Grilling JR - The Miz [Show Notes] (Patreon)

An unlikely success story. An overachiever. An unexpected star. The wannabe who had the last laugh. All of these are descriptions people have written online about today’s subject. 

Michael Gregory Mizanin, better known as the Miz, was born on October 8, 1980 in Parma, Ohio. He grew up as an only child of divorced parents in the suburbs of Cleveland. Miz attended Normandy High School, home of the Invaders. His high school had a total enrollment of about 1,200. He was captain of both basketball and cross country teams. But he had a creative side too, participating as a yearbook editor. He also participated in student government. 

As a kid, he loved The Rockers. He said he was always Marty Janetty and his friend was always Shawn Michaels, when playing. 

Miz attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. There, he studied business at the Richard T. Farmer School of Business. He also made friends by joining the Theta Chi fraternity. 

"I remember sitting on my couch on a Saturday watching reruns of The Real World. And it said, 'Do you want to be on The Real World? Go to MTV.com and you can try out there.' And I said, 'I want to be on The Real World.' And I sent in my tape," Mizanin recalled to Bleacher Report.

Miz dropped out of college to make a decision that, business wise, probably made a lot more sense looking through the lens of history. He was cast as a member of the 10th season of The Real World. 

If you never have seen it, The Real World is basically the show that gave birth to modern reality TV. It aired from 1992 to 2017 on MTV and is on Facebook Watch now. Each year, the show takes a group of strangers and puts them in a large city while filming them, constantly. In 2001, Mike Mizanin was cast on the season titled Back to New York. The show was filmed from January 9 to June 2 of that year and premiered on July 3. There were 22 episodes and seven cast members, including Miz, who all lived in an 8,000 square foot four-story loft in the Greenwich (Gren-itch) Village neighborhood of New York City. 

At this point in his life, Mike Mizanin is 20-years-old. His MTV bio described him as a "fireball of energy" and a "chick magnet [who] is still naive about relationships, and has a deep need to be loved." And an early theme in the episodes is Mike basically not being as sensitive to race as some wanted. In several episodes, he draws the ire of fellow cast-member Coral Smith, a 21-year-old African American woman. More than once, this involved race. During one episode, he admits he doesn’t know February is Black History Month, which doesn’t go well with Coral. He also shares an “ignorant observation” his uncle once shared with him, which is the topic of another episode.. But, Coral has described herself as the “bitch” of her season, so it’s probably not all his fault the two clashed. Miz and Coral’s bickering becomes a common episode theme of the season. But by the season finale, which originally aired on December 4, 2001, Coral and Miz were sharing dinner and had come full circle. 

As himself, Mike Mizanin actually called himself The Miz on the show. He displayed a lot of the character he has become famous for. Seeing the old videos, it’s a lesson of how often the most peculiar and unique people become the biggest overachievers. Miz was a huge WWE fan on the show, too. His idol was the Rock. 

https://youtu.be/JLGbcmo405Q

A 2017 article from Bleacher Report reflected on how much Miz stood out on the show. “He had just reclaimed the plastic title from his housemates after hitting them with a series of pantomimed punches and chasing them through the house. He applied a cartoonish version of the claw hold, spoke in a bassy voice and sauntered along the floor as he messed around with Coral Smith and Lori Trespicio. And now the costume-store championship was his again, a fact made clear by his prideful stance on the furniture. “

“This was an ordinary sight in the house.”

His first season on The Real World created a lot of future opportunities for The Miz. 

In early 2002, he returned - along with Coral - to MTV reality TV on the Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Seasons. Miz was originally supposed to team with Lori from Back to New York, but he has said in interviews that Lori dropped out due to fear of flying following 9/11. So, Coral replaced her. As a duo, Miz and Coral performed well and were in the finals as one of the last three teams from The Real World (vs. three teams from Road Rules). They won, with each team member winning $50,000. Miz hooked up with Tara from Road Rules that season, too. 

While he watched himself on TV, Miz said he asked himself what he wanted to do. He noticed an action figure of The Rock and said to himself that he was going to be a WWE superstar. So Mike sat at his computer and researched wrestling schools. He found Ultimate Pro Wrestling in Southern California. The school’s founder, Rick Bassman, knew a reality TV producer who worked on the Real World. Miz had an *in* at the school, which also had a famous name through you may have heard of: John Cena. 

Miz came in with an attitude, Bassman told Bleacher Report. So, Bassman booked Miz against Sylvester Terkay and told Terkay to work stiff. After the match, Bassman said Miz came up to him and said “I get it.” and the arrogance was gone.

A month later, Miz was wrestling a show in Anaheim for UPW and his tag-team partner was one Diamond Dallas Page. DDP gave him a glowing endorsement after the match. 

Miz was back to MTV from late 2003 to early 2004 for the Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet. 28 cast members would compete in challenges to try to win the content for their team. Once again, he made it to the finals of the show but this time, was on the losing team. He won $12,000 for his participation. 

