SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following is a transcript of Miz’s interview on NBC Sports Radio Pro Wrestling 24/7 yesterday talking WrestleMania 35 and his match against Shane McMahon, provided to PWTorch.com by the show’s producer…
Nick: The Miz is here just days away from Wrestlemania 35 where he will step into the ring against Shane McMahon, What up Miz….
Miz: You know just getting prepared, getting my mind straight, making sure I’m physically ready for what’s going to happen at WrestleMania in front of 80,000 people at Metlife Stadium there is nothing bigger going on in New York and I’m really, really excited about it and very motivated.
Nick: Listen dude, I don’t know if you’ve heard this or not, but every time I hear your name or even I bring it up, everyone is in agreement that you are a living legend
Miz: You think so? I don’t even know how to take that because I look at it as the now, I’m always in the present and try to give everyone out there in the WWE Universe all of our fans exactly what they want. Those moments that will last a lifetime, something they can smile about and whether it’s being on the Real World or the Challenges or WWE or even Miz & Mrs I always put my best foot forward and try and keep going and just enjoy my life and having fun.
Nick: I’ll be totally honest with you here, you and Dolph, I wasn’t fans of the squad. In fact, you guys were horrible. But fast-forward I mean Dolph is one of the best workers from a fans point of view he’s amazing and you, I said it earlier, living legend.
Miz: Thank you. Yeah that’s one of the best parts about being a WWE Superstar, everyone has an opinion and everyone is entitled to their opinion and they’re allowed to explain their opinion in front of 20-30 depending on what arena we’re at thousand people even at Metlife you’re allowed to boo who you hate, cheer who you love, you’re allowed to give your opinion. Whether that opinion will motivate me and put a chip on my shoulder that’s a whole other story because that is kind of what motivated me. People liked saying that kind of stuff like “I didn’t like you, I think you suck, I think you’re terrible, I think you’re horrible.” It motivated me to not only be better, but make myself better at everything I possible could do and to prove that person wrong and I think I’ve been doing that more and more. I think 13 years in WWE I’m finally getting respect and it took a long time to get that respect, but you can hear the audience now. They’re not just clapping because it’s the thing to do, they’re clapping because they really feel it, they’re cheering because they really and genuinely feel that that’s what they want to do – and that’s what I’m appreciating now.
Nick: I’m glad you brought that up the respect aspect. (Hulk) Hogan, Ric Flair, Steve Austin, Triple H, A.J. Styles, even (Ronda) Rousey currently, when you think about the McMahons at WrestleMania, these names come to mind. Some of the biggest stars, best draws, and best wrestlers in history when you think about it. What does it mean to you to know the company appreciates you and respects you enough as a talent and performer that they’re willing to put your name on that marquee along with McMahon this year?
Miz: Well, you know, the way I look at it as the type of talent – and I’ve always said this line and I said it a couple weeks ago – hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard enough. And I can tell you for whatever I lack with talent I make up for with hard work. I have dedicated myself, I have shown all the talents that I have, and I have the ability to make sure that people feel something and remember something. Every time I go out there, I make sure I’m an elite-level talent, a talent that people go I need to see what he’s going to say or what he’s going to do because I remember back in the day when The Rock was my favorite back in the Attitude Era with the Austins and the Triple Hs, you know, back then. Those were the guys that you always wanted to know what they were going to say, what they were going to do next, and that’s the type of caliber of talent that I am now and I think WWE trusts in that because I have shown them that over the years, over and over again, whether I was up or down in WWE, I always go out there and make sure the audience gets exactly what they deserve.
