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The Miz

MAMBINO’s Wrestlemania 29 Preview, Part 1

credit: Bleacher Report


 
It’s time! It’s time! It’s Wrestlemania time!
 
Welcome to the two-part, all encompassing Wrestlemania preview. I am your host The RAW Librarian and I will be joined by KOBEshigawa in breaking down the twenty-ninth annual, Granddaddy of em all. We are going to run down the final card, giving our thoughts on the presumed winners and losers as well as providing some analysis on which direction Vinny Mac would be wisest to pursue. Tomorrow, we’ll get to the man events, but in today’s post, we’ll touch on the still very important undercard.… Read more...

Could You Imagine THIS Guy Main Eventing Wrestlemania? (Part 2)

A few days ago, we took a look at a few current WWE Superstars and his potential to one day become a permament fixture amongst the chandelier that is the professional wrestling main event card.
Contrary to all the haters out there, World Wrestling Entertainment has the same hierarchy that the NBA, MLB, NHL or NFL does; there are your elite performers, steady vets and of course, rising stars. Here, we take a second look at a few wrestlers in that last category, analyze their qualifications and if indeed they have the chance to main event the superbowl of wrestling, Wrestlemania, any time soon.

The Miz
Qualifications: 1x WWE champion. 3x WWE tag team champion, 2x United States champion, 2x World tag team champion, 2010 Money in the Bank winner, #1 PWI top 500 singles wrestler in 2011

TRL: I am well aware of the fact that the Miz main evented Wrestlemania 28 against John Cena AND won. Yet, his retaining his title was merely a subplot in the Rock/Cena hierarchy , and his standing in the company hasn’t been the same since. More accurately, over the past few months, the Miz has become a laughing stock in the wrestling community. Ever since he

failed to catch R-truth on RAW back in February, I don’t think he has won one match since. By comparison, Brie Bella has more victories in that span and the Bella Twins aren’t even in the company anymore.

However, there are some positives for the Miz. He was valued highly enough by Mr. McMahon to be the lead in the WWE’s film The Marine 3. His mic skills and wrestling ability have greatly improved since his debut. I think it’s going to take some time, but I could see The Miz back in the main event scene in the future. I personally do not think he deserves to be there, but it appears somebody backstage thinks highly of him…but maybe not as much as I do. The Miz went from being a hardcore wrestling fanatic, to WWE champion. I’m only 27, so quitting my day job, giving my money to Lance Storm’s Wrestling Academy, Shawn Michaels’ Wrestling School (or begging Bret to reopen The Dungeon), and hoping for the best isn’t out of the question. Thanks for the potential inspiration dude!

KOBEsh: I’m echoing a lot of the sentiments that TRL stated; it’s not so much that the Miz main evented Mania last year – it’s that he looks like he’ll never even sniff that type of success ever again. His strengths are obvious: he is a tremendous speaker, perhaps one of the best in the company, or even in the business. He’s a bit more than competant in the ring, but his mat acumen is even more impressive if you watched him develop from the stiff wrestling novice he was several years ago. However, what the Miz truly lacks of twofold.
1) Depth of character: Yes, he is the Miz and at times, he’s awesome. He’s an arrogant braggart who’s defeated John Cena at Wrestlemania and represents supposedly “must-see” WWE television. But…what else? What’s his mission? To be must-see, to prove the haters wrong, or to win the WWE title? Does he aspire to be one of the greatest of all-time, or merely just a guy who spikes ratings for a week? The problem with the Miz is that I don’t know which one of these guys he is, if any. I’ve never known why he’s fueding with anyone, nor have I found any of his motivations particularly compelling. There’s a lot to work with here; perpetual underdog, who is constantly fighting for his skill set and accomplishments to rise to the level of his arrogance. He wants to prove that he’s the best because … Read more...

WWE for a NBA Fan – Pacific Division (Part 6)

Hi, friends. Welcome back for the last installment of WWE for a NBA Fan. For those of you that don’t know, in my darkest NBA lockout doldrums, I started concocting alternative entertainment streams for those of us who missed basketball more than our own grandmothers. For a sundry of reasons, I realized that the WWE was a perfect alternative for the NBA, and for reasons that you wouldn’t think. Knowing the 30 NBA fan bases, as well as the WWE Superstars as well as I do, I identified and matched up teams with various wrestlers, division by division.

Even though we’ve been writing these posts for months to little fanfare and zero critical acclaim, Grantland’s Masked Man popularized the concept better than we could. In our 1-way rivalry with the mainstream’s best pro wrestling writer, we’re currently the Virgil to his “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase. Except without all the racial discrimination subtext. Hopefully.


Today, we’ll be finishing up the series by looking at the Pacific Division.  

Golden State Warriors: Jack Swagger

I love the Bay Area. Great place to visit, plenty to see and undoubtedly, a great hoops town. They know their basketball, and love their crappy team unconditionally. They’ve been privileged to see 20 years of great offense, from Run TMC to Baron to Monta to Steph. They know what ball is supposed to look like, and despite the Warriors portraying none of the game’s fundamentals, but they support them unconditionally.
But a question out to Oaktown and beyond – what if you could have a guy who is fundamentally sound? What if you could cheer for a guy with all the right tools who you can see going straight to the top? What if you didn’t have to watch an entertaining, yet vitally flawed team that will never quite give you the hoops you deserve? That would be nice, wouldn’t it? So that’s why you’re rooting for Jack Swagger.
A product of Perry, Oklahoma, Swagger comes straight from the wrestling program at the University of Oklahoma. After learning and perfecting grappling collegiately, Swagger entered the ranks of the professionals in the WWE. He’s already won the World Championship, and with his improving mic work augmenting his already prodigious skill set in the ring, more title reigns are certain to follow. Like the young player the Warriors seem to perpetually attain, Swagger is gifted and ready for the future. However, unlike them, he has the tools to take him and keep him at the top. The Golden State Swaggers? Sounds good to me.

Los Angeles Clippers: Chris Jericho


Writing this hurts me more than I can possibly bear. Chris Jericho has long been my favorite WWE superstar, and the Clippers have always earned by most sincere bile and hatred. Still, even through my haze of detest, I can’t deny the comparisons.


Chris Jericho is a six-time World Champion. He’s competed in federations all around the world, winning titles in every single one of them. He’s recognized as one of the greats of his generation, alongside Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Mick Foley, and The Undertaker.


However, next to those names, Jericho runs at a distant 2nd tier. Somehow, Y2J’s massive accomplishments and talent haven’t put him quite at the level of those guys I just mentioned. Austin, The Rock, Hunter, Foley, and the Undertaker have all transcended past the characters that they played on TV, and became larger than wrestling figures. They are household names, guest stars on television s… Read more...