MID-Tier Match Reviews: The Miz vs. Jerry Lawler – WWE Elimination Chamber 2011

From time to time I like to review weird matches to see how well they hold up. It’s one thing to review so-called classics to see if they’ve withstood the test of time; it’s another thing to revisit odd and obscure matches that are better suited to random wrestling-related trivia and see if they were any good as well. And few matches have such an overwhelming “random trivia” air about them on paper as the singles match between The Miz and Jerry Lawler.

These two men couldn’t’ve come from more opposite sides even if they lived at the North and South Poles, respectively. Lawler was an unofficial wrestling GOD among his peers and successors, so much so that criticizing him or saying anything bad about him was discouraged or seen to be in poor taste. On the opposite side of things was The Miz, an “actor” turned wrestler who, in my opinion, deserves some kind of documentary/HBO special about his life and accomplishments considering how he entered this business from such a different background, had so much hate from the beginning that most people wrote him off as dead on arrival, and yet is still thriving over twenty years after his formal professional debut.

Two men who have achieved wider respect for two similar yet different reasons: one for being an exemplary pioneer of American wrestling, the other for surviving in a cut-throat industry hostile to outsiders WAY longer than anyone ever expected. And when these two men clashed it was an…interesting…situation, to be sure.

The Story

The Miz was not Jerry Lawler’s primary focus around this time; instead, that person was Michael Cole. Cole, who was going full speed ahead with his obnoxious heel commentator gimmick, was severely at odds with Lawler, and aligned himself with other people that didn’t particularly like Lawler for one reason or another. Miz was one such a person, who didn’t appreciate the way Lawler called his matches. Miz and Lawler had wrestled each other before in late 2010 in a match that Miz won but this only added fuel to the fire.

The feud between Cole and Lawler continued with both commentators taking clear sides in various feuds and angles. Then when Miz won the WWE Championship he began to gloat over anyone that doubted his ability to reach the top of the mountain (read: everyone). Miz then set his sights on Lawler once again and pitifully offered him a shot at the WWE Championship, the one world title that Lawler had never won (though when you’ve won OVER ONE HUNDRED singles championships/world championships, one company’s top title seems like a drop in the ocean, no?).

Apparently this was enough for Lawler to enter a #1 Contender’s match which also featured the likes of CM Punk, John Cena, King Sheamus, Jon Morrison, R-Truth, and Randy Orton, and emerge victorious. Miz responded to Lawler’s win with a marked lack of concern: from his point of view Lawler was a washed-up old man whose best days were long gone. But it was still unwise to count Lawler out, especially since he had made a career out of getting bloodied and beaten to the point of near unconsciousness and still making a full comeback.

The Match

This took place on February 20, 2011. It was rated ***1/2 out of five by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.

This is for Miz’s WWE Championship. They lock-up and Lawler gets a schoolboy cover for a quick two-count. Miz doesn’t sell this and lands some forearm clubs. Lawler counters a clothesline with a backslide for another two-count, and then an inside cradle for the same. Miz knocks Lawler down with a shoulderblock and then both men trade hiptoss attempts until Lawler drops Miz with a clothesline for yet another near-fall.

Lawler lands a shoulderblock of his own and follows with a flying crossbody for another two-count. Lawler lands a corner ten-punch combo and then clotheslines Miz out of the ring. Miz’s second Alex Riley gets in Lawler’s face long enough for Miz to drive Lawler face-first into a post. Miz struggles to shove Lawler back into the ring, leading to the presumption that Lawler’s out cold. Mix takes advantage of this, not by rushing for a pin, but by hitting a Nakamura-style apron running kneelift. Well ok, then. He does cover seconds later but only gets a two-count.

Miz chokes Lawler on the ropes and distracts the ref long enough for Riley to get a cheap-shot in for another neat-fall for Miz. Lawler endures a barrage of kicks and stomps and makes a false comeback as Miz counters a corner whip and hits a big running clothesline. Miz goes to the top rope but Lawler cuts him off. Lawler land a superplex but only gets two. A strike exchange ends with Lawler landing some dropkicks and a big back body drop. A fist drop gets Lawler another two-count. Lawler blocks a slam and bounces off the ropes but Riley trips him up, which leads to the referee ejecting Riley from ringside to a big pop.

Frustrated, Miz rushes a corner but misses and hits the post shoulder-first. Lawler rolls him up again but gets two once more. Miz blocks a piledriver and a big boot and kicks Lawler down himself. Miz gets two but then Lawler counters with a cover of his own for two as well. Lawler ducks down against the ropes to send Miz flying to the floor. Michael Cole on commentary gets up and in Lawler’s face which distracts Lawler long enough for Miz to attack him from behind.

