Michael Gregory Mizanin (born October 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, actor and media personality currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name The Miz.
Mizanin first gained fame as a reality television participant. He was a cast member on MTV's The Real World: Back to New York in 2001 and subsequently appeared in its spinoff series, Real World/Road Rules Challenge from 2002 to 2005, where he reached the finals in The Gauntlet and The Inferno while winning Battle of the Seasons and The Inferno II. Furthermore, he reached the final in Battle of the Network Reality Stars and won the sixth season of Fear Factor in 2006. After becoming the runner-up in the fourth season of Tough Enough and subsequently launching his WWE career, Mizanin appeared on Diva Search, Total Divas and Tough Enough. He and his wife Maryse will also star in their own reality show titled Miz & Mrs. that will premiere in 2018. He has also come to star in several films produced by WWE Studios, portraying Jake Carter in The Marine 3: Homefront, The Marine 4: Moving Target and The Marine 5: Battleground as well as starring in Christmas Bounty and Santa's Little Helper.
After being trained at Deep South Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling, he was promoted to the main roster in 2006. In the main roster, The Miz has won the WWE Championship once, the 2010 Raw Money in the Bank ladder match as well as the Intercontinental Championship eight times, being the second longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion in WWE history by combined days behind Pedro Morales. He is also a former two-time United States Champion and a former six-time world tag team champion (two World Tag Team and four WWE Tag Team), which made him the 25th Triple Crown Champion in company history and the 14th Grand Slam Champion. The Miz was ranked number one on Pro Wrestling Illustrated's (PWI) annual PWI 500 list for 2011.
Video The Miz
Early life
Michael Gregory Mizanin was born on October 8, 1980 in Parma, Ohio, where he was raised. His parents are divorced; he has a step-father and two half-siblings. He attended Normandy High School and was the captain of its basketball and cross country teams. He also participated in swimming, was a member of the student government and edited the yearbook. He then attended Miami University, where he was a member of the Theta Chi fraternity and studied business at the Richard T. Farmer School of Business before he was cast as a member of The Real World (2001).
Maps The Miz
Television career
Mizanin dropped out of college, where he was pursuing a degree in business, in order to appear on the 10th season of MTV's reality television program The Real World in 2001. He went on to appear in multiple seasons of its spin-off series, Real World/Road Rules Challenge, along with contestants from both Road Rules and The Real World, including Battle of the Seasons, The Gauntlet, The Inferno, Battle of the Sexes 2 and The Inferno 2. Except for Battle of the Sexes 2, Mizanin made it to the end of all the Challenges on which he competed and won both Battle of the Seasons and The Inferno 2.
After a seven-year-long absence from The Real World/Road Rules Challenge, Mizanin returned to the reality show on April 4, 2012 as the host of The Battle of the Exes season finale event and reunion special. It marked the first time The Miz appeared on the series since becoming a main event WWE Superstar.
It was during an episode of The Real World that Mizanin first displayed an alter ego known as The Miz. In contrast to Mizanin's usually placid demeanor, The Miz was angry, combative and headstrong. Mizanin later realized that The Miz would make an excellent professional wrestling gimmick.
In 2004, he appeared on the Bravo reality show Battle of the Network Reality Stars, where his team finished second. Mizanin was also a contestant in the "Reality Stars" episode of Fear Factor. His partner was his former girlfriend and castmate, Trishelle Cannatella, and the two won the competition. In April 2007, he appeared on the game show Identity, where he appeared as a stranger, and contestant John Kim correctly identified his identity as a professional wrestler by the odd way he added "Miz-" before most words. In 2008, Mizanin appeared on the Sci Fi reality series Ghost Hunters Live as a guest investigator. In 2009, Mizanin appeared on two episodes of Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, which were both aired on September 29. He appeared on an episode of Destroy Build Destroy on March 3, 2010. On October 5, 2011, Miz starred in an episode of H8R. He also appeared as a guest star in a March 2012 episode of Psych. On March 31, Miz appeared in the first ever Slime Wrestling World Championship at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, losing to Big Show and therefore being thrown into a tub of slime. In 2012, Miz appeared on the Disney XD show Pair of Kings as a guest star. In 2013, Miz along with Francia Raisa were in a movie together called Christmas Bounty.
Professional wrestling career
Ultimate Pro Wrestling (2003-2004)
Pursuing the goal of becoming a professional wrestler, Mizanin joined Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW), where he trained in the Ultimate University. He made his in-ring debut in 2003 as The Miz. During his time with UPW, The Miz competed in UPW's Mat War's tournament, making it to the finals before losing to Tony Stradlin.
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
Tough Enough and developmental territories (2004-2006)
In October 2004, Mike Mizanin entered the fourth season of Tough Enough, a televised competition which awarded the winner a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) contract and US$1,000,000. Despite coming last in an arm wrestling tournament on November 25, Mizanin outlasted six other wrestlers and made it to the final round. At Armageddon, Mizanin faced the other remaining entrant, Daniel Puder, in a three-round "Dixie Dogfight" (boxing match). Neither man achieved a knockout, and the contest was awarded to Puder on the basis of crowd reaction. On the December 16 episode of SmackDown!, Puder was announced as the winner of Tough Enough by head trainer Al Snow. Despite losing the Tough Enough contest, Mizanin had piqued the interest of WWE and he was eventually offered a developmental contract.
Mizanin was sent to Deep South Wrestling (DSW) to train under Bill DeMott, relocating to McDonough, Georgia in the process. In July 2005, he wrestled two dark matches for WWE, teaming with former Tough Enough champion Matt Cappotelli to face The Highlanders (Robbie and Rory McAllister). On December 1, Mizanin defeated Mike Knox in the finals of a tournament to determine the inaugural Deep South Heavyweight Champion. He continued his partnership with Matt Cappotelli throughout the second half of 2005 in WWE dark matches and house shows until Cappotelli, nominally of Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), was diagnosed with a brain tumor after an injury at a taping in December 2005.