Nick: The Card at WrestleMania, it’s a hell of a card, in every aspect including length, I can imagine you all in the locker room get anxious and and maybe tiresome
Miz: Tiresome? I don’t think I’m tired at all. I think I’m prepared and ready. Whether it’s doing an entire media day on Thursday, whether it’s Friday doing Axxess we’re doing autograph signings, taking pictures, whether it’s NXT Takeover, whether it’s the Hall of Fame on Saturday, or whether it’s WrestleMania – we are prepared for this. This is what we’ve prepared for our entire year. It’s like going to the SuperBowl and asking Tom Brady if he’s tired. No, Tom Brady is not tired. Tom Brady is ready to go, and that’s exactly what I am, that’s what being a WWE Superstar is. I’m ready to go, I’ve prepared for this, I’ve been to WrestleMania before, but each and every time I try and make myself better and I’ve learned from past mistakes and previous things that I’ve done. So now I’m going to use all the things that I’ve learned and I’m going to use them to beat Shane McMahon in a Falls Count Anywhere Match in front of 80,000 at Metlife
Nick: I can’t wait for that match, that storyline, we all know it’s going to be something to watch. The first time the women have ever headlined or main evented a WrestleMania and it can’t get any bigger than these three, that segment during Raw was pretty damn good.
Miz: Oh my god, my wife called me like, “Did you just see what Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey, and Charlotte Flair just did?” And I’m like, “Wait, no, I was on a flight.” She said, “Oh go watch it, go watch it. It was incredible.” And that’s the type of thing I feel like they need and they deserve and those types of things never in my wildest dreams did I think a women’s segment would have that, but she was so proud and that’s exactly what these women should feel is proud, each and every woman that has ever stepped foot in the ring from generations all the way back to Fabulous Moolah to my wife’s generation you know Maryse to these (women) now have all fought their way to not only having all-women’s pay-per-view called Evolution which absolutely dominated Nassau Coliseum and was probably the best pay-per-view I have seen this entire year, not only that, but now going into WrestleMania, Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch in the main event. They are creating history.
Nick: Absolutely. Between you and me, do we see Undertaker at 35?
Miz: I don’t know. You know, I’ve gotten that question quite a bit; WrestleMania and Undertaker are synonymous, but I haven’t’ heard of anything and I don’t know if anyone else has, but no one’s called him out like last year. (John) Cena kept calling him out, but now I don’t know. I really truly don’t know. Do I want that to happen? Absolutely, but not during my match.
Nick: On that same note, you guys did leave Marjo at that rest stop or gas station, come it’s just you and me talking, dude.
Miz: That is true.
Nick: Between you and I that’s true right?
Miz: Yeah though it was an accident. She said she was going to the bathroom, I didn’t think she was going to the bathroom like in the gas station. I thought she was going to the bathroom in the bus. There’s like two bathrooms in the bus, why wouldn’t she go in the bus. So yea, we accidentally left her and all of a sudden like five minutes later we hear a phone call and I thought she was stuck in the bathroom that’s what I thought, and all of a sudden that was not it we left her and that’s kind of the shenanigans that my family gets into all the time. You’ll get to see it on Miz & Mrs every Tuesday on USA and I mean it’s just absolutely incredible the response that we’ve gotten for the show. It’s all been very positive and people are really enjoying it and really getting behind it and you’ve got to love that. Maryse and I set out to producers that we wanted to create a show that families could watch on their own and sit down and be entertained and laugh and they can get rid of all their drama and kind of step into our reality, you know, and I think we’ve been able to create that which we are very very proud of.
Nick: I can’t believe you get along with your mother-in-law that well, I can’t stand mine and she knows it
Miz: We get into quite a bit of quarrels, if you will, but they’re all out of love and we have so much fun with it. Miz & Mrs brought my entire family closer because everybody wants to be on it. My dad was like, “Yeah, we are shooting Miz & Mrs this week” and I’m like why and he says, “I’ll come down if you are. Oh my god, my dad wants to be famous.” Marjo and my dad want to have spin offs and I’m like, “You guys need to calm down”. If were to tell me 30 years ago when I was 8 that I would have my own reality show, if you were to tell me when I was on the Real World I would have my own separate reality show, I’d tell you’re crazy and now I do and not only that, but I’ve been WWE Champion. I have my own Snickers bar. You can go to Dollar General and get yourself a Miz Snickers bar. That is absolutely crazy to me. I’m going to WrestleMania in one of the marquee matches against the son of Vince McMahon and this is just crazy. My life has been amazing, crazy, and awesome.
Nick: I don’t see how it can get any bigger than Shane McMahon at WrestleMania, it’s the boss’ son. All eyes are going to be on you.
