Mid 20th Century
152-497: Michael Gregory Mizanin (born October 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler , actor, and television personality . As of 2004, he is signed to WWE , where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name The Miz . Mizanin first gained fame as a reality television participant, appearing on The Real World: Back to New York in 2001 and its spin-off , Real World/Road Rules Challenge , from 2002 to 2005. He won Battle of
304-564: A Grand Slam Champion in the process. The Miz successfully defended his championship against Rey Mysterio at SummerSlam on August 19, and in a fatal four-way match against Cody Rhodes , Mysterio, and Sin Cara at Night of Champions on September 16, before losing the championship to Kofi Kingston on the October 17 episode of Main Event ending his reign at 85 days. The Miz failed to regain
456-558: A Slammy Award , resulting in the pair retaining the titles. On the December 29 episode of Raw , The Miz and Mizdow lost the titles to The Usos. The Miz and Mizdow were unsuccessful in regaining the championships at the Royal Rumble on January 25, 2015. The Miz was the first entrant in the Royal Rumble match later that night but was eliminated by Bubba Ray Dudley , in just four minutes. After Mizdow began to get more attention from
608-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
760-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
912-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
1064-405: A title vs career match after Maryse and The Spirit Squad ( Kenny and Mikey ), were ejected from ringside, ending The Miz's reign at 188 days. On the 900th episode of SmackDown Live on November 15, Maryse helped The Miz to win the championship for the sixth time. The Miz successfully defended the title against Raw's Sami Zayn at Survivor Series on November 20, after Maryse prematurely rang
1216-547: A tournament to determine the number one contender for William Regal 's Intercontinental Championship , but lost to Mysterio in the first round on the December 1 episode of Raw . On December 13, The Miz and Morrison defeated Kofi Kingston and CM Punk to win the World Tag Team Championship during a WWE house show in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. At Royal Rumble on January 25, 2009, The Miz entered
1368-467: A triple threat match for the ECW Championship , with the champion CM Punk retaining. On January 27, 2008, The Miz competed in the Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble event, entering at number 16 and lasting over 13 minutes, before being eliminated by Hornswoggle , who spent most of the match hiding under the ring. In February, The Miz and Morrison were given a streaming segment on
1520-528: A Skull Crushing Finale on the stage. On the December 5 episode of Raw SuperShow , The Miz qualified for a triple threat Tables, Ladders and Chairs match against Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view for the WWE Championship on December 18 after a win over Randy Orton via countout, but Punk would retain the title. The Miz would be the first entrant in
1672-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
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#17327978468731824-585: A battle royal and a match against Brodus Clay on May 20 at Over the Limit . After a two-month absence, The Miz returned at Money in the Bank on July 15 as a last-minute participant in the WWE Championship Money in the Bank ladder match , won by John Cena . At Raw 1000 , The Miz defeated Christian to win his first Intercontinental Championship , becoming the 25th Triple Crown Champion and
1976-605: A bikini contest. Starting in July, The Miz, along with Ashley Massaro , hosted the annual Diva Search competition . After the end of the Diva Search competition, The Miz began wrestling as a villain , making his in-ring debut with a win over Tatanka on the September 1 episode of SmackDown! . Over the next three months, The Miz remained undefeated, defeating such wrestlers as Matt Hardy , Funaki and Scotty 2 Hotty . At
2128-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
2280-417: A cast member on The Real World (2001). Mizanin dropped out of college, where he was pursuing a degree in business, in order to appear on the 10th season of MTV's reality television program The Real World in 2001. He went on to appear in multiple seasons of its spin-off series, Real World/Road Rules Challenge , along with contestants from both Road Rules and The Real World , including Battle of
2432-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
2584-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
2736-493: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Real World [REDACTED] Look up real world in Wiktionary,
2888-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
3040-564: A down mood. — The Miz on ESPN about his relationship with Maryse On the August 23 episode of Talking Smack , The Miz went on a critically acclaimed tirade against SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan for calling him a coward, with The Miz calling Bryan a "coward" for not returning to the ring when he promised the fans he would, before telling him to "go back to the bingo halls with your indie friends". The Miz would then restart his feud with Dolph Ziggler , successfully defending
3192-576: A fatal four-way match to win back the United States Championship for the second time. He retained the championship against R-Truth on June 20 at the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view. On July 18 at Money in the Bank , The Miz won Raw's Money in the Bank ladder match to win a contract for a WWE Championship match that he could utilize at any time. Over the next few weeks, The Miz made various, unsuccessful attempts at cashing in his Money in
