WWE Rumors: Top ‘Monday Night Raw’ Star Could Be Getting His Push Revived, Per Dave Meltzer
On this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw, The Miz appeared to bring back the more aggressive side of his in-ring character during a “MizTV” segment with Dolph Ziggler, where he attacked the visiting SmackDown Live superstar for insulting his wife. This came after numerous losses to Shane McMahon as part of their previous rivalry, which had seen Miz enter WrestleMania 35 with momentum on his side. But given how Miz had arguably lost this momentum after losing his feud to McMahon, it seems that WWE’s creative team is working on reviving his once-stagnant push.
As reported by Ringside News, Dave Meltzer recently explained on Wrestling Observer Radio that The Miz’s attack on Ziggler was “step one” as far as bringing the former back to relevance on Raw is concerned. With SmackDown‘s Kevin Owens currently feuding with McMahon in the lead-up to next month’s SummerSlam pay-per-view, WWE is apparently trying to give The Miz something to do that could help him get over with audiences like he used to.
“He was supposed to be one of the main guys, like main babyfaces on RAW right near the top and then they just kept using him to get other people over and then all of a sudden he’s not over at that level,” Meltzer was quoted as saying. “So, now they’re trying to — whatever it is — erase it or just get him going and they need to do it by saying, ‘OK, yeah he wasn’t serious enough.”
WWE Could Be Headed In New Direction With The Miz https://t.co/FaKDi3fFwU
— PWStream (@PWStream) July 17, 2019
Prior to his move to Monday Night Raw via the last Superstar Shake-Up in April, The Miz was a mainstay of SmackDown Live, where he had reigned as one of the blue brand’s top heels until he slowly started transitioning to a babyface role in the first few months of 2019. As noted by Daily DDT, this led to Shane McMahon turning on Miz at the Fastlane pay-per-view in March, but ultimately did more harm than good to the former eight-time Intercontinental Champion due to how McMahon — a 49-year-old on-air authority figure without extensive wrestling training — looked so dominant all throughout the feud.
Although WWE’s supposed attempts to revive The Miz’s push on this week’s Raw fueled speculation of another feud with Dolph Ziggler and a possible match between the two at SummerSlam, Wrestling Inc. further cited Meltzer, who pointed out that this match is not yet part of the tentative card for the event. The two Ohio natives had most memorably fought over the Intercontinental Championship in late 2016, albeit with Miz in a villainous role and Ziggler playing the babyface underdog.