10 Wrestlers We Had To Hate Before We Could Love

1. The Miz

Few people have turned opinions around quite like The Miz. Mike Mizanin had all the downside of the reality television/Tough Enough stigma with none of the upside of John Hennigan's athleticism and looks. He didn't have a cool bone in his body. He wasn't much of a wrestler. His version of a promo involved booming versions of other people's promos at the crowd, like bad karaoke.

That was pretty much the problem: he was a karaoke wrestler. It's difficult to deduce when it clicked, but eventually, Miz just got it. He still wasn't cool (you either are or you aren't), but he'd developed the ability to work, and he started cutting his own promos. More than that, he proved himself right. He really did want this more than practically anyone else. He refused to give up, kept working hard to be better and kept actually getting better.

WWE isn't supposed to foster that kind of softly, softly, catchee monkey approach to getting over. They're too impatient, and these days they don't make stars like they used to. But somehow The Miz got the room to breathe and develop, and become one of the best character workers on the roster. He can't work babyface right now: he's proven that, too. But few of us hate him anymore. It's given way to a grudging admiration: the man's found his niche as the midcard heel b*stard, and when he's on form, there are few heels that can touch him.