On January 3, 2006, it was reported that Mizanin had been transferred to OVW. On the January 18, 2006 OVW TV show, Mizanin made his debut as Miz with a Miz TV segment, where he was shown talking backstage. On the January 28 episode of the OVW television show, The Miz wrestled his first singles match against René Duprée, but lost by countout.
At the February 8 TV taping, Miz and Chris Cage captured the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, defeating Chet the Jett and Seth Skyfire. In what was deemed a "disciplinary move", WWE released Cage over the weekend of March 18, making it necessary for Miz and Cage to drop the titles. On March 19, Deuce Shade defeated Miz in a singles contest to win the championship for his team The Untouchables (Deuce Shade and Domino).
Early feuds (2006-2007)
On March 7, WWE's official website featured a video of The Miz stating that he was headed to SmackDown and SmackDown! aired vignettes hyping his debut throughout April. When Mizanin actually attempted to make his debut on the April 21 episode of SmackDown!, he was in storyline banned from entering the arena by network executive Palmer Cannon who told him that he had been "cancelled" before having security escort him from the premises.
The Miz debuted as SmackDown!'s host on June 2, announcing the planned card at the top of the show and attempting to hype up the crowd. Other host duties included backstage interviews and hosting a bikini contest. The hosting duties seemed sporadic at best, with some weeks having little to no involvement of Miz at all. Starting in July, Miz, along with Ashley Massaro, became host of the annual Diva Search competition on both Raw and SmackDown!.
After the end of the Diva Search competition, The Miz returned exclusively to SmackDown! as a villain, starting his in-ring competition with win over Tatanka in the September 2006 episode of SmackDown!. After this win he, along with commentator Michael Cole, began to note whenever possible that he was "undefeated", though he only wrestled five matches over the next two months, defeating such wrestlers as Matt Hardy, Funaki and Scotty 2 Hotty. At the same time he began a feud with Diva Search winner Layla El, who spurned his advances on more than one occasion, leading to Miz helping Kristal defeat her in various competitions. However, Miz and Kristal soon found themselves being stalked by The Boogeyman. This began a feud in which the Boogeyman ended The Miz's winning streak at December's Armageddon event.
Following a brief absence from television, The Miz returned to SmackDown! to host an interview segment named Miz TV. After the unsuccessful segment, The Miz returned to in-ring competition with a more intense style and began to pick up wins once again. On the June 11, 2007 episode of Raw, Mizanin faced off against Snitsky in a match to determine a draft pick for SmackDown!. Snitsky easily defeated The Miz to give ECW the draft pick, but after constantly assaulting The Miz after the match, the referee reversed the decision and awarded the match to Miz, thus allowing SmackDown! a draft pick. SmackDown!'s pick was then revealed to be Chris Masters.
Miz was drafted from SmackDown! to ECW on June 17 as part of the 2007 supplemental draft. He was absent from the first few weeks of ECW, though he was the subject of backstage mentions between matches and had several short Miz TV Crashes ECW video segments. He made his debut on the July 10 episode of ECW in a match against Nunzio, which he won.
Following this match, Extreme Exposé began expressing admiration in him and gave him a lap-dance, starting a new gimmick for him of a self-proclaimed "chick magnet". Extreme Exposé then became managers for The Miz. He then began a feud with Balls Mahoney after Kelly Kelly began to fall in love with Mahoney on screen. On the October 2 episode of ECW, it was revealed that Miz owned the contracts of Kelly Kelly, Layla and Brooke Adams; and he used this excuse to stop Kelly from going out with Mahoney. He was voted at Cyber Sunday to face CM Punk for the ECW Championship, but lost the match.
Teaming with John Morrison (2007-2009)
On the November 16 episode of SmackDown, The Miz became one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions with John Morrison when they defeated Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) in a title match (retaining the tag team tiles in a immediate rematch), which gave The Miz his first championship within the company.
In February 2008, Miz and Morrison were given a streaming segment on the WWE website named The Dirt Sheet in which they mocked other wrestlers and facets of pop culture, showing off their promo skills. Morrison and The Miz co-wrote each episode of The Dirt Sheet each week. As the duo continued to hold the titles, WWE downplayed the angle of Miz and Morrison disliking each other, and portrayed them as friends. Miz competed in a battle royal on the pre-show of WrestleMania XXIV, but was unsuccessful in winning after being eliminated by Jamie Noble. The team of Miz and Morrison had many successful title defenses over the next few months before dropping the championship to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder at the Great American Bash in a fatal four-way match which also featured Jesse and Festus and Finlay and Hornswoggle. Neither Miz nor Morrison were pinned as Hawkins pinned Jesse to win the titles. Miz and Morrison soon followed a feud with Cryme Tyme (Shad Gaspard and JTG) as a battle of their webshows, Word Up and The Dirt Sheet. They were voted into a match with, and defeated, Cryme Tyme at Cyber Sunday. The team also feuded with D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels), using phrases such as "Are you 50?" instead of DX's usual catchphrase "Are you ready?" to mock their ages due to DX being formed in 1997, when both Miz and Morrison were in high school. On the 800th episode celebration of Raw, Miz and Morrison competed in a match against DX, and were defeated. During the match, they mocked DX's signature moves, with Morrison successfully performing a superkick (mocking Michaels' Sweet Chin Music) on Triple H. On December 13, Miz and Morrison defeated Kofi Kingston and CM Punk to win the World Tag Team Championship during a WWE house show in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
In February 2009, the team engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns (Carlito and Primo). In a dark match at WrestleMania XXV, they lost the World Tag Team Championship to The Colóns in a lumberjack match to unify the World Tag Team and the WWE Tag Team titles. On the April 13 episode of Raw, The Miz lost a match to Kofi Kingston due to Morrison's inadvertent interference, which gave Raw a draft pick in the 2009 WWE draft. The pick was then revealed to be The Miz and retaliated by subsequently attacking Morrison, ending their partnership and thus turning John Morrison into a fan favorite.
