WrestleTalk Roundtable: Who’s Better as WWE IC Champ: The Miz or Seth Rollins?
Dylan Kapisky
Comparing these two reigns is difficult because The Miz made the title feel important through his work on the mic. But therein lies my problem with his recent reigns. The only time the championship felt relevant was when he rattled on about it during his ‘Miz TV’ segments. But when he was away from the screen, few noticed the belt was missing. His defenses weren’t anything to write home about either. For one, he seldom defended it on a pay-per-view in his more recent runs. Before WrestleMania 34, despite becoming synonymous with the belt, The Miz hadn’t defended the championship at a ‘Big 4’ show since Survivor Series2016. In that gap, he was the champion at SummerSlam 2017 (6-man tag on the pre-show), Survivor Series 2017 (he lost a non-title Champion vs Champion match to Baron Corbin), and Royal Rumble 2018 (in the titular match). The title was even held off ‘B shows’ like Elimination Chamber and TLC. If the Intercontinental Championship was as relevant as The Miz claimed it was, the company wouldn’t have neglected it on so many occasions.
Compare that kind of reign with the one Rollins is currently on. Instead of telling everybody how important the championship is, Rollins is going out there and proving it. He even started his run on a high, winning the championship in my personal favorite match from WrestleMania 34. While he did cut a promo shortly after about the importance of the title, he quickly shifted to making the championship a focal point of every show he was on, rather than just the segments he was in. He did this through amazing title defenses on Raw against Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, and even dragged a good match out of Mojo Rawley. In addition, he’s had excellent showings defending the title at Greatest Royal Rumble and Backlash. What better way to get wrestling fans invested in a championship than to have incredible wrestling matches for it, week in and week out? It’s worked on me, as I’m now looking forward to everything involving the Intercontinental Title. Also, and this is a small detail, but Rollins hasn’t even been in a qualifying match for Money in the Bank. This lack of desire to chase the Universal Championship shows how much the IC Title means to Rollins. In contrast, Miz was in the Elimination Chamber and Royal Rumble matches, where the winner would earn a Universal or WWE Championship opportunity.
This is not to discredit Miz, as his run with the championship after WrestleMania 32 did wonders for the title. However, in recent times, his reigns have felt empty. Therefore, I believe Seth Rollins is a better representative for the Intercontinental Championship.
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