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#17327978468733344-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
3496-407: A feud with Balls Mahoney after Kelly Kelly began to fall in love with Mahoney on screen. On the October 2 episode of ECW , it was revealed that The Miz owned the contracts of Kelly Kelly , Layla and Brooke Adams ; and he used this excuse to stop Kelly from going out with Mahoney. He was nominated at Cyber Sunday on October 28 to face CM Punk for the ECW Championship . He won the vote, but lost
3648-476: A feud with Kofi Kingston , defeating him on the Survivor Series pre-show on November 24, but losing a no-disqualification match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 15 to end their feud. At Royal Rumble on January 26, 2014, The Miz entered the Royal Rumble match at number 18, lasting 12 minutes before being eliminated by Luke Harper . At WrestleMania XXX on April 6, he participated in
3800-573: A guest star in a March 2012 episode of Psych . On March 31, Mizanin appeared in the first ever Slime Wrestling World Championship at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards , losing to Big Show and therefore being thrown into a tub of slime. In 2012, Mizanin appeared on the Disney XD show Pair of Kings as a guest star. In 2013, Miz along with Francia Raisa , were in a movie together called Christmas Bounty . In September 2021, Mizanin
3952-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
4104-742: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
4256-628: A more intense style and began to pick up wins once again. The Miz was drafted to the ECW brand on June 17 as part of the 2007 supplemental draft . He was absent from the first few weeks of ECW , though he was the subject of backstage mentions between matches and had several short Miz TV Crashes ECW video segments. He made his debut on the July 10 episode of ECW in a match against Nunzio , which he won. Soon after, The Miz found new managers in Kelly Kelly , Layla El and Brooke Adams . He then began
4408-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
4560-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
4712-668: A promo agreeing there was a conspiracy in the WWE keeping both of them out of the main event picture, and declared they would, together, seize any future opportunity. They began referring to themselves as "The Awesome Truth". At Night of Champions on September 18, after the referee was distracted while The Miz attempted a pin, The Miz assaulted him, causing Awesome Truth to lose a WWE Tag Team Championship match to Air Boom ( Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne ) by disqualification. Seeking retribution, The Miz and R-Truth later attacked both Triple H and CM Punk during their No Disqualification match in
The Miz - Misplaced Pages Continue
4864-454: A second show on USA, serving as host of the reality game show Cannonball . In 2008, Mizanin appeared on the Sci Fi reality series Ghost Hunters Live as a guest investigator. In 2009, Mizanin appeared on two episodes of Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? , which were both aired on September 29. He appeared on an episode of Destroy Build Destroy on March 3, 2010. He also appeared as
5016-559: A song by The All-American Rejects from the 2008 album When the World Comes Down "Real World", a song by Anaïs Mitchell from the 2022 album Anaïs Mitchell "Real World", a song by Bruce Springsteen from the 1992 album Human Touch "Real World", a 2004 song by D-Side "Real World", a song by Pere Ubu from the 1978 album The Modern Dance "The Real World", a song by the Mighty Lemon Drops from
5168-524: A step-father and two half-siblings. He attended Normandy High School , where he was the captain of the basketball and cross country teams, participated in swimming, was a member of the student government, and edited the yearbook. He then attended Miami University , where he was a member of the Theta Chi fraternity and studied business at the Richard T. Farmer School of Business before being chosen as
5320-829: A tag team with Big Show — later dubbed " ShoMiz " — and on the February 8 episode of Raw the two defeated D-Generation X (DX) ( Shawn Michaels and Triple H ) and The Straight Edge Society ( CM Punk and Luke Gallows ) to become the Unified Tag Team Champions , making The Miz the first wrestler in WWE history to hold three championships at the same time (United States, World Tag Team and WWE Tag Team Championships). At Elimination Chamber on February 21, The Miz again successfully defended his United States Championship against MVP after interference from Big Show, ending their feud. At WrestleMania XXVI on March 28, ShoMiz defeated John Morrison and R-Truth to retain
5472-500: A team of five wrestlers which consisted of himself, Dolph Ziggler , Drew McIntyre , Jack Swagger and Sheamus against Team Morrison (captain John Morrison, Evan Bourne , Finlay , Matt Hardy and Shelton Benjamin ) in a five-on-five Survivor Series elimination match and once again bested his former partner surviving with McIntyre and Sheamus. During this time, he gained a new entrance theme "I Came to Play", performed by
5624-487: A ten-man battle royal to determine the challenger for the Bray Wyatt 's WWE Championship, but was eliminated by Cena. After he was eliminated, he returned to the match to eliminate Cena. On the February 28 episode of SmackDown Live , The Miz and Maryse made a special edition of Miz TV to critique Cena's powers on the backstage environment before Maryse slapped Cena and Nikki Bella —Cena's girlfriend—came to save him. On
