This week’s installment of SmackDown Live teased the next chapter of The Miz’s title run, and things are about to get unhinged with Dean Ambrose.
Now that SmackDown’s final pay-per-view of the year has come and gone, the need to shake things up in the roster’s primary divisions has never been more prominent.
With both AJ Styles and The Miz walking out of TLC the same way they walked in with regards to their championship status, albeit a little banged up after their brutal matches, it’s time for both men to move onto the next challenge.
After all, it has been a long time since these two engaged in their respective feuds with Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler, both kicking off just after SummerSlam back in August. Any more time spent on either rivalry would just highlight the brand’s lack of ingenuity, which up until now has been one of its prime characteristics.
With those individual stories coming to an end for the time being, it means that while The Miz searches for the next challenger for his Intercontinental Championship, former no. 1 contender to the WWE World Championship Dean Ambrose needs a challenge befitting of his previous position on the line-up.
As arguably the best heel and face on the roster, it made sense that SmackDown would tease us with a title match between Miz and Ambrose this week, which ended in favor of the champ when James Ellsworth got involved. Though there’s no real evidence that this will be the next big mid-card rivalry on Tuesday nights, there are plenty of reasons why The Miz vs. Dean Ambrose shouldn’t end with one match.
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3. The Miz Deserves a Top-Tier Challenger
Nobody has benefited more from the brand extension than The Miz. He may not be the WWE World Champion, and on paper, he’s nowhere he hasn’t been before, but the level of skill associated with his work has been higher than ever.
It all started with a worked shoot towards Daniel Bryan over criticisms of the IC Champion’s wrestling style, and since that day, he’s delivered weekly promos that have pushed the boundary in terms of passion and excitement. The most intriguing thing about it is that what he says isn’t actually wrong, despite his status as a heel.
He still relies on his acting career and describing himself as a must-see athlete to get heat, but when you look at what he’s said to Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler about their careers, he makes some valid arguments.
On top of that, his ring work has improved in the sense that it feels like he’s trying to impress someone with each match. Whether it’s to prove to Daniel Bryan that he’s not a coward, or he just wants to back up his new-found spark with regards to his mic work, the man has been an all-around treat to watch.
As a result, he deserves an opponent befitting of the impact he’s made, and Dean Ambrose is that guy. As a former world champion, a fantastic talker and one of the most beloved personalities on SmackDown Live, “The Lunatic Fringe” acts as the perfect babyface for The Miz to work off of. Admittedly, there are slim pickings on the roster at the moment for someone who could stand toe-to-toe with Miz both in the ring and on the mic, but Ambrose is definitely one of the few perfect candidates.
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2. Dean Ambrose vs. James Ellsworth Won’t Sell Tickets
As enjoyable as it’s bound to be for Dean Ambrose exact revenge on James Ellsworth for costing him both the WWE World and Intercontinental Championships, the inevitable encounter between these men isn’t enough to sell pay-per-view tickets.
Some of us would love Ellsworth to reach a point where he stands a chance against some of WWE’s prime athletes, but unless he competes on 205 Live, that’s not going to happen. The guy looks tiny in comparison to most of the WWE roster, and though his continued exposure has been a treat – at least for some, as the “chinless wonder” can be very polarizing – this man is never going to sell out arenas.
Give him a spot in the Royal Rumble match? Sure!
Give him a PPV match against one of WWE’s biggest stars? Not happening.
Ambrose needs a real physical challenge, which is why it makes sense for James Ellsworth to seek protection from a guy like The Miz, who has shown interest in him ever since he screwed Dean out of the title. Give the fans Dean Ambrose vs. James Ellsworth on Tuesday nights, but save one of the few singles matches at an event like the Royal Rumble for an IC Title match between Ambrose and The Miz.
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1. The Potential for a Great Story
As mentioned, The Miz and Dean Ambrose are two of the blue brand’s best performers when it comes to the microphone, which means that when these two come together to tell a unique story, it’s virtually guaranteed to be a good one.
We already know they have chemistry in the ring, but when you combine the natural charisma that they display in their promos, you’re in for one hell of a build-up.
This will be made all the more interesting by how The Miz uses James Ellsworth to his advantage. As seen with Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler, The Miz likes to utilize his opponents’ biggest weaknesses against them in order to get the upper hand.
With Bryan, he pinpointed the fact that it was merely the WWE doctors preventing him from stepping back in the ring, so if he truly wanted to wrestle again, all he’d have to do is leave the company and go elsewhere.
With “The Show-Off”, Miz brought blasts from the past like the Spirit Squad back to mock the ups and downs of the Ziggler’s career, and used them to point out that though he there were a few notable exceptions, Ziggler could never win the big one.
After everything that Dean Ambrose has been through – losing the WWE World Championship and befriending James Ellsworth only to be thwarted by the monster he himself created – there is a whole lot for The Miz to work with.
You’d better believe that The Miz would have no qualms about using Ellsworth as a pawn in their feud if it meant he could get inside the head of “The Lunatic Fringe”.
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