- Miz interview, take one, mark.
- All right, we're rolling. - You missed your opening shot.
You missed your opening shot. I mean, that was it.
Miz, click, come off, see the face,
smirk, had it in.
But you had a guy in the background.
You ruined the whole thing.
- If you were a fan of the WWE universe,
would you like the Miz?
- No.
No, I would probably not like the Miz.
- Why?
- It's just-- he's just a bad guy.
[soft dramatic music]
- Some people don't like being a bad guy.
They don't like hearing all the negativity.
[audience booing]
I enjoy it.
[audience booing]
- If you're not an ass[bleep] at heart,
you're not gonna cut it as a villain
in today's environment.
You're just not.
That persona has to live inside of you.
- The way he sort of has an arrogance about him.
He's got an air of condescension
when he speaks to anybody.
- The WWE universe doesn't realize
the A-list talent that I am.
- He is the perfect hateable human.
- He's a jerk.
He has the courage to be a dick.
[audience booing]
- I'm sorry. Am I bragging too much?
- The Miz is a future Hall of Famer.
He's really one of the great villains
of the last 20 years.
He will do whatever it takes to get a win.
- I will cheat. I will cut corners.
I will hit you in the back.
- Hey! Hey! - Is that the Miz?
- Miz--Miz from behind with the briefcase!
- If you're a villain,
it allows you to tap in to a side of your personality
that you're yearning for everyone to know about you.
[audience cheering]
crowd: You suck! You suck! You suck! You suck!
You suck! You suck! You suck!
[dramatic music]
* *
- Quiet on the set.
- Why is the Miz so easy to hate?
- Can we please have quiet on the set?
[audience booing]
- Does it come naturally?
Or is it by design?
crowd: You suck! You suck! You suck! You suck!
- The Miz is the Joker.
The Miz is the guy who's counted out,
who is not shown respect,
who's treated like he's disposable,
who turns out to be everyone's worst nightmare.
- Describing Miz as a villain is pretty easy.
He knows how to pull your strings.
He knows how to make people angry.
His goal is to get that attention,
and that's all he wants, and that's why every time
he goes out to the ring and grabs a microphone,
you see the looks on people's faces.
- My acting coach has said they'd never seen a performance
like the one I gave in "Marine 5."
There's award buzz.
[audience booing]
- The hallmark of a great bad guy
is confidence and believability.
- I'm going to be the biggest star
you have ever seen.
- What makes the Miz character so effective
is that you couldn't help but feel
that he meant every word of what he was saying.
- Whoever comes out is going to get a beating,
and I don't care who it is.
So who is it?
- He is good at trash talk. He's quick. He's smooth.
- I got in your face, and what did you do?
Did you fight for your dreams?
Did you punch me in the face?
No, you got up and you walked away.
- He can cut people down, and he can do it very well.
- Making this all about you.
- Making it about me? I make nothing about me!
[audience booing]
- You can be hated for a lot of different reasons,
and they aren't your fault.
It's not a choice that we make to be hated.
Evil's a choice.
He chose to be this way,
and he has no problem saying it.
[horn blares, car crashes]
- This is the true story...
- We were first introduced to the Miz
on the classic reality show "The Real World."
- "The Real World."
- A character fabricated
from the pain of being disliked.
The Miz was cool.
- Yes! - Mike was not.
- I first met Mike when he tried out
for "Real World" season 10.
- This is the first time I've ever been to New York.
I don't know who I'm gonna live with.
- I think we all thought he was a little goofy at first.
- It's time for Mike to be unleashed.
- And the more you got to know him,
the more he grew on you.
He was kind of a slow burn.
- I'm a very social person.
I love to talk to everybody,
but when I got on "The Real World,"
nobody liked me.
- Every word that comes out of your mouth
tends to be more insulting than the one previously.
- And it bothered me.
- I've never said anything that made you go,
"Ooh, I don't ever wanna hang out with her again."
But you've done that-- those types of things to me,
and you've said those things, whether you know it or not.
- And it was very uncomfortable
'cause you had to live with them
and be around them 24/7, all day, every day
for five months
because that's how long we filmed for.
Five months.
So how did I deal with being uncomfortable?
[chuckles]
I drank a lot, and I created a character called the Miz
that told people exactly what I thought.
[energetic music]
You just don't get it, do you?
You just don't get it, Coral, do you?
- He asked me if I smelled what he's cooking?
I don't know what he's talking about.
- You can't stop the claw. It's the Miz claw.
It's on her. It's got her.