5776-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
5928-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
6080-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
6232-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
The Miz - Misplaced Pages Continue
6384-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
6536-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
6688-434: Is sitting there watching you ringside, you are kind of showing off, and you don't want to look stupid -- ever. [...] I'm not in one of those relationships where I'm like, "Ugh, I'm with her all the time, and it sucks" [...] I'm like, "This is what I want." I want to be around her all the time because she's my best friend, and we talk about everything. It brings a whole new light to my life. To be away from her kind of puts you in
6840-544: The 12-man tag team match after saving Laurinaitis from Santino Marella on the March 26 episode of Raw SuperShow . The Miz picked up the win for Team Johnny after pinning Zack Ryder with the help of Eve , ending his twenty-match losing streak dating back to December 2011. At the Extreme Rules pre-show on April 29, The Miz lost a United States Championship match against Santino Marella. He followed this up by losing
6992-469: The 2012 Royal Rumble match on January 29, eliminating Alex Riley and R-Truth and lasting over 45 minutes before he was eliminated by Big Show . At Elimination Chamber on February 19, The Miz competed for the WWE Championship in the titular match , and would last until the end of the match before being eliminated by CM Punk. Desperate for a spot on the card for the upcoming WrestleMania XXVIII event on April 1, he later joined John Laurinaitis' team for
7144-566: The 2016 WWE draft , The Miz, along with Maryse was drafted to the SmackDown brand , with the Intercontinental Championship becoming exclusive to that brand. At SummerSlam on August 21, The Miz successfully defended the championship against Apollo Crews . As soon as she got hired, it gave me a whole new confidence in everything -- in my ability to do promos, in my ability to be in the ring..." [...] When your wife
7296-588: The 2017 Royal Rumble match at number 15 and lasted 32 minutes until he was eliminated by The Undertaker . On the January 31 episode of SmackDown Live , The Miz was revealed as one of the participants of the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship which took place on February 12, where The Miz would eliminate Dean Ambrose, but was eliminated by John Cena . On the February 21 episode of SmackDown Live , The Miz participated in
7448-451: The 800th episode of Raw , The Miz and Morrison competed in a match against DX, and were defeated. The duo would join John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL)'s team (which also included Kane and Montel Vontavious Porter) in a losing effort against Shawn Michaels ' team (also including Shad Gaspard, JTG, Rey Mysterio and The Great Khali ) at Survivor Series on November 23. The Miz would then enter
7600-606: The André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal , but was eliminated by Santino Marella . After a two-month hiatus filming The Marine 4: Moving Target , The Miz returned on the June 30 episode of Raw and immediately began to insult the crowd and taking on the gimmick of a movie star, turning heel in the process. At Battleground on July 20, The Miz won a battle royal by lastly eliminating Dolph Ziggler to win
7752-483: The Hell in a Cell structure as it was being raised. They then used weapons to attack Alberto Del Rio , Punk, John Cena , the WWE officials and camera men while the cell was again lowered. After this, the entire WWE roster led by Triple H came out to find a way into the cell, before New Orleans Police Department officers were able to get the door open and arrest them. The two later posted a video on YouTube apologizing to
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#17327978468737904-522: The Intercontinental Championship for the third time. At SummerSlam on August 17, Ziggler defeated The Miz to recapture the title. Later that month, Damien Sandow began appearing with The Miz as his "stunt double" (mimicking all of The Miz's moves and mannerisms) and was subsequently billed as Damien Mizdow. At Night of Champions on September 21, The Miz defeated Ziggler to regain the Intercontinental Championship, only to lose
8056-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
8208-616: The Raw after Elimination Chamber, The Miz and John Cena were paired together by the Anonymous Raw General Manager to challenge The Corre ( Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater ) for the WWE Tag Team Championship. The Miz and Cena were successful in winning the titles, but lost them back to Corre immediately afterward in a rematch after The Miz turned on Cena. This made their 9-minute reign
8360-461: The Royal Rumble match as the 29th entrant, but only lasted seven seconds before being eliminated by The Great Khali . On the February 2 episode of SmackDown! , The Miz defeated Matt Hardy once again with assistance from Joey Mercury . Following a brief absence from television, The Miz returned on the March 9 episode of SmackDown! to host an interview segment named Miz TV . After the unsuccessful segment, The Miz returned to in-ring competition with
8512-605: The Royal Rumble match at number 13, but only lasted 1 minute and 21 seconds, before being eliminated by Triple H. In February, the team engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns ( Carlito and Primo ). In a dark match at WrestleMania 25 on April 5, they lost the World Tag Team Championship to The Colóns in a lumberjack match to unify the World Tag Team and the WWE Tag Team titles. On
