During a recent interview with Uproxx, The Miz commented on Big E. possibly becoming a main eventer, what he learned from their “Talking Smack” segment, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On the Talking Smack segment with Big E: “Every time I have a conversation with Big E, he’s always enlightening. To be honest, I got told I was doing Talking Smack an hour before I was doing it. WWE knows, ‘Hey we need a host, fill him in right now.’ I didn’t have any time to prepare because I was doing Smackdown right before that. I put my suit on and went at it and just started talking. We got into a discussion where I felt I was right and he felt he was right. I had positive and negative feedback from that show. Big E and I talked about it. My goal was to showcase Big E not just being a goofball, not just throwing pancakes. I wanted to show people he has a serious side. How do I get that out of him? I didn’t need to do that. He has a serious side and when we started talking, I think people looked at him and said, ‘Wow, this is Big E.’
On knowing what WWE is looking for in a big star and why Big E fits the mold: “I’ve been a WWE champion and I’ve been in the main event. I know what it takes, what the brass is looking for. Sometimes when you’re goofy and funny, you’re just entertainment, you’re not a main event poster child. I know what Big E is saying. I know he doesn’t want to be a bland superstar. If you listen to Big E in the first and second Talking Smack, they’re different. But they’re both a serious Big E and that Big E is a main-event-caliber, money-making Universal champion-type superstar. I do believe that Big E will be able to be a world champion very quickly.”
On his favorite run in WWE thus far: “Me and Maryse’s intercontinental title run, that whole thing with the intercontinental title and making it the most relevant, prestigious title in all of WWE. People always say they’re going to do something and it doesn’t happen. But when you say and you do it. And now, when you look at the intercontinental championship, it’s as prestigious as the Universal championship. It’s a big star moneymaker. AJ Styles was the intercontinental champion, Jeff Hardy is the intercontinental champion and he has a huge storyline with Sami Zayn coming back. People are talking about the intercontinental title. It’s not a title that’s thrown around to give a guy a title. It’s a valuable commodity on Smackdown. People want to watch Smackdown for it and I feel like I was a part of that history in making it prestigious and relevant.”
On getting started with Real World and how reality TV helped him get to WWE: “If it wasn’t for reality tv, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today. If it wasn’t for the Real World, I wouldn’t have the confidence to leave Parma, Ohio and move to Los Angeles. If I didn’t get picked to go there and go through the experiences on the Real World and the challenges after that for MTV, I don’t know where I would be today. The first challenge, my winnings paid for the first year of wrestling school. I was in wrestling school, I was in acting school, I was in improv class. I spent all my money to get the tools to get me to where I wanted to be and that is a WWE superstar.”
On how he got comfortable on the mic: “I remember when I first started in WWE and no one wanted to do media on Mondays because Monday is Monday Night Raw and you want to be fresh and ready. I said if I need to wake up at 5 a.m., I’ll do media interviