“Backstage heat” has been the phrase of 2017’s summer. The menacing coupling of words has haunted the likes of Enzo Amore and Baron Corbin. For Amore in particular, his behavior had earned him more than just heat, but the dreaded “Miz Treatment.”
Perhaps the modern-day father of locker room isolation is the Intercontinental Champion, Miz. He actually alluded to his harsh treatment on RAW this week when comparing himself to Enzo during Miz TV. While it’s well understood that the Miz was disliked when he first got to WWE, it’s unclear why.
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However, thanks to the podcast by Wrestling Inc we now have a better understanding of why Miz was a pariah backstage. Former WWE Superstars Mr. Kennedy and Shawn Daivari took turns shedding light on the early days of the Miz.
“When we were there, The Miz had so much heat, and it was for the fact that he wasn’t involved in wrestling. He didn’t come up and work independents or territories and then he gets handed this thing,” explained Kennedy. “Plus, he wasn’t hard to get along with, but his personality wasn’t that big, he was just shy and quiet in the back. And then everything anybody would do to him he would sell it, so he just got tons and tons of heat. But here we are, 10 years later, he’s done alright for himself,” he said.
It sounds like the Miz was targeted for his unorthodox background. While it’s a little sophomoric for WWE guys to hone in on the new guy, it’s worth reminding you that these people are carnies, not accountants.
Daivari thought that some of the disdain for Miz was warranted, he personally never saw punishable behavior from Miz.
“He was a guy like Muhammad where I understood why people were upset with him, but I never really saw him do anything that would warrant that,” said Daivari.
Kennedy tried to explain the conundrum of being picked on in WWE. To Kennedy, there’s a time to fight back and a time to law low – and the Miz apparently didn’t know when to do either.
“[The Miz] was an easy target because he took it on the chin, didn’t really fight back. Not that you should fight back all the time, but sometimes you should.”
Well, the MIz has fought back with the greatest weapon of all. As of this article, The Miz is one of the greatest Intercontinental Champions of all time, and he did beat John Cena is WrestleMania’s main event. Maybe guys like Amore and Corbin can turn their shoddy reputations into lasting success.
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