The Miz wins Intercontinental title on WWE Raw 1000 ... but why?

When fans voted that they wanted to see Christian defend his Intercontinental championship on the 1,000th episode of WWE Monday Night Raw last night (July 23, 2012), it didn't come with an option of opponent. So it was a surprise when Bret Hart, the special guest ring announcer, informed us The Miz would be the guy getting the shot.

It seemed harmless enough. After all, Miz wasn't much more than a big name jobber before he took a short hiatus to film The Marine 3 recently as its leading man. I'm not sure anyone actually thought he would win the title.

But that's exactly what he did.

This serves to make Christian a transitional champion, getting the belt from Cody Rhodes, who had an extended run with it, just to later pass it off to Miz, who is treating it much like Rhodes did -- like it really, really matters.

What's interesting in all this is Miz hasn't been positioned as a guy anywhere close to winning a championship, not that the Intercontinental title has been held up as some great achievement. Still, if we're to accept the premise given to us, this should be considered a big deal.

Perhaps his role in The Marine 3 has something to do with it?

Either way, Miz is back to being a prominent figure on WWE television, whether we like it or not. I guess that's the question, Cagesiders. Do you like this or not?