United States Champion (2009-2010)
Miz challenged John Cena to a match on the April 27 episode of Raw, but as Cena was out due to injury, Miz claimed an unofficial win via forfeit and continued to do this over the following weeks, until Cena defeated him in a singles match at The Bash. On the August 3 episode of Raw, The Miz lost a match to Cena, which meant that, in storyline, he was banned from the Staples Center, the Raw brand and SummerSlam. The following week on August 10, Miz competed under a mask as The Calgary Kid and won a Contract on Pole match against Eugene, earning a contract in storyline, and revealing himself by removing his mask afterwards. He then created the Skull-Crushing Finale and used it on Eugene. After removing the mask to reveal himself, he cut a promo and debuted his catchphrase: "Because I'm The Miz... and I'm awesome".
On the August 17 episode of Raw, The Miz announced his intention to challenge for the United States Championship, and also debuted new ring attire and defeated Evan Bourne. He challenged for the United States Championship at the Night of Champions, Breaking Point and Hell in a Cell pay-per-views, but was unsuccessful. On the October 5 episode of Raw, the night after Hell in a Cell, The Miz received a rematch for the championship, and defeated Kofi Kingston to win the United States Championship and his first singles championship in WWE at the age of 28. The following pay-per-view event, Bragging Rights, was themed with interpromotional matches and now that The Miz was the second-tier champion on Raw he was booked against SmackDown's Intercontinental Champion, his erstwhile tag team partner John Morrison. In the buildup to their first match since splitting, the two hosted a one-off edition of The Dirt Sheet on the October 16 episode of SmackDown where the two compared themselves to '80s tag team The Rockers, debating over which is more comparable to the successful Shawn Michaels and which was the less successful Marty Jannetty. At Bragging Rights, Miz pinned Morrison to become the only member of the Raw roster to win an interpromotional match. The following month at Survivor Series, Miz captained a team of five wrestlers against Team Morrison in a five-on-five Survivor Series elimination match and once again bested his former partner surviving with Sheamus and Drew McIntyre.
In 2010, The Miz began a rivalry with MVP that began with a critically well-received verbal exchange between the two. The two met in an unadvertised match for the United States Championship at the Royal Rumble event with Miz retaining his title, but in the Royal Rumble match itself MVP eliminated both himself and The Miz. During the rivalry with MVP, Miz began showing signs of an allegiance with Big Show and on the February 8 episode of Raw the two defeated champions D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) and The Straight Edge Society (CM Punk and Luke Gallows) to become the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions, making Miz the first wrestler in WWE history to hold three championships at the same time (United States, World Tag Team and WWE Tag Team Champion).
Miz appeared on the NXT show as the storyline mentor of Daniel Bryan. At WrestleMania XXVI, ShowMiz defeated John Morrison and R-Truth to retain the title again. During the 2010 WWE draft on the April 26 episode of Raw, ShoMiz lost the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship to The Hart Dynasty when Tyson Kidd made The Miz submit to the Sharpshooter. After the match, Big Show knocked him out and was later drafted to the SmackDown brand.
On the May 10 episode of Raw, Kidd defeated The Miz in a match, which earned any member of The Hart Dynasty a match for the United States Championship and The Miz, who was allowed to choose his opponent, elected to face Bret Hart. On the following episode of Raw on May 17, Hart defeated The Miz to win the United States Championship, despite Chris Jericho, William Regal and Vladimir Kozlov attempting to interfere on The Miz's behalf. The Miz had a tumultuous relationship with Bryan, who was eliminated from NXT on May 11, although he returned the following week to attack The Miz.
The Miz returned as a Pro for the second season of NXT, to mentor Alex Riley, the only Pro to return. On the June 14 episode of Raw, The Miz defeated R-Truth, John Morrison and Zack Ryder in a fatal four-way match to win the United States Championship for the second time and successfully retained the championship against R-Truth at the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view.
WWE Champion and Awesome Truth (2010-2011)
On July 18 at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, The Miz won a Money in the Bank ladder match to win a contract for a WWE Championship match that he could utilize at any time over the next year and became the first performer to win Money in the Bank while being a champion and the second, after Rob Van Dam, to hold a Money in the Bank contract and a title at the same time. Over the next few weeks, The Miz attempted to cash in his Money in the Bank contract on the WWE Champion Sheamus, but was continually interrupted by other wrestlers before the matches could occur, which meant that he retained the contract for future use. Daniel Bryan returned to WWE at SummerSlam, taking The Miz's place on Team WWE, causing The Miz to attack him. This began a rivalry between the two, with The Miz losing the United States Championship to Bryan at the Night of Champions event in September. In October, Miz defeated John Cena to become the captain of Team Raw, but Team Raw (The Miz, R-Truth, John Morrison, Santino Marella, Sheamus, CM Punk and Ezekiel Jackson) were unsuccessful in defeating Team SmackDown at the Bragging Rights pay-per-view.