Then from February to May, Miz appeared on Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno. In this season, the Inferno Games are like Fear Factor challenges. For example, two players had to put their heads into glass boxes with hundreds of cockroaches while syrup covered their face. Miz got lucky and just had to hold his arms out while holding a burning candle. It probably sucked but it was better than being put in a plexiglass coffin with horrible smelling stuff being poured in. Miz was on the final Real World team but they lost the challenge. Miz won $10,000. 

From October, 2004 until January, 2005, Miz was back on another season of Challenge: Battle of the Sexes 2. It’s the only season of the show Miz didn’t make it into the finals, as he made it to episode 8 (of 17). Then from March until June 2005, he appeared on The Inferno II, being on the winning team. It was said at the time it would be Miz’s final challenge, so he could focus on his professional wrestling career. 

Miz was announced as one of eight contestants for the fourth WWE Tough Enough competition that year. This time, it was the $1,000,000 Tough Enough, which was held on Smackdown in the same form as the Divas Search on Raw. The prize was a contract with the WWE for four years at $250,000 per year with the first year guaranteed. The other seven contestants were Chris Nawrocki, Daniel Puder, Daniel Rodimer, John Meyer Jr., Justice Smith, Nick Mitchell (wrestled as Mitch/Spirit Squad), and Ryan Reeves (Ryback).

On the last Smackdown of October, several contestants had a backstage altercation with the Big Show. That night’s competition involved each competitor getting 20 seconds on the microphone to do a promo on the Big Show. Miz said “This is the true story of when the Miz came to Oklahoma!!!” But they were in Omaha. And on commentary, Taz said “We’re in Nebraska.” He ran out of time and didn’t finish his promo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qL9BYGRGvs

On November 4, 2004’s episode of Smackdown, a Tough Enough segment included Kurt Angle challenging competitors through a squat thrust competition. Chris Nawrocki won the competition and his prize was a shoot match against Angle, who took him down, broke his ribs, and made him tap out. Then, he challenged the other finalists and Puder accepted the challenge. Angle and Puder wrestled until Angle got the takedown - but at a deadly cost. Puder had his arm locked in a Kimura lock. Angle was a flinch away from having his arm broken when the referees quickly counted to three, even though Puder’s shoulders were up.

Did Daniel Puder grab the brass ring, here? 

At Armageddon, on December 12, Daniel Puder defeated Mike Mizanin in a 3-round boxing match via crowd decision; prior to the match, Teddy Long came out and hyped up the audience for the boxing fight; Al Snow did guest commentary for the bout; after the bout, Long led the crowd in deciding who the winner was; moments later, Snow conducted an in-ring interview with Mizanin and Puder about the fight and their chances of winning Tough Enough the next week on Smackdown!.

On December 16’s episode of Smackdown, Puder was announced the winner. Miz was the runner up. Puder won the contract - and worked the Royal Rumble 2005, where he got the shit beat out of him by Eddie, Benoit, and Hardcore Holly. It’s hard to watch. Puder was sent to OVW and then later, released in September, 2005. 

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x594wg5

Miz talked about losing Tough Enough as a disappointment. But here’s a question: Could it have saved his career? Puder was cut after one year because he was too expensive to be in developmental for a quarter million per year (after the first guaranteed year). 

After the competition, Miz was sent to Deep South Wrestling (DSW) to train under Bill DeMott. He relocated to McDonough, Georgia. 

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). 

Miz teamed with Chris Cage throughout August 2005 to face a variety of combinations, from Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch to the Heart Throbs, at house shows. 

From August to September in 2005, Miz was back on reality TV but on a new channel - Bravo. He participated in Battle of the Network Reality Stars and once again made it to the finals before losing in the last challenge. 

Miz had several singles matches against the Freakin Deacon in September, losing by Reverse DDT in all.

On December 1, Mizanin defeated Mike Knox in the finals of a tournament to become the inaugural Deep South Heavyweight Champion. 

He continued teaming with Cappotelli into November and December in WWE dark matches and house shows until Cappotelli was diagnosed with a brain tumor after an injury at a taping in December 2005. Chris Cage would sub for Cappotelli going forward. After Cappotelli's death from brain cancer in June 2018, Miz said they were to be called up to the SmackDown roster as a tag team known as Reality Check in 2005, but these plans were halted due to Cappotelli's cancer diagnosis.

Miz and Cage ended 2005 with a series of matches against Gene Snitsky & Tyson Tomko. 

On January 3, 2006, it was reported that Miz was transferred to OVW. However, he would continue working house shows for the WWE, tagging with Chris Cage. 

On the January 18 OVW TV show, Miz made his debut as Miz with a MizTV backstage segment. 

On the January 28 episode, Miz wrestled his first OVW TV singles match against René Duprée, but lost by countout.

At WWE houses in February, Miz and Cage would face The Spirit Squad before having more matches with Snitsky and Tomko.

At the February 8 OVW TV taping, Miz and Chris Cage won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship from Chet the Jett and Seth Skyfire. 

On March 7, vignettes began to air on Smackdown and WWE.com hyping Miz’s debut on the blue brand.

On March 19, Deuce Shade defeated Miz in a singles contest to win the OVW tag championship for his team The Untouchables (Deuce Shade and Domino).

Then, when Miz tried to make his debut on the April 21 episode, he was kayfabe banned from entering the arena by network executive Palmer Canon. Palmer told him he was canceled and had security escort him away. 

