Post by Piccolo on Mar 30, 2010 6:11:13 GMT -5
Miz has a quality that Shawn had, which he displayed that night when he did the promo about his reception (or lack thereof) into the WWE locker room. He can take pieces of his life and his personality and open them up to the audience, he can talk passionately about them and make me care about him and why he's doing what he's doing. He doesn't do it often, but when he does, he's very, very good at it. He's also very expressive (CM Punk is the current master of expressiveness, but Miz is terrific at it, too), and that was one of Shawn's most important qualities in terms of connecting you emotionally to his storylines.
That being said, wrestling is much more scripted today, and Miz seems like a much nicer guy than Shawn was at his age. Like Jericho, the heel is always going to be a role he plays, no matter how well he does it, and he's not going to flay himself open for the crowd as much as Shawn did. So he may never get to the point of being that open book that Shawn talked about last night. But he has the potential to make the crowd know him the way they knew Shawn, I guess is what I'm saying. I can see it, and I hope he gets to tap into it and exploit it more over the years.
The problem is, though, Shawn wasn't just one or two excellent qualities. Shawn had the stuff I talked above... and then he was a superb athlete on top of it. He was an open book to the crowd, and then he was untouchable in the ring. I think Miz has the emotional/mic/mental components, and will be huge in his own right. But until someone comes along who has those tools as well as the stellar ring work, there's not going to be another Shawn Michaels. Being the total package is what made him truly special, and I don't think we're likely to see his caliber again any time soon. I hope we do, for the sake of the business, but I'm not holding my breath.
That being said, wrestling is much more scripted today, and Miz seems like a much nicer guy than Shawn was at his age. Like Jericho, the heel is always going to be a role he plays, no matter how well he does it, and he's not going to flay himself open for the crowd as much as Shawn did. So he may never get to the point of being that open book that Shawn talked about last night. But he has the potential to make the crowd know him the way they knew Shawn, I guess is what I'm saying. I can see it, and I hope he gets to tap into it and exploit it more over the years.
The problem is, though, Shawn wasn't just one or two excellent qualities. Shawn had the stuff I talked above... and then he was a superb athlete on top of it. He was an open book to the crowd, and then he was untouchable in the ring. I think Miz has the emotional/mic/mental components, and will be huge in his own right. But until someone comes along who has those tools as well as the stellar ring work, there's not going to be another Shawn Michaels. Being the total package is what made him truly special, and I don't think we're likely to see his caliber again any time soon. I hope we do, for the sake of the business, but I'm not holding my breath.