The Miz reveals WWE’s original plan for him.
Over the years, The Miz has positioned himself as one of the superstars that have been active for the longest time. Despite various waves of layoffs or programming reforms, the former WWE champion remains firm in the company. However, this was a different plan.
In a recent interview with Brian Baumgartner on Off The Beat, The Miz revealed that WWE originally planned for him to be a commentator within the company. Likewise, Maryse’s husband added that he had a salary cut to join the company.
I’ll never forget they said, “You impressed us so much that maybe there’s something for you in here.” They took me to Connecticut to comment. Joey Styles taught me, along with Todd Grisham and Michael Cole; I went with them and had to comment. They told me: “We could bring you in as a commentator or interviewer.” It was the first time I said, “but I want to be a WWE superstar.”
They didn’t look at me as a WWE superstar; they looked at me as a personality. I saw something different, “I love what they do and they do a great job, but I want to be bigger than The Rock and (Hulk) Hogan. I want to be a superstar.” “Okay, okay.”
They gave me a development deal, but they didn’t think it would be a big deal. You could say, “Let’s see what we have here.” They gave me this development contract, and I said, “I’m making more than doing Real World and The Challenge.”
I’m not going to take a pay cut to do this. I had to think about that. Are we looking at this as a career change? Sometimes you have to take less because you see the big picture. That’s what I did. I took less money to go there, train, and prove everyone wrong.
Currently, The Miz is in a rivalry with Dexter Lumis and Johnny Gargano, two superstars whose run on the main roster is just getting started. Now the last Miz finds himself promoting new faces in WWE, and he is not bad at all.