On June 2, The Miz debuted as the host of Smackdown. He ran down the matches for the night, would conduct backstage interviews and even hosted a bikini contest. Because that show was taped on May 30, Miz did double duty on June 2. Also that day at an OVW show at Six Flags, Miz and Roni Jonah lost to Seth Skyfire and Shelly. 

Miz continued hosting WWE shows in June, both on TV and at houses. He also won an NBC Fear Factor competition hosted by rumored presidential debate moderator Joe Rogan. 

In July, he and Ashley Massaro hosted the annual, horrible Diva Search competition. 

On July 10, things got awkward with an introductory segment on Raw by Miz. During the segment, he appeared to have forgotten his lines and stammered on for several minutes when trying to explain the voting procedures for the contest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7iP1vjeKIQ

It wasn’t all bad for Miz, though. The Diva Search would be when Miz first met his wife, Maryse. That season was won by Layla El (Lay-Cool).

How hard was it to put over the Diva Search?

Once the Diva Search ended, Miz was back in the ring.

The Miz began wrestling as a villain, making his in-ring debut with a win over Tatanka on the September 1 episode of SmackDown!

The next three months, The Miz remained undefeated, defeating such wrestlers as Matt Hardy, Sho Funaki and Scotty 2 Hotty. Miz teamed with Chavo Jr. in several house shows during this time. Some of those matches were won with his finishing maneuver at the time, The MIZARD OF OZ!!! It was a swinging neck breaker, like the Shake Rattle and Roll, as executed by...you know what? Let’s move on.

Miz also began a feud with Diva Search winner Layla El, who spurned his advances several times.

At No Mercy 2006, on October 8, the show included an in-ring celebration of Mike Mizanin's 26th birthday, hosted by Teddy Long; after Mizanin came out, Long brought out Leyla, who said she wanted to dance for Mizanin; Leyla then had him sit in a chair as she gave him a striptease, then blindfolded him and had Big Dick Johnson come out of an oversized gift box in the ring who danced for Mizanin until Layla lifted the blindfold; Mizanin then ran backstage. It led to Miz helping Kristal defeat Layla in various competitions.

Miz and Krystal had a TV match with Vito and Layla at the November 3 Smackdown taping. However, Miz and Kristal soon found themselves being stalked by The Boogeyman. Boogeyman spit worms in Kristal’s mouth. This began a feud in which the Boogeyman ended The Miz's winning streak (in less than 3 minutes) at December's Armageddon event.

On January 9 at Peoria, Illinois at a Smackdown taping, Miz would wrestle The Undertaker to a draw at 5:07 (in a beat the clock challenge, but still). Ken Kennedy came out and interfered throughout the match so Taker wouldn’t beat his time. 

The next week on Smackdown from Little Rock, Arkansas, Miz bragged that he could have beaten the Undertaker. Kane overhears this and isn’t impressed. Kane beats him in 3:50 with a chokeslam. 

The Miz entered in the 2007 Royal Rumble match as the 29th entrant. However, his Royal Rumble debut did not go well, as he was immediately thrown out by The Great Khali, lasting only seven seconds.

On February 6’s Smackdown taping, Miz was pinned by the Undertaker at 3:52 with the tombstone. And after the bout, Miz was put through an announce table by Undertaker. 

At No Way Out, a Smackdown show, Miz hosted a Diva invitational talent show. Ashley won in what was basically a commercial for her Playboy. 

The Miz returned on the March 9 episode of SmackDown! to host an interview segment named Miz TV. The segment included guests Ashley and WWE Women's Champion Melina in which Melina insulted Ashley for posing for Playboy before Ashley challenged her to a title match at WrestleMania; moments later, Melina attacked Ashley but Ashley eventually cleared the champion from the ring.

Miz took a Batista Bomb the next week on Miz TV. 

Miz was a lumberjack in a match between Ric Flair and Carlito against Chavo and Gregory Helms at Wrestlemania 23. 

On the April 6 Smackdown, Miz pinned WWE US Champ Chris Benoit with help from MVP.

He would tap out to Benoit in a tag match with MVP against Benoit and Matt Hardy at the end of May on Smackdown.

Miz served as a lumberjack at One Night Stand 07 between Mark Henry and Kane.

Bullying

Now is as good a time as any to bring up some of the challenges Mike Mizanin would face while making his name. Miz came into the locker room and drew a lot of heat. Stories exist from back to his training all the way through the modern day, with the likes of Alberto Del Rio saying he wanted to punch him several times. His personality is unique and he’s out there, which hasn’t always made him friends in the locker room. The rumor and innuendo, some of which has been confirmed by Miz, is that he was bullied or hazed backstage. A famous story on the web indicated Chris Benoit was one of Miz’s antagonists. One story was that Miz was kicked out of the locker room for eating a sandwich over a referee’s bag.

Miz told reporters this…

“I got kicked out for eating a piece of chicken over a guy’s bag in the locker room, and I got kicked out for six months. I had to find a place to shower, to use the restroom, to change. I’ve had it pretty rough in the WWE just because I’m an outsider, and WWE is kind of like a close-knit family or like a fraternity. Once you’re an outsider trying to lurk in, they will haze you and haze you and try to see if you’re up for the task or if you’re just going to quit. I’m not a quitter. I’m more of a person that says bring it on.”