Mix and Lawler bash each other into various ringside objects until Lawler launches Miz onto Cole. Huge pop. Lawler tosses Miz into the ring and lands a top-rope fist drop for another close call. Miz tries to capitalize on a ref distraction and teases his finish but Lawler counters. Miz tries his backbreaker/neckbreaker combo but Lawler counters the second half and lands a DDT. The crowd is on their feet. Lawler just might win the WWE Championship for the first time in his 40-plus-year career. Lawler lands his finisher, the second-rope fist drop. One, two, and – Miz gets his foot on the rope.

Lawler teases a piledriver but Miz counters. Lawler answers with a sunset flip attempt. Miz does the Bret/Bulldog counter. Lawler counters that for a two-count. Miz kicks Lawler’s head as hard as he can. That’s followed by the Skull Crushing Finale. One, two, three! Miz retains!

Winner and STILL WWE Champion after 12:10: The Miz

Post-match, Michael Cole celebrates with Miz in the ring. After Miz disappears backstage, Lawler gets a moment to bask in the fans’ cheers as they give him a rousing ovation despite his loss.

Review

I had minimal expectations going into this but my god did these guys surpass them. Lawler was 61 years old, a veteran of over four decades’ worth of wrestling, and didn’t even break a sweat. Yes, he largely played the hits and moved slowly compared to his younger counterparts. And yes, Miz was never a MOVEZ guy but more of a gimmick/personality guy whose facials, body language, and other movements told more of a story than his in-ring repertoire. But damn if these guys didn’t tell a good story in the ring. Not great, excellent, or industry-shaking by any means, but still solid and impressive given the many limitations they were forced to work with. This was a throwback to Lawler’s time but with much more subdued heel heat. It had middling expectations and had an all but foregone conclusion yet it could’ve been even better had Miz gone a step further in heeling it up.

Though I’m not usually one to encourage wrestlers to be cartoony, this match was begging for Miz to be as much of a cheap and despicable heel as possible. He knew he was winning and he knew that most people expected him to win. Yet he could’ve taken this audience on an even better journey had he done more to give Lawler a GENUINE false hope only to pull the rug from under him at the last moment. The way the match happened kept things obvious and predictable: Lawler’s many two-counts were empty and lacking in believability. To make up for this, Miz should’ve given Lawler more and hammed it up while in control to really get the crowd to hate him and to give Lawler something more substantial to sink his teeth into.

Though the match was structured similarly to Lawler’s 1970s and 1980s classics, it didn’t have that same complete old school vibe. Miz was, in some ways, “too modern” for Lawler: too sleek and too sanitized to really play a convincing and effective foil. Maybe this came from the environment: this was PG WWE firing on all cylinders so blood was forbidden and anything resembling legitimate hostility was likewise verboten. That environment worked to Miz’s advantage because he exceled at being a cheap heel but it in some ways crippled Lawler because he exceled at coming back against insurmountable odds after being left a battered and bloody mess. Even if you take into account Lawler’s age, he barely so much as broke a sweat here. And while that’s certainly praiseworthy, it also took away from his underdog position and his attempt at a babyface comeback.

Still, the match was fine for what it was. Lawler played the hits and Miz worked around him and within his limitations as any skilled wrestler should. He used every trick he had save landing low blows and kept the crowd invested in the match in spite of hits foregone conclusion. Lawler had a few close calls that came across as genuine surprises, but that worked mostly because Lawler had a classical wrestler’s conditioning and Miz shined as the sniveling heel. These two had great chemistry and the match was saved by both guys doing what they do best and not taking any unnecessary risks.

Final Rating: ***1/4

This match left me wanting more; not as in a rematch but more out of this particular contest. The Miz has proven himself to be talented enough to compensate for his lack of traditional background and unconventional entry into the wrestling business with enough character knowledge and storytelling savvy to really come across as a dick on TV yet he left a lot on the table by not going all the way with Lawler here. This is a match in which he could’ve made a statement ahead of his upcoming WrestleMania match with John Cena by pounding a beloved legend into oblivion and making people want to shell out extra money to see him get his ass kicked by the company’s resident superhero. Instead, it was MID. Not good, not outwardly bad, just passable. Sometimes such a middle-of-the-road match is necessary, but in this case with the WrestleMania main-event being in close proximity these guys should’ve put in a little bit of extra work to make this into more than just a passable performance.

Thanks for reading.