Miro’s Journey Was Always To The Top Of AEW

When Rusev left WWE, most fans expected him to sign with All Elite Wrestling and become a dominant force within the company. That isn’t what happened.

In what might have been the least-likely landing spot for Rusev, he showed up as the surprise best man for Kip Sabian’s wedding. Known now as the Best Man Miro, he ended up teaming with Sabian in his feud with The Best Friends.

Fans were not amused.

The biggest complaint about Rusev in WWE was that the company misused him. He started off on fire, racking up an undefeated streak and then getting a big WrestleMania match against John Cena. He even got a massive tank to ride to the ring in and had Lana as his mouthpiece. The sky was the limit. Cena beat Rusev cleanly, and he dropped like a rock in WWE’s eyes.

WWE put him in The League of Nations, a stable where the sole purpose was to put over Roman Reigns. After this, the worst was yet to come. He got over with Rusev Day and WWE buried him again, trying to kill the momentum he naturally gained with the fans. WWE booked him in an angle where Lana left him to marry Bobby Lashley. The feud saw Rusev and Lashley battling for Lana’s love with plenty of dumb sketches along the way.

When Rusev left WWE, it seemed like the best thing in the world for him.

He showed up in AEW as Kip Sabian’s tag team partner, and it was not as embarrassing as the Lashley feud, but it wasn’t anything for his fans to be happy about.

However, there was a method to AEW’s madness.

If AEW brought in Rusev and had him immediately become a massive star and win the TNT Championship, fans would have claimed they were just pushing a WWE star to the title over homegrown talent.

This is a problem that AEW faces when they bring in anyone. Half the fans will want to see this formerly under-used wrestler pushed to the moon and the other half will insult AEW for pushing him as soon as he comes over from WWE.

It is a no-win situation.

However, AEW played it slowly with Miro. While fans might not like the angle with Sabian, Miro didn’t look like a mid-card wrestler. In his tag team with Sabian, they won their first five matches before finally losing to Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy. During this time, Miro was also 4-0 as a singles competitor with sins over Trent, Sonny Kiss, Chuck Taylor, and Fuego Del Sol.

After the tag team loss, Miro destroyed Kip Sabian and ended their partnership. He then won two matches on AEW Dark before getting his first title match, where he beat Darby Allin for the TNT Championship on May 12 on AEW Dynamite.

Since then, Miro has won his first four TNT title defenses, including a big win over Lance Archer. Fans who wanted to see Miro get pushed as a monster have gotten their wish.

If AEW had pushed him out of the gate as a monster, fans would have complained. Fans complained anyway when they didn’t, but this was a temporary thing.

Seven months after Rusev signed with AEW and became Miro, he is the monster star fans wanted to see in WWE. He is not in a silly gimmick and has developed an ego that matches his size and power.

I've been blessed with the TNT title, my hot wife, my power, and now my own action figure. I truly am God's Favorite Champion #AEWUnmatched pic.twitter.com/Gf7m6RUA3D

— Miro (@ToBeMiro) July 16, 2021

With AEW touring again, fans showed how much they love Miro as the monster heel, and AEW has to be credited for not rushing things and letting this build from the bottom up.

Miro is who we thought he was. It just took a little time for him to get there in AEW.