6 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (6 Nov - Results & Review)

3. ‘Let’s Go Miz!’

Miz Bronson Reed
WWE.com

Far be it for one fan/critic to call out other fans, but are people really chanting for Miz as a babyface in 2023?

The near-parody act who comes out and reads his Wikipedia page of accomplishments every week – to the point where Adam Pearce mocked that fact recently – is suddenly “serious” and wants to be treated as a legit threat to the Intercontinental Championship. In 2023.

Miz won the fatal four-way (more on that later) to become number one contender to Gunther’s title, pinning Bronson Reed after he missed a Tsunami. Yes, Miz pinned a guy who has been booked as a monster heel after Reed simply missed a top-rope splash. But he hit a springboard crossbody and a satellite DDT, so he clearly is a babyface worth cheering.

Longtime fans have seen this before: Miz busts out a small arsenal of higher-risk moves that surprise fans because of his generic and repetitive offense, and crowds react like he’s suddenly moved into a workrate zone. The sheen wears off after a bit and he’s back to diminishing reactions until he turns heel again and reads his list of accomplishments weekly.

Miz as a midcard title challenger-of-the-month isn’t a bad idea. But he shouldn’t be anything more than a speedbump, not someone built up as the guy, no matter what his CV says.

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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.