On the November 22 episode of Raw, he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract following a successful WWE Championship defense by Randy Orton against Wade Barrett to become the new WWE Champion, making him the first Tough Enough contestant to win the WWE Championship. He successfully defended the championship against Jerry Lawler in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match on the following episode of Raw, due to help from Michael Cole and Riley, and again at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view in December by defeating Orton in a Tables match following interference from Alex Riley. The Miz defeated Morrison to retain the championship in a Falls Count Anywhere match on the first Raw of 2011. In January 2011, he defeated Orton again at the Royal Rumble after interference from CM Punk and Lawler the following month at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view to retain the championship. The night after Elimination Chamber, The Miz and John Cena were paired together by the Raw General Manager to challenge The Corre (Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater) for the WWE Tag Team Championship. The Miz and Cena were successful in winning the titles, but lost them back to Corre immediately afterward in a rematch after The Miz turned on Cena. This made their reign the shortest in the championship's history. The following week, The Miz lost Riley as his apprentice after Cena defeated Riley in a steel cage match with the stipulation that if Cena won, Riley was fired from his job, but The Miz hired Riley back in mid-March, this time as his Vice President of Corporate Communications,. In the main event of WrestleMania XXVII on April 3, The Miz successfully defended the WWE Championship against Cena, following interference from The Rock. At Extreme Rules on May 1, The Miz lost the WWE Championship to Cena, in a triple threat steel cage match, also involving John Morrison. The following night on Raw, The Miz failed to regain the championship from Cena in a singles match when he lost by disqualification and failed to regain the championship again in an "I Quit" match at Over the Limit .
The following night on the May 23 episode of Raw, the Anonymous Raw General Manager's announcement said that The Miz's request for another WWE Championship match was denied, and ended the feud with John Cena. The Miz blamed Riley for not being able to regain the WWE Championship because of Riley not being at ringside at Extreme Rules when Miz lost the championship. On the May 2nd episode of Raw, Riley raised the hand of Miz with the WWE Championship with leading to his disqualification and at Over the Limit, Riley left his phone behind that he used to trick the referee into thinking that Cena said "I Quit". Riley attacked him, sending him crashing into a barricade at ringside and then head first over the announce table, which turned Riley a fan favorite for the first time in WWE. On the May 30 episode of Raw, The Miz assaulted Riley after an interview from Michael Cole, but Riley gained the upper hand and Miz escaped through the crowd. At Capitol Punishment, Riley defeated Miz in a singles-match. He went on to lose to Riley in various singles and tag team matches. It was later announced that Miz lost Raw's Money in the Bank ladder match at Money in the Bank after leaving with a knee injury kayfabe, then returning but being stopped from claiming the briefcase by Rey Mysterio. The next night on Raw, Miz made it to the final of the WWE Championship tournament, defeating his former NXT rookie Alex Riley in the first round. The next week on Raw, Miz lost to Rey Mysterio. At SummerSlam, The Miz teamed with R-Truth and Alberto Del Rio loing to Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston and John Morrison.
On the August 22 episode of Raw, Miz and R-Truth attacked Santino Marella before his match. They then cut a promo agreeing there was a conspiracy in the WWE keeping both of them out of the main event picture, and declared they would, together, seize any future opportunity. They began referring to themselves as "The Awesome Truth". On the August 29 episode of Raw, Truth interfered in Miz's match and the duo attacked CM Punk. At Night of Champions, after the referee was distracted while The Miz attempted a pin, Miz assaulted him, causing Awesome Truth to lose a WWE Tag Team Championship match to Air Boom (Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne) by disqualification. Seeking retribution, Miz and Truth later attacked both Triple H and CM Punk during their No Disqualification match in the main event. Because of their actions from the previous night, R-Truth and The Miz were fired by Triple H on the September 19 episode of Raw. At the conclusion of the main event match at Hell in a Cell, R-Truth and The Miz jumped the barricade wearing black hooded sweatshirts and entered the cell as it was being raised. They then used weapons to attack Alberto Del Rio, CM Punk, John Cena, the Referee and camera men while the cell was again lowered. After this, the entire WWE roster led by Triple H came out to find a way into the cell, before New Orleans Police Department officers were able to get the door open and arrest them. The two later posted a video on YouTube apologizing to the WWE Universe for their actions. The Miz and R-Truth were reinstated by John Laurinaitis on the October 10 episode of Raw. At Vengeance, Miz and R-Truth defeated CM Punk and Triple H in a tag team match, after interference from Triple H's long time friend Kevin Nash. Later that night they assaulted John Cena during his WWE Championship match with Alberto Del Rio. On the October 24 episode of Raw, Awesome Truth attacked John Cena and Zack Ryder. On the November 7 episode of Raw, Miz and R-Truth defeated Cena and Ryder. At Survivor Series, The Awesome Truth were defeated by John Cena and The Rock. On the November 21 episode of Raw, Cena instigated an argument between R-Truth and Miz, which resulted in Miz performed a Skull Crushing Finale on the stage on R-Truth. This was a pretext to explain R-Truth's absence during his suspension as a result of his violating of the Wellness Policy.
Various feuds (2011-2012)
On the November 28 episode of Raw, Miz defeated John Morrison in a Falls Count Anywhere match after a Skull Crushing Finale on the stage. On the December 5, episode of Raw, Miz qualified for a triple threat Tables, Ladders and Chairs match against Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view for the WWE Championship after a win over Randy Orton via countout, but was unsuccessful. Throughout January and February 2012 Miz feuded with R-Truth, which included a WWE Championship match at Elimination Chamber, which was won by CM Punk. During this time, Miz lost to R-Truth in a singles match with a stipulation that the loser would enter the Royal Rumble match first. In the Royal Rumble match, Miz lasted the longest with over 45 minutes before he was eliminated by Big Show.
