Last night on WWE Raw, if you’re a fan of John Cena or Randy Orton, there’s a pretty good chance you’re feeling MIZ-ERABLE today. In a shocking title change during the closing minutes of Raw, The Miz defeated Randy Orton to capture his first WWE Championship. There are many saying “The Era of Awesomeness” has begun. I disagree. The Era of Awesomeness has been well underway for a while now.
Let’s be honest. Who thought the kid from “The Real World” would go on to become WWE Champion? Not many of us. Even after entering the fourth season of “Tough Enough”, the skepticism remained. Yet if you go back & look at Miz’s career before being called up to the main WWE roster, Miz was showing signs of the making of a champion. Trained in UPW & DSW (even becoming the first Deep South Champion), Miz went to OVW & won tag team championship gold there.
[adinserter block=”2″]After a run on SmackDown!, Miz was drafted to WWE’s ECW brand, winning both the WWE & World Tag Team Championships during his stint on the brand with John Morrison. The duo was unarguably the best thing to happen to WWE’s tag team division in a LONG time. With great matches & an entertaining web show entitled “The Dirt Sheet”, many, myself included, were dismayed when the team was broken up in the 2009 Draft, as Miz became a part of the Raw roster. Little did we realize the star of the Miz was about to shine. Miz closed out 2009 as the United States Champion, his first singles championship since becoming a member of Raw.
The wave of success would continue into this year. As United States Champion, Miz teamed with the Big Show & went on to capture the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. Brandishing 3 championships at the same time, Miz was easily “That Guy” of the WWE, yet was catching on with the fans at the same time much like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin & The Rock. He was becoming the heel it was cool to cheer. More & more Miz shirts started appearing on fans & the fans found themselves finishing promos along with him with the catchphrase “I’m the Miz & I’m Awesome”. Winning Raw’s “Money in the Bank” match, it seemed to only be a matter of time before Miz would go on to hold the WWE Title.
[adinserter block=”1″]A 9 year journey came to an end last night & an amazing year for the Miz turned into something truly epic. Randy Orton defeated Nexus leader Wade Barrett in a Survivor Series rematch to retain the WWE Championship, despite an assault by the stable prior to the match. With 5 minutes left in Raw’s broadcast, Miz cashed in the Money in the Bank & defeated Randy Orton, becoming the new WWE Champion. In this calendar year alone, the Miz has been a Raw Grand Slam Title Holder; a 2 time United States Champion, Unified Tag Team Champion, & now the WWE Champion. Not many can claim they’ve accomplished so much in their career, let alone in a calendar year.
A big congratulations to Mike “The Miz” Mizanin. Last night, he proved to all of us that if you have a dream, it can be achieved through hard work & dedication. We should all be so lucky. Let the Era of Awesome continue into 2011 & beyond!
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Stop nitpicking Darsie lol