To Be The Man… A Look at What The Miz is Missing

I have to admit, I was initially leery of Alberto Del Rio’s face turn. I thought it was a generic idea to get a fledgling character over with the crowd.

I was wrong. Dead wrong, and Del Rio has been one of the more consistent characters as of late. His feud with Big Show was very entertaining, and I’m excited to see what’s next with Swagger, or whoever fills his DUI-caused void.

One thing I haven’t been wrong about thus far is Miz and his face turn. A few weeks ago, Ric Flair was on Miz’s side and it looked like the Miz would become Flair’s protégé ala AJ Styles. An association with Flair should have propelled Miz to the top of the card.

Well, for whatever reason, that didn’t happen. Sure, the Miz dresses kinda like Flair, attempts to apply the Figure-Four like Flair, but no, he is not Ric Flair.

Here’s the reason why:

As it happens with all of the all-time greats, it’s IMPOSSIBLE for them to be booed by the crowd. Flair, the Rock, Stone Cold, or any of those level of guys could come out, give a chop to literally anyone and get cheered.

So here’s the problem for the Miz; Flair become “The Man” as a heel, not as a face. When he was bragging to people about how much his suit and shoes cost, rode in limos, and had 60-minute matches throughout the country, he was doing so as a HEEL.

This is why the Flair rub didn’t help the Miz, he’s just being a cheesier version of the Miz, not the awesome (not even GD close) heel that Flair was. When a territory’s #1 face wrestled Ric for the NWA Championship in the 80’s, it meant everything because Flair was more than the champ, he was the most hated wrestler of a decade.

I’m definitely not a Miz fan, but if WWE wants this whole Flair-lite thing to work, they’re going to have to do it as a heel. I’m not sure if even that’s going to work as there are just so many better performers than Miz in WWE right now, but if WWE wants Miz to get over, that’s the only way. To be the man, at least act like the man.

Really? REALLY?! Yes, really.