WWE Raw: The Miz has made the MITB briefcase matter

The Miz winning the Money in the Bank briefcase from Otis has helped reinvigorate the main event scene on WWE Raw.

There are so many moving parts in WWE Raw‘s male main event scene right now. Drew McIntyre has taken back the WWE Championship, so what’s next for Randy Orton? The Fiend’s long had eyes on the Viper, but he’s also not exactly friends with The Miz either. And The Miz, with his powerful briefcase in hand, certainly has beef with McIntyre, beyond the fact that McIntyre is now the man with the title and thus the briefcase’s chief target.

So many reasons for the intrigue around the WWE Championship picture go back to The Miz and his brilliance. Although it’s hard not to feel for Otis – and to feel even worse for Tucker – WWE really had to take the briefcase off of Otis. The Money in the Bank contract was going nowhere in Otis’ hands, and it had begun to feel like a prop rather than a tool that can both improve the state of programming and boost an established or new star.

Whereas WWE has done an excellent job with the Women’s Money in the Bank briefcase over the past couple of years, such as with Carmella’s rise or Bayley’s immediate cash-in, the Men’s Money in the Bank briefcase has felt devoid of value. No, it’s worse. It’s felt like a cruel joke.

Baron Corbin and Braun Strowman won the Money in the Bank briefcases. They then lost them without winning the title. The last man to successfully cash in the briefcase? Brock Lesnar, who never should have been in the match in the first place.

So you can see why WWE desperately needed to take the briefcase off Otis if Vince McMahon wasn’t seriously interested in pushing the former Heavy Machinery tag team wrestler as a main event singles star in WWE. We were all behind Otis at one point, but when fans realized that Vince had no real plans for him, everyone quickly jumped ship and basically forgot about the briefcase. And that’s the opposite of what the briefcase needs.

The Miz, on the other hand, makes whatever he touches relevant. He should really be WWE Champion again, given that he’s produced the best work of his career since the latest brand split in 2016. He should have been a world champion when he moved to Raw after dominating SmackDown as Intercontinental Champion, and WWE seriously dropped the ball by keeping him in the mid-card scene.

What makes The Miz so great in his second stint as the briefcase-holder is his ability to make you care. Whenever he comes out on Raw, I assume most fans have the same reaction as me. A light groan, a roll of the eyes…whatever. But then when Miz starts talking, you can’t help but smile or even nod in agreement at some of the points he’s making. Yeah, yeah he’s the heel and McIntyre’s the face, but he was kind of right when he lit into McIntyre for taking opportunities from other wrestlers who want the WWE Title.

It’s all in the greatness of The Miz. He captivates the audience like so few wrestlers on Raw. There’s a reason why he and Bray Wyatt are generating so much buzz on Monday nights in the WWE Title scene. They are the most compelling talkers and characters among the men on the show, and to have them counteract the more straightforward Orton and McIntyre is a huge asset.

The Money in the Bank briefcase is one of the most important and innovative things in all of WWE. It needs to feel like a big deal at all times, and you can always leave it up to The Miz to restore the relevancy of a prized possession, just as he did with the IC Title. He is the A-Lister for a reason, and WWE fans should be elated that he has the briefcase and is getting significant time on Raw to tell stories around the threat of the contract.