The Miz is a character I created.
He's a wrestling star,
and he's ready for the big leagues.
Something happened.
[both grunting]
- [laughs]
- People started liking the Miz more than they liked Mike.
- Hoo-yah! - [chuckles]
- I didn't realize I was creating a character.
It kind of just happened organically.
Let me tell you something, Rock,
you think you're all that and a bag of chips.
You think you're big.
Well, you ain't seen big until you've seen the Miz.
- I think Mike had the Miz
in his back pocket for a long time.
I think he was thinking about it for years,
and he was a kid that was a little insecure,
and what kid does not want
a superhero as their alter ego?
I mean everyone does, right?
He just was a little more organized about it.
He created the Miz to protect himself.
- I think it's his cushion where you can be the Miz,
and it doesn't matter if no one--no one likes you
because the Miz doesn't care.
The Miz doesn't care about you.
But Mike cares.
- You do not take the Miz's belt.
- Oh! - One, two, three!
- Once the Miz got on "The Real World,"
there was no more Mike.
Everyone called me the Miz.
You damn right.
Everyone.
You hear that?
I remember going back home, looking myself in the mirror,
and saying, "What do I want do with my life?"
And there was an action figure of the Rock
my roommates from "The Real World" gave me...
And I said, "I want to be a WW superstar."
[dramatic orchestral music]
Seven, eight, nine, ten!
- Outstanding. Do it. Run. Running out of time.
- Being a reality star
helped Mike earn an opportunity...
- I am Mike Mizanin.
- To compete on WWE's hit reality show,
"Tough Enough."
- Screw reality TV!
- "Tough Enough's" panel of judges
found Mike to be irritating.
- Easy, Mizanin, you're in way over your head.
- And though he left empty-handed...
- Maybe this wasn't my time yet.
Maybe my time will be later on.
- The Miz's big break would ultimately come
in the form of a microphone.
- Yo, what's up?
I'm the Miz, and I am your host
for "Friday Night SmackDown!"
Hoorah!
Any time you are being brought up to WWE,
you're thankful, and you really want do your best,
but when you sit down with Vince McMahon,
and he tells you, like, "I want you to be
the Ryan Seacrest of the WWE"...
Look, Ryan Seacrest is very talented,
but you don't want to hear that.
You want to hear, like,
"I see you as my next main event.
"people are gonna pay big, big money
to buy your merchandise, to buy your tickets."
Not, "I want you to be the host."
But when an opportunity presents itself to you,
you take that opportunity.
If I'm gonna be the host, I'm gonna have a microphone.
Has tonight been insane or what?
I mean, we got craziness going on!
My job was to hype up a crowd.
That all starts right now!
I was gonna do everything I possibly could
to make sure that I got a reaction.
I created a catch phrase, "Hoorah."
Hoorah!
Every time I would say "hoorah,"
they would say, "You suck."
Hoorah! crowd: You suck!
- Hoorah! crowd: You suck!
- In my head, I went, "Got something."
[audience booing]
crowd: You suck! - Hoorah!
- Mike was immediately disliked by the fans.
He hadn't earned their respect.
He was still just Mike from "The Real World."
- For better or worse, the Miz was kind of
already a celebrity
before he got into pro wrestling.
- Yo, what's up? It's the Miz!
- The attitude of the WWE was,
they had this star that had been on MTV.
He had been on "Tough Enough."
He was this loud, obnoxious character.
Let him go out there, stir up the pot,
and see how the crowd reacts to him.
- The world championship...
- There's a thing where the crowd feels
like someone's trying to get under their skin,
and the Miz was the master of that,
and I think the WWE saw it early.
- He doesn't become someone else.
He just turns himself up to ten and goes.
- Is it hot in here or is it just me?
I'm just kidding.
- He may make you hate him more,
but you're not supposed to think he's cool!
You're supposed to hate him.
- Let me hear you say, "hoorah!"
crowd: You suck!
- But Mike saw this as an opportunity.
- So how do I parlay this
into a wrestling career?
How do I get in the ring?
I remember thinking, "If you give me a microphone,
"people are gonna hate me so much,
they're gonna want to see me get beat up."
- He was the man everybody loved to hate.
- Reality's about to get checked!
- An annoying, arrogant, loudmouth.
- Hoorah!
[dramatic music]
- After just four months
as the antagonizing host of "SmackDown,"
the WW Universe
and the entire WWE locker room were anxious to see Miz
put his money where his mouth is.
- How about we book Paris Hilton, okay?
Since we booked the freaking Miz.
