tries to be the cool face by throwing jokes at his opponents, and pretends to be Shawn Michaels.

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This victory essentially dooms Ziggler to being in the same spot for the foreseeable future. Miz, meanwhile, isn’t likely to move on up to the main-event scene, especially after losing such a high-profile match. He’s stuck in the same position as Ziggler, incapable of moving forward.

Had Miz won, he would’ve continued to plow through the SmackDown roster, elevating both his stock and that of the championship. People would’ve hated him for retiring Ziggler much like they did towards Hunter in 2000. That would eventually set up an eventual confrontation between Miz and another top star who’d eventually dethrone Miz for the championship.

When that happened, that person, whoever it would’ve been, would get an enormous reaction. The evil Miz would lose the championship (despite having elevated it during his reign), a new champion would be crowned, and this evil monster would finally get what he deserves. It’s the simplest story to tell.

Third, Ziggler was nothing more than a placeholder for a greater Miz/Daniel Bryan feud. Ever since that fateful encounter on Talking Smack, there has been considerable interest in seeing Miz vs. Daniel Bryan. While that might not be possible right now, that was a feud that could’ve played itself out over months. Miz needed the win against Ziggler to prove his point to Daniel Bryan he was as good as he said he was. Miz needed to continue irritating Bryan by being as big of a heel as possible.

That could only have worked as long as Miz was champion.

The IC title was the last belt Bryan held while an active wrestler in WWE. It holds a special place in his heart, and it disgusts him to see someone like Miz defending it. Miz and Bryan could’ve had multiple entertaining and storied confrontations over the coming months over Miz’s continuing victories and his increasingly-obnoxious attitude towards Bryan.

It could’ve led to a shoving match, a worked-shoot promo, or an actual in-ring segment where Miz attacks Bryan. Any one of these moments would’ve worked as long as Miz had further upwards momentum, which he could only maintain by remaining Intercontinental Champion.

Instead, Miz lost the belt to Ziggler, who now looks like he’s the one that’ll be in all the segments with Bryan and Shane. This’ll detract from a far more interesting story in Bryan/Miz, which could’ve had the potential to have a huge payout.

Imagine seeing Miz ‘injure’ Bryan or goad him into a match, only for WWE’s doctors and agents forcibly preventing him from doing so. Bryan would be forced to find a placeholder for himself in a match against Miz, preferably at WrestleMania. Bryan could’ve found any struggling babyface on SmackDown, or he could’ve even looked for a rising star in NXT (Shinsuke Nakamura being the ideal one in this case, given his history and friendship with Bryan).

Bryan could’ve scheduled a major match between Miz and this challenger at WrestleMania, and BAM, you have an exciting, well-executed storyline with a culmination at WrestleMania that fans would absolutely want to see.

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Instead, Ziggler’s the champion who’s probably going to face on heel after another without much storyline progression. Ziggler still has his job, but it probably won’t be long before he starts doing jobs instead.