8664-506: The SmackDown! brand. When Mizanin actually attempted to make his debut on the April 21 episode of SmackDown! , he was in storyline banned from entering the arena by network executive Palmer Canon who told him that he had been "cancelled" before having security escort him from the premises. The Miz debuted as the host of SmackDown! on June 2, hyping up the crowd at the top of the show. Other duties included backstage interviews and hosting
8816-530: The United States Championship twice, as well as a total of nine tag team championships, giving him 21 overall championships in WWE. As a result, he became WWE's 25th Triple Crown Champion and 14th Grand Slam Champion , as well as the first wrestler to accomplish the latter twice under the revised 2015 format . He also won the 2010 Money in the Bank ladder match . Mizanin is also the only WWE Triple Crown and Grand Slam champion to have won
8968-662: The United States Championship , held by Kofi Kingston . He unsuccessfully challenged for the championship at the Night of Champions (July 26), Breaking Point (September 13) and Hell in a Cell (October 4) pay-per-views , before he won the championship on the October 5 episode of Raw , becoming his first singles championship in WWE. At Bragging Rights on October 25, The Miz was inserted into an interpromotional match against SmackDown 's Intercontinental Champion and The Miz's former tag team partner John Morrison , whom he defeated. On November 22 at Survivor Series , The Miz captained
9120-418: The figure-four leglock from Flair as a new finisher. The Miz challenged for Cesaro's United States Championship at the Royal Rumble pre-show on January 27, on February 17 at Elimination Chamber and on the March 1, 2013 episode of SmackDown , but was unsuccessful each time. The Miz next sought Wade Barrett's Intercontinental Championship. He lost a triple threat match against Barrett and Chris Jericho on
9272-557: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
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#17327978468739424-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
9576-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
9728-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
9880-799: The 1989 album Laughter "The Real World", a song by Owl City from the 2011 album All Things Bright and Beautiful Real World Records , a record label Real World Studios , the label's recording studio Other uses [ edit ] The Real World? , a 1987 play by Michel Tremblay Real World (novel) , a 2003 novel by Natsuo Kirino The Real World , an online platform launched by Andrew Tate See also [ edit ] All pages with titles beginning with Real World All pages with titles containing Real World All pages with titles beginning with The Real World Real Life (disambiguation) In Real Life (disambiguation) The Challenge (TV series) , later Real World/Road Rules Challenge Topics referred to by
10032-509: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
10184-516: The 2016 Royal Rumble match, entering at number 25 and lasting nearly 9 minutes before being eliminated by Roman Reigns . On April 3, at WrestleMania 32 , The Miz wrestled in a seven-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship, which was won by Zack Ryder . On the Raw episode post-WrestleMania 32, The Miz won the Intercontinental Championship for the fifth time, after his wife Maryse made her return to WWE and distracted Zack Ryder by slapping his father, thus becoming his manager in
10336-626: The American show That's My Jam on NBC hosted by Jimmy Fallon . They won the final round, therefore the game and the monies were donated to children's charities. Pursuing the goal of becoming a professional wrestler, Mizanin joined Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW), where he trained in the Ultimate University. He made his in-ring debut in 2003 as The Miz. During his time with UPW, The Miz competed in UPW's Mat War's tournament, making it to
10488-408: The April 13 episode of Raw , The Miz lost a match to Kofi Kingston due to Morrison accidentally getting Miz disqualified, which gave the Raw brand a draft pick in the 2009 WWE draft . The pick was then revealed to be The Miz and retaliated by subsequently attacking Morrison, ending their partnership and thus turning John Morrison into a fan favorite . The Miz challenged John Cena to a match on
10640-480: The April 27 episode of Raw , but as Cena was out due to injury, The Miz claimed an unofficial win via forfeit and continued to do this over the following weeks, until Cena returned and defeated him in a singles match at The Bash in June. It would also be around this time where he would develop his new finisher, the Skull-Crushing Finale , and catchphrase: "Because I'm The Miz... and I'm awesome!" On
10792-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
10944-565: The August 3 episode of Raw , The Miz lost to Cena in a lumberjack match, which meant that, in storyline, he was banned from the Staples Center , the Raw brand and SummerSlam . The following week on August 10, The Miz competed under a mask as The Calgary Kid and won a Contract on Pole match against Eugene , earning a contract in storyline, and revealing himself by removing his mask afterwards. After changing his in-ring attire from shorts to trunks, The Miz would then set his sights on
11096-460: The Bank on July 14. On August 18, he was the host of SummerSlam , during which he had a run-in with Fandango , beginning a feud between the two. The Miz defeated Fandango on the September 2 episode of Raw and on September 15 at Night of Champions . The following night on Raw , The Miz was assaulted by Randy Orton in front of his parents, resulting in a storyline injury. When The Miz returned in October, he quickly lost to Orton. The Miz started
