5 Biggest Winners & Losers From WWE SmackDown Live (July 26)

2. The Miz

Poor old Miz. The New Era was supposed to mean the end of WWE’s worst tropes, but it looks like the company’s longstanding legacy of burying their midcard champions remains intact.

As Intercontinental Champion, The Miz should theoretically be one of SmackDown’s biggest stars. He’s been outstanding in his cowardly Hollywood heel role, and while he never dominates in the ring, he’s not the kind of wrestler who needs to. The Miz is a guy who gets over by being a sleazy, opportunistic scumbag for whom no victory is too cheap, but this week’s SmackDown dealt him a lot of damage.

First he was omitted not only from the contendership main event, but also the opening battle royal used to determine the final participant. While the likes of The Ascension and Mojo Rawley competed for a title shot, The Miz sat on the sidelines, because apparently another Randy Orton talking segment is a lot more important than recognising one of SmackDown’s biggest stars.

Orton has been miscast as a wisecracking jester since returning, and his wholesale dismissal of The Miz (and the IC Championship as a result) did nothing but harm. The ensuing match ended in little over four minutes, with Orton burying Miz after two consecutive RKOs: an outcome that favours neither man going forward.

WWE will never rebuild the midcard titles if they continue treating their champions like this. Orton needs to look strong going into his SummerSlam match with Brock Lesnar, but he’s already hugely over with the crowd, and gains nothing from beating The Miz. Instead, The Miz slips further down the totem pole, and the cold build to Orton vs. Lesnar continues.