With "Supergirl" in reruns, I needed an alternative to flip from the Mets-Phillies game, and for this week, Raw was it. I just had to satisfy my own curiosity about the "superstar shakeup", which really wasn't much to write home about.
So how does the show start? With The Miz & Maryse continuing their cosplay as John Cena & Nikki Bella. You'd think that the charade would've ended after they lost at Wrestlemania, but nope. The most stuck-up heel on the men's side of the roster just had to continue this nonsense for at least one more week. I don't find parody funny if it's mean-spirited, and in this writer's opinion, it was. Miz revels in being a world class jerk, and in this case, a jerk who doesn't know when to stop. He got his butt kicked on the "grandest stage of them all", and he still thinks he can get away with posing as Cena. What an idiot.
It's a means to another end now, and that end is getting another crack at the Intercontinental title, currently held by Dean Ambrose. With news that Ambrose and Renee Young tied the knot, one figures that Miz will get the title back for reign #7, putting him 2nd on the all-time IC list behind Chris Jericho, if my math is correct. Uncreative knows that putting Miz on Raw means he is not worthy of the Universal title now held by Brock Lesnar, but he isn't worthy, either, of breathing the same air as the Raw main event class (Lesnar, Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe, et al). I'd rather have Braun Strowman squash Miz like a bug the way he's thrashed Roman Reigns time and again, but that's just me.
Going back to Raw does the following:
For Ambrose: He's the last piece of a Shield reunion, which is the only way Reigns will be cheered now. While I'd have preferred having the 4 Horsewomen together on the same show, now there's two on each, with Charlotte joining Becky Lynch on Smackdown. However, the fans have wanted the Shield to reform, and three years after Rollins' Benedict Arnold routine, they will get their wish.
For Miz: Putting him with fresh opponents would be nice, but the problem I had is that Miz essentially ran away from a feud on Smackdown with Shinsuke Nakamura. The King of Strong Style's debut on April 4 had people losing their minds. Miz showing up on Raw as Cena sends the wrong message, insofar as Cena is concerned, because you'll have marks thinking Cena will eventually return to the red brand himself, knowing that old foe Kurt Angle is the new GM. And how long will Angle, a face GM for now, put up with Miz's nonsense? Like, Halloween is six months away, but try telling that to Miz & Maryse.
Personally, I'd like to see Maryse get squashed by Nia Jax, but, again, that's just me.
Consider the immediate Raw future for one Michael Mizanin. If he doesn't screw Ambrose out of the IC title, say, at Payback, on April 30, and he shouldn't, I can see him being fed to Reigns & Rollins, while Maryse gets back into the swing of things herself, aligned with that other brat, Alexa Bliss, against old foe Mickie James. Oh, there's a story right there, since Alexa's self-serving 'tude is similar to that of Miz himself. Were it not for Maryse, Alexa might be at Miz's side, since Eva Marie has decided she's not coming back. They do deserve each other.
If getting planted with a Dirty Deeds DDT didn't convince Miz the joke has been played out, it will only prove that he left his brains behind on Smackdown. He's writing his own ticket, but someone should tell him to turn the page. Now.
