This Former WWE World Champ Was Supposed To Be A COMMENTATOR
WWE originally had zero plans for this wrestler in-ring; he was meant to commentate.
'Did You Know?' time.
The Miz has revealed that he was never actually hired to be an in-ring wrestler for WWE back in 2004. Instead, Vince McMahon and other members of company management figured he'd work well as either a colour commentator or a backstage interviewer.
That's why ol' Mike Mizanin was charged with hosting some of those Diva Search bits back in the day - that was a soft trial run of sorts for something more afterwards. Then, it became clear that Miz fancied working matches more than holding a microphone full time.
He told 'Off The Beat' that Joey Styles was actually the one who "brought [him] up" to Connecticut for a commentary tryout. Todd Grisham and Michael Cole were both there too, and they'd also been clued in that Mizanin was probably going to become one of their peers behind the announce desk.
Yeah, that...didn't end up happening as planned.
The Miz would go on to defy expectations, overcome backstage bullying and become a multi-time World Champion. He's a shoe-in for Hall Of Fame induction when he hangs up the boots, and remains an important part of WWE TV today.