JR tweeted this: “Read where Miz was kicked out of wwe locker room 4 eatin chicken over anothers bag. Poor Miz. Attitude had nothing 2 do w/ it. Right.”

https://twitter.com/jrsbbq/status/9024164755?s=21

"Nobody liked me, everyone wanted me fired and was trying to get me fired. I'm in the WWE, and everyone there and the WWE universe (the industry's legion of fans) hates me. It made me feel like I was walking on egg shells.”

He also said….

"I got kicked out of the locker rooms, so I couldn't find a place to change or shower. I remember one time going down the corridor to go to the (stadium's public) bathroom and fans going `Oh my god, that's The Miz' - thanks, I'm going to the bathroom next to a kid that has my shirt on. It's kind of belittling and humiliating. But it's one of those things that made me stronger and made me realise I could take everything that anyone dishes."

Miz overcame the issues instead of letting the issues overcome him but he’s told the stories since and we’ve heard them from others. 

Were there bullies backstage in the WWE? Or are we talking about horseplay that people got too sensitive over?

Miz was drafted to the ECW brand 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.

Soon after, The Miz found new managers in Kelly Kelly, Layla El and Brooke Adams. 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. 

At the October 23 episode of ECW from Kansas City, Missouri, CM Punk and Balls defeated the tag team of the men they were feuding with - John Morrison and The Miz. At that night’s Smackdown taping, Miz and Morrison would again team - and lose - to Big Daddy V.

At October 28’s Cyber Sunday, Miz won the vote to face CM Punk for the ECW Championship. He won the vote 39-percent to Morrison’s 33-percent and Big Daddy V’s 28-percent. He endured “You Can’t Wrestle” chants. Eventually, he lost. 

At October 30’s ECW show, Morrison pinned Miz to earn an ECW title match the next week. 

Miz and Morrison

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, giving Miz his first championship within the company. Miz won the match by pinning Hardy after Morrison clipped Hardy’s bad leg. MVP invoked an immediate rematch clause and once again, Miz and Morrison won - this time with Morrison submitting Hardy with a leg lock.

At Survivor Series, November 18, 2007, Miz and Morrison competed in a triple threat match for the ECW Championship, with the champion CM Punk retaining.

Miz and Morrison would begin to flourish as a tag-team here. They did guest commentary on an ECW show on November 20. They won a match on the Smackdown taping that night over Brian and Brett Major. At ECW on November 27, the duo pinned Jesse & Festus. They would work with them throughout the month of December and at Armageddon, losing in a non-title match.

In late 2007 and early 2008, Miz and Morrison worked with Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore. Miz worked the 08 Royal Rumble at Madison Square Garden on January 27, being eliminated by Hornswoggle! Miz was pulled down to the floor as he tried to keep himself on the top rope after about 13 minutes in the match.

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. Also starting in February, Miz and Morrison worked with Tommy Dreamer and Colin Delany on ECW.

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 involved 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 they won against Cryme Tyme at Cyber Sunday.

Around this time, WWE featured the resurgence of D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels). Miz and Morrison worked with the two legends, 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.

On December 30 on ECW, the show featured an opening in-ring segment of The Dirt Sheet in which WWE Raw Tag Team Champions John Morrison & The Miz said they had bought everyone in the building new cars, then said they were joking; the two then reviewed their accomplishments over the year; Mizanin then said he would give one of his hats to the Smithsonian and say "Bababooey" as many times as possible; Morrison then said he would get abs 11 and 12 to pop out and star in a kung fu movie; the two then argued after they both said they would win the 2009 Royal Rumble; Mizanin then said Evan Bourne resolves to move out of his mother's basement and Morrison said World Heavyweight Champion John Cena resolves to get some acting lessons; Mizanin then said Batista would wear a helmet to the ring so he would stop getting concussions; Morrison then said Triple H would get a family-size nasal douche; Mizanin then said Finlay would get tighty whiteys so his next kid doesn't come out a leprechaun; as the two continued to insult Finlay and Hornswoggle, the two came out to the ring. 

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, 2009 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.

Miz would then set his sights on the United States Championship. He unsuccessfully challenged for the championship at the Night of Champions, Breaking Point and Hell in a Cell pay-per-views, before he won the championship on the October 5 episode of Raw, by defeating Kofi Kingston - his first singles championship in WWE.

At the following pay-per-view event, Bragging Rights, Miz was inserted into an interpromotional match against SmackDown's Intercontinental Champion, Miz's tag team partner John Morrison.

At the event on October 25, Miz defeated Morrison. 

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 January, 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.

Also around this time, Miz formed a tag team with Big Show — later dubbed "ShoMiz" — and on the February 8 episode of Raw the two defeated D-Generation X and The Straight Edge Society 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). 

At Elimination Chamber on February 21,, Miz again successfully defended his United States Championship against MVP after interference from Big Show, ending their feud.

