WWE SmackDown Live: Will The Miz Turn On Shane McMahon?

Over the last few weeks, The Miz has been attempting to partner with Shane McMahon. The Miz seems infatuated with McMahon due to their unlikely “partnerships” at WWE’s World Cup tournament and Survivor Series. However, is The Miz just getting close to McMahon in order to get what he feels he rightfully deserves?

On the December 11th WWE SmackDown Live, The Miz once again attempted to partner with Shane McMahon in a tag team match. Ever since McMahon was declared ‘The Best In The World’, The Miz has been infatuated with SmackDown’s commissioner.

Carrying McMahon’s trophy seemingly wherever he goes, The Miz has been adamant that the two would create an unstoppable tag team if they were to partner together.

On the surface, it seems like The Miz is just looking to ride off the coattails of McMahon’s recent success. After all, The Miz is always one to use any means necessary to advance his own career ambitions. If that means groveling and kissing up to SmackDown’s Commissioner, then so be it.

However, there may be different intentions behind The Miz’s recent affinity for Shane McMahon, and it all has to do with the very World Cup trophy Miz has insisted upon cradling for weeks.

During the World Cup tournament at Crown Jewel, The Miz managed to fight his way through the SmackDown bracket all the way to the finals. It was in that finals match where The Miz’s dream of becoming “The Best In The World” took a tumble though.

The Miz tweaked his knee when attacking Dolph Ziggler, forcing Shane McMahon to enter into the match himself. As we all know, McMahon defeated Ziggler and himself was subsequently crowned “The Best In The World”.

Understandably, many were confused by McMahon’s win. He’s not an up-and-coming star, or a seasoned veteran in need of push, so why give him such a seemingly massive accolade?

I believe it’s all to set-up this angle with The Miz.

The Miz doesn’t seem like a competitor who likes to share the spotlight. While he’s a multi-time tag team champion, those partnerships have ended explosively on more than one occasion. The Miz’s selfish personality makes him one of the last people in WWE who wants to share the spotlight, let alone see his spotlight stolen by another competitor.

Coincidentally, that’s exactly what happened when Shane McMahon pulled The Miz out of the World Cup final to capture glory himself.

The reason why The Miz has been so enamored with McMahon’s trophy is because he views that trophy as his, and in this case, perhaps rightfully so. Therefore, unless he can turn this link with McMahon into a partnership that sees him earn a title belt, then I suspect The Miz will angrily turn on McMahon.

That rivalry may be the feud that carries The Miz and Shane McMahon into Royal Rumble or even WrestleMania. It would be a way to incorporate Shane McMahon into a rivalry on the road to the ‘Grandest Stage of Them All’ without shoehorning him into a feud, while also allowing The Miz to be prominently featured without necessarily being in the title picture.

In fact, it may even be a way to turn The Miz into a babyface, as many people seem to want or expect that now that Daniel Bryan has turned heel. McMahon could refuse to give The Miz credit for any of the work he did at Crown Jewel, while shunning The Miz’s overtures for a partnership and insulting his skills as a wrestler.

This would surprisingly put The Miz on the positive side of a tag team break-up for once, as the scorned ‘A-lister’ will look to show McMahon his real value as an in-ring competitor.

While this developing angle may seem somewhat random at the moment, The Miz and Shane McMahon just may be on a collision course that leads them all the way into Royal Rumble and beyond.