Part of me is very sad to see that The Miz isn’t on the same brand as the Intercontinental Championship anymore, as I was hoping we’d see him beat Chris Jericho’s record of most reigns with that belt sometime in 2018.
Despite that being a downer, the window that has opened up with that door closing is that The Miz has to be, hands down, alongside Samoa Joe for the running of top heel on SmackDown.
WWE isn’t going to miss the opportunity to have The A-Lister and Daniel Bryan square off, and I can 100% see a potential title path on SmackDown being AJ Styles dropping it to Samoa Joe, who drops it to Daniel Bryan, who gets screwed over and loses it to The Miz.
For a very long time, The Miz hasn’t fully sniffed that world title picture, despite all of the hard work he does for the company and how he’s proven himself to be one of the most consistently sound performers year-round.
With this move back to SmackDown, he’s a much bigger fish in a smaller pond and it will be even harder not to notice just how good he is, which will prompt rewards in due time.
We may very well see The Miz as one of the headliners of WrestleMania next year, particularly if WWE wishes to have Daniel Bryan get the Royal Rumble win that he was neglected in the past.
This may seem like an oddball pick, considering her status as more of a manager and valet than an in-ring talent, but Zelina Vega has had matches, so it proves WWE isn’t entirely ignoring that side of her as a performer.
At the moment, there is no need for her to be anything but the mouthpiece for Andrade “Cien” Almas—a job she’s fantastic at doing, and is really the major driving force behind El Ídolo’s advancements in the past several months.
For now, SmackDown’s women’s division can make due with Asuka, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Naomi headlining as babyfaces against The IIconics, Carmella, and Absolution while WWE tries to figure out what to do with Lana and eventually, Tamina returns from her injury, along with The Bella Twins factoring in there somewhere.
Without Nikki Cross moving up with SAnitY to get in the way of another NXT push, I can see Vega starting to branch out into competition a few months from now in a way that really starts turning some heads.
It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Vega were to get the SmackDown Women’s Championship before either Billie Kay or Peyton Royce, as it would be difficult to pick which one of those two gets the title while the other looks like a sidekick.
While it might not be the absolute most bankable bet, don’t be too surprised if someone like Asuka takes the title from Carmella and drops it to Vega around Survivor Series or so.
Those are just some musings from me following this year’s Superstar Shake-up and my view of the new rosters, but who are some people you think will take noteworthy strides in their careers now that Raw and SmackDown have been shuffled around?
There are certainly plenty of people to pick from who can have breakout or standout years, so keep the discussion going in the comments section below and chime in on your thoughts!