Intercontinental Champion (2012-2014)
Desperate for a spot on the card for the upcoming WrestleMania XXVIII event, he later joined John Laurinaitis' team for the 12-man tag team match after saving Laurinaitis from Santino Marella. Miz picked up the win for Team Johnny after pinning Zack Ryder with the help of Eve, ending his 20 match losing streak dating back to 2011. He followed this up by losing a battle royal and a singles match against Brodus Clay at Over the Limit.
After a two-month absence, The Miz returned at Money in the Bank as a last-minute participant in the WWE Championship Money in the Bank contract match, won by John Cena. At Raw 1000, Miz defeated Christian to win his first Intercontinental Championship, becoming the 25th Triple Crown Champion and a Grand Slam Champion in the process. Miz successfully defended his championship against Christian four days later on SmackDown, against Rey Mysterio at SummerSlam, and in a fatal four-way match against Cody Rhodes, Rey Mysterio, and Sin Cara at Night of Champions, before losing the championship to Kofi Kingston on the premiere episode of Main Event ending his reign at 85 days. Miz failed to regain the title from Kingston in two rematches--at Hell in a Cell and on the November 6 episode of SmackDown.
After his loss to Kofi Kingston, The Miz turned into a fan favorite for the first time in his career when he joined Mick Foley's team at Survivor Series after confronting Paul Heyman on the November 18 Raw. At the event on November 18, he eliminated Wade Barrett before being eliminated by Alberto Del Rio. In the months to come, his turn was not well received by critics, who commented that Miz as a fan favorite was too similar to his villainous character because he was "still cocky, arrogant, and egotistical" while "pivoted toward calling out established heels" (villains). Other criticisms were that Miz was "juvenile", lacking of depth, "grating and not endearing to the audience" and that "there was not that moment when he officially turned and aligned his values with the audience's". The Miz then began a feud with United States Champion Antonio Cesaro after Cesaro insulted America. During this feud, Ric Flair became his mentor and Miz adopted the figure-four leglock from Flair as a new finisher. The Miz challenged for Cesaro's United States Championship at the Royal Rumble pre-show, at Elimination Chamber and on the March 3 episode of SmackDown, but was unsuccessful each time.
Miz next sought Wade Barrett's Intercontinental Championship. He lost a triple threat match also featuring Chris Jericho on the March 18 episode of Raw, but defeated Barrett in a non-title match to earn another shot at the title. He captured the title by defeating Barrett at the WrestleMania 29 pre-show, only to lose the title back to him the following night on Raw. Miz failed to recapture the title at Payback and Money in the Bank. On August 18, he was the host of SummerSlam, during which he had a run-in with Fandango, beginning a feud between the two. Miz went on to defeat Fandango both on the September 2 episode of Raw and on September 15 at Night of Champions. The following night on Raw, Miz was assaulted by Randy Orton in front of his parents, resulting in a storyline injury. When Miz returned in October, he quickly lost to Orton. Miz started a feud with Kofi Kingston, defeating him on the Survivor Series pre-show, but losing a no disqualification match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs to end their feud. In February, Miz stormed out during matches to complain about his lack of screen time and claiming that he should be in matches. He participated in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX, but was eliminated by Santino Marella.
Hollywood A-Lister (2014-2016)
After a two-month hiatus filming The Marine 4: Moving Target, The Miz returned as a villain for the first time since 2012, on the June 30 episode of Raw and immediately began to insult the crowd and taking on the gimmick of a movie star before being interrupted by the returning Chris Jericho, who defeated Miz in his return match. At Battleground on July 20, Miz won a battle royal by lastly eliminating Dolph Ziggler to win the Intercontinental Championship for the third time. At SummerSlam on August 17, Ziggler defeated Miz to recapture the title. Later that month, Damien Sandow began appearing with Miz as his "stunt double" (mimicking all of Miz's moves and mannerisms) and was subsequently billed as Damien Mizdow. At Night of Champions on September 21, Miz defeated Ziggler to regain the Intercontinental Championship, only to lose the title to Ziggler in a rematch the following night. On the September 29 episode of Raw, Miz once again unsuccessfully challenged Ziggler for the Intercontinental title in a triple threat match also involving Cesaro. After defeating Sheamus several times with the help of Mizdow, Miz challenged him for the United States Championship at Hell in a Cell on October 26, but he was unsuccessful.
At Survivor Series on November 23, Miz and Mizdow won the WWE Tag Team Championship by winning a fatal four-way match against defending champions Gold and Stardust, The Usos and Los Matadores. The next night on Raw, Miz and Mizdow retained the titles against Gold and Stardust. Miz and Mizdow then entered into a feud with The Usos and Miz interacted with Jimmy Uso's wife Naomi, offering to connect her with a Hollywood producer to distribute her music video. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 14, Miz and Mizdow lost by disqualification against The Usos after Miz hit Jimmy Uso with a Slammy Award. On the December 29 episode of Raw, Miz and Mizdow lost the titles to The Usos. Miz and Mizdow were unsuccessful in regaining the championship in rematches on the January 9, 2015 episode of SmackDown and at the Royal Rumble on January 25. Miz was the first entrant in the Royal Rumble match and was eliminated by Bubba Ray Dudley. Mizdow entered at number 21, where Miz tried to take Mizdow's spot only for Roman Reigns to push him off the apron, allowing Mizdow to enter before quickly being eliminated by Rusev. On the February 9 episode of Raw, Miz fired Mizdow as his stunt double after Mizdow began to gain more attention from fans, though he quickly rehired Mizdow as his personal assistant. Mizdow then ceased being his assistant at WrestleMania 31 on March 29. The Miz's film The Marine 4: Moving Target was released in April, but he disrespected co-star Summer Rae, who sided with Mizdow. On the April 20 episode of Raw, Miz defeated Mizdow in a match where the winner retained the Miz brand, with help from Rae, whom Miz was planning with from the start.
