One of the Miz's complaints to Raw GM Kurt Angle has been the shallow, phony claim that Miz isn't getting the chance to defend the Intercontinental title on PPV. That won't happen at TLC on Sunday, but that's on Miz and Uncreative.
Let's remember that the very reason Miz has the title in the first place is because of his involvement in "Total Divas", and his multi-media connections. That shouldn't matter, but let's remember also that the company is being run by a 70-something executive who's forgotten how to be innovative.
Braun Strowman could've won a cage match vs. Roman Reigns last night by himself. We know that. However, Kane was called off the campaign trail, and brought to Raw to screw over Reigns. From a storyline standpoint, even though it was never implied, they can say that Kane, after several months away, saw fit to use the opportunity to gain a little payback on behalf of Undertaker after Reigns supposedly "retired" the Dead Man at Wrestlemania back in April. That makes sense, but the other factor is Miz, who they can say waved a bunch of campaign money in front of "Corporate Kane" (Glenn Jacobs) to sway him. The man behind the Big Red Machine is running for Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, and will be the subject of a future column, but this last minute swerve is just the product of desperation on the creative end. They don't want Miz jobbing to the Shield. They sure as hell don't want Strowman jobbing, or The Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro). So Kane, the veteran who's been in the same role for 20 years, gets the emergency call, three weeks before election day.
But what about the fact that Kane was on Smackdown when he left to go on the campaign trail? Unless he had an "out clause" in his Smackdown contract, which would be likely, Commissioner Shane McMahon and GM Daniel Bryan are going to be looking for something in return. If I was writing, that something would be the Miztourage, as part of a campaign to break up Miz's support system to force him to man up and defend the IC title.
In fact, that's what I'd have Angle do on Sunday. Force Miz to defend the title before the TLC 5-on-3 match. Refuse to defend the title, and Miz forfeits it. Period.
The creative complacency is a big reason why WWE is in the pickle it's in. While the Uncreative staff is under a mandate to push Reigns as hard as possible as the new face of the company, despite fan apathy, the same problems with the lower titles have surfaced. Miz defends only when Uncreative can find an opponent for him, but otherwise his matches have the same kind of stench as those of Jinder Mahal over on Smackdown. Too many hands in the water, diluting the prestige of the championship. That has to stop.
Miz may have the numbers on his side on Sunday, but he shouldn't. This is how I fix this problem.
On Kickoff: Angle reveals he received a fax from the Board of Directors. Because Miz arranged for Kane to come to Raw under false pretenses, Kane and Strowman are out of the TLC match, leaving it as a 3-on-3 as it should be. Also, Miz is ordered to defend the IC title in the first match on the PPV card vs. "a former IC champion", and we'll plug Matt Hardy into this spot. With brother Jeff on the DL, Matt needs something to do, so why not put the title on him in the short term? Boom! Problem solved.
Hardy beats Miz in 11 minutes with the Twist of Fate to win the title. Curtis Axel is ejected before the match starts, also on orders from Angle, who has Axel ejected from the building altogether while on his cell phone.
The Shield wins the 6-man TLC tag by putting Miz through a ladder-table sandwich with the Shield Bomb.
The next night on Raw, Miz finds out that Axel and the in absentia Bo Dallas have been traded, along with the returning Darren Young, to Smackdown in exchange for Kane. Hardy beats Miz in the return match for the IC title. Kane comes out after and turns face on Miz, dropping him with a chokeslam.
The bottom line is that Miz has become an even bigger coward than ever thought possible, and that's not a good thing.
