How The Miz is Changing Wrestling

In the world of wrestling, we have become accustomed to the shenanigans of a rule breaking champion who always has his buddies come help him out; Ric Flair had the Horsemen, Shawn Michaels had Degeneration X, Triple H had DX and Evolution, Randy Orton had Legacy. Even in TNA we have seen Jeff Jarrett, Kurt Angle and now Jeff Hardy all have factions to back them up and bail them out of a jam and maintain their title. Current WWE champion, The Miz, has Alex Riley backing him up making sure the gold stays around his waist and his time atop the mountain is not short lived. In that regard, nothing The Miz is doing is really that ground breaking or shocking. But, with all that being said, The Miz is changing wrestling in one regard.
     The Miz came to the WWE via independent wrestling, truth be told. He spent time wrestling in Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) and Deep South Wrestling (DSW). He honed his craft and finally landed a spot on WWE Tough Enough Season 4 in which he lost to Daniel Puder. But WWE saw somethign in him and sent him to train in Ohio Valley Wrestling. He created a look and a persona there which eventually led him to being called up to the main roster to host the Diva Search. His charisma and charm won over the corporate office and they gave him a shot.
     How The Miz is changing wrestling is in he is showing that someone who is comfortable in front of a camera can succeed despite not being the most highly trained performer in the world. For all the love Daniel Bryan gets from the internet, he still does not look comfortable in front of the camera. He struggles with his promos and almost stammers through any backstage segment. The Miz is fluid in delivery and flawless in his timing. He shines in the areas that most of the roster struggles; he makes you WANT to see what he does next. In the great movie Private Parts, the program director asks why people tune in to hear Howard Stern if the people hate him so much. The answer: People want to hear what he is going to say next. This is precisely the reason people tune in to see Miz. You want to hear what hes gonna say next to incite the crowd even more.
     We live in a society of copycats. One makes one man or company successful tries to get emulated by competitors. The success of Miz is not lost on other companies or even the WWE itself. These companies are going to start scouring reality TV shows looking for people who not only have the athletic ability but also the look and the charisma to perhaps rise to the heights The Miz is now achieving. David Otunga is a former reality TV personality that the WWE is currently grooming to achieve success. If it was based solely on in ring talent, Otunga would still be sitting in Florida Championship Wrestling selling programs before the event and taking bumps from has beens and never will be's. Instead he has been part of one of the biggest storyline angles of the last 10 years and has been the focal point at times. WWE has given him wins (tainted but wins never the less) over Edge and made him one half of the tag team champions with John Cena. Will more reality TV stars make the transition into pro wrestling? It would only seem natural since these "performers" already have the TV side of the business down.
 
Captain Obvious
Creator of the CAW Show New Era Wrestling and overall swell guy.
www.thecaptainobvious.webs.com