There is no greater reality show success story than The Miz — at least when it comes to the world of professional wrestling. Starting on MTV cornerstone The Real World at a very young age, Mike Mizanin cultivated an alter ego he called “The Miz,” who he based on his very real and very longstanding love of pro wrestling. Over the years, he became a mainstay of Real World alumni shows like The Challenge, while never losing sight of his goal of becoming a wrestler.
Miz eventually parlayed his MTV fame (or notoriety, at least) into a spot on Tough Enough, which was a competition within WWE Smackdown at the time. He managed to land a job with WWE in 2005, and he’s been with the company ever since. He’s been WWE Champion, main evented a WrestleMania, and is currently the secret ace of the entire company. Not too shabby.
As you’d expect, no matter how fancy the Miz and Maryse’s house may be, he’s never forgotten about or been embarrassed by his MTV roots. You may not be aware of this, but MTV recently brought back TRL, which for years was basically the hottest thing in the universe. Since they’re in search of some star power to stop by, they got the Miz to drop in and judge a “wrestling persona” competition.
While the acts themselves aren’t great — although Lifeguard delivered a perfectly serviceable promo which would be great by most non-WWE standards, and he got robbed by the studio audience through virtue of being a heel — the clip is well worth your time for Miz not only tearing apart how bad both men are, but also by the embarrassingly backwards-ass impression of pro wrestling that MTV still has in the year 2017.
Miz berated some no-name VJ with a condescending “Is this what you think I do for a living?” is the perfect thing to send you into the weekend. God bless the Miz, and god bless his incredible level of talent. WWE Champion Miz in 2018, please and thank you.
