Friday, May 27, 2011

Card Position and Enjoyment

So what if Miz isn't programmed against Orton all the time?
Photo Credit: WWE.com
I saw this on the Wrestling Theory blog the other day:
if a wrestler gets “demoted” to the midcard, then the shit’s okay. It’s okay. That guy will still be on your television. He will still wrestle. It’s fine, for god’s sake.
Pretty bold words for a guy on the Internet. For the longest time, many folks on the Web live and died by how high up on the card their favorite guys are. The thing is, how warranted is the concern? Again, it's well-established that what we as fans care about and what wrestlers care about sometimes are far different. We cry for CM Punk and Chris Jericho, but in those situations where we lament, they're celebrating because hey, they went out and did their jobs excellently.

The latest example, which is probably what elicited this post from WT, is The Miz's latest issue with his pupil, Alex Riley. Many people celebrated it as an entertaining segment, but there are those who are bemoaning this as a "demotion" for Miz, where he now will not be in the main event. Okay, while that may be the case, why should I care? The only reason is if it leads to Miz not being on camera, and I'm not talking "on camera as much as he was during the Cena feud", but I'm talking more a TNA-style "here one week, gone the next two" style of building an angle. If a demotion in card position means I get deprived of Miz, then I'm pissed.

However, what makes anyone think that the WWE is going to suddenly not have Miz on camera? I mean, does Miz being on screen, cutting promos and wrestling matches really matter if he's doing against Cena or Riley? The answer is no, really, unless it bothers you on a metaphysical level that he's not in the tippy-top feud. If that's the case, then again, I wonder why you're a fan. Wrestling is supposed to be an escape from the every day trappings of BS politics and such. It's one thing to hate on a segment because it's unentertaining, but if is enjoyable, then why look for a reason to hate it?

The truth is, The Miz, as well as CM Punk, as well as Jericho all have major job security and they're all locks to be on camera (in Jericho's case, if/when he returns), doing entertaining things. If it's against Cena and it's entertaining, then great. If it's against Riley, great again. Evan Bourne, Daniel Bryan, Sin Cara, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase... hell, even if it's against the Great fucking Khali and they somehow manage to get an entertaining segment out of him, then it's gravy too.

If a wrestler getting "demoted" means you see less of him, then there's a reason to get up in arms, but clearly, after a 180+ day title reign, countless pimping and exposure (to the point of overexposure to some), The Miz is not getting knocked down the card to the point where you're lucky if you see him on Superstars. He's a part of the big show, and will be for as long as the WWE will have him and vice versa.

Besides, with the way Miz has been booked against Cena, why would anyone want to see that kind of program continue? Then again, that's another post for another... oh wait, I already wrote about that this week. Seriously, I bet if you asked Miz what he thought about the last six or seven months he's had, he won't tell you that he's pissed because of the way he's been booked. He won't tell you he's mad at WWE for demoting him to possibly feuding with Alex Riley. No, and you know why? Because he's happy to be part of the WWE, have tons of airtime to go out there and perform and be the best he can be.

So yeah, in closing, I'd have to echo what WT said, and just be cool about everything. Unless Miz's knocking back means he's not going to be on TV, then it's nothing to get pissed off about. Not everyone can have the top program on the brand. Once you start doing that, you end up with TNA, where every program is pushed as the main event, making nothing feel all that important. Just take in the program as a show, and leave the politics to the guys backstage, okay?

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!

No comments:

Post a Comment