15 Exact Moments Failed WWE Gimmicks Actually Got Over
10. The Miz
The Miz was a Vince McMahon guy who it felt Triple H was lumbered with.
Miz got his TV time, but it was never a great fit; as Triple H attempted to do more pro wrestling early in his run as main roster booker, everything the Miz did felt like a Vince-era hangover of sports entertainment daftness. Miz’s feud with Dexter Lumis was actively horrendous, but it at least made a certain amount of sense for his character, if not this new era. What was the stuff with Gunther all about?!
Miz played situational babyface in their weird mini-programme. In a baffling bit of scripting, Gunther said that the Miz - who has played an overgrown high school jock character since 2006 - was a “weirdo”. On commentary, as Miz made a comeback, Michael Cole said “do it for us weirdos, Miz!”
What?!
WWE as an entity, for which Cole is its voice, wants to be incredibly normal and alpha. What a bizarre deal. It felt like Miz, the last Vince Guy, no longer belonged - so much so that when he deleted all references to WWE on his socials in the wake of R-Truth’s release, his exit felt inevitable and obvious. You can never write the Miz off. The Miz is a cockroach who would tell an imminent nuclear apocalypse how many Intercontinental titles he’s won before easily surviving.
Miz has since flourished in a role that can only be described as “idiot gatekeeper”. This is where his out-of-time quality actually works: he plays, to genuinely amusing effect, a moron with a misplaced sense of authority. Since the second he said the words “Melo don’t Miz”, this character clicked; it’s actually fun to watch Miz lose now because he’s found a new and logical way to be foolish.