WWE SmackDown: The Miz needs to be more of a focal point

The Jun. 18 edition of WWE SmackDown saw the unexpected mini-reunion of Awesome Truth on a night in which The Miz further showed why he is a top Superstar in the WWE.

Last night’s WWE SmackDown gave the blue brand one last show to build towards the upcoming Stomping Grounds pay-per-view on Sunday, but it also gave The Miz a chance to voice his displeasure with the so-called “Best in the World” and recent rival, Shane McMahon.

Shane-O-Mac and his lackeys have been running roughshod lately, taking out numerous different Superstars that cross their paths.  His biggest lackey, Drew McIntyre, even helped Shane defeat Roman Reigns at Super ShowDown.  Last night saw Shane, McIntyre and Elias in the ring boasting about their recent handy work.  However, they would be interrupted by The Miz.

The A-Lister showed highlights, some even in slow motion, of the night before when Reigns attacked Shane and company.  In a segment that started out as a humorous jab quickly turned into a passionate proclamation that The Miz will end Shane-O-Mac’s ego trip once and for all.  He said he’s the one that helped create this situation in the first place all the way back at World Cup last year.

Miz said he got injured for the first time in his career and that opened the door for Shane to step in and take his place in the tournament, which he eventually won.  He felt that set all of these recent events in motion and said how when Shane was the commissioner of SmackDown in the past, he dubbed it the land of opportunity.  However, now it’s just the land of opportunity for his buddies.

It was a passionate and intense promo that The Miz consistently knocks out of the park, but his night wasn’t finished and it eventually led to a brief reunion of Awesome Truth when R-Truth coincidentally wound up being The Miz’s tag team partner against McIntyre and Elias in a tag team elimination match.  Truth would get eliminated rather early, leaving The Miz to go against two Superstars alone.

And despite his best efforts, The A-Lister couldn’t overcome the numbers game and he eventually got eliminated to give the victory to McIntyre and Elias.  Even though Miz was on the losing end of this match, last night was an eyebrow-raising night that should lead to more significant moments for him moving forward.  The past few years have been the best of The Miz’s entire career.

More from SmackDown

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• Potential Challengers for Roman Reigns before WrestleMania
• WWE SmackDown Predictions: AJ Styles Will Help Randy Orton
• WWE SmackDown Predictions: Street Profits Will Dethrone Judgment Day
• SmackDown reminded us of how pointless the brand split is

He was an elite heel that helped make everyone around him better, but ever since Shane O’Mac turned on him at Fastlane, The Miz has proven himself to be a great babyface as well, more than capable of holding his own.  He is consistently one of the best promos in the business, as last night proved.  In a relatively short amount of time as a babyface, he has had plenty of important moments.

His feud with Shane was a great one that ultimately made him an even better babyface, but it also helped make Shane a better heel.  However, since losing to Shane at Money In The Bank, Miz hasn’t done much and hasn’t been given much of a clear direction.  That needs to change immediately, because this version of The Miz isn’t one to let go to waste, so to speak.

The Miz should be a bonafide main event talent in the current landscape of the WWE, or at worst, a significant piece that has great feud after great feud.  It’s been over eight years since The Miz held a world championship, so it might be time to start realizing his value.  Not only is he one of the WWE’s top mainstream stars, but he’s also one of the very best the company has to offer as a character, persona, and competitor.

He needs some type of revenge on Shane-O-Mac and it appears as if that’s where things are heading, but after that, The A-Lister deserves to be in a more prominent position.  It should be interesting to see what the rest of 2019 holds for him, but it needs to be something significant and noteworthy.

There are very few Superstars in the WWE that has the complete package that The Miz has, so Vince McMahon and company need to fully take advantage of his peak powers as a WWE Superstar.