11248-856: The Bank contract on the WWE Champion Sheamus . At SummerSlam on August 15, The Miz began a rivalry with his NXT rookie Daniel Bryan , which resulted in a United States Championship match between the two at the Night of Champions event on September 19, in which The Miz would drop the title to Bryan. At Hell in a Cell on October 3, The Miz failed to regain the championship in a triple threat submissions count anywhere match also including John Morrison . At Bragging Rights on October 24, The Miz led Team Raw (which also included R-Truth , Morrison, Santino Marella , Sheamus, CM Punk and Ezekiel Jackson ), but they were defeated by Team SmackDown ( Alberto Del Rio , Big Show , Edge , Jack Swagger , Kofi Kingston , Rey Mysterio and Tyler Reks ). On
11400-506: The Bank ladder match at the titular event on July 17. After the WWE Championship was declared vacant by Vince McMahon , The Miz would enter into a tournament to crown a new champion, defeating Riley and Kofi Kingston to advance to the finals, where he lost to Rey Mysterio. At SummerSlam on August 14, The Miz, R-Truth, and Alberto Del Rio lost to Mysterio, Kingston and Morrison. On the August 22 episode of Raw , The Miz and R-Truth attacked Santino Marella before his match. They then cut
11552-588: The Deep South Wrestling Heavyweight Championship, doing so while the promotion was WWE's developmental territory . Among WWE's most prolific pay-per-view event performers, Mizanin headlined WrestleMania XXVII in 2011, and was ranked No. 1 on Pro Wrestling Illustrated ' s annual PWI 500 list that same year. Michael Gregory Mizanin was born in Parma, Ohio , on October 8, 1980. His parents are divorced; he has
11704-541: The February 8 OVW TV taping, Miz and Chris Cage captured the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship , defeating Chet the Jett and Seth Skyfire. On March 19, Deuce Shade defeated Miz in a singles contest to win the championship for his team The Untouchables (Deuce Shade and Domino ). From March 7 onwards, a video on WWE's website and vignettes on SmackDown! heralded The Miz debuting on
11856-416: The Intercontinental Championship against him at Backlash on September 11, after Maryse sprayed an unknown substance at Ziggler while the referee was distracted. Afterwards, The Miz continued to blame Bryan and vowed not to defend his Intercontinental Championship on any show until he was granted a contract "renegotiation". At No Mercy on October 9, The Miz lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ziggler in
12008-413: The Intercontinental Championship between the four men. At Extreme Rules on May 22, The Miz successfully retained the championship against Cesaro, Zayn and Owens in a highly acclaimed fatal four-way match, when Miz pinned Cesaro. The following night on Raw , The Miz failed to qualify for the 2016 Money in the Bank ladder match when he was defeated by Cesaro, setting up another championship match between
12160-445: The Intercontinental Championship in a triple threat match also involving Big Show and Ryback , but lost. At Survivor Series on November 22, The Miz competed in a traditional five-on-five elimination tag-team match alongside The Cosmic Wasteland ( Stardust and The Ascension ) and Bo Dallas in a losing effort against The Dudley Boyz , Goldust , Neville and Titus O'Neil . At Royal Rumble on January 24, 2016, The Miz competed in
12312-540: The Limit on May 22, but failed to regain the title. The following night on Raw , the Anonymous Raw General Manager denied The Miz's request for another WWE Championship match; The Miz blamed Riley for being unable to regain the championship. Riley then attacked him, turning Riley into a fan favorite . At Capitol Punishment on June 19, The Miz lost to Riley. The Miz also failed to win Raw's Money in
12464-446: The March 14 episode of SmackDown Live , after a showdown between The Miz and Maryse against Cena and Nikki, SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan scheduled a mixed tag team match at WrestleMania 33 on April 2, which The Miz and Maryse lost. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
12616-516: The March 18 episode of Raw , but defeated Barrett in a non-title match the following week to earn another shot at the title. He captured the title by defeating Barrett at the WrestleMania 29 pre-show on April 7, only to lose the title back to him the following night on Raw . The Miz was victorious against Cody Rhodes in the Extreme Rules pre-show. The Miz failed to recapture the Intercontinental Championship on June 16 at Payback and Money in
12768-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
12920-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
13072-660: The November 21 episode of Raw SuperShow , Cena instigated an argument between R-Truth and The Miz, which resulted in The Miz performing a Skull Crushing Finale on the stage on R-Truth. This was a pretext to explain R-Truth's absence during his suspension as a result of his violating of the Wellness Policy. On the November 28 episode of Raw SuperShow , The Miz defeated John Morrison in a Falls Count Anywhere match after
13224-434: The November 22 episode of Raw , The Miz cashed in his Money in the Bank contract following a successful WWE Championship defense by Randy Orton against Wade Barrett and defeated Orton to win his first WWE Championship. The following week, The Miz made his first successful title defense, defeating Jerry "The King" Lawler in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match after interference from Michael Cole . He successfully defended
