7 Superstars Who Deserve The Miz Participation Award
On Smackdown Live this week, The Miz, as ever, was on fire. Delivering a passionate and goading promo on everyone’s favourite Superstar led in-ring talk show, Miz TV, The Awesome One unveiled WWE’s latest trophy… The Miz Participation Award. Dean Ambrose was the inaugural recipient of the beautiful, framed accolade for his part in the brutal TLC match with AJ Styles at the TLC PPV. However, The Lunatic Fringe was less than pleased with the distinction, despite being a deserved awardee. Presumably, The Miz Participation Award has a long and distinguished future ahead which could rival The Slammys, the PWI 500 and even the WWE World Heavyweight Championship’s longevity. Ambrose was extremely lucky to have won the award this week, as competition is incredibly fierce. A whole host of current Superstars could have had a claim on the title, so let’s take a peak at who the former Shield member pipped to the post.
Titus O’Neil
The build up to the Tussle In Texas with Mark Henry on Smackdown was strangely prevalent, yet WWE pulled one of their favourite tricks. With a bunch of segments and hype from the announcers, the match lasted all of 6 seconds. 3 for Henry to hit the World’s Strongest Slam, and 3 for the pin fall. Poor Titus. He may be the Universe’s Best Ever Parent or whatever, but that’s not the only award he can lay claim to any more.
The Ascension
Having been dominant NXT Tag Champions, the painted barbarians have been somewhat of an afterthought since debuting on the main roster. Their frequent and bold claim to be the best tag team in history in some questionable promos didn’t exactly endear them to the WWE Universe. However, their success on the yellow brand suggests there’s a place for them somewhere. To their credit, they’ve stuck around, and they certainly deserve the Miz Participation Award purely based on consistency. The Miz accompanied Ambrose’s prize giving with the quote, “You may not have won, but you tried.” The Ascension haven’t won a tag match on their own on the main roster since September 8th. September 8th, 2015. Give them the award, immediately.
Naomi
Naomi has taken to Twitter this week to complain about her lack of a spot in the WWE. And she’s got a point. Since evolving from the Funkadactyl gimmick and dropping botch queen Cameron, Naomi has been a solid mainstay in the Women’s Division without ever actually being given anything meaty. Other than a brief flirtation with the Diva’s Title during Nikki Bella’s reign, the talented athlete has somehow been kept from any storyline other than “Oh, isn’t she sometimes on Total Divas?” Turning heel as part of Team BAD did nothing for her, and even the awesome new blacklit entrance hasn’t turned the right heads. No other female Superstar has a stronger claim on the Miz Participation Award, partly because Rosa Mendes and Tamina don’t even bother to participate.
Erick Rowan
Randy Orton has been in the Wyatt Family for a only month and has already claimed tag team gold alongside leader, Bray. With the announcement that Luke Harper is also champion under the Freebird Rule, Erick Rowan becomes the least successful member of the Family, and screw it, that even includes Braun Strowman. His creepy mask work was a valued commodity in evoking an eerie quality in Bray’s litter of lunatics, but sadly his injuries keep striking at exactly the wrong time. Still, despite Orton laughing his ass off backstage while clutching his new championship belt, Rowan’s sickeningly ginger beard will never be forgotten.
Oney Lorcan
While the little known Lorcan doesn’t deserve the illustrious MPA just yet, he will do. He’s soon to compete in the Number One Contender Tournament for the NXT Championship, and if there was one person to make up numbers in the brackets, it’s this guy. You could potentially justify every other man in the tournament coming out on top, which belies his epithet of The Manliest Man. How he hasn’t been teamed with Drew Gulak in the Cruiserweight Division is baffling. They’re essentially the same person.
David Otunga
Michael Cole may irritate many in the commentary booth, but he’s a veteran. JBL still has nostalgia on his side, along with the odd outrageous insult or stat. Mauro Ranello is the knowledgable play by play guy. Corey Graves is the hungry antagonist. Even Byron Saxton is the enthused pin cushion. David Otunga is there. That’s it. That’s all he is. There. He participates and adds literally nothing. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Z, Z, Z. Zzz.
The Entire Cruiserweight Division
As incredible as the Cruiserweight Classic was, the phenomenon just hasn’t transferred to Raw. 205 Live is abundant proof, as WWE are seemingly already attempting to reinject energy back into the division by giving it it’s own show. It’s only a matter of time before the roster is shunted off or Raw, which is a shame. Rather than expending time and money on an entirely new hour of content, they could’ve done the exact same thing on Monday nights with a little bit of backstory, character building and mic time. Thanks for coming guys, your participation was greatly appreciated. By some.
