WWE is crying out for The Miz to become the main event again after beating Dolph Ziggler - The Sun

LAST Sunday’s TLC was a serviceable if unspectacular pay-per- view event.

The more interesting developments for the SmackDown brand saw Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton capture the tag titles, Alexa Bliss powerbomb Becky Lynch through a table become Women’s Champion and James Ellsworth turn on Dean Ambrose, helping AJ Styles retain hisWorld Championship.

Miz vs Ziggler Miz vs Ziggler in the Intercontinental Championship ladder match Dean Ambrose, The Miz, and The Miz’s wife Maryse on Miz TV

But The Miz’s win over Dolph Ziggler in their Intercontinental Championship ladder match could be the most significant decision – proof that it’s time for Miz to climb back up to the main event.

Since the brand split in July, SmackDown has been the more successful television product.

At just two hours each week – as opposed to Raw’s unwieldy three hours – it’s shorter, more focused, and has shown considerable patience in booking feuds.

Consider how the feud between Styles and Ambrose has built steadily since September towards TLC’s big title match, versus the back and forth title exchanges between Charlotte and Sasha Banks over on Raw.

But SmackDown’s problem is main event players – or lack of them.

Styles is a legit headliner and deserves to be holding the World Championship. Ambrose has been punching above his weight for months. Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton are doing their own thing, whatever that is. Dolph Ziggler has been booked like the perennial mid-carder or too long. The Undertaker’s rumoured to be returning to action, but he’s only good for a few more matches. And John Cena – like him or not, still the biggest name in WWE – is pretty much part-time now.

It’s not that The Miz is the only person left to fill a spot at the top of the card – he’s also the most deserving.

Mike Mizanin’s credentials as a bona fide headliner have been tarnished in the years since his run as WWE Champion between 2010 and 2011.

WWE women's superstars Charlotte and Sasha Banks battled on Raw

That’s mostly down to the memory of him main-eventing WrestleMania 27 – the lousiest ‘Mania of the modern era – and the demolition job that Cena did on his career (typical of Cena at the time – see also, Wade Barrett, Bray Wyatt).

But it’s easy to forget, Miz ascended to WWE Champion for good reason – he was a red-hot heel at the time, and one of WWE’s true developmental success stories.

Originally a reality TV star, he arrived in WWE through Tough Enough in 2004 but was seen as a joke for his first few years with the company. It was no secret that he wasn’t liked – in the locker room or by the fans – but he improved, gaining respect and transforming into one of wrestling’s most over villains.

Working his way through the ranks and cashing in Money in the Bank on Randy Orton to become WWE Champion in November 2010, Miz had earned the title run. But he became one of the earliest victims of WWE’s fascination with part-timers.

Sheamus and Randy Orton battle it out at the WWE SummerSlam 2015 Randy Orton makes his way to the ring for his match Sasha Banks attends Tim Wiese's first WWE fight at Olympiahalle

Once The Rock returned in 2011 to host the disastrous WrestleMania 27 – and despite the fact Miz walked out of ‘Mania 27 as champ, only the second heel to do so since Triple H 11 years earlier – the focus was put on the rivalry between Rock and Cena.

They trounced Miz both in the ring and on the mic. He dropped the belt to Cena a month after ‘Mania and by early 2012 he’d slipped back down to the mid-card.

Over the next few years it looked like Miz had found his natural spot on the card. He feuded mostly over the Intercontinental Championship and even had a dreadful babyface run (he’s far too smug to be cheered). It was obvious WWE wouldn’t elevate him again and fans reacted accordingly.

But since winning back the IC title the night after WrestleMania, Miz has been doing incredible work.

His promos have been intense and a huge selling point for his championship run (see his already-infamous bust up with Daniel Bryan on the August 23 Talking Smack, which happened after Bryan called him a “coward” and had fans wondering whether it had been real or not).

In the ring, he’s been having the best matches of his career – every IC title clash with Ziggler since Backlash has been a match of the night. But most importantly, he’s continued to prove why he’s WWE’s most gifted heel. He’s just so naturally hate-able.

The heat for Miz is rooted in reality – or reality TV, to be more precise.

10 game-changing WWE moves including Stone Cold and HHH

He represents everything that the hardcore fans despise – his shameless hunger for fame, claiming his spot of the roster without grafting on the indies for years, and the face he perfectly fits Vince McMahon’s vision of a photogenic “superstar” with mainstream crossover appeal.

Contrast that to his longtime rival and WWE fan favourite Daniel Bryan – a humble indie wrestler who’s the polar opposite to what McMahon wants in a superstar.

The recent conflict between the two has added serious fuel to The Miz’s heat. Miz has even mocked Bryan and the fans by adding Bryan’s moves and catchphrases to his routine – a touch of evil of genius. But it was the introduction of Miz’s wife Maryse as his ringside valet earlier this that really completed the package. She’s helped him cheat to win in every big

match since.

Intercontinental champ The Miz celebrates with wife, and chief assister, Maryse

Unlike Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, or even AJ Styles, The Miz isn’t a “cool heel” – the kind that fans actually cheer for – he’s the purest villain WWE has right now. He’s arrogant, he sneaky, and he deserves his comeuppance.

After Styles defeated Ambrose in their long running World Championship feud, and The Miz beat Dolph Ziggler in their similarly long running rivalry over the IC title (with a double ball- shot, no less), the SmackDown roster is ready to reconfigure and realign before the Royal Rumble.

It’s a fresh start for the brand’s feuds and characters, and time for Miz to step up again – he even beat Ambrose on SmackDown two nights ago.

Is it a sign that WWE is pushing him back into the main event? A heel v heel programme against World Champion AJ Styles would keep them busy until Styles WrestleMania opponent surfaces (Cena, presumably) and Styles makes the inevitable transition to babyface.

For Miz though, it would be game-changer – an opportunity to cement his status as a top heel once again. And he deserves another shot. If the The Miz has proved anything in the last six months, it’s that given the chance he really is awesome.

WWE tag-team superstars New Day defeat The Club