8 Wrestlers Who Got KNOCKED OUT (... & Still Finished Matches)

3. The Miz

In case you missed it, The Miz belongs in an extremely exclusive club as the one of the select few to defeat John Cena in the main event of WrestleMania. Cody Rhodes couldn't get it done, Triple H and Shawn Michaels failed in consecutive years, and even The Rock only got a 1-1 draw out of him during their "Once (!) In A Lifetime" series between 2011-2013. 'The A-Lister' shared the most important spotlight on 'The Grandest Stage' with 'The Champ', and came out on top.

Just don't ask him to talk too much about it as a shoot.

For all the WrestleMania XXVII victory became part of Miz' shtick forevermore (a la Chris Jericho's constant reminders that he beat The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in the same night), he couldn't really share much of went on in the match because he was battling through a concussion he'd suffered midway through the match.

It's clearest at the very end of the contest, when the faraway look in his eyes betrays the joy he's supposed to be feeling. Nursing the serious knock, Miz had also taken a bump on concrete, and a post-match beating from The Rock to send the fans home happy after a rare WrestleMania heel title retention. Even by 2011, the standard expectation wasn't necessarily to stop the match, not least if the performer advised the referee they were good to go. Speaking to Chris Van Vliet about it years later, Miz admitted he would have hated it to go down that noting that ending things early would have been, in his opinion, "the worst possible scenario". He added; "I was in good hands, and I trusted the two people in there, and I will always trust them, and always be thankful for them. All three of them, The Rock, Cena, and [referee Mike] Chioda as well. They all protected me, they all looked at me, and they all allowed me to do what I needed to do to make that whole situation a success."

The match got over the line in terms of delivering the necessary beats of the story, but Miz himself understandably doesn't have the fondest reflections, adding; "I don't remember being backstage, and me just being like (dazed), 'Was it good?' I don't like seeing myself like that".