Micheal Gregory Mizanin is the full package. Going under the moniker “The Miz” for his wrestling pursuits, the Ohio-born personality is more than just about throwing punches in the ring. He is also a well-known actor and media personality. In fact, his first stab at celebrity status did not come via wrestling. He started out as part of the cast of a reality television show in 2001.
Since then he has appeared on a good number of reality shows over the years. Some of the reality show notables include Battle of the Seasons, The Inferno, Total Divas, and Fear Factor. The wrestler cum actor has also been on several WWE or WWE-affiliated movies such as The Marine 3: Homefront, Christmas Bounty, and Santa’s Little Helper.
The Miz has been on WWE’s roster since late 2004 and has gone on to become one of the names synonymous with the brand. The wrestler has secured the WWE Intercontinental Championship a whopping eight times, the world-tag team championship six times, and a plethora of other titles. In 2011, Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranked The Miz on the top spot of their PWI 500 list. He is also one of the most sensational performers on WWE pay-per-view events.
The Miz Age, Early Life, and Rise to Fame
Micheal Mizanin was born in Parma, Cuyahoga County, Ohio on October 8, 1980. In high school, Micheal was a member of the student government and the basketball, swimming, and cross country teams. While at Miami University in 2001, he got his first opportunity when he was brought on as part of the cast of MTV’s reality show The Real World: Back to New York. He subsequently dropped out of school to focus on the reality show.
Mizanin has gone on to appear in many game show spin-offs of the reality show. Excluding 2013, he has appeared in at least one television show/project every year since 2001.
Before he struck gold with the WWE, Michael started his wrestling career as “The Miz” in the California-based independent promotion Ultimate Wrestling Pro in 2003. In 2004, he participated in WWE’s reality television show Tough Enough for a WWE contract and $1 million cash prize. Despite not emerging as the winner, The Miz had done enough to pique the interest of the WWE and was signed to a developmental contract.
He spent time at Deep-South Wrestling (DSW) and subsequently, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). Joining the SmackDown brand in early 2006, Michael shuttled between his responsibilities in-ring and as a media personality across episodes on SmackDown and Raw. He continued the dual role when he was moved to the ECW on June 17, 2007. He made his in-ring debut in a victory over Nunzio.
On November 16, 2007, The Miz teamed up with John Morrison to claim victory over MVP and Matt Hardy, thus earning them the WWE Tag Team Championship and his first-ever WWE title. They successfully defended it for several months before losing it on July 20, 2008, to Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins. They soon clinched the World Tag Team Championship from CM Punk and Kofi Kingston in December before losing it to the then WWE Tag Team champions, The Colóns in February 2009. At the 2009 WWE Draft, The Miz was drafted to the Raw brand, effectively ending his partnership with John Morrison.
While at Raw, The Miz won his first-ever singles title – The United States Championship – on October 5, 2009, defeating Kofi Kingston in the process. On February 8, 2010, forming an alliance (known as ShoMiz) with Big Show, The Miz claimed victories over The Straight Edge Society (CM Punk, Luke Gallows) and D-Generation X (Triple H, Shawn Michaels). These victories earned him the World Tag Team Championship and the WWE Tag Team Championship.
ShoMiz eventually lost the titles to The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith), ending their partnership. The Miz also lost his United States Championship title to Bret Hart but won it for the second time in a fatal four-way match against R-Truth, Zack Ryder, and John Morrison.
Cashing in his money in the bank contract on November 22, 2010, he pipped Randy Orton, to become the WWE Champion. On February 21, 2011, he also won the WWE Tag Team Championship with John Cena as his tag team partner. He would later lose his WWE Championship to Cena.
The Miz attained “Grand Slam Champion” status when he defeated Christian at Raw 1000, on July 23, 2012, to clinch his first Intercontinental Championship title. After an 85-day reign, he lost the title to Kofi Kingston.
In 2014, the promotion scripted a storyline that gave Miz a month off to focus on the filming of the fourth installment of the WWE Studios movie The Marine 4: Moving Target. In his second game upon his return on July 20, 2014, he was the last man standing in a battle royal match and clinch the Intercontinental Championship for the third time. He won it for the fourth time from Ziggler who had taken it from him after his third win.
In the time that followed, The Miz continued to rack up titles, winning the WWE Tag Team Championship with Mizdow in November 2014, and his fifth Intercontinental Championship in early 2016. After the filming of The Marine 5: Battleground, The Miz was drafted to the SmackDown brand in the 2016 WWE draft, taking the title with him.
The year 2017 saw him record some more fights and titles. He also found the time to film the sixth installment of his movie The Marine 6: Close Quarters. Upon his return from filming in January 2018, he defeated Roman Reigns to win the eighth Intercontinental Championship title of his career, losing it to Seth Rollins on April 8.
What Is His Net Worth?
According to various sources, The Miz’s biggest year yet was in 2017 when he took home about $4.5 million including salary, merchandise sales, etc. It is said that his net worth stands at $9 million.
Who Is The Miz Wife?
Relationships between two people in the same industry continue to be a thing. The Miz is married to Maryse, who is also a professional wrestler and businesswoman signed to the WWE. The two have been a thing onscreen for a while; they got engaged in 2013 and got married sometime in February 2014 in the Bahamas.
On March 27, 2018, they welcomed their first child, a daughter named Monroe Sky Mizanin.
Height, Weight, and Other Facts
1. Mizanin stands at 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) and weighs 100kg (221 lb)
2. The wrestler’s ring name “The Miz” has been largely accepted by fans over the years. However, he did not come up with the name for wrestling reasons. He first used it as an alter ego while on an MTV reality show earlier in his career.
3. In 2006, while with Ohio Valley Wrestling, The Miz won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship with Chris Cage. However, they had to be stripped of the title after the promotion brought disciplinary action against Chris and subsequently fired him.
4. On February 8, 2010, The Miz became the first wrestler in WWE history to hold three championships at the same time. He later became the first wrestler who was brought in from the Tough Enough reality competition to win the WWE Championship.