Also in February, Miz began appearing on the new NXT program as the storyline mentor of Daniel Bryan. Miz was Bryan’s NXT pro. Ironic, since Bryan was far more experienced in the business than Miz, with the exception of a WWE run. Miz rode Bryan HARD. It was incredibly realistic. Miz would slap Bryan in the face and degrade him brutally. Bryan was eliminated from the show after losing eight matches and winning zero. Miz returned as a Pro for the second season of NXT, to mentor Alex Riley, the only Pro to return.

On the May 10 episode of Raw, Tyson 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.

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 retained the championship against R-Truth at the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view.

At WrestleMania XXVI on March 28, ShoMiz defeated John Morrison and R-Truth to retain the title again. 

At Extreme Rules on April 25, ShoMiz lost to The Hart Dynasty in a gauntlet match, which per the match stipulation gifted them a tag team title opportunity.

They would receive their title match the following night on Raw, where ShoMiz lost the titles. After the match, Big Show knocked Miz out and was later drafted to the SmackDown brand, dissolving the team.

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 returned and defeated him in a singles match at The Bash in June.

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 debuted his new finisher, 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 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 few weeks, The Miz made various, unsuccessful attempts at cashing in his Money in the Bank contract on the WWE Champion Sheamus, as the matches were continually interrupted by other wrestlers before the matches could occur, which meant that he retained the contract for future use.

Team WWE would face Team Nexus at Summerslam. The WWE Team needed one more star. Miz, reluctant, comes out - but Cena says he’s too late. Because their team has a seventh man - Daniel Bryan. Bryan got the first two eliminations in the match, looking great. Miz blindsides him with his MitB briefcase and gets Bryan eliminated. The two had a full-on feud boiling. 

During a segment on MizTV, Bryan challenges Miz for the US championship at Night of Champions 2010. This was as Miz had a new apprentice - Alex Riley. Despite Riley’s help, Bryan won the US title from Miz by submission with the Lebell Lock.

As is so often the case, losing with class can lead to winning something bigger...

In October, Miz defeated John Cena (after interference from Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty) to become the captain of Team Raw, but Team Raw (composed of 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.

Strikes Gold

On November 22 at Raw, Miz cashed in his MitB briefcase following a successful WWE Championship defense by Randy Orton against Wade Barrett. Miz countered an RKO into the Skull Crushing Finale, and won the WWE title from Randy Orton. 

The following week, Miz made his first successful title defense, defeating Jerry "The King" Lawler in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match after interference from Michael Cole. The match was fun and it felt like Lawler might actually win.

How cool was it seeing Jerry The King Lawler get a title opportunity here?

He successfully defended the championship at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view in December by defeating Orton in a tables match following interference from Alex Riley. 

Going into 2011, Miz would then successfully defend the championship against Orton again at the Royal Rumble in January (after interference from CM Punk) and Lawler the following month at Elimination Chamber.

On the Raw after Elimination Chamber, The Miz and John Cena were paired together by the Anonymous 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. However Riley would be re-hired in mid-March, this time as Miz's "Vice President of Corporate Communications". 

In the main event of WrestleMania XXVII (27) on April 3, The Miz successfully defended the WWE Championship against Cena, following interference from The Rock, who then attacked Miz afterwards.

The Miz's reign has been described as a failure for being "booked ridiculously weakly.” Do you agree?

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. 

He then failed to regain the championship from Cena again in an "I Quit" match at Over the Limit on May 22, after botched interference from Riley. 

The following night on Raw, the Anonymous Raw General Manager denied The Miz's request for another WWE Championship match; Miz blamed Riley for being unable to regain the championship. Riley then attacked him, turning Riley into a fan favorite. 

At Capitol Punishment on June 19, Miz faced Riley in a losing effort. 

The Miz lost Raw's Money in the Bank ladder match at the titular event as the match was won by Alberto Del Rio. 

After the WWE Championship was declared vacant by Vince McMahon, Miz would enter into a tournament to crown a new champion, defeating Riley and Kofi Kingston to advance to the finals, where he lost to Rey Mysterio.

At SummerSlam in August, Miz teamed with R-Truth and Alberto Del Rio to face Mysterio, Kingston and John Morrison in a losing effort.

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.”

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 fans 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. 

At Survivor Series in November, in an incredibly high profile match, The Awesome Truth were defeated by John Cena and The Rock. This was an epic main event and also marked The Miz’s first and probably only match against The Rock. It was during the Once In A Lifetime build for Wrestlemania 28 between Cena and Rock.

On the November 21 episode of Raw, Cena instigated an argument between R-Truth and Miz, which resulted in Miz performing 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.

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.

Miz would be the first entrant in the 2012 Royal Rumble match, scoring two eliminations and lasting over 45 minutes before he was eliminated by Big Show.

At Elimination Chamber in February 2012, Miz competed for the WWE Championship in the titular match, which was won by CM Punk.

Looking for a spot on the card for the upcoming WrestleMania (28) 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 twenty-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 in May.