- You could tell just by the commentary...
[chuckles]
That Miz wasn't being taken seriously.
- I'll say what I wanna say. I hate him!
I personally hate him.
- When you see the Miz's debut
and you hear the commentator say,
"I hate this guy," he was pretty easy to hate.
- All of you get to witness the greatest debut
in the history of "SmackDown"!
- He comes in with an aura of,
"I'm above professional wrestling.
"I've been on MTV.
I've been a reality star. Like, I'm must-see."
Who does this guy think he is? He's a reality show bum.
He's not gonna last a week.
- Oh, and he paid for that! - Get him, Tatanka.
Get him! There you go, Tatanka!
- Oh, my! - Wear him out, boy!
- Some of the guys made life kind of difficult on the Miz.
He paid his dues, believe me. He paid his dues.
- [chuckles] JBL.
When people have
a preconceived notion of you...
They don't wanna like you.
I'm walking on eggshells every time I walk backstage.
One day, I was in a locker room
eating a piece of chicken, and someone said
I dropped chicken all over their bag.
Then someone else hears that, and someone else hears that,
and it turns into,
"Miz is in the locker room, throwing chicken,
"getting grease all over the place.
How dare him?"
And I got a huge talking to.
I got yelled at
more than I've ever been yelled at in my entire life.
[indistinct shouting]
[tense music]
- Mike wasn't allowed in the locker room
for six months, and Mike had to change
in the public bathroom...
* *
With fans sometimes ten minutes before going on.
Like, he would be signing autographs in the bathroom
before going on live television.
- He struck people the wrong way
because of his reality show background.
He's a good-looking guy,
natural talker right off the bat.
I think some people knew, this kid's gonna be a star,
but they didn't make it easy on him.
- No! Last rite!
Through the announcer's table!
* *
- Boy, did that set a chip on my shoulder.
I don't care if you love me or you hate me,
but I want you to respect me.
[dramatic music]
I've always been a button-pusher.
I would test the waters with superstars in the back.
I started wearing a bandana and fedora
because I wore it once backstage,
and everybody made fun of me
and said, "Oh, my God, what are you wearing?"
And in my head I went, "Well,
"I'm wearing this out there because if you guys hate it,
man, is this audience gonna really hate it."
[audience booing]
People wanted to be out there to boo me
and tell me how much they couldn't stand me.
They ruined our show!
- Hey, your show was ruined
the minute you opened your mouth out there!
[indistinct chatter]
- He has made an absolute living
on being the guy you want to see
get punched in the face.
- I don't know what the science is
behind having a punchable face, but people see his face,
and they go, "Look at him, that smug, little blonde--
I'm gonna punch his little face."
- Oh, what a clothesline!
[cheers and applause]
- There's a true skill to being that hated
that early in your career.
- Hated by everyone, the Miz found an ally,
a tag team partner in John Morrison,
a man who thrived on the hate just as much as the Miz,
and the dynamic duo quickly became
a force to be reckoned with.
- You never know what's gonna happen
in the team of Miz and Morrison.
Remember that. Write it down.
Do what you gotta do.
- When I first got paired up with Miz in 2007,
I remember thinking, "Oh, great.
"This guy that just got kicked out of the locker room
is gonna be my tag team partner."
[chuckles]
It really didn't take long for me to realize
that there is a lot more
to Mike Mizanin than the Miz.
- Miz and Morrison were like peanut butter and jelly.
He was kind of the mouthpiece.
Morrison was the physical performer
who could do anything in the ring.
They matched up so well together.
They had a style that worked.
- You're looking at the new "SmackDown"
tag-team championships, Morrison and the Miz!
- We were champions, but nobody really knew
who we were as characters.
John and I would talk about, "Man,
we should make a show on YouTube."
- Today we're gonna talk about what was most important.
- YouTube was just getting popular.
- Hello, this is Trish Stratus.
- While everyone else is thinking about
what they're gonna do in their next match,
John and I were also writing, editing...
Can we take a look at that?
- Producing a show
that we would show up early,
go into where there was a camera and a green screen.
We only had maybe 30 minutes to get this done,
so it had to be written, memorized,
and figured out to a T.
- Enough hip-hop.
- Those two would come to work every day
ready to make a movie when some people
are just walking in and cashing a check.
They did these extra things on their own.
It really made them stand out.
* *
- It was entertaining,
but we were also going after everybody.
- We dominated DX. - We mocked them.
[both sneer]
- Festus, you are still the biggest,
fattest, baldest virgin.
both: Beards, beards, beards, beards.
