Last year the WWE lost such main event caliber stars as HHH, Taker, HBK, Jericho, and Batista for most of the year. This caused a dire situation within the WWE as they tend not to carry more than a handful of legitimate main event caliber stars in this day and age. It seems like every time somebody is on the cusp of breaking out they buried back into mid card hell. Those few stars who do manage to break out see themselves booked in a one month program with Cena or Orton and then end up back in mid card hell or a throw together tag team. You would think all of this was bound to change when 5 of Vince’s “go to guys” went out of action for most of the year. Perhaps his hand would be forced to make some new stars.
Nope, clearly that wasn’t the case as you fast forward one year later and we have a Wrestle Mania that highlighted The Rock, The Undertaker, Triple H, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Trish Stratus, and Jerry Lawler. All of these talents have either missed nearly the entire year prior due to taking time off, being inactive, or nursing injuries. I am not going to take the stand point others have in slighting any of the talents I’ve listed, but instead I slight WWE for failing to create the stars needed to carry the biggest show of the year. Outside of Cena and Orton they haven’t really developed any main stay main event talent in the last 5 years.
Enter The Miz. The Miz has really sky rocketed over the last year and is becoming a top wrestler in the company, however, what happens when he loses the belt? Not long ago names like Sheamus or Jack Swagger would have been thrown around as new stars, but as soon as they lost their titles, they lost their main event status. I fear the Miz won’t fair much better. Why? Because all of those people have one thing in common...They NEVER go over clean on the credible main eventers. Sheamus last year dropped the belt before Mania and fought HHH at the event only to lose. Sheamus feuded with both Cena and Orton as champion but never beat either man clean. Sounds a lot like The Miz, only WWE threw him a bone and let him main event Wrestle Mania, even though he played third wheel to The Rock and Cena.
Even CM Punk fluctuates in and out of main event status, but he doesn’t seem to have a hold on his spot like Cena, Orton, Batista, HHH, Taker, ect. During his Straight Edge Society stint he lost to The Big Show in 3 on 1 handicap match, and Show isn’t even a main event caliber star. So, who has Punk really ever pinned clean clean in a 1 on 1 match that is a bigger draw than he is? Cena… Nope, Orton… Nope, HHH… Nope, Batista… Nope. You can see the trend that is holding so many back. Punk and others may have gone over Rey Mysterio, Jericho, or someone of that sort but when did a win over Mysterio ever propel anyone to super-stardom? Look at the Original Nexus/The Corre and you will realize beating guys like Jericho and even Edge doesn't propel you to the next level, because they themselves aren't on the same level as Cena or Orton. It seems they have just been lucky enough to avoid the big guns for the most part by sticking with Smackdown, but as soon as either Jericho or Edge went to RAW their standing quickly took a hit.
Back to Miz, here we are right after the biggest win of his career at Wrestle Mania, but we are left with a bitter taste because The Rock beat Cena for him. He didn't even hit his finisher after Cena got Rock Bottomed, meaning the Rock literally beat Cena for him. It gives The Miz absolutely no credibility and couple in the fact that the match was lack luster, and failed to follow Taker vs HHH. The win did little to nothing to boost his standing any higher than it already was. Before The Miz/Cena feud his title run saw him cheat with A-Ry to beat Orton in some decent matches, his best title defense was hands down against John Morrison on RAW. Although, beating career mid-carder John Morrison did next to nothing for him besides allow fans to see he is capable of an above average bout.
The fact remains, The Miz hasn’t beaten anyone of note without cheating. Winning over the respect of internet wrestling marks won't be enough to hold his status without the championship around his waist to remind people he is important. The only thing that will keep The Miz relevant is getting a clean win over Cena to end the feud. Cena hasn't lost clean to a non-main event caliber star in years, and didn't even do so in a world title match main eventing Wrestle Mania, and that to me just comes off as wrong. Cena is the biggest star in wrestling and should be handled with care when it comes to seeing him lose, but the main event of Wrestle Mania seems like a stage where a clean loss is required. If you want further proof look at the up coming main event at Extreme Rules. By throwing R-Truth (Who was losing to NXT rookies a month ago.) into the main event it should be a dead give away that Cena won't only avoid being pinned clean, but will avoid being pinned at all. If you are wondering why R-Truth is in the match, it's because he is going to take the pin and allow The Miz to win and Cena to avoid back to back losses.
Until WWE realizes making their top draws lose every so often doesn't make them weak, but rather adds appeal to new and fresh talent, we are going to be looking at more of the same in the coming years. If Sheamus and The Miz had both bested Cena and Orton with a Skull Crushing Finale or Celtic Cross, I would guarantee they would be able to stand on their own without the world title to tell causal fans "this guy is important." Over the last few years the upper mid card has vanished and we have been left with CM Punk as the sole upper mid card talent on the roster. We need a group of people who aren't fighting for the world championship but are above the US and IC titles, and until we have a pool of talent to put over the current champ and compete with former champs, we are going to be stuck with transitional talent holding the title until Cena, Orton, HHH, Edge (now retired), or the regulars take it back.