13376-552: The Seasons and The Inferno II . He reached the final of Battle of the Network Reality Stars , and won a Reality Stars-themed episode of Fear Factor in 2006. After finishing as runner-up in the fourth season of Tough Enough and subsequently launching his wrestling career, Mizanin appeared on Diva Search , Total Divas , Tough Enough , and hosted several seasons of The Challenge . He also starred in
13528-541: The Seasons , The Gauntlet , The Inferno , Battle of the Sexes 2 and The Inferno 2 . Except for Battle of the Sexes 2 , Mizanin made it to the end of all the Challenges on which he competed and won both Battle of the Seasons and The Inferno 2 . It was during an episode of The Real World that Mizanin first displayed an alter ego known as The Miz . In contrast to Mizanin's usually placid demeanor, The Miz
13680-595: The SmackDown roster as a tag team known as Reality Check in 2005, but these plans were halted due to Cappotelli's cancer diagnosis. On January 3, 2006, it was reported that Mizanin had been transferred to OVW. On the January 18, 2006 OVW TV show, Mizanin made his debut as Miz with a Miz TV segment, where he was shown talking backstage. On the January 28 episode of the OVW television show, The Miz wrestled his first singles match against René Duprée , but lost by countout . At
13832-453: The WWE Championship against Cena, following interference from The Rock , who then attacked The Miz afterwards. At Extreme Rules on May 1, The Miz lost the WWE Championship to Cena in a triple threat steel cage match, also involving John Morrison, ending his reign at 160 days. He had rematches against Cena for the WWE Championship on the May 2 episode of Raw , and in an "I Quit" match at Over
13984-412: The WWE website named The Dirt Sheet in which they mocked other wrestlers and facets of pop culture, showing off their promo skills. Morrison and The Miz co-wrote each episode of The Dirt Sheet each week. The Miz competed in a battle royal on the pre-show of WrestleMania XXIV on March 30 but was unsuccessful in winning after being eliminated by Jamie Noble . The Miz and Morrison successfully retained
14136-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
14288-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
14440-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
14592-574: The audience, The Miz relegated Mizdow to his personal assistant out of spite. The Miz and Mizdow then competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31 on March 29, which The Miz failed to win after being eliminated by Mizdow, dissolving their partnership. On the April 20 episode of Raw , The Miz defeated Mizdow in a match where the winner retained the Miz brand, with help from Summer Rae . At SummerSlam on August 23, The Miz competed for
14744-461: The band Downstait. The Miz soon began a rivalry with MVP that began with a critically well-received verbal exchange between the two. The two met in an unadvertised match for the United States Championship at the Royal Rumble on January 31, 2010, with The Miz retaining his title, but in the Royal Rumble match itself MVP eliminated both himself and The Miz. Also around this time, The Miz formed
14896-425: The bell, causing a distraction. The Miz faced Ziggler once more in a ladder match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 4, which The Miz won to end their feud. On the December 6 episode of SmackDown Live , The Miz successfully defended the title against Dean Ambrose after interference from Maryse and distraction from James Ellsworth . Two weeks later on SmackDown Live , The Miz successfully defended
15048-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
15200-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
15352-400: The championship against Apollo Crews. After the match, The Miz was interviewed by Renee Young , where The Miz sarcastically responded by revealing Young and Ambrose's real life relationship, prompting her to slap The Miz. On the January 3, 2017 episode of SmackDown Live , The Miz lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ambrose despite interference from Maryse. On January 29, The Miz entered
15504-431: The championship at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on December 19 by defeating Orton in a tables match following interference from Alex Riley . The Miz retained the championship against John Morrison in a falls count anywhere match on the January 3, 2011 episode of Raw , Orton again at Royal Rumble on January 30, (after interference from CM Punk) and Lawler on February 20 at Elimination Chamber . On
15656-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
15808-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
15960-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
16112-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
16264-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
16416-515: The fans for their actions. The Miz and R-Truth were reinstated by John Laurinaitis on the October 10 episode of Raw SuperShow . At Vengeance on October 23, The Miz and R-Truth defeated CM Punk and Triple H after interference from Triple H's long time friend Kevin Nash . Later that night they assaulted John Cena during his WWE Championship match with Alberto Del Rio. At Survivor Series on November 20, The Awesome Truth lost to Cena and The Rock . On
16568-421: The finals before losing to Tony Stradlin . In October 2004, Mike Mizanin entered the fourth season of Tough Enough , a televised competition which awarded the winner a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) contract and US$ 1,000,000. Despite coming last in an arm wrestling tournament on November 25, Mizanin outlasted six other wrestlers and reached the final round. At Armageddon on December 12, Mizanin faced
