WWE Champion Miz Comfortable With Target on His Back

Filed under: Pro Wrestling

They say it's always easier to get to the top of the hill then it is to stay there. And WWE superstar The Miz is finding that out firsthand.

He's already overcome the odds to become the WWE Champion. But now, he has to try and stay on top of the mountain with plenty of hungry superstars hoping to get what he has - a spot atop the food chain. It's a place that many believed he would never make it to after coming to wrestling from the world of reality television.

It was about two months ago that The Miz became the champion, scratching and clawing to get there. Now, he plans on being champion going into the WrestleMania in early April, the company's signature event.

But first, he has to defend his title against Randy Orton at this Sunday's Royal Rumble pay-per-view. On Thursday, FanHouse caught up with The Miz to talk about where he's at in his career and looking ahead to his future.

Brian Fritz: Is it amazing to look back to where you were just a year ago to where you are now in your career?
The Miz: Yeah. Even if you look back ten years ago when I was on "The Real World" jumping all around and annoying my roommates with my toy replica WWE title that I brought in a costume shop for fifteen bucks to where I am today which is having the real, legit WWE Championship. And then, even if you look at my career in the WWE, I was always told I wasn't good enough or that I don't deserve it, I don't deserve to be in the WWE because of my reality roots. Then a year ago, I kind of took a whole new approach to everything, became more serious, switched to trunks, switched my whole attitude. I won the United States Championship, won the Unified Tag Team Championships and then wet on to win the big one, the WWE Championship. Basically, I won the triple crown. I won all three titles in a matter of one year which is incredible. Not too many people can say they've done that. I'm actually one of those people who can say I have and it's pretty incredible. It's like a dream come true.

You've told the story before about when you first came to the WWE that there were various people in the locker room who were not very supportive of you. What is the locker room like now when it comes to you and where you are at this point of your career?
The locker room is great now. It's completely different because a lot of those veterans are gone, that old school mentality is kind of gone and it's a whole new school kind of attitude and feel. It's fresh, it's new, it's exciting and the locker room is pretty good. I mean, obviously, you still have a couple of jealous, wandering eyes who see me and see that I have the title. Obviously, everybody wants that. Everybody wants my spot so I have a target on my back which is fine. I'm more than willing to have a target on my back. The fact is, you're going to miss every time because I'm still going to be the WWE Champion for a very long time.

A few weeks ago on "Raw" you have a very good match with John Morrison, a very physical match. Is that the best match of your career so far?
Um, I don't know. I think I've had so many great matches that it's hard to pick just one because I'm such an incredible talent in the ring. But that is one of my better ones, yes. It's just Morrison and I have such great chemistry because we were best friends at one point and we literally drove together and we were competitive to see who rose to the top first and obviously I did because I was always the talent of that tag team even though everyone believed Morrison was the talent and Morrison carried me. And now we truly realize who was carrying you.

how long before you shook off the aches and pains of that match?
Oh, I'm still doing it. I still have a bruised tailbone from it. People don't realize how incredibly hurtful all that stuff is. Just taking slams on that stage, it's metal. People don't realize how hard it hurts. It hurts so bad that I'm still feeling the effects even a month after it's been done.

I know the Royal Rumble is coming up on Sunday but WrestleMania is not too far away and that's obviously the biggest event of the year. Are you still looking for the defining moment in your career when it comes to the WWE?
You can only have defining moments whether they are defining for the fans or for you or whatever. My first defining moment that I can think of right now was winning the first title I ever won which was the Tag Team Titles. Then, the next defining moment was a singles title, the United States Championship because it showed I could win a title on my own. And then winning the Money in the Bank was the next won because that basically says you are going to be a future WWE Champion and then winning the WWE Championship. So, I think it keeps on progressing as time goes on. The next one I would want is being the WWE Champion at WrestleMania and headlining it. I think that's the next ultimate goal. I think you just keep on redefining your moments and that's exactly what I'm going to do. And after the Royal Rumble, after I win at the Royal Rumble, I plan on headlining WrestleMania. Now, the people that are in the 40 man Royal Rumble match which is the biggest Royal Rumble match we've ever had this Sunday, whoever wins gets to choose either the WWE Champion or the World Heavyweight Champion to take on at WrestleMania. I would suggest to them not to pick me because you don't want to get embarrassed at WrestleMania.

This past Monday night on "Raw" you faced Edge who is the World Heavyweight Champion. Do you think we'll ever see a day when the two world titles are unified?
I don't know. People have asked me that. Will they ever be unified? I don't know if they ever will be. I think it would be a cool thing to happen at WrestleMania, to have a unification of the World Heavyweight and WWE Championship. But who knows whenever that will happen or even if it will.

You talked about how you changed you look and how important that has been for you. Please explain to me the popularity of John Cena and him still being able to wear jorts (jean shorts)?
I know. How do you wear jorts? That style left in the 80's or the 90's and he just keeps trying to being them back and the poor guy has no style. I mean, he has ugly purple and orange and whatever shirts he comes up with but the kids love it. The kids can wear exactly what we wears. Let's face it, there's no bigger I guess you can say than John Cena besides me. If you can get away with wearing jean shorts nowadays you must be pretty confident in yourself.

How much longer do you think you can pull off the fohawk look?
I've evolved my fohawk every year so I'm still trying to pull it off and I think I'm doing a great job at it.

Have there been any particular guys in the WWE that have helped influence you? For me, I think I see some characteristics in you from Chris Jericho and various things he did. Did he influence you or was there anyone else that did?
Yeah, I still talk to Jericho a lot. When he came back that last time, that really influenced me a lot as well as Shawn Michaels. I've always been a big fan of The Rock. Those guys kind of influenced me as well as working with John Cena. Last year, I had a whole program with John Cena. Working with him taught me a lot at what I had to get, where I had to go to become a top talent in the WWE and become a main evener.

Source: http://www.fanhouse.com/2011/01/27/wwe-champion-miz-comfortable-with-target-on-his-back/

Marty Moates Guennady Moisseev Bobby Moore Blair Morgan Gaylon Mosier