10 Incredible Wrestlers Fans WROTE-OFF Before They Were Famous
5. The Miz
Would you take a good long look at that mug?
It wasn't really until 2009 that WWE audiences started to fully embrace The Miz. Before that, most found the man to be incredibly annoying. In fact, he might've qualified as one of the most annoying wrestlers in history. Miz's try-hard style tanked, and he wore outfits so all over the place they looked like the singer of Papa Roach was trying to audition for a 1950s gangster flick. Less than convincing would just about sum up Miz's first five years or so in the company.
Those who'd clapped eyed on his loudmouth personality on Tough Enough were similarly horrified by what they were seeing. Miz seemed for all the world like someone who was playing what he thought a "WWE Superstar" was rather than simply being one. Nothing felt natural, and so fans saw through what Miz was peddling. He'd been accepted (sort of) as a necessary evil on the undercard by 2009, but nobody saw success coming.
Except Mike Mizanin.
You've got to hand it to the guy. Miz worked on his body, his promos (which were his biggest strength by 2007-ish) and his actual ring work to level up in every area. If he was an Elden Ring character, then Miz went grinding in Limgrave for 50 hours before tackling some of the harder areas. Clumsy way of phrasing it, but you get the idea.
In short, WWE fans had made their minds up on Miz before he shocked the world by becoming pretty f'n good at his job.