16720-451: The finals of a tournament to determine the inaugural Deep South Heavyweight Champion . He continued his partnership with Matt Cappotelli throughout the second half of 2005 in WWE dark matches and house shows until Cappotelli, nominally of Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), was diagnosed with a brain tumor after an injury at a taping in December 2005. After Cappotelli's death from brain cancer in June 2018, Miz revealed they were to be called up to
16872-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
17024-601: The free dictionary. Real World or The Real World may also refer to: Real life , a phrase to distinguish between the real world and fictional, virtual or idealized worlds Reality World Existence Television [ edit ] The Real World (TV series) , 1992–2017 "The Real World" ( Stargate Atlantis ) , a 2006 episode Music [ edit ] Real World (album) , by Kokia, 2010 Da Real World , an album by Missy Elliott, 1999 "Real World" (Matchbox Twenty song) , 1998 "Real World" (Queensrÿche song) , 1993 "Real World",
17176-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
17328-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
17480-500: The host of The Battle of the Exes season finale event and reunion special. It marked the first time The Miz appeared on the series since becoming a main-event WWE Superstar. Since then, he had become a mainstay reunion host as well as the host of The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars mini-series. In 2018, Mizanin and his wife Maryse began starring in a USA Network reality television series titled Miz & Mrs. . In 2020, he starred on
17632-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
17784-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
17936-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
18088-406: The main event. Because of their actions from the previous night, R-Truth and The Miz were fired by Triple H on the September 19 episode of Raw SuperShow . After this, The Miz and R-Truth attacked Triple H, but were thrown out of the building. At the conclusion of the main event match on October 2 at Hell in a Cell , R-Truth and The Miz jumped the barricade wearing black hooded sweatshirts and entered
18240-492: The match. Later that month, he formed a tag team with John Morrison . On the November 16 episode of SmackDown! , The Miz became one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions with John Morrison (the former Johnny Nitro) when they defeated Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), giving The Miz his first championship within the company. At Survivor Series two days later, The Miz and Morrison competed in
18392-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
18544-413: The other remaining entrant, Daniel Puder , in a three-round "Dixie Dogfight" ( boxing match ). Neither man achieved a knockout , and the contest was awarded to Puder on the basis of crowd reaction. On the December 16 episode of SmackDown! , Puder was declared as the winner of Tough Enough by head trainer Al Snow . Despite coming up short on Tough Enough , Mizanin had piqued the interest of WWE and he
18696-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
18848-506: The process, where the two then became an on-screen power couple . In the weeks following, The Miz and Maryse then began to cut various promos during the Miz TV segments, while calling themselves the "it" couple. At Payback on May 1, The Miz defeated Cesaro to retain his championship after Cesaro was distracted by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn brawling on the apron, leading to a feud over
19000-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
19152-414: The reality television series Miz & Mrs. alongside his wife, Maryse Ouellet , and has starred in films produced by WWE Studios , namely The Marine franchise , Christmas Bounty (2013), and Santa's Little Helper (2015). Mizanin signed with WWE in 2004 and has been on the main roster full time since 2006. He has won the WWE Championship twice, the Intercontinental Championship eight times,
19304-417: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Real World . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Real_World&oldid=1256785691 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
19456-499: The same time, he began a feud with Diva Search winner Layla El , who spurned his advances on more than one occasion, leading to The Miz helping Kristal defeat her in various competitions. However, The Miz and Kristal soon found themselves being stalked by The Boogeyman . This began a feud in which the Boogeyman ended The Miz's winning streak on December 17 at Armageddon . At Royal Rumble on January 28, 2007, The Miz entered in
19608-420: The shortest in the championship's history . The following week, The Miz lost Riley as his apprentice after Cena defeated Riley in a steel cage match with the stipulation that if Cena won, Riley was fired from his job. However, Riley would be re-hired in mid-March, this time as The Miz's "Vice President of Corporate Communications". In the main event of WrestleMania XXVII on April 3, The Miz successfully defended
19760-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
19912-571: The team. On the May 17 episode of Raw , The Miz lost the United States Championship to Bret Hart , despite Chris Jericho , William Regal and Vladimir Kozlov all attempting to interfere on The Miz's behalf, ending his seven-month reign as champion. At Over the Limit on May 23, The Miz and Jericho challenged The Hart Dynasty for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship, but lost. On the June 14 episode of Raw , The Miz defeated R-Truth, John Morrison and Zack Ryder in
