A Good Story, But A Bad WWE Championship Feud
Mia Lopez
Published Mar 28, 2026
Quick Links
The WWE Championship is still the richest prize in professional wrestling today, with it being the number one accomplishment in the world’s biggest wrestling promotion, regardless of how popular the product is, or what the quality has been like. However, there are times in which the WWE has booked the title belt poorly, even with its rich lineage. In 2011, whilst The Miz was the reigning WWE Champion, he underwent a long feud with Jerry Lawler, which stretched for several months. The story itself was good, but the fact that it was for the WWE Championship left a lot of fans scratching their heads.
Jerry Lawler Was Given His First Ever WWE Championship Match
In November of 2010, The Miz cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and sensationally became the WWE Champion, much to the chagrin of fans around that period. At the time, Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole were commentators on Monday Night Raw, playing babyface and heel roles respectively. Cole was a huge supporter and fan of The Miz; however, Lawler criticised the new champion for targeting an injured Randy Orton, implying that his WWE Title win was undeserved. This wasn’t the best genesis for their bad blood, as the whole point of the Money in the Bank contract is to have a title match at any time.
RELATED: Every Wrestler To Hold WWE's Spinner WWE Championship, Ranked
Either way, it looked to be an easy way for The Miz to get some heel heat by berating the commentator, although it was an unexpected twist when Lawler challenged The Miz to a match for the WWE Championship, on his 61st birthday no less. The match was granted, with it set up to be a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match. This was a notable moment, as it marked Lawler’s first ever shot at the WWE Title, which was truly a nice sentiment, especially when it felt as though this was just a one and done type of deal. However, it didn’t end there.
Jerry Lawler Almost Defeated The Miz To Become WWE Champion
WWE decided to kick The Miz’s reign off with him getting constantly bested by a semi-retired 61-year-old commentator, with Lawler coming seconds away from actually dethroning him during their Championship match, with him only coming up short due to interference from Michael Cole. This made Miz look incredibly weak, which was being done anyway with him being booked to lose often, and only ever cheating his way to winning matches.
RELATED: 10 Cringey Jerry Lawler Moments We Completely Forgot About
From there, Lawler remained as an occasional in-ring performer, teaming up in tag team matches to take on The Miz and his protégé Alex Riley in a selection of different bouts. Eventually, a mini-Rumble took place on Raw, with Lawler surprisingly emerging victorious, earning yet another WWE Title match, this time at the Elimination Chamber PPV. He and The Miz had a simple match, with Lawler coming up short. From there, his bad blood with Michael Cole continued, leading to the worst WrestleMania match of all time.
Fans Got Behind Jerry Lawler Vs The Miz, But It Didn’t Benefit Anyone
The issue with The Miz vs Jerry Lawler wasn’t the content of the rivalry, as the fan reactions alone showed just how effective Lawler was an old veteran babyface looking for one last shot at the big one. The narrative of a competitor with so many years in the industry, with many classic feuds over the years, looking to win a prize which has evaded him for so long has, on paper, the potential for a great storyline. However, Lawler was just a little bit too old and washed in the ring to be taken seriously enough as a legitimate world title contender.
RELATED: 10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About The Miz
If it were, say, a midcard championship, then it wouldn’t have been as damaging to the champion or championship, and it could even be argued that Lawler could have had a very short reign with the US Title, for example. However, when it comes to WWE’s top prize, someone at the age of Lawler shouldn’t have been anywhere near the title scene, especially when he was looking superior most of the time over a younger first-time World Champion.
When looking back over The Miz’s reign, he kicked things off with a near-defeat to Lawler, followed up with several cheap wins over Randy Orton and John Morrison, before returning to Lawler, and then he dropped the belt during a feud with John Cena. This was very lackluster even with his strong character and promo work, and his feud with Lawler didn’t do anyone any favors, even if it was told in good faith, with the storyline having a lot of heart and soul to it. It also unfortunately led to the awful Lawler vs Cole feud, which made the entire thing even worse in hindsight.