On April 30, 2012, it was announced that Mike Mizanin would replace Randy Orton as the lead in The Marine 3. The rumor and innuendo is that the role was originally meant for Bob Holly (??) before being given to Orton. But, controversy arose as Orton had been discharged for bad conduct from the Marines in the 1990s. Specifically, Orton’s old Marine unit expressed public outrage. So, as fate would have it, Miz got the role. It would be crucial to his character moving forward.

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 Rey Mysterio at SummerSlam in August, and in a fatal four-way match against Cody Rhodes, Mysterio, and Sin Cara at Night of Champions in September, 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 since 2006 when he joined Mick Foley's team at Survivor Series after confronting Paul Heyman on the November 12 episode of Raw. 

At the event on November 18, he eliminated Wade Barrett before being eliminated by Alberto Del Rio; his team would also go onto lose. 

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, 2013 episode of SmackDown, but was unsuccessful each time.

Miz next sought Wade Barrett's Intercontinental Championship. He lost a triple threat match against Barrett and 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.

The Hollywood A-Lister

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. Miz has said his matches with Dolph Ziggler really opened eyes for him.

At SummerSlam on August 17, Ziggler defeated Miz to recapture the title. 

Mizdow

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. 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.

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 at the Royal Rumble on January 25, 2015. Miz was the first entrant in the Royal Rumble match later that night but was eliminated by Bubba Ray Dudley.

After Mizdow began to get more attention from the audience, Miz relegated Mizdow to his personal assistant out of spite. Miz and Mizdow then competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31 in March, which Miz failed to win after being eliminated by Mizdow, dissolving their partnership. On the April 20 episode of Raw, Miz defeated Mizdow in a match where the winner retained the Miz brand, with help from Summer Rae.

At SummerSlam in August, Miz competed for the Intercontinental Championship in a triple threat match also involving Big Show and Ryback, but failed to win.

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 in January 2016, Miz competed in the 2016 Royal Rumble match, entering at number 25 and lasting nearly 9 minutes before being eliminated by Roman Reigns.

On April 3, at WrestleMania 32, Miz wrestled in a seven-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship, which was shockingly won by Zack Ryder. 

How cool was that?

On the Raw episode after WrestleMania 32, Miz won the Intercontinental Championship for the fifth time, after his wife Maryse made her return to WWE and distracted Ryder by slapping his father, thus becoming his manager in the process, where the two then became an on-screen power couple.

In the weeks following, 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 by his old nemesis, General Manager Daniel Bryan, with the Intercontinental Championship becoming exclusive to that brand.

At SummerSlam on August 21, Miz successfully defended the championship against Apollo Crews.

Miz and Daniel Bryan

The two last encountered each other in a match when Miz lost the US championship to Bryan, with both eventually becoming main event stars. Both main evented Wrestlemania. But unfortunately, Bryan’s injuries forced his retirement on Feb. 8, 2016. Miz continued his in-ring career and Bryan became the GM of Smackdown. Bryan drafted Miz, with reservations. 

Then, the August 23, 2016 episode of Talking Smack happened. Bryan was chatting with Renee when Miz came on set talking about what a crime it was for his title to not be highlighted on Smackdown. Bryan says he has respect for the title - but not for the guy holding it. Bryan says he doesn’t like the Miz’s wrestling because Miz wrestles like a coward, like he’s afraid to get hit. Miz says he wrestles this way because he can go for ten plus years without getting injured. He says he’s here every week. Then he says Bryan is the coward, because he told fans he would return to claim the title and didnt. Bryan responds that he would come back if WWE would let him. So Miz says, why don’t you quit and go wrestle in bingo halls. Bryan ends up waking off set.

Miz said in an interview it set him off to have his style of wrestling called soft. He said he went off on Bryan expecting to get punched in the face.

Weeks later, the two returned to Talking Smack. Bryan says without him pushing Miz to stop being a “lazy hack,” he wouldn’t be in the position he’s in. Miz takes great offense to this (Maryse looks pretty taken back by this).

Despite the heat between the two, no match could occur because Bryan was retired. Or so we thought.

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".

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 900th episode of SmackDown on November 15, Maryse helped Miz to win the championship for the sixth time.

Miz successfully defended the title against Raw's Sami Zayn at Survivor Series on November 20 after Maryse prematurely rang the bell, causing a distraction.

Miz faced Ziggler once more 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, Miz successfully defended the title against Dean Ambrose after interference from Maryse and distraction from James Ellsworth.

Two weeks later on SmackDown, Miz successfully defended the championship against Apollo Crews. After the match, Miz was interviewed by Renee Young, where Miz sarcastically responded by revealing Young and Ambrose's real life relationship. Renee slapped him.

On the January 3, 2017 episode of SmackDown, Miz lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ambrose despite interference from Maryse.

On January 29, Miz entered the 2017 Royal Rumble match at number 15 and lasted 32 minutes until he was eliminated by The Undertaker.

On January 31 episode of SmackDown, 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 John Cena eliminated him.

On the February 21 episode of SmackDown, Miz participated in a ten-man battle royal to determine the challenger for the Bray Wyatt's WWE Championship, but was eliminated by Cena. 

On the February 28 episode of SmackDown, Miz and Maryse made a special edition of Miz TV to critique Cena's powers on the backstage environment before Maryse slapped Cena and Nikki Bella—Cena's girlfriend—came to save him.

