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

3. The Miz

The Miz John Cena Wrestlemania 27
WWE.com

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".

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 70,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.