- There's one thing to being a villain on camera
and upsetting the audience and going after your peers.
That--that's part of the show.
When you're doing it in your free time
and going after people on social media,
that was a step above,
and it really upset a lot of superstars.
- Even if we weren't even in a story with them,
we went after them.
You're a loser.
Saying things that weren't supposed to be said.
- Hello, John. - Who are you?
- I want to play a game.
- [screaming] Oh, God!
[groaning]
It went viral. People were talking about it.
Most of all, people were talking about us.
The number one talk show on the internet,
"The Dirt Sheet."
- The Miz was always doing things
that get you noticed.
He wants that attention
whether it is positive or negative
or anywhere in between.
He doesn't care, and that's great,
but then you have to be able to back it up in the ring.
- As tag team champions, the Miz and Morrison
were inseparable, best friends for life,
or at least until the night of the WWE draft.
- It's draft night here in the WWE.
Welcome, everyone.
- Who is it?
- The Miz!
- It is the Miz!
- In a shocking twist,
the dynamic duo were now singles competitors.
- "The Dirt Sheet" duo has now been separated.
- And the Miz instantly chose his first victim.
- Oh, what in the world? - Oh, I like it!
- Oh! - Reality check, wow!
- What in the world?
- Miz is ready to be a top-tier,
prime-time player on "Monday Night Raw."
- Was it a moment of fear
or desperation?
Either way, this act of betrayal
set the stage for what was to come.
- When John and I broke up,
I had no idea what's in store for me.
I haven't been a singles wrestler
in, what, two, three years?
And now I'm going into "Monday Night Raw,"
the flagship show of WWE, and my first night out,
I call out the poster child of WWE.
I'm here to challenge John Cena!
[cheers and applause]
- He is sending a message
to the wrong locker room right now!
- For the next eight weeks,
John Cena isn't going to be there,
and I know he's not gonna be there.
Cena will still not come out and fight me.
And I'm gonna call him out.
The most overrated athlete
in the history of WWE.
So for eight weeks, I got tremendous amount of heat.
crowd: You suck! You suck!
You suck!
- Haven't heard that one before.
People were booing me...
Are you scared of me?
Can't standing me...
You gonna step up now, Cena?
Wanting to see John Cena just rip me to shreds.
crowd: You suck! You suck!
- Then the Miz finally got his wish.
The good news is, the Miz will main event
a pay-per-view this Sunday at the Bash.
The bad news is, the Miz has a match with me.
[cheers and applause]
- Well, the Miz has talked about this for months.
Well, now he has the opportunity
to put up or shut up.
- Do you know how many people can't wait to see the Miz
get shut up once and for all?
- The Miz facing off with John Cena
at a pay-per-view event, the attitude was, like,
who's this punk calling out this megastar in John Cena?
The all-American, clean-cut wrestler.
He's the biggest thing in the WWE.
- John Cena, a mega superstar.
For Miz, his first big match at a major pay-per-view.
- The Miz is this agitator. He gets under your skin.
He's not on John Cena's level.
It makes the audience want John Cena to shut his mouth.
[dramatic music]
- Weighing in at 240 pounds,
John Cena!
[cheers and applause]
- Jam-packed at the ARCO Arena!
- Every single person in this arena,
they just got revved up with the arrival of John Cena.
["The Time Is Now" playing]
- * Your time is up, my time is now *
* You can't see me, my time is now *
[bell dings]
- Oh! - Oh!
- The Miz wanted some. He's gonna get some.
- I'm thinking, "Oh, man, like,
"we're gonna have this incredible match.
"It's gonna be a barn burner.
People are going to be talking about it for years, right?"
- [shouting indistinctly]
- Instead, John Cena mops the floor with me.
[soft dramatic music]
- Right in the face.
- Cena just came in and just--
I didn't even get any offense on him.
- Oh!
- Attitude adjustment to the man
who many believed needed his attitude adjusted.
Miz has no choice but to tap out.
[bell dings]
- Well, it turned out just like Cena said.
- John Cena!
- The question I have is,
"Did Miz learn anything from this lesson?"
- The Miz played that perfectly.
What's hard to understand is,
if the crowd wants to see you to win
or they want to see you to lose, it doesn't matter.
It's all the same,
and so John Cena and the Miz
at that moment are on the same level.
all: One, two, three!
- And it is! [bell dings]
Miz is the United States champion!
- The Miz used that beatdown as motivation
and went on an impressive run,
including winning the U.S. title.