On the March 14 episode of SmackDown, after a showdown between Miz and Maryse against Cena and Nikki, SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan scheduled a mixed tag team match at WrestleMania 33, which 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, who was also drafted to Raw in the Superstar Shake-up. 

At Extreme Rules in June, Miz defeated Ambrose to win the Intercontinental Championship for the seventh time.

The Miztourage

On the June 19 episode of Raw, Miz allied himself with Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel, a team which would later dubbed "The Miztourage.”

Miz successfully defended the Intercontinental Championship against Dean Ambrose at Great Balls of Fire on July 9, 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.

In September, Miz began a feud with Jordan after he was declared number one contender to Miz's championship.

At No Mercy on September 25, Miz successfully retained the championship against Jordan.

The following month, he allied himself with Cesaro and Sheamus in order to take on the reformed Shield faction (Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns). Miz teamed with Cesaro, Sheamus, Kane and Braun Strowman against Ambrose, Rollins 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.

In November, Miz faced SmackDown's United States Champion Baron Corbin at Survivor Series in an interbrand champion vs. champion match, which he lost.

The following night on 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. 

On the 25th anniversary of Raw, he defeated Roman Reigns to win his eighth Intercontinental Championship. 

On January 28, Miz participated in the annual Royal Rumble match 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.

Around this time, a new WWE show on Facebook Watch was announced: TheMixed Match Challenge. Miz joined with Asuka as his partner in support of the charity Rescue Dogs Rock. They defeated the teams 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.

Something happened on March 20, 2018 that we have to mention. Daniel Bryan announced he was cleared to return to the ring. All thru July and August, Miz taunted Bryan until he finally convinced him to have a match at Summerslam.

At Summerslam, eight years in the making came to fruition. Miz vs. Bryan. With help from Maryse and a foreign object, Miz pins Bryan to get the devious win. 

Miz announced he was retiring (from ever facing Daniel Bryan again). Bryan comes out but Maryse says he should change his name to Daniel Bella. BRIE MODE hits and suddenly, the wives are involved in the feud.

Hell in a Cell on September 16, 2018 involved a mixed tag team match that saw Maryse pin Brie by cheating. Both couples had neat looking matching outfits.

October 6, 2018 rolls around. It’s Super Showdown. Miz vs. Daniel Bryan for the number one contendership. Bryan wins with a small package that no one even reacted to.

Skipping ahead a little...

The November 18, 2018 Smackdown saw Bryan face AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. Bryan turned heel in that match, kicking AJ Styles in the groin and winning the title.

He would appear on MizTV on the Dec. 4 Smackdown and be introduced as the New Daniel Bryan. Miz says he seems more confident and open, and Bryan has realized there is no such thing as a virtuous win. Miz says he was right all along. For eight years, Bryan painted Miz as the bad guy. Miz says he saw through it and Bryan owes him. And he asked, are you WWE champion because you listened to what I said? 

Bryan cements his heel turn, and says “Yes.”

A magnificent story.

In October on the 1000th episode of Smackdown, Miz qualified for the WWE World Cup tournament to determine the “Best Wrestler in the World.” 

At the event in November, Miz defeated Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio to advance to the finals against Dolph Ziggler, but injured his knee before the match, rendering him unable to compete. SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon replaced him and defeated Ziggler, winning the World Cup.

On the following episode of SmackDown, Bryan and Miz were announced as co-captain of the Men's Survivor Series match at the Survivor Series pay-per-view, however, SmackDown General Manager Paige removed Bryan from the match the following week and replaced him with Jeff Hardy, leaving Miz as the sole captain of Team SmackDown for the event. At the event, Team SmackDown lost to Team Raw.

Miz would begin to pursue a partnership with McMahon, with the promise of becoming the "best tag team in the world.”

McMahon would finally agree to the team proposal in December, turning Miz into a fan favorite for the first time since April 2014.

The duo would then challenge SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Sheamus to a title match at the 2019 Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 27, 2019, in which Miz and McMahon would defeat the duo to become the new champions.

However, the next month at Elimination Chamber, Miz and McMahon lost the titles to The Usos, ending their reign at 21 days.

The duo then failed to regain the titles from the Usos at Fastlane in March. 

After the loss, McMahon turned on Miz by attacking both him and his father at ringside. This led to a falls count anywhere match at WrestleMania 35, which Miz would lose.

On April 15, Miz was drafted to Raw as part of the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up. Upon his acquisition, he would attack McMahon with a steel chair.

Subsequently, Miz would challenge McMahon to a steel cage match at Money in the Bank in May. At the event, Miz was again narrowly defeated.

The following month at Super ShowDown, Miz competed in the 51-man battle royal, but did not win.

In July, Miz restarted his feud with Dolph Ziggler after a confrontation on Miz TV.

A match between the two was arranged for SummerSlam, however during the contract signing on the August 5 episode of Raw, Miz revealed that he was not Ziggler's opponent, instead it was the returning Goldberg who would take Miz's place in the match. He stated in an interview: “I’ll have many other opportunities at SummerSlam, but this might be Goldberg’s last.”

