The Miz rose to new heights in 2017, who can do that in 2018?
2017 was the biggest year for the Miz to date in my eyes. And yes, I understand that he has main-evented a WrestleMania and I understand that he has also been crowned WWE Champion and had a run with the title. But just because The Miz has had other wonderful moments in WWE, it doesn’t mean the consistency was evident.
The end of 2016 was the beginning of 2017 for Miz (yes, I know how that sounds). Miz ended 2016 with a bang and as he made headlines for his wild and unpredictable promos aimed at the one Daniel Bryan, the Miz suddenly got major attention around him.
He was already doing pretty well up to that point, but the promo that took place on TalkingSmack took the Miz to the next level and put him in position to grab the brass ring that seems to be so coveted in WWE. With this added attention The Miz continued to perform at a high level and it showed.
Through out the majority of 2017 The Miz was the one wrestler trusted to make the Intercontinental Title mean something again. His desire to retain the title and earn the title back when lost elevated that title more so than it has been in many years. It felt like the title was important again and that was due to the hard work that The Miz consistently put in.
A lot of his hard work came on the mic and through sheer promotion of the title itself. The Miz was one of the best, if not the best, mic workers and promo cutters in wrestling this past year. But his hard work showed in the ring too — it was more than just mic work that would make the IC Title important again.
Some of his matches that stand out to me, win or lose, are:
Finn Balor vs Seth Rollins vs The Miz — Number one contender match for IC Title
The Miz vs Dean Ambrose — Extreme Rules — IC Title Match
The Miz vs Jeff Hardy — RAW — IC Title
The Shield vs The Miz, The Bar, Kane and Braun Strowman
Miz certainly has his fair share of moments in 2017 and surprisingly not a lot of downs on the year. The biggest surprise may be the fact that he is Rolling Stones Wrestler of the Year. A huge honor for the Miz and certainly something he gets to throw in the face of doubters and haters alike.
But as good of a year that Miz had, and it was great, this is more so about who can have the same type of glow up in 2018 that Miz had in 2017.
Miz was the type of guy who always seemed like he could be a major player in WWE and the company thought so as well by giving him the title years back. So he has had success in the past, no doubt, but it was 2017 that proved just how great he actually is. So when thinking about this I have to consider someone that has had the success and is truly on the verge of their biggest year in wrestling to date? But who (New Day voices)?
The names I want to say include Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, Rusev, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler and Bray Wyatt.
Yes, some of those names have had their moment in the sun and have had a good year or two but have any of them had a career defining year in WWE? I don’t think so, not yet at least.
Even with that said, none of them are my choice to have a great 2018. My choice is Finn Balor.
Balor is already off to a rejuvenating start to 2018. He has put together the pieces of the ever so famous Bullet Club, now dubbed the Balor Club. Him pairing up with the likes of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson puts him in a position to be successful.
I personally thought Finn Balor had an awful ending to 2017. One that seemed as if creative had no good ideas for him. His would be great feud between him and Bray Wyatt was awful. Probably one of the most disappointing of the entire year. Not only was it an awful ending to 2017 but I also didn’t feel the year as a whole was that great and will be very, very easy to forget for Finn moving forward.
With reforming the Balor Club, Finn already has a better look to him. He looks damn happy and cannot stop smiling on camera. This is adding to his character in the sense that he is acting as if he is now untouchable, and I get that vibe from him one hundred percent. He very well may be untouchable if the Balor Club is built as the powerhouse they are sure to be. This story-line will be crucial to how successful his 2018 is going to be.
Balor needs to be built as a leader of a powerhouse type of group. He needs to be built as the matriarch. He needs to show that he has a bit of a heel quality while continuing to remain a face. The more the Balor club dominates the better Finn Balor is ultimately built.
All of 2018 needs to include the likes of the Balor Club and that includes when Balor fights his singles battles and when Luke and Gallows fight as a tag-team. Balor Club may even need to expand. Expansion gives Balor even more power, the power to recruit adds to his character and the insurance of his success. Having the Balor Club hovering in the background is something that will elevate Finn all year long.
If the dominance of the Balor Club is proven over the next six-months, then the six-months that follow need to be Finn Balor dominating the singles scene as the Universal Champion or WWE champion depending on the shakeup.
Balor was the first ever WWE Universal Champion and it is crazy to think how much an injury set him back. I personally felt that Finn Balor would come back strong and in the title scene consistently but that just never truly happened.
Roman Reigns is due to be Universal Champion and with that, he has the Shield in his back pocket depending on how long WWE runs with it. Come Summer time, The Shield vs Balor Club sounds amazing. Roman Reigns vs Finn Balor sounds amazing. Either story line is an easy win-win for WWE. At some point though the story line has to result with Finn hoisting the title in the air and reigning as Universal Champion.
If this happens then Finn Balor should be on course for the biggest year out of every superstar. Now we just have to sit back and wait and see how the year unfolds.
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