But Miz craved the ultimate prize,
the WWE championship.
- The prize, climb the ladder,
retrieve the symbolic briefcase.
Inside, a guaranteed opportunity
at a WWE title any place, any time.
- The winner of the "Money in the Bank" briefcase
has gone on to win the championship
over 80% of the time.
- Look at Miz. - Oh, my God!
- Oh! - The Miz climbing the ladder!
Miz has got it!
The biggest win of Miz's career!
- There's a change in the air. - I'm in shock!
- Randy Orton is the true WWE champion.
- No matter how bad you hurt, you get in that ring
- Suppose he's got a torn ACL or something like that,
and then he keeps trying to go.
Just gonna do more and more damage.
- [screams]
How did he do it?
all: One, two, three!
[cheers and applause] [bell dings]
- Oh, my God!
- After barely surviving a brutal title defense,
Randy Orton was clearly vulnerable.
- It's the Miz! - What?
I can't believe this!
- And the Miz pounced.
- The Miz won that "Money in the Bank" contract,
waited all this time.
He's waited till tonight.
Randy Orton in his second, not his first,
but his second title defense of the night.
[bell dings]
I can't believe this!
Oh, no. - Oy!
- What more does Randy Orton have to endure here tonight?
- Oh, Miz! Oy!
- The Miz is a classic villain.
By hook or by crook, often by crook,
the Miz will get it done.
- No! - Look out!
[dramatic music]
* *
[bell dings] [crowd booing]
- I cannot believe it. - This is unbelievable.
The Miz comes out and picks this spot
and takes the WWE title.
- He is the WWE champion.
[audience booing]
- This young girl's face
encapsulated the sentiment throughout the WWE universe.
She would forever be known as Miz Girl.
Miz's greatest moment of glory
became her fleeting moment of fame
for which she won a coveted Slammy Award.
- I'd like to thank my dad for taking me to "Raw,"
and I'd like to thank my sister
TigerButter9 for standing up for me.
- Awesome!
- * I came to play *
* There's a price to pay *
- Which did not sit well
with a man who despises sharing the spotlight.
- Do you mind if I take a look at your Slammy?
Do--may I?
Hold that.
If anyone deserves a Slammy,
it's not a nine-year-old girl, it's me.
- The evil traits are greed and envy.
He wants it all, and he's very upset
when anyone else gets some of his spotlight.
- His goal is to get that attention,
and that's all he wants.
He loses respect, of course, but it--he doesn't care.
It doesn't matter.
His focus is on getting an entire arena
booing him out of it no matter what the situation.
[crowd booing]
- At that point, I am the WWE champion.
I am in a main event caliber,
and I'm still not respected as the champion.
Nobody really wants me as the champion
or believes I should be champion.
You boo me?
At that point, it was all about the Rock and Cena.
That's what people wanted to see.
- It is time to give the people
what they want!
[cheers and applause]
- The Rock just came back.
He's gonna host "WrestleMania."
Him and Cena are kind of feuding.
More people are gravitating towards that
than they are against me against Cena,
and I needed to switch that.
So when John Cena is worrying about the Rock
and doing his raps, he should be worried
about one person and one person only,
me, the WWE champion.
- The Miz needed to piss off so many people
that you would wanna see him get beat up for it.
- So how does the Miz steal the spotlight away
from what was to be the main event?
By pulling off one of the most diabolical acts of fraud
in WWE history.
[indistinct chatter]
- The people wanted to see the Rock on "Raw,"
and the Miz had a plan to make it happen.
- I get the bald cap on, the sunglasses on,
I cut my sleeves.
I have a "Just bring it" shirt.
- Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome
your special guest ring announcer...
- I get to the gorilla position,
which is the position right before
you enter the arena.
I'm standing there waiting. I am very nervous.
Butterflies are in my stomach, and the Rock's music hits.
- If you smell what the Rock is cooking.
[cheers and applause]
- The place becomes unglued.
I'm talking celebration.
I've never heard an eruption like this before
in my entire career.
It is insane.
As I'm about to go out through the curtain,
Vince stands up and goes, "Wait."
[soft dramatic music]
* *
Okay, I'm waiting.
And the crowd starts to come down.
* *
And Vince goes "Now."
[cheers and applause]
[rock music playing]
Once I get out there and the crowd sees me,
I'm thinking it's just gonna die.
But that didn't happen.
[dramatic orchestral music]
* *
[cheers and applause]
The crowd erupted even bigger,
and in my head, I'm going,
"Oh, my God, this is working."
