Did you know that The Miz was almost a three time WWE Champion!
At Money in the Bank 2011, CM Punk beat John Cena for the WWE Championship and he ran out of the company with the prestigious belt. WWE RAW no longer had a world champion, so the company threw a one night tournament to decide the WWE Champion.
The finals came down to the Miz and Rey Mysterio, with the latter beating The Miz to become the WWE Champion for the first time in his career. Unfortunately for Mysterio, he would end up losing the title to John Cena less than an hour later.
Nevertheless, it was quite possible that The Miz would’ve become a then two time WWE Champion. The Smackdown star revealed on Bussin With The Boys that he was originally slated to win the WWE title that night (Transcript courtesy of Fightful):
“CM Punk left the show and he took the title with him. They made up a ‘paper champion’ or whatever. They brought a championship and said, ‘He’s leaving the show. He’s gone.’ They put the title in a refrigerator; that was the big meme. They were going to have a tournament. I went up against Rey Mysterio. I was going to beat Rey Mysterio and then beat John Cena, so I would be the champion.
They switched it because usually we like babyface vs. heel. Bad guy vs. good guy. In this instance, it would have been babyface vs. babyface. ‘You need bad guy vs. good guy.’ I was the bad guy, but then, it was two huge monumental babyfaces that are Rey Mysterio and John Cena. Let them go at it. There was a moment there where I would have been a (two-time) champion.”
It would take a decade later for the Miz to win the WWE Championship for the second time. But he would end up losing the title eight days later to Bobby Lashley. Check out the full interview where The Miz talks about working with The Rock and John Cena, the new Netflix deal, and so much more!
Meanwhile, The Miz is down in Smackdown teaming with Carmelo Hayes with the hopes of becoming WWE Tag Team Champions someday. The Miz’s time holding the WWE title has likely come to an end, but he’s certainly a valuable veteran that can help elevate talents both in and outside of the ring.