What if The Miz becomes the new leader of the Yes Movement?
As recently as the turn of the year, it would have been hard to imagine The Miz working as one of WWE’s top faces. The transition has happened, though, and perhaps most remarkably of all, fans have begun to cheer Miz on in specific ways that they used to support Daniel Bryan.
Indeed, Miz started using his “it kicks” and other bits of offense as a parody of Bryan, but the fans have started unironically chanting “Yes!” for the A-Lister when he hits these moves. Add in Miz feuding with Shane McMahon, including an underdog face versus politically powerful heel dynamic, and Miz has more face momentum behind than ever before in his career.
What if WWE were to go all the way with this push, essentially casting Miz as a new version of a character much like Daniel Bryan? In other words, what if he were to become the new leader of the Yes Movement? This article takes a look at the possibilities.
#4. Channeling Jerry Lawler
In contrast to Daniel Bryan, whose fast pace and technical style won over hardcore fans, before his charisma tapped into the larger WWE consciousness, The Miz is a different kind of worker. His less complex, more methodical style is largely emblematic of his WWE foundation—never having worked in places like Ring of Honor or New Japan, but rather coming up in the WWE system and growing as a performer before our eyes.
No, Miz is never going to be a Daniel Bryan, but he could emulate a guy like Jerry Lawler, whose promos, charisma, and fire in the ring captured the imagination of his regional audience to elevate him to all time legendary status.
Miz stepping into the role of organic crowd favorite will have less to do with learning new moves and upping his work rate than tapping into the psyche of fans and coming to represent them as a relateable and inspiring character.