The Miz: Expect the unexpected at Abu Dhabi WWE

Famous for his skull-crushing move, World Wresting Entertainment (WWE) star, The Miz came off as anything but aggressive in an interview with tabloid! ahead of his upcoming WWE shows in the capital.

In fact, Michael Gregory Mizanin, more commonly known by his ring name, The Miz, is perfectly friendly, funny, admits he has a hard time saying no to anyone, and talks passionately about the WWE anti-bullying campaign for which he is a spokesperson.

The WWE shows are set to place nightly from October 10-12 at Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre and will bring together champions such The Big Show, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, and The Shield, among others.

In an exclusive line-up, The Miz will team up with The Big Show and battle against The Shield’s Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns.

“[Big Show] is a beast and I’m glad to have him as a tag team partner against The Shield. As a tag team, Big Show and I are very dominant because I like to use my speed and we’ll utilise his strength. When Big Show and I connect, we can definitely win the World Tag Team Championship,” The Miz said.

But he concedes The Shield are also a great tag team saying, “Every since they’ve come to the WWE, they’ve been very dominant in everything they do. They have really set a tone about who they are. A lot of people that come into WWE right away don’t get successful until they’re there for a while. The Shield is the exception.”

Discussing the upcoming WWE shows in the capital, The Miz encouraged fans to attend, saying that it is a different experience compared to watching the matches on television.

“The live event is unlike anything else. You can actually be involved; it’s interactive. When you’re there, that’s when you can really be what you wanna be. You can boo who you hate, cheer who you love, start chants if you want — you’re involved in the programme,” The Miz told tabloid!.

As for what to expect at the shows, he said, “Expect the unexpected” adding that he hoped the event would set records, just like it did last time he was in Abu Dhabi.

Having been here before, The Miz described the UAE audience as “incredible”.

“The one thing that we hope for whenever we come to a new venue, is if [the audience is] really receptive and interactive and do chants and boo and cheer and just get really involved. Whenever they’re like that, the show just becomes so much more amazing, and we were not denied that in Abu Dhabi,” the professional wrestler said.

Currently one of the most prominent WWE wrestlers, The Miz’s rise to fame was not easy.

He was first introduced to television audiences as one of seven strangers on MTV show, The Real World: Back to New York. He then travelled to Los Angeles where he trained at an independent wrestling school. The experience helped him become a contestant on reality television show, Tough Enough, where winners earn a WWE contract.

“I didn’t win the WWE contract but I made an impact so much that the [executives] gave me a contract for developmental and then, that’s where it all started from there,” he recalled.

He signed to WWE in 2004 and acquired various signature moves, including the skull-crushing finale and figure-four leg lock.

“The skull-crushing finale is basically a Full-Nelson; I sweep the leg and I ram their face into the mat; hence, skull crushing. It’s the last thing they’ll ever see. Then, you have the figure-four leg lock, which was passed on to me by legendary Hall-of-Famer, Ric Flair, which is an absolute, incredible honour,” the 33-year-old said.

With that many tricks up his sleeve, you would think the 188cm-tall, 100kg champion won’t be picked on by anyone, but The Miz admits he gets heavily bullied through people on Twitter who send him hate messages.

“I enjoy the negativity. This motivates me. When someone tells me I’m awful, I tell them, ‘Ok, I’ll prove you wrong,’” he said.

The American star, known for his catch phrase, “My name is The Miz and I’m awesome,” also discussed his anti-bullying campaign, “Don’t Be a Bully; Be a STAR”, with STAR standing for ‘Show Tolerance And Respect’.

The Miz goes to schools across the world to inspire children to be more tolerant towards others regardless of their sexual orientation, race, and culture, and even chats about getting bullied as a child.

“I remember when I was a kid and whenever a WWE superstar or a Cleveland Browns football player would come and they would talk to us about anything, I would listen. So I feel like we have that impact,” he said.

The Miz added that he hoped spreading awareness about the topic as well as teaching children how to react to bullies would help stop what he described as “a huge epidemic.”

The Miz said he was inspired to become a WWE champion by semi-retired professional wrestler The Rock.

“The Rock, I thought, was entertaining, he was charismatic, and he was just fun to watch. That’s kinda when I was like, ‘Man, I really wanna become a WWE superstar.’ In the 80s, I was a huge Ultimate Warrior fan…Those were my two favourites, growing up,” he said.

With many titles currently under his belt, The Miz said he aspired to win the Heavyweight Championship.

In his final words to UAE fans, he said, “Come to the shows. You will have moments that will last a lifetime and I guarantee if you’re not even a fan right now, you will become a fan because that’s how entertaining it really is.”