The Miz Discusses Interesting Nickname Given To Him By Former WWE Star
The Miz isn’t hesitant about getting his family involved with his WWE storylines. He played a part in his wife Maryse returning to WWE after a five-year absence in 2016 and he also included his father in a storyline with Shane McMahon.
That storyline built up to a match last year at WrestleMania 35 against Shane. During the match, Miz’s dad jumped into the ring to come to his son’s aid and confront Shane. The Miz talked about his dad having a WrestleMania moment when he joined Notsam Wrestling.
“Do you understand now what has happened? My dad has turned that 15 minutes of fame into 15 years. Every Monday night he calls me and he goes, ‘Mike, do you know what you are doing wrong?’ I go, ‘Dad, I’ve been doing this for 15 years. I don’t need you to tell me.’ He goes, ‘Obviously, you do. I was in the ring for five minutes and I became a meme. I went viral and everyone’s talking about me.’ Now, I have to listen to him all the time,” joked The Miz.
Otis won the Money in the Bank briefcase earlier this year but Miz was able to connive his way to get Otis to put the contract on the line. Miz then won the contract by defeating Otis at Hell in a Cell to make him the third person to hold the Money in the Bank contract twice.
He was asked when he plans on cashing in for a title shot and what it would mean if he were to become a World Champion.
“Let’s face it. I have the Money in the Bank contract right now. I can cash in anytime, anywhere. Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, whoever has the WWE or Universal Championship at the time, I have the opportunity to get that. I know that when I’m with my wife, Maryse, I know nothing can stop me. So, you never know,” stated Miz.
“This isn’t the Intercontinental Title we’re talking about. Granted, it was the prestigious and most honorable title when I had it. If I have the WWE or Universal Championship, I am the poster child of WWE. I am the talk. If I’m the talk, guess who else is the talk? My Mrs., Maryse.”
With his real name being Mike Mizanin, the nickname of The Miz is natural. However, Miz has also gotten an unwelcomed nickname of “Missionary Mike” courtesy of his show Miz and Mrs. He talked about which former WWE Superstar first coined the nickname.
“Zack Ryder. That is a Zack Ryder coined term. We were in a locker room one day – it was a European Tour – and Ryder was talking to us about sexual stuff. I was like, ‘Oh my God, really?’ He goes, ‘What are you? Missionary Mike?!’ Everyone erupted in the locker room,” recalled Miz.
“Now, if I call Xavier Woods, I show up as Missionary Mike on his cell phone. That’s how it is in the locker room now. Not only that, but I’ll see Big E, he’s like, ‘Missionary Mike!’ It’s a thing now and I don’t want it to be a thing, because I’m not a missionary guy!”
Maryse then jumped in and said, “Then, they look at me and they smile. I’m like, ‘You guys, what the heck? You bunch of kids.'”
The Miz recently celebrated his 40th birthday and has been wrestling for over 15 years so it’s natural to start thinking about retirement. Most wrestlers never truly know when the best time to walk away is but The Miz seems to already know when it will be right to call it quits.
“You want to retire right at your popularity. Right when your popularity hits max and that’s when people miss you the most. People will start chanting your name and be like, ‘Yeah! We want him back!’ If you just leave randomly when you’re in the middle of stuff, people are like, ‘Oh, that’s okay, that’s alright!’ You always want to leave on a high,” said Miz.
“Me, I will whenever… I don’t look at time. I just look at whenever it stops being fun. Honestly, I’m having the most fun I’ve ever had. I get to be with John Morrison. I come home to my wife. I get to film Miz & Mrs., I did Cannonball, we have a new production company MadRoe Productions. We’re working on new shows, selling them right now, and everything is looking really in a positive direction. We have a couple of pitches about a game show that Maryse and I have that people are really excited about.”
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Notsam Wrestling with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Mehdy Labriny contributed to this article.