20064-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
20216-552: The title again. At Extreme Rules on April 25, ShoMiz would take part in a tag team gauntlet match , and would make it to the final two teams, but were eliminated by The Hart Dynasty ( David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd ). The next night on Raw , ShoMiz lost the Unified Tag Team Championship to The Hart Dynasty, resulting in Big Show turning face by attacking The Miz after the match, bringing an end to
20368-402: The title from Kingston in two rematches at Hell in a Cell on October 28 and on the November 6 episode of SmackDown . On the November 12 episode of Raw , The Miz turned face for the first time since 2006 when he quit CM Punk 's team and joined Mick Foley 's team at Survivor Series after confronting Paul Heyman . At Survivor Series on November 18, he eliminated Wade Barrett before he
20520-671: The title to Ziggler in a rematch the following night. After defeating Sheamus several times with the help of Mizdow, The Miz challenged him for the United States Championship at Hell in a Cell on October 26, but he was unsuccessful. At Survivor Series on November 23, The Miz and Mizdow won the WWE Tag Team Championship by winning a fatal four-way match against defending champions Gold and Stardust , The Usos and Los Matadores . At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 14, The Miz and Mizdow lost by disqualification against The Usos after Miz hit Jimmy Uso with
20672-480: The titles against Kane and CM Punk at Judgment Day on May 18 and Finlay and Hornswoggle at Night of Champions on June 29, before dropping the championship to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder at the Great American Bash on July 20 in a fatal four-way match which also involved Jesse and Festus , ending their reign at 250 days. Neither The Miz nor Morrison were pinned as Hawkins pinned Jesse to win
20824-612: The titles. The Miz competed in the Championship Scramble for the ECW Championship on September 7 at Unforgiven , which was won by Matt Hardy. The Miz and Morrison soon followed a feud with Cryme Tyme ( Shad Gaspard and JTG ) as a battle of their webshows, Word Up and The Dirt Sheet . They were voted into a match with, and defeated Cryme Tyme on October 26 at Cyber Sunday . The team also feuded with D-Generation X (DX) ( Triple H and Shawn Michaels ). On
20976-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
21128-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
21280-508: The two set for the week's SmackDown , which The Miz won. Following this, he and Maryse began filming The Marine 5: Battleground , taking them out of action. Both returned on the June 27 episode of Raw , where he lost to Kane in a championship match via countout. At Battleground on July 24, the Intercontinental Championship match between The Miz and Darren Young ended in a double disqualification after The Miz pushed Bob Backlund (Darren Young's mentor) and Young attacked him. On July 19 at
21432-430: The two won the competition. In April 2007, he appeared on the game show Identity , where he appeared as a stranger, and contestant John Kim correctly identified his identity as a professional wrestler by the odd way he added "Miz-" before most words. On October 5, 2011, Miz starred in an episode of H8R . After a seven-year-long absence from The Challenge , Mizanin returned to the reality show on April 4, 2012, as
21584-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
21736-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
21888-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
22040-471: Was angry, combative and headstrong. Mizanin later realized that The Miz would make an excellent professional wrestling gimmick . In 2004, he appeared on the Bravo reality show Battle of the Network Reality Stars , in which his team finished second. Mizanin was also a contestant in the "Reality Stars" episode of Fear Factor . His partner was his former girlfriend and castmate, Trishelle Cannatella , and
22192-505: Was announced as one of the celebrities competing on the thirtieth season of Dancing with the Stars . He and his partner Witney Carson were the seventh couple to be eliminated, ultimately placing 9th. In 2022, Mizanin was briefly featured in archival footage in the Netflix docuseries Trainwreck: Woodstock '99 . On May 1, 2023, Mizanan appeared as part of a team with Alexa Bliss on
22344-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
22496-404: Was eliminated by Alberto Del Rio ; his team went on to lose the match. The Miz teamed up with Alberto Del Rio and The Brooklyn Brawler to defeat 3MB ( Drew McIntyre , Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal ) at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 16. The Miz then began a feud with United States Champion Antonio Cesaro . During this feud, Ric Flair became his mentor and The Miz adopted
22648-401: Was eventually offered a developmental contract. Mizanin was sent to Deep South Wrestling (DSW) to train under Bill DeMott , relocating to McDonough, Georgia in the process. In July 2005, he wrestled two dark matches for WWE, teaming with former Tough Enough champion Matt Cappotelli to face The Highlanders (Robbie and Rory McAllister). On December 1, Mizanin defeated Mike Knox in
22800-650: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
22952-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
23104-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
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