I take off the sunglasses...
And sniff the air,
and the crowd erupts even bigger this time...
[chuckles]
When they see me, me, dressed as the Rock.
They think I'm the Rock. It's working.
Oh, so good.
So I'm like,
"I bet I can get another pop out of this."
They didn't start noticing that it wasn't the Rock
until I started going down the ramp
and getting into the ring.
It took them, like, two to three minutes
to realize it was me and not the Rock.
I get into the ring. I rock bottom John Cena.
The crowd is just booing.
[audience booing]
* *
- Stunts like that are what make WWE great.
I mean, we see a bald cap and dressed up
as the Rock, like, that's kind of funny.
- Oh, my God. Look at this!
It's the Miz!
- When you get people's heartstrings involved,
when the emotions are there,
and they think they're gonna see someone that they love,
and then you take that all away from them,
that's a win right there for any villain.
- It's a brilliant, brilliant moment,
and not everyone could have pulled it off.
I don't wanna say anything complimentary about him
'cause that's the worst person to compliment in the world,
but it was so well done.
- [yells]
- And to do it in that way,
to go in there and beat up on John Cena...
- This guy beat John Cena.
Like, how often does that happen?
Ten times every thousand years?
- Oh, my God, I beat Cena up
like I've never beat anyone up before.
* *
- I don't know anybody who's had a better moment
as far as really making a name for themselves in WWE.
- It was the first time that the audience said,
"I want to see the Miz versus John Cena."
To literally have them erupt the way they erupted
and then react the way they reacted
after realizing it was me,
that set up my entire program
for "WrestleMania" as the WWE champion.
- 71,000 have set an all-time record here
for the Georgia Dome, and they are ready
for this main event.
- Miz had pranked the entire WWE universe.
To make matters worse, Miz took full advantage
of the distraction he created.
- Miz and John Cena.
It is all about the WWE title.
Cena has never lost a one-on-one match
at any WrestleMania Cena has competed.
- And here it is. [bell rings]
- We are officially underway for the WWE title.
- Oh! - The Miz chest drills Cena!
- Looking to end it. - It'll take more than that.
- Miz.
- The Miz facing off with John Cena
at "WrestleMania,"
that is a huge acknowledgment by the WWE,
and it's a huge acknowledgment by the WWE fans
who would tune in because they believe John Cena and the Miz
at that moment are on the same level.
- Miz coming off those ropes hard.
- Oh!
- "Cena is here,
and I'm right here with him in this moment."
[dramatic music]
- Oh, man!
- May do it. - WWE title at stake!
- And the Miz kicks out.
Miz showing amazing resilience.
Whether we like him or we don't is irrelevant.
- It's one thing to be the guy everybody hates,
but it's another thing entirely to be the one
taking out the top stars in the company.
- Oh! - Skull-crushing finale!
Should do it!
And Miz pins Cena.
Miz still the WWE champion!
- That is a huge win,
but it's also an acknowledgment of Miz's stardom.
That's why it was such huge moment for him.
- After retaining the WWE championship
at "WrestleMania 27,"
the Miz's star continued to rise.
- I am the most captivating
and entertaining superstar on this brand.
- And he intended to take full advantage.
- Well, it's kind of nice actually
that now you're here as a guest on the show.
- Yes, it's an absolute honor. Thank you very much.
- The Miz pursued TV and film opportunities...
- Okay, here we go, guys.
- And discovered a way to make his character
even more annoying.
- I went away for, like, a month
to film "The Marine...4."
And when I came back,
I had this idea for a character.
I wanted to be the greatest A-list actor in the world,
but I will be an A-list actor
who only did straight-to-DVD movies.
[dramatic music]
* *
Hi, I'm the Miz.
Maybe you've see me in "The Marine" 3, 4, 5, and 6.
People hate those people.
I don't even think about when I'm acting
because it's just real to me.
Like, that person.
And then that I really started studying Andy Kaufman.
- I'm a star. I'm from Hollywood.
I make TV shows and movies in Hollywood.
I'm very famous for it, and people love me for it.
You're just a two-bit wrestler
who's never been successful at anything, okay?
- God, this guy is an absolute genius.
- I wanna give you all a chance to apologize.
[audience booing]
- It wasn't until during my run in WWE
I found a lot of his stuff
because YouTube wasn't even popular when I first started.
You know, we didn't have ways to getting videos.
- You're just a dumb hick from Memphis, Tennessee.
[mocking Southern accent] Is that how you talk
in Memphis, Tennessee, Mr. Lawler? Duh.