After Big Show and Miz interfered in each other's Intercontinental Championship matches against Ryback at Money in the Bank on June 14, all three wrestled for the title at SummerSlam on August 23, where Miz was defeated. At Survivor Series on November 22, Miz competed in a traditional five-on-five elimination tag team match alongside The Cosmic Wasteland (Stardust and The Ascension) and Bo Dallas in a losing effort against The Dudley Boyz, Goldust, Neville and Titus O'Neil. At the Royal Rumble on January 24, 2016, Miz competed in the Royal Rumble match, entering at number 25 before being eliminated by Roman Reigns.
Alliance with Maryse and The Miztourage (2016-2018)
On April 3, Miz wrestled in a seven-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 32, which was won by Zack Ryder. On the Raw episode post-WrestleMania 32, Miz won the Intercontinental Championship for the fifth time, after his wife Maryse made her return and distracted Ryder by slapping his father, thus becoming his manager in the process, where the two then became an on-screen power couple. Three days later on SmackDown, Miz retained his championship by defeating Ryder in a rematch, with Maryse interfering once more. Miz and Maryse then began to cut various promos during the Miz TV segments, while calling themselves the "It" couple. At Payback on May 1, Miz defeated Cesaro to retain his championship after Cesaro was distracted by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn brawling on the apron, leading to a feud over the Intercontinental Championship between the four men. At Extreme Rules on May 22, Miz successfully retained the championship against Cesaro, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens in a highly acclaimed fatal-four way match, when Miz pinned Cesaro. The following night on Raw, Miz failed to qualify for the 2016 Money in the Bank ladder match when he was defeated by Cesaro, setting up another championship match between the two set for the week's SmackDown, which Miz won. Following this, he and Maryse began filming The Marine 5: Battleground, taking them out of action. Both returned on the June 27 episode of Raw, where he lost to Kane in a championship match via countout. At Battleground on July 24, the Intercontinental Championship match between Miz and Darren Young ended in a double disqualification after The Miz pushed Bob Backlund (Darren Young's mentor) and Young attacked him. On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft, Miz along with Maryse was drafted to SmackDown, with the Intercontinental Championship becoming exclusive to that brand. At SummerSlam on August 21, Miz successfully defended the championship against Apollo Crews.
On the August 23 episode of Talking Smack, The Miz went on a highly praised tirade against SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan for calling him a coward, with Miz calling Bryan a "coward" for not returning to the ring when he promised the fans he would. At Backlash on September 11, Miz successfully defended the title against Dolph Ziggler after Maryse sprayed an unknown substance at Ziggler while the referee was distracted. Afterwards, The Miz continued to blame Bryan and vowed not to defend his Intercontinental Championship on any show until he was granted a contract "renegotiation". On the September 20 episode of SmackDown Live, Miz retained the Intercontinental title against Ziggler in a rematch after he used the same spray on Ziggler. At No Mercy on October 9, Miz lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ziggler in a title vs career match after Maryse and The Spirit Squad (Kenny and Mikey), were ejected from ringside, ending Miz's reign at 188 days. On the October 18 episode of SmackDown Live, Miz and the Spirit Squad defeated Ziggler, Slater and Rhyno. The Miz initially refused Ziggler's offer for a rematch for the Intercontinental title, but on November 8 episode of SmackDown Live, Maryse accepted Bryan's offer to Miz face Ziggler the following week for the Intercontinental Championship in the 900th episode of SmackDown Live. Later that night, Bryan would state on Talking Smack that if Ziggler successfully retained the championship, The Miz and Maryse would be traded to Raw for someone else. On SmackDown's 900th episode on November 15, Maryse helped Miz to win the championship for the sixth time. Miz would go on to defend the title against Raw's Sami Zayn at Survivor Series on November 20, where Miz would defeat Zayn after Maryse prematurely rang the bell, causing a distraction. On the November 22 episode of SmackDown Live, Miz successfully retained his championship against Kalisto after Kalisto was distracted by Baron Corbin and later Miz himself was attacked by Ziggler. Later that night, General Manager Daniel Bryan scheduled The Miz to defend the championship against Ziggler in a ladder match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 4 which Miz won to end their feud.
On December 6 episode of SmackDown Live, Miz again had a successful title defense against Dean Ambrose after interference from Maryse and distraction from James Ellsworth. On the December 13, 2016 episode of SmackDown Live, Miz confronted the WWE Champion AJ Styles about being the reason of SmackDown's success before both were confronted by Ziggler and Ambrose. Later, Miz was confronted by Apollo Crews with the help of comedian Gabriel Iglesias backstage and then participated in a fatal four-way elimination match involving Ziggler, Ambrose and Luke Harper, where he was eliminated by Ambrose. The following week on SmackDown Live, Miz successfully defended the championship against Crews. After the match, Miz was interviewed by Renee Young, where Miz sarcastically responded by revealing Young and Ambrose's real life relationship, prompting her to slap Miz. On the January 3, 2017 episode of SmackDown Live, Miz lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ambrose despite interference from Maryse. On the January 10 episode of SmackDown Live, Miz announced his participation in the 2017 Royal Rumble match. On January 29, after entering the match at number 15, Miz lasted 32 minutes until he was eliminated by The Undertaker.
