It’s been roughly three weeks since the last time I was able to post a significant piece on here (you can thank my [expletive deleted] Economics professor for that), but I doubt I could have picked a better time to make a come back.

The internet wrestling community (IWC) is on fire right now after watching on of the more disappointing pay-per view (PPV) events the WWE has put on in the last decade. I am torn all together on the event, however I think the biggest sticking point for me (and most of you) is WWE Creative’s decision to book Mike "The Miz" to win the 20 19-man, Battleground battle royal for the Intercontinental Championship.

I have made it extremely clear about my desire to see the Intercontinental Championship be risen to the high level it used to be at in the 80s and 90s. I wish that it was the championship that is meant for the best worker (and very probably) the next up-and-coming man in line for that esteemed run with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

However, over the last year (since SummerSlam 2013) the WWE has had four Intercontinental champions. Curtis Axel, who is devoid of a legit character; Big E, a character (and talent) who looked like he had all the potential in the world but was booked like shit; Bad News Barrett, who looked like the star he was always supposed to be during his run but was Swaggered out of action right before Money in the Bank last month. And now, we have The Miz, a three-time Intercontinental Champion who has been out of action for a few months before his appearance on Raw a few weeks back.

I don’t hate Miz. I am not like the majority of the fans here (and on some of the lesser wrestling sites out there) who inherently hate the guy. I think he’d be better served as the uber douchebag heel he’s working as now. I know he’d be amazing as a heel manager, something that we need a lot more of in our current WWE landscape. Overall, I have no problem with Mike "The Miz" being part of the WWE right now.

Here’s the problem with everything: This battle royal had the potential (very much like a potential WWE WHC Tournament pre-Money in the Bank) to really infuse the current product. More over, the WWE had a chance to really raise the Intercontinental Championship.

We know that none of the current big stars (John Cena, Randy Orton, Undertaker, Kane, Triple H, Brock Lesnar, etc.) or the young guns who are poised to take the mantle from the aforementioned stars (Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins or Bray Wyatt) are going to be booked to win the title. At least not currently. For that matter, Reigns is likely to be one of the only WWE WHC (or WWE Champions) to not win a singles title before he wins the big prize (Lesnar and The Undertaker are the only people I can think of who have that distinction).

Anyways, the point is, you have a completely blank canvas right now in terms of the mid-card. You don’t have a superstar you have to give the IC Championship to now in order to make them before they head into the main event scene (sort of like Orton and Jericho before him and The Rock before that). Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins are embroiled in their own bloodfeud that would likely end until after Night of Champions, so they aren’t urgently awaiting said championship. Bray Wyatt will likely join Taker, Lesnar and Reigns on the list mentioned above. That really leaves the championship blank.

You have the opportunity to make someone right now. Someone who can be a staple to your mid-card for the next few years; someone who could be the gatekeeper to the main-event scene. I had thought that person would be Big E. Langston, especially when considering his getting the John Cena Stamp of Approval and with all the latest controversy around the WWE not having diversity. But, alas, that was not to be as he has completely disappeared into the mist.

This 20-man battle royal, to be frank, was a lame idea. It was lazy. A 16-man or 32-man tournament over the last months-worth of lame Raw and Smackdown episodes would have been a better solution. You could have had the two semi-final matches and the final match take place tonight, with say Cesaro, Bo Dallas, Dolph Ziggler and Big E. making up the final four. Then you could have not even wasted time on tonight’s PPV with certain wastes of time (Hello, Adam Rose/Fandango, 20 19-Man battle royal and Cameron/Naomi).

However, if they were as hell bent on having a alliterative gimmick match tonight, they should have booked the same match, except with Bo Dallas last eliminating either Dolph Ziggler (if you want him to be a heel) or The Miz (if you want him to be a face). He has been built up as being a chicken-shit heel, and the kind who would be crazy enough to BO-Lieve that him ducking the fuck out for a hot minute and then coming up from the back and sucker-punching his way to a win is worth celebrating. That action alone would get him over as hell.

Instead, you shoehorn this guy into a position he doesn’t deserve. Granted, I may not be popular for saying this, but: The Miz doesn’t deserve to be the winner of this battle royal, not because he’s someone who isn’t good or is someone who cant be a solid mid-card heel, but because he just came back. I want more time to foster heat for his current iteration (the wannabe Rock/Dave Bautista movie star gimmick), making him the winner of a battle royal with characters we have infinitely more feeling for is a bad booking decision.

The best course of action would have been (assuming the battle royal was a must): 1) Bo Dallas winning in the same exact way, 2) Cesaro winning and then facing Sheamus in the Unification Match we wanted in fucking February, 3) Sheamus wins, gives us the Unification we’ve wanted, and then jobs to someone (preferably Rusev), 4) Big E wins, gets back on track, maybe enters a program with Cesaro, 5) Ryback wins, gets some solid heat. The Miz winning would have been on the low end of the best possible outcomes for the WWE going forward.

Overall, the PPV disappointed. The Wyatts should have beaten the Usos. Swagger should have been decimated, not nearly a winner. Rollins and Ambrose should have still had the same thing happen today, except they shouldn’t have had a match scheduled. AJ/Paige needed a emphatic heel turn on one side or the other. Jericho and Bray disappointed, and I fear that a loss at SummerSlam spells the end of Bray as a legit heel threat going forward.

However, the biggest dagger in tonight’s event is the missed opportunity on the Intercontinental Championship.

You need to build blood feuds, you need to build storylines that will garner future subscriptions, will keep the fans and stockholders alike off your back, but instead you do this lazy match that ends up exceeding expectations only to have the wrong ending booked? That’s not going to help things going forward.

Is the Miz someone worth getting more of? Sure. Is he an person who I want as the leader of the mid-card? Fuck no. He can barely get a reaction, let alone get over to the level a champion has to be in order to merit keeping the gold on him/her/them.