On the Raw after SummerSlam, Miz defeated Ziggler to end their feud.

Miz then competed in the 2019 King of the Ring, but was eliminated in the first round by Baron Corbin.

Miz then unsuccessfully challenged for Shinsuke Nakamura's Intercontinental Championship at Clash of Champions in September, after interference from Nakamura's manager Sami Zayn.

As part of the 2019 draft, Miz was drafted to SmackDown.

During the November 1 episode of SmackDown, NXT’s Tommaso Ciampa interrupted Miz TV to air his grievances towards Miz, accusing him of being self-centered. He subsequently challenged Ciampa to a match, which he would lose via pinfall. 

The following month, Miz began a feud with Universal Champion Bray Wyatt, who, under his sinister alter ego "The Fiend", proclaimed he wanted to become part of Miz's family. He would later attack Miz backstage. Subsequently, a non-title match between Miz and Wyatt was arranged for the TLC pay-per-view, which Miz lost.

At Starrcade, The Miz faced Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental title in a losing effort.

On the January 3, 2020 episode of SmackDown, Miz blindsided Kofi Kingston after being defeated in a match against him and subsequently lashed out at the audience after being booed, turning heel in the process.

Later that night, he reunited with his former tag team partner John Morrison, who made his return to WWE. 

On January 14, it was announced that The Miz would host an American game show on USA Network called Cannonball (inspired by a British series of the same name). 

Miz participated in the 2020 Royal Rumble match but was eliminated in 30 seconds by the eventual winner Drew McIntyre. 

After winning a title shot on the January 31, episode of SmackDown, Miz and Morrison won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from The New Day at Super ShowDown. 

At Elimination Chamber on March 8, Miz and Morrison retained the championship over The New Day, The Usos, Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) and Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode in a tag team Elimination Chamber match.

Miz and Morrison were originally set to defend the championship in a triple threat tag team ladder match against The New Day and The Usos at WrestleMania 36, but Miz pulled out of the event due to concerns arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, Morrison individually defended the championship in a triple threat ladder match against Kofi Kingston of The New Day and Jimmy Uso of The Usos, which Morrison won. 

On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, the duo lost the titles back to The New Day after Miz unsuccessfully defended the titles by himself in a triple threat match against Big E and Jey Uso ending their reign at 50 days.

At Money in the Bank the following month, Miz and Morrison unsuccessfully attempted to regain the championship in a fatal four-way tag team match also involving Lucha House Party and The Forgotten Sons.

Next, Miz and Morrison started a rivalry with Universal Champion Braun Strowman.

At Backlash, the duo competed for Strowman's title in a two-on-one handicap match, but lost.

Notable facts:

• Miz is an 8 time IC champion. Only Jericho, who has had it 9 times, had it more.
• Miz is about 20 days behind Pedro Morales for total days as IC champion. 
• Miz has been on TV since 2001. That’s 19 years
• I can’t find an example of Miz suffering a single major injury during his 14 year run with WWE

QUESTIONS

Victor asks...Aside from the heat he was generating, what went into the decision of giving Miz his first title run? Was there a lot of thought into it or was it just one of those “let’s see what happens” kind of deal 

James asks...Why do you think Miz has never been given a second run as WWE / World / Universal Champion?

Tyler asks...do you think he’s the modern day @RicFlairNatrBoy? Always stylin’ , has good matches and cuts great promos. No, I’m not saying he’s better than Ric. 

Richard asks...The Miz is rarely injured and works a believable yet safe style. Is there anything extra that most aren’t aware of about the Miz, his conditioning, or his in ring work that has keep him on TV nearly ever week? It’s truly a testament to how hard he works.

Brandon asks...Do you think The Miz could of been even bigger in the territory days playing the pest heel role?  Who would you of fantasy booked him against back then? 

Buck asks...Is the Miz a future WWE Hall of Famer?  Why or why not?  Love the podcast and the entertainment that it brings to us each and every week. Thank you for taking my question.

Thomas has a question. in your opinion, did The Miz out-punt his coverage with the French Canadian beauty Maryse? Much respect (heavy [like Conrad] on the Mister) to my "Okie Uncle".

Mike [Redacted] asks...What can be learnt from the Miz's treatment at the start of his career given how far he has come and what he has accomplished?

Brennan asks...Did the Miz actually get kicked out of the locker room by Chris Benoit for eating a sandwich over a ref's bag? 

Francis asks...Was wwe trying to have cole be an miz guy like you were with Stone Cold? 

Francis also asks...Who was the agent that he would use the most? 

Chris Morale asks...Do you think Miz's amount of time on MTV ruined him in the eyes of WWE fans as far as "validity" and tolerance is concerned?

Mayhem asks..Who’s idea was it to have Miz turn the logo upside down for his gimmick? Seems genius, entire new merch and revenue just by flipping the current logo 180 degrees.  

Rajiv asks...Do you see parallels between The Miz and MJF? Both good workers and great talkers 

The Real Chris Hughes asks..Why do you think that the Mizdow story was squashed when it was clearly getting over?  

Murray asks..Why didn't JR step in and stop the bullying and harassment of the Miz by Benoit and the locker room?