10 WWE Stars We Expected To Be World Champion By Now

3. The Miz

Stone Cold Steve Austin Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE.com

Another example of somebody reborn since last lifting the company's top title, The Miz in 2018 shows every minute of the eight extra years' experience gathered from the WWE grind.

His in-ring game still doesn't sit amongst the wrestling elite, but ranks high against other cookie cutters borrowing from the same playbook. He's made the space between the moves count double through practice and perseverance, and rivals anybody in the organisation on promos when he's got something to sink his teeth into.

So why hasn't he been given the reward that vindicates all of this?

Because the title makes the man. Triple H can argue the opposite all he likes, but in-house success story Miz can draw numbers to his reality show as well as he can eyes to his programmes. To WWE, an extended run with the title would be a waste at this juncture despite AJ Styles' most recent reign proving that both champion and championship can boost one another. The best he can hope for is a transitional reign, but the performer able to do as much with Daniel Bryan as he is Bo Dallas should warrant more topline attention than he gets.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett