5 Ups & 8 Downs From WWE Raw (March 1)

3. Transitional Champion

The Miz
WWE.com

Real talk here: Miz has been a horribly booked wrestler for the last six months, winning only enough matches to capture the Money in the Bank briefcase and then successfully cash it in. Beyond that, he was a near-total jobber with name recognition.

But on Monday night, Miz did his job. Literally.

Miz bargained, ducked, dodged, ran, fled, cheated, threatened and finally fought, but it was to no avail, as his eight-day reign as WWE Champion came to an end. The man who ended Drew McIntyre’s second reign was no match for Bobby Lashley and quickly forked the title over to its new owner. But before he did, Miz desperately did everything in his power to remain champ, making the inevitable even more anticipated.

And that is the short definition of a transitional champion. And Miz did his job perfectly.

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.