So far, I’m not a big fan of the Miro character in AEW. I think Rusev in WWE was mishandled, but I don’t think this is what we missed out on. However, it’s far too early to entirely write this off as a failure. We need to see things develop. Plus, even if this gimmick flops, Miroslav Barnyashev himself could still be a success in AEW with some tweaks.
Assuming this character gets sorted out or he changes his gimmick, I’m still excited to see what Miro has to offer now that he no longer has WWE holding him back from working some different styles and tapping into a new side of himself.
With that in mind, here are the top feuds I’m interested in seeing Miro work with down the line, one way or another, with the assumption his character is going to be tweaked in a way that I’ll connect with it better.
Orange Cassidy
If he’s going to be goofy, at least pair him with another goofy guy. Orange Cassidy quickly became one of my favorites and he’s only gotten better since his debut. At this point after the Chris Jericho feud, I’m sold on having him as a regular guy who has a feud going at any moment. I think he can pull off something more serious and something flat out comedic.
Miro’s coming off more like a joke to me than a serious competitor, but I do think he’s going to tap into that stronger side soon enough. That will make up the bulk of this list. But in the meantime, if he’s going to wear expensive Gucci clothes with Mickey Mouse on it and have that Eminem style going on, I’m looking for other funny people for him to work with and there’s no better option than Cassidy.
Team Taz: Brian Cage and Ricky Starks
Once he taps into the more serious side of himself, I could see him being a member of Team Taz. Likewise, I could see him feuding with Team Taz and having some rock solid matches with both Brian Cage and Ricky Starks.
We’re not sure what his in-ring style is going to be like. If he wrestles in a similar way to what he’s been doing, I think both could work, depending on if he’s a heel or face. With Cage, he’s likely to be the underdog in the fight. With Starks, he could toss him around. Both could be fun to watch and may bring something out of him we haven’t seen.
Lance Archer
When thinking about some brutal slug fests that could happen if he has a more brawler style, my go-to thought is Lance Archer. We haven’t seen those two fight yet and I get the feeling they could have proper chemistry together.
In this scenario, I’d much rather see Miro as the babyface, rather than just some other heel fighting Archer. To me, Archer works best when he’s the clear villain of the scenario and not “the other bad guy” in the match.
I will say, though, that I think any promo exchange between Miro and Jake Roberts will probably be more cringy than awesome. Hopefully, they prove me wrong, but I don’t have a good feeling about that working out well.
Kenny Omega
Let’s see what Miro can do when he’s in the ring with a wrestler like Kenny Omega. We’ve seen Rusev against AJ Styles and such, but that was within the WWE bubble. Now, the gloves are off and he can do more, so it’s time to prove whether he’s a step above what he was presented, or if WWE had him pegged all along.
Kenny Omega is someone I want to see virtually everyone against, even though I feel a bit underwhelmed by his performances in AEW compared to the buzz he had going into it. I’d love for Omega to step it up a notch, too, and maybe Miro’s passion in wanting to prove himself can spark that in Kenny.
Cody
Like Omega, but in a different way of more finesse, Cody will be on practically any “dream match” situation for the AEW roster for the foreseeable future. He’s one of my favorite performers the company has, as I think he bridges the gap between the AEW and WWE styles.
Cody’s matches have more story to them than a lot of the other wrestlers, and I dig that. He isn’t entirely all psychology with no athleticism, but he’s (thankfully) not just a series of spots and clearly choreographed maneuvers that no one sells for as they’re too busy setting up the next superkick suicide dive flip combo thingamajig.
I get the feeling Cody may be the match for Miro at some point down the line. I’d rather wait for it and see them lock up once Miro has his footing, rather than jump to it too quick and have them stumble. But if they wait a little while and Miro figures out what he wants to do and how he wants to present himself, I think he and Cody could tear the house down with Miro as the brute and Cody as the underdog.
Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus
Similar to the Team Taz situation, but on a babyface spectrum, you’ve got a plucky Jungle Boy who can get wrecked by a more powerful Miro, as well as a quick and agile monster who can stand toe-to-toe with him in Luchasaurus.
I don’t think either of these guys could have a longstanding feud with Miro with intricate storyline twists and turns, though. That just doesn’t seem to be Jurassic Express’ forte. But as far as random matches on Dynamite in the future? Sign me up! These two have worked well with so many people that I’m down with them being an almost default introductory opponent for nearly everyone who comes into the company. Jungle Boy gives me 1-2-3 Kid vibes in that so far, he’s proven he can have a good match with damn near everybody.
Chris Jericho
I feel like I could regret saying this once it actually happens, and I might look back on this in hindsight and think I never should have endorsed it, but I’m curious what Chris Jericho can pull out of Miro that even he isn’t aware of, yet.
Jericho has been very hit or miss for me these past few years. Some of his stuff has been absolute gold, while other things have screamed tacky or self-indulgent in a way that isn’t just for his heel character. I don’t think everything in the world is worth trademarking and some of those ideas quickly die because they’re beaten into the ground from day 2.
But when he hits on something, boy does he strike gold.
Like Jericho saw potential in Orange Cassidy, what is it he sees in Miro that he wants to pull out of him? What can he do opposite Miro that brings out a whole new life for The Bulgarian Brute? I’m way more than curious, so let’s pair them up and see if it’s magic or if it’s a total mess.
Darby Allin or Joey Janela
Both of these guys are in the same boat and can be summed up in one sentence: they can get the shit beaten out of them by Miro and make him look good.
I’ve given up on being invested in Janela. By now, he’s yet to captivate me past his performances in No DQ environments, so I think he’s only going to be particularly useful with those matches. To a certain extent, the same is happening with Allin. I don’t think he’s as deep as he’s portraying himself and I enjoy the character most when he’s just doing crazy dangerous stuff that I also don’t feel comfortable endorsing, just for his own health’s sake.
But if Miro is going to steamroll anyone on the roster other than the enhancement talent we see every week on Dark or The Initiative or anyone who isn’t a total jobber, these two are the perfect crash test dummies.
MJF
Maybe there’s more to this version of Miro than meets the eye, at first. Perhaps I’m just not being patient enough to see the nuances of his character. At the very least, though, I know a good moniker battle when I see one, and if we have a guy who constantly says “I’m better than you” and another guy who calls himself “The Best Man”, them’s fightin’ words.
Miro has to be the babyface here, obviously. There’s no way he could stand next to MJF and get booed over him. So this is better reserved for when the crowd can firmly pull a “Rusev Day” type endorsement of Miro by fully getting behind him even while he’s a heelish character. Then, he can stay a jerk, but just be directing it toward an even bigger jerk.
Mr. Brodie Lee
Miro Day as a cult of positivity, of sorts, versus Dark Order’s actual cult? Maybe that’s a thing to explore down the line once Miro is no longer associated with Kip Sabian and has some other partners that can come to his aid.
Miro strikes me as a better partner for a Colt Cabana type than Dark Order, for instance. After watching how funny John Silver and Alex Reynolds are on BTE, too, maybe they can be converted over and be lovable goofballs alongside Miro, as well.
Also, these two are no longer constrained by WWE’s shackles, so that’s tapping into the same curiosities as the Cody and Jericho matches. If they pull off something great, then WWE could learn a lesson about actually pushing people past the imaginary ceiling they give them. If they end up having what would have been a normal Luke Harper vs Rusev match, then we know WWE was right all along. That alone makes it worth seeing inside an AEW ring, but I’m hopefully optimistic it would be better than what we’ve seen before.
Who are you excited to see Miro face in AEW? Tell us your list in the comments below!