On January 31 episode of SmackDown Live, Miz was revealed as one of the participants of the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship which took place on February 12, where Miz lost after being eliminated by John Cena. On February 21 episode of SmackDown Live, Miz participated in a 10-man battle royal to determine the challenger for the Bray Wyatt's WWE Championship, but was eliminated by Cena. On February 28 episode of SmackDown, Miz and Maryse made a special edition of Miz TV to critique Cena's powers on the backstage before Maryse slapped Cena and Nikki Bella--Cena's girlfriend--came to save him. On March 7 episode of SmackDown, Maryse and Miz attacked Nikki and Cena after defeated James Ellsworth and Carmella. On March 14 episode of SmackDown Live, after another showdown between Miz and Maryse against Cena and Nikki,SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan announced a mixed tag team match at WrestleMania 33 on April 2 where Miz and Maryse lost.
On April 10, Miz was drafted to Raw along with Maryse as part of the Superstar Shake Up, where they made their debut on the same night dressed as Cena and Nikki, before being confronted by the Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose. In the following weeks, the tension between Miz and Ambrose continued as on April 30 at Payback he interviewed Finn Bálor on Miz TV, calling him a failure before being attacked by Bálor. On the following night on Raw, Miz defeated Balor and Seth Rollins in a triple threat match after Bray Wyatt and Samoa Joe attacked respectively Bálor and Rollins, with Miz pinning Bálor. On May 8 episode of Raw, Ambrose and Miz became Co-General Managers of Raw due to the abstention of Kurt Angle and Stephanie McMahon. On the May 15 episode of Raw, Miz defeated Ambrose by disqualification in a title match after Ambrose attacked him with a low blow, leading to a match at Extreme Rules, where Ambrose would defend the title against Miz, in which Ambrose could lose the title if he were to be disqualified. At the event, Miz defeated Ambrose to win the Intercontinental Championship for the seventh time.
On June 5 episode of Raw, during a in ring celebration segment sponsored by Maryse, Miz attacked and destroyed Maryse's gift, a grandfather clock, which Miz thought to be Ambrose within the present. On the June 19 episode of Raw, Maryse was the special guest on Miz TV where Miz apologized for the previous events, but came to use her as a shield to protect himself from Ambrose, causing Maryse to pour champagne on herself and then destroying the grandfather clock that he had restored, which led to Maryse abandoning him again. Afterwards, Miz approached Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel, offering to make them "the stars [they] deserve to be" if they become his "entourage". Later that night, the duo appeared in bear costumes during a in ring segment between Miz and Maryse, where they came to reveal themselves and ally with Miz by attacking Dean Ambrose. On June 26 episode of Raw, Miz and The Miztourage fought against Ambrose, Heath Slater and Rhyno in a winning effort. On July 3 on Raw, after an argument with Raw General Manager Kurt Angle it was announced that Miz would make two defenses for the Intercontinental Championship: one of them would take place that night against Slater and another on July 9 at the Great Balls of Fire event against Ambrose. Miz subsequently defended his championship against Slater. At Great Balls of Fire on July 9, Miz defeated Ambrose to retain the title due to interference from the Miztourage. At the SummerSlam pre-show on August 20, Miz and The Miztourage defeated Jason Jordan and The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) in a six-man tag team match.
On the August 28 episode of Raw, Jeff Hardy won a battle royal to become the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship. Miz was successful in his defense the following week. On the September 22 episode of Raw, Jason Jordan became #1 contender after winning a six-pack challenge. At No Mercy on September 25, Miz successfully retained the championship against Jordan. On the October 2 episode of Raw, Miz retained the Intercontinental Title after Roman Reigns was disqualified following interference from Cesaro and Sheamus. Miz teamed with Cesaro, Sheamus, Kane and Braun Strowman against the reunited Shield and Kurt Angle (who replaced Reigns after he was not medically cleared to compete) in a 5-on-3 handicap Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on October 22 in a losing effort. On the October 30 episode of Raw, Miz successfully retained his title against Matt Hardy and later in the night Strowman attacked The Miztourage as payback for turning their backs on him at TLC. On November 19, Miz faced SmackDown's United States Champion Baron Corbin at Survivor Series in an interbrand champion vs. champion match, which he lost. On the November 20 episode of Raw, Miz lost to Roman Reigns in an Intercontinental Championship match, ending his title reign at 169 days. Miz then took time off to film the movie The Marine 6: Close Quarters.
The Miz returned on the January 8, 2018 episode of Raw to host Miz TV and that night was also announced that he would receive a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship at Raw 25, where he defeated Roman Reigns to win his eighth Intercontinental Championship. Miz then participated in the annual Royal Rumble match at the namesake pay-per-view on January 28, but he failed to win the match after being eliminated by the combined effort of Rollins and Reigns. The next night on Raw, Miz defeated Reigns in a rematch to retain the title. On the February 5 episode of Raw, Miz defeated Apollo Crews to qualify for the 2018 Elimination Chamber match to determine the number one contender for Brock Lesnar's Universal Championship, where he was the first wrestler eliminated after lasting over 20 minutes. In parallel to his activities as a singles wrestler, Miz took a part of the Mixed Match Challenge tournament, with Asuka as his partner in support of the charity Rescue Dogs Rock. They defeated the team of Big E and Carmella on January 23, 2018, and Finn Bálor and Sasha Banks on February 27. In the semi-finals on March 20, they defeated the team of Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss to qualify for the finals. On April 4, they defeated Bobby Roode and Charlotte Flair in the finals to win the tournament and earn $100,000 for their charity. At WrestleMania 34 on April 8, Miz lost the Intercontinental title to Seth Rollins in a triple threat match also involving Finn Bálor, suffering his first pinfall loss at WrestleMania.
