Today we will be taking a look back to the May 23rd edition of Monday Night Raw from earlier this year when The Miz fired Alex Riley.
These two men first met on Season 2 of NXT when The Miz was Alex Riley’s pro.
Alex Riley advanced far in the competition with help from The Miz , however he did not win it.
Luckily for him, The Miz saw something deep within Alex Riley and continued to mentor him after Season 2 of NXT was over. In return for the knowledge and help that Riley would be receiving all Miz asked for was the occasional favor; for example being in his corner for every match.
During the time of this apprenticeship that Alex Riley saw what it takes to be a champion both inside and outside of the ring.
He was under the wing of Miz when he was not only the United States Champion but the WWE Champion as well.
It was during those times as they seemed to genuinely like each other, and more importantly they had a mutual respect for one another.
It was also during this time when The Miz went on face John Cena in the main event of Wresltemania 28. It was on the road to Wrestlemania that Riley got his most exposure not only benefiting by standing at his side during confrontations with The Rock but by being in the corner of WWE Champion The Miz at Wrestlemania.
At Extreme Rules Alex Riley was not in the corner of The Miz during his match with John Morrison and John Cena, a match that saw him lose the WWE Championship. The following night on Raw, The Miz failed to regain the championship from Cena in a singles match when he lost by disqualification after hitting Cena with the championship belt, after the belt fell from from the grasp of Alex Riley during a celebration after the victory. Later that month at Over the Limit Miz failed to regain the championship again in an “I Quit” match against John Cena, primarily because of an Alex Riley mistake. This time he had a recording of Cena saying “I Quit” and played it into a microphone signaling the end of the match. However, the ref saw the tape recorder and ordered the match to be restarted immediately.
The following night, The Miz was informed by the Raw General Manager that he will not be getting another WWE Championship match. After learning this The Miz fired Riley, blaming him for not being able to regain the championship, not only was Riley not being in the corner of Miz at Extreme Rules and act of insubordination but it is also a main reason he lost the WWE Championship. Additionally, in rematches with Cena for the title major screw ups by Riley directly led to The Miz not winning the WWE Championship.
This led to Riley attacking his former mentor, sending him crashing into a barricade at ringside and then head first over the announce table.
By doing this Riley proved himself to be ungrateful to The Miz for everything he learned under his toolage and for getting Riley more exposure then most wrestlers receives over the course of a career. Riley rode the coattails of Miz from NXT all the way to the main event of Wrestlemania 28. And how does Riley repay Miz for all that, by attacking him instead of being a mature adult and take his firing like a man.
The images used in this article were retrieved from the bleacher report.