Miz: All eyes are going to be on me and that’s exactly where I want them to be because it’s one thing to put your hands on me, it’s another to put your hands on my family and father and that’s exactly what Shane did, so Shane’s going to get exactly what he has coming to him come WrestleMania in the Falls Count Anywhere match
Nick: The one thing I take from Miz & Mrs is how this guy from Ohio despite the fame and the fortune can’t help, but staying to his roots as to who he is though.
Miz: When I was getting on the Real World I asked the producer why they picked me, what made me so special, and he told me that I can’t help being myself and I never really got understood that, but now I can’t get it. I can’t help being myself. I’m not cheap, I have money, but I’m not going to set there and spend $1,000.00 on a three-tier cake when I can go to Ralph’s and get a sheet cake for twenty dollars, you know what I mean. My wife, we’re in New York right now and my wife doesn’t just want a birthday for Monroe her first birthday, she wants a birth month where we celebrate the entire month and I’m like, “Listen, the kid needs a cupcake and literally take a picture and that’s it.” She’s not going to remember any of this, but my wife wants to make this big, glamorous thing. These are arguments that a lot of people have in their lives you know
Nick: And half the cake won’t even be eaten they’ll just play in it
Miz: When my wife got a four-tier cake for a party that we had, I think it was a baby shower or a gender reveal – one of the two, probably both – and we had this cake. It was amazing, it was incredible. Not one person touched the cake. No one ate it. I had four tiers of cake literally I ate the whole damn thing because I’m like this thing’s not going to waste
Nick: Speaking of Ohio, my producer Harry Bob will kill me if I don’t allow him to say something to you.
Harry: Hey man Nick’s worried I might do something like OH.
Miz: IO.
Nick: He did it. Wow.
Miz: Come on, I’m an Ohio guy. Of course we know that.
Harry: It’s embedded in us to do that. It’s just part of our DNA. My question is simple: you’ve come to Cleveland so many times and you of all the Superstars in history when you come to Cleveland you have a knack for turning the hometown crowd against you and is that an easy thing for you or is it difficult?
Miz: You know I thought it would be difficult, but man is it easy. I don’t know why. I’m the only person I think with the history of going to their hometown who gets booed. They’re like “we do not want this guy as a representation of who we are” and it was incredible for 13 years I did that and now I went home, the last time I went home was the first time that they actually embraced me and cheered me and I’m like wow maybe after 13 years I’m finally starting to get the respect I deserve.
Nick: Maryse, is she related to Pierre Carl Ouellet, the Quebecer?
Miz: No, she is not.
Nick: Congratulations on the newborn or the baby on the way I should say
Miz: Thank you very much. Yeah, it was a complete surprise when Maryse told me. I’m like oh my goodness we just had Monroe and haven’t slept, now I can only imagine to have two that are under two. It’s going to be mayhem in this house. It’s going to make for great TV. I’ll tell you that for one thing, you’re going to love Miz & Mrs.
Nick: I can’t wait. So Snickers and WrestleMania, they’re becoming this theme now. It seems like what’s going on there? This is consecutive years now back to back to back to back it feels.
Miz: Four years WWE and Snickers have partnered together. I think Snickers sees the value in WrestleMania. When I walk out of that ring, I look out and I see families. I see families looking for a moment they can take away that they can have for the rest of their lives and that’s just something WWE has, and I think Snickers finds the value in that and they’re both about families. I think it’s so cool that they made a Snickers bar with my catchphrase on it, it’s crazy to me. I am still in awe of that. My dad can go to Dollar General and go, “That’s my son’s candy bar.” It’s crazy. It’s always pretty cool when you can have those kinds of moments.
Nick: Three of the top performers in their industry: WWE of course, The Miz, and Snickers bar.
Miz: Three living legends. How about that, one’s living, the other you can eat.
Nick: Miz & Mrs Tuesdays after Smackdown, WrestleMania 35, Miz takes on the boss’s son, Shane McMahon. You know the storyline, it’s his former tag partner and the whole Best in the World thing. You know what’s going on. April 7th, Metlife head over to WWE Network. Miz thanks for coming on the show, my man.
Miz: Thank you very much it has been Awesome. See you guys.
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