Do you smarks want the good news, or the bad news?
The good news is that MTV reality show star and scourge of the internet wrestling community (IWC), Mike "The Miz" Mizanin will not be wrestling at SummerSlam, either in his role of perennial #1 contender to the Intercontinental champion or any other capacity.
The bad news? WWE is bringing a concept they last used in 2011 when Miz main evented WrestleMania 27 back, and the Awesome One will host the second biggest pay-per-view (PPV) of the year on August 18th from Los Angeles, CA.
Turning off the snark for a second, this is an interesting move for the company and a big sign of how they view Miz going forward. I don't always love it, but he's fine in his role as Raw and Smackdown's dedicated talk show host, as we saw last night in his interview with Paul Heyman (most of his best work has come opposite Brock Lesnar's advocate...hmmmm). But that's in small doses. This probably means a lot more screen and microphone time, and I don't know if that's "really" gonna work.
It does seem to indicate that the powers-that-be view him as more "entertainer" than "sports entertainer", at least for the time being. The announcement on their website refers to him as "the host of WWE's must-see talk show, MizTV" before they mention his credential as a former WWE champion. No matter, this is not an assignment that would mean they're trying to hide the star of Lifetime's upcoming Christmas Bounty.
Even if not many of them are so-called "smart" fans, Miz has his supporters among the WWE Universe. And he certainly has them backstage. He may not be selling out arenas or popping huge buyrates, but his unique résumé draws attention from the entertainment media and he never embarrasses the company while out there promoting the company.
So, like it or not haters, the Miz is the master of ceremonies for the PPV headlined by John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan.
Maybe he can bring his fiancé, Maryse?