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Now simply known as The Miz, a wildly successful and wealthy wrestler, Mike Mizanin was cast on The Real World: Back To New York when he was simply looking for a way to get out of his small town in Ohio. Unbeknownst to those who cast the show or to his roommates, there was an alter ego that was just dying to get out.
This alter ego came as a result of Mizanin being a huge fan of all things WWE. He wanted nothing more as a child than to be on the small screen appearing larger than life portraying a character he developed himself outside of Ohio.
As luck would have it, the charismatic personality that won over the producers of The Real World also won over Mizanin's roommates and audience as well. All it took was becoming The Miz. It was during this time that the foundation of The Miz was laid and would eventually make Mizanin a household name to wrestling fans.
Mike Became The Miz On The Real World
Nearly a decade after the original Real World premiered, producers at MTV thought it appropriate to take the cast of the show back to where it all began. And because of this, Season 10 took place in New York with seven strangers. One of which was Mizanin.
While it can take some time for the roommates to warm up to one another, Mizanin was having a hard time connecting with anyone on the show. A fact that the WWE Raw star attributed to not having a clue as to who he really was.
"Nobody liked me, and I was so uncomfortable in my setting and uncomfortable in my own skin," Mizanin explained. "I didn’t even know who I was. Then I started creating this character called The Miz."
The alter ego turned Mizanin from an unsure, confidence-lacking, unforgettable roommate into someone that did not take himself so seriously.
The Miz had confidence. He was comical. And he made those in his presence feel comfortable. As such, it was Mizanin's need to cope with an unfamiliar situation on Real World that led him to develop The Miz.
This means that had the WWE Evil star not been selected among thousands of applicants who wanted to be reality stars, the wrestling world may have never been introduced to the fan favorite, The Miz.
Mike Mizanin Then Caught The Eye Of The WWE
While The Real World was the first time that the world was introduced to The Miz, it would be several years before the wrestling community got wind of who this character was.
Fortunately, Mizanin had plenty of time to hone his persona by appearing on a handful of MTV's The Challenge and in the process, made a bit of money as well.
The move allowed Mizanin to pursue his dream of wrestling by providing the funds necessary to take everything from wrestling to acting lessons.
After moving to Los Angeles, an opportunity to audition for a reality show that was right up Mizanin's alley popped up. It was for WWE's Tough Enough, a reality show that promised to make a wrestling star out of the winner of the show.
Mizanin worked hard on the show but ultimately came in as the runner-up. The winner, Daniel Puder, looked to be a great addition to the wrestling circuit but did not last one year in the WWE.
Seeing something special, the executives of the WWE and Vince McMahon himself before leaving the WWE, offered the WWE SummerSlam star a "developmental contract."
While Mizanin thought this meant putting him in the ring as a headliner, it initially meant being a host of televised events. However, this got Mizanin's foot in the door.
After proving he had what it took to be a professional wrestler, the WWE: Royal Rumble star finally got his chance to get in the main ring in front of the audience, taking his alter ego concocted on The Real World to levels never imagined.
"The Miz" Is Wildly Successful Today
After being in the wrestling business for over a decade and a half, The Miz has achieved what he wanted to do. That is not only becoming a household name but a successful WWE Champion, both in title and wealth in the process.
When The Miz came on the scene, he was seen as a bit of a joke by other wrestlers. Not only was he not as technical as other wrestlers, but his persona also made him annoying to boot. But it was that persona that made fans either love him or hate him, and when there is that kind of reaction to a wrestler, success is going to be had.
"In my opinion, the mark of a good superstar is somebody who is emphatically himself. And he is 100 percent The Miz all of the time," John Morrison. The Miz's former tag-team partner explained.
"As annoying and obnoxious and loud-mouthed and bad-breathed and close-talking as he is, those are all reasons why people watch television and think, 'Man, I don't like that guy.' It's because he's not acting. He really is that annoying — and that's going to take him to the top."
And to the top is where The Miz has gone.
Since joining the WWE in 2006, The Miz has won 20 major WWE championships. This is more than successful and wealthy Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Jeff Hardy and just a few behind the likes of Jon Cena, Triple H, and Chris Jericho.
Given that his last championship was just in 2021, he has the possibility of adding more championships to that tally. Impressive, given that once upon a time, Mizanin was just a college kid from Ohio who came up with an alter ego to fit in with others on The Real World. And in doing so, may just become one of the most decorated WWE stars in franchise history.
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