Return to SmackDown (2018-present)
On the April 16 episode of Raw, during the 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, before Raw General Manager Kurt Angle announced that Miz would be traded to SmackDown Live, after Angle received from a phone call by SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon and new SmackDown General Manager Paige. Later that night, in his final match for the Raw brand, Miz teamed with the Miztourage, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn against Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Braun Strowman, Bobby Roode, and the returning Bobby Lashley in a 10-man tag team match, which his team would lose after Dallas and Axel walked out on him to end the Miztourage. On the April 24 episode of SmackDown Live, he also ended the long-standing feud with Daniel Bryan, just as Big Cass started a feud with Bryan. On April 27, Miz failed to regain the Intercontinental Championship from Rollins in a Ladder Match also involving Finn Balor and Samoa Joe at the Greatest Royal Rumble event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Miz would again face Rollins for the title against at Backlash on May 6, but would be defeated again. Two days later on SmackDown, Miz defeated United States Champion Jeff Hardy to qualify for the men's Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake event.
Other media
Mizanin played a small role in the film The Campaign. On April 30, 2012, it was announced that The Miz would star in WWE Studios film The Marine 3: Homefront. Mizanin replaced fellow wrestler Randy Orton, who was dropped from the role due to his past with the USMC. That day it was also announced that Mizanin would be featured in the WWE Studios and Kare Prod project Les reines du ring (Queens of the Ring) alongside Eve Torres and CM Punk. In 2012, he was on MDA Show of Strength with Maryse and other celebrities. In March 2013, he attended the Kids Choice Awards with Maryse and The Rock.
Mizanin starred in the ABC Family TV movie Christmas Bounty, which premiered in December 2013. In 2015, he starred in the WWE Studios Christmas film Santa's Little Helper.
In 2016, Mizanin guest starred in Supernatural as a wrestler named Shawn Harley in an organization targeted by a demon.
In 2018, Mizanin and his wife Maryse will star in a reality television series titled Miz & Mrs.
Video games
Filmography
Personal life
Mizanin married his longtime girlfriend, French-Canadian fellow WWE wrestler Maryse Ouellet, in The Bahamas on February 20, 2014. On the September 11, 2017 episode of Raw, Mizanin and Ouellet announced they were expecting their first child. Their daughter, Monroe Sky Mizanin, was born March 27, 2018. Shortly thereafter, the family moved to Austin, Texas.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Figure-four leglock - 2013-present; adopted from Ric Flair
- Mizard of Oz (Swinging inverted DDT) - 2005-2007
- Reality Check (Running knee lift followed by a neckbreaker slam) - 2007-2009
- Skull-Crushing Finale (Full nelson facebuster) - 2009-present
- Signature moves
- Awesome Clothesline (Running corner clothesline while sliding his legs through the ring ropes, with theatrics)
- Big boot, sometimes to a seated opponent
- Clothesline
- Corner dropkick
- Discus punch
- Diving double axe handle
- Dropkick, sometimes to an opponent's knees
- Half nelson facebuster
- Flapjack
- Inverted facelock backbreaker followed by a neckbreaker slam
- The 'It' Kicks (Repeated shoot kicks to the chest of a kneeling opponent, followed by a roundhouse kick, with theatrics) - 2016-present; parodied from Daniel Bryan
- Running knee lift
- Running single leg high knee - 2016-present; parodied from Daniel Bryan
- Slides through the opponent's legs and performs a roll-up
- Slingshot powerbomb
- Snap DDT to a kneeling opponent
- Snapmare driver
- Springboard bulldog - late 2005-early 2006
- Managers
- Alex Riley
- Brooke Adams
- Damien Mizdow
- Kelly Kelly
- Kristal Marshall
- Layla
- Maryse
- The Miztourage (Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas)
- Nikki Bella
- Ric Flair
- Roni Jonah
- Nicknames
- "The A-Lister"
- "The Awesome One"
- "The Chick Magnet"
- "The Grand Mizard of Lust"
- "The Most Must-See WWE Superstar of All Time"
- Entrance themes
- "Reality" by Jim Johnston (2006-2009)
- "Ain't No Make Believe" by Stonefree Experience (November 16, 2007 - April 13, 2009; used while teaming with John Morrison)
- "Rock Activator" by Ben Pringle (August 2009; used once as the Calgary Kid)
- "I Came to Play" by Downstait (January 4, 2010-present)
- "I Came to Crank It Up" by Downstait and Brand New Sin (January 18, 2010 - April 26, 2010; used while teaming with Big Show)
- "The Awesome Truth" by Jim Johnston (August 22, 2011 - November 21, 2011; used while teaming with R-Truth)
Championships and accomplishments
- Deep South Wrestling
- DSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Ohio Valley Wrestling
- OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Chris Cage
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (2011)
- Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2016)
- Ranked No. 1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2011
- World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
- WWE Championship (1 time)
- WWE Intercontinental Championship (8 times)
- WWE United States Championship (2 times)
- WWE Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with John Morrison (1), Big Show (1), John Cena (1) and Damien Mizdow (1)
- World Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with John Morrison (1) and Big Show (1)
- Mixed Match Challenge - with Asuka
- Money in the Bank (Raw 2010)
- Twenty-fifth Triple Crown Champion
- Fifth Grand Slam Champion (under the current format, fourteenth overall)
- Slammy Awards (2 times)
- Best WWE.com Exclusive (2008) The Dirt-Sheet - with John Morrison
- Tag Team of the Year (2008) - with John Morrison
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Most Improved Wrestler (2008, 2009)
- Tag Team of the Year (2008) - with John Morrison
Luchas de Apuestas record
See also
- John Morrison and The Miz
- ShoMiz
References
External links
- The Miz on WWE.com
- Mike Mizanin on IMDb
- The Miz's profile at Cagematch.net, Wrestlingdata.com, Internet Wrestling Database
Source of article : Wikipedia
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