- [as Andy Kaufman] You're from Memphis?
Memphis, Tennessee?
You're from Memphis? I'm from Hollywood.
- I'm gonna wipe the floor with you, Mr. Lawler.
Because I am a star. I am a Hollywood star.
[audience booing]
- Can we please have quiet on the set?
- Inspired by the brilliance of Kaufman,
the Miz embraced an overinflated view
of his Hollywood success,
which aggravated the WWE universe
to another level.
- I was tempted to stay in Hollywood
and shoot more films.
Directors begging me to stay.
Do you have any idea how important I am?
You take me for granted.
I'm not going to leave until you all
are on your knees begging me.
How dare you deprive these people of a moment
to watch me shine?
He always smiles, you know?
You just wanna wipe that smile off their face.
I'm a box office draw. I'm a--
[cheers and applause]
- Did that feel good?
- The Miz experienced tremendous success
over the next several years, but there was still
a persistent undertone of disrespect.
- How am I feeling? I'm feeling like an A-lister.
- I don't think many members of the WWE universe thought
the Miz was an A-list actor, but I think they thought
that he thought he was an A-list actor.
- I look the part, I act the part,
I walk the part, I talk the part
because I am the part.
- I had the same opinion as several others.
He's really loud, and he's constantly on the microphone,
so after 10, 12, 14 years,
you see him coming out to the ring
and you instantly groan and roll your eyes.
- Don't you dare boo me.
Don't you dare boo me!
- To the Miz's credit, he was very good
at portraying a character in a very unlikeable way.
- One night, after years of trying to ignore it,
it all blew up on live TV.
- I think the fact
that the intercontinental championship
wasn't highlighted in "SmackDown Live" is a crime.
I went on "Talking Smack."
- We had you on, like, two weeks ago, Miz.
- There was no secret that there was no love lost
between the Miz and Daniel Bryan,
professionally or personally.
- I don't like Mike, right?
I don't like Miz.
We know how to push each other's buttons.
- Forced into an early retirement
due to injury, Bryan was serving
as a general manager of "SmackDown"
when the Miz interrupted "Talking Smack"
to complain about the lack of ring time.
Daniel Bryan shot back
and struck a very raw nerve.
- This is the last title that you held Daniel.
Last one. The last title.
And you said you wanted to make it relevant.
You wanted to make it prestigious and honorable.
- Right. Right. Can I-- - That is what you said.
Those were words coming out of your mouth--
- Well, here's the deal. I have respect for the title.
I just don't have respect for the person holding it.
- Oh. - Why? What did I do?
What is the thing that I do
that was so wrong in the WWE that has--
- You haven't done anything wrong.
I just--I don't like the way you wrestle.
I think a lot of the fans don't like
the way you wrestle either.
There's no gentle way to say it.
To me, you wrestled like a coward.
You wrestle like somebody who's afraid to get hit.
- I wrestle like a coward?
- You wrestle like a coward.
- It wasn't the words "coward."
I've been called a coward before.
It was how Daniel Bryan called me a coward.
I could see in his eyes that it was real,
and I felt my entire body get mad and aggravated,
and in the back of my head, I'm going, "Oh, man,
"I'm--I'm getting mad and aggravated.
This is what my body is doing."
And then when Daniel Bryan left...
You're the one that doesn't get in the WWE ring again.
No, don't you walk away from me, Daniel.
[soft dramatic music]
I lost it.
Don't you walk away. Get that camera right here.
This is my show, my show, and I'm sick of all of you,
my GM, sitting there criticizing me,
calling me the coward.
You're the cowards.
I'm the one here day in and day out
in that wrestling ring beating people up.
Thank you very much.
* *
- That was one of the greatest moments
he's ever had.
I don't know how much real life
was in what he was saying,
but it felt real.
- Okay, this has been "Talking Smack."
We will be back.
Thank you guys for joining us tonight.
- Whenever you're kind of watching the show
and you're like, "I'm not sure
how much of this is supposed to be going on."
- I believe it was real.
I believe Miz was fed up with hearing
that his style wasn't tough enough,
and he pointed out, like, "Hey, I don't miss matches."
- I have never, never been injured.
I am here each and every week.
The reason I wrestle the way I wrestle
is because I can do it day in and day out
all the time for ten-plus years.
- He was talking to every single person
who doubted him, who doubted that he'd be this far,
this long in his career,
for all the people that told him
he didn't really have a place in WWE.
- Your shirt says, "Earn it."
I've earned it for 12 damn years!
