20 Greatest WWE SmackDown Superstars Ever

15. The Miz

The Rock SmackDown Fox
WWE.com

The Miz deserves a huge amount of respect for surviving and thriving through various ups and downs in his own (and SmackDown's) career.

After his premature WWE Championship reign ended in 2011, Miz floated like the proverbial turd in the toilet bowl that was WWE's forgotten midcard, before linking up with Maryse in 2016 and embarking on one of the best Intercontinental Title reigns of the modern era.

A main event presence with a secondary strap, 'The A-Lister' gave Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose purpose again in 2016 and 2017 respectively, and was so good in the role that Vince McMahon poached him back to do exactly the same with Roman Reigns on Monday Night Raw. He was carrying The Chairman's son back on the blue brand less than a year later.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 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. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. 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