[cheers and applause]
- I think right then and there,
that kind of turned him into,
"Oh, this is undeniable.
You gotta give the Miz his props."
The Miz used that moment
to solidify his character.
- Did it feel good after the fact?
- No, I got very insecure.
It doesn't feel good.
It--it feels like you were out of--out of control
of your body.
I don't remember even what I said.
I was so mad. I'm not used to that.
* *
- To this day, I think people want to know
if that was the Miz or Mike.
- And go to bingo halls with your--
This is my show. My show!
- That was Mike.
- All of you, you're the cowards.
- Mike had many things to say that he hasn't even said.
He was really upset, and he let it out,
and I got kind of nervous because it got out of control.
- This was something different.
We're used to the Miz who was accepting people's hatred,
never really seemed to bother him.
This seemed to get under his skin.
This was Mike.
This was someone who was-- was really hurting,
and that was something new for us.
* *
- After all the years
of blood, sweat, and sacrifice,
the Miz's battle for respect from his fans and peers
had taken its toll.
- I think in a lot of ways, wrestling is like reality TV
in that you see everything.
You see people's best...
[upbeat music]
Their worst.
You see their relationship, home life.
Everything is a part of the wrestling story.
We don't just fall in love
with what the person does in the ring.
That's the difference between wrestling and other sports.
[cheers and applause]
Athletes, you may know some, but many you don't know.
In wrestling, you get to know every superstar
and who they are.
- The reason I am not there is because I am a star.
The reason why the Miz does all the things that he does
is because he's so insecure.
I know he's been obsessing over me...
That's why he speaks louder than everybody else.
It's the reason that he wears the three-piece suits.
All right. The expensive designer stuff.
Because he wants you to see him as a star.
Anything else? Didn't think so, thanks.
But you don't believe it.
So he needs to overcompensate for it,
and there's nothing that will ever be enough.
I will do whatever it takes to be the biggest superstar
that WWE has ever seen.
I should be representing this company as WWE champion.
- I don't think anybody wants to give him the credit,
but we have to because he's established himself
over such a long arc of time of being a top-tier talent
and a person who creates attention.
- The more hate you give the Miz,
the more you feed him,
the more it motivates him, the bigger star he becomes.
No matter how much you hate him,
no matter how much you want to kill the guy,
year after year after year,
he's just consistently in the picture.
- He's gone through this progression
of just trying to be accepted in this world
that doesn't want to accept him.
Being kicked out of locker rooms,
being told he should quit,
being told he's not legit, but what the Miz does have
was such a completely incredible
understanding of character development.
- Capacity crowd of 14,000,
all chanting in unison that Miz is awesome.
- He's so good at being a bad guy,
your cheer him, and I guess
that's the ultimate sign of respect.
What he's brought to the wrestling world,
I don't think a lot of people could have done.
I honestly think
he's the only one who could've really done it.
- The truth is, the reason the Miz
was able to make it from reality TV...
- I am Mike Mizanin.
- To WWE superstar is because he would have made it
as a WWE superstar even if he never did reality TV.
- Well, you ain't seen big until you've seen the Miz.
- He was on "The Real World"
and he was just Mike,
and the guy would, like, tell everybody in the house,
"I'm gonna be a famous wrestler one day,"
we all laughed at him like, "You're an idiot.
That's never gonna happen."
To this day, I am madly impressed
that that guy called the shots and did it.
Cannot knock a dude for having that kind of love
and passion for something
and then growing up and making it his world.
- So what is the true measure of success
as a person or as a character?
The Miz is the only two-time Grand Slam champion
in WWE history.
He has his own reality show.
- 221 pounds, the Miz!
- On the surface, the Miz has it all,
but the one thing he's struggled with
from the beginning is earning respect.
From his days on "The Real World"
to his career in the WWE,
Mike Mizanin did what he had to do to get ahead,
but did he ever get the respect
he was looking for?
- Do I get praise now?
Yeah, I do,
and it's a nice feeling, but still to this day,
people look at me and go,
"He doesn't deserve anything that he has gotten.
I don't respect him."
- This guy, he's never gonna make it.
This guy-- [scoffs]
Comes from "The Real World."
- You're not big enough. You're not tall enough.
- Oh, he just got lucky.
He was just in a good spot. Good timing.
- You're not smart enough. You're not athletic enough.
You're not gonna make it.
I did it.
- Miz has always been a proud champion.
[indistinct shouting]
Where's the cover?
Miz is a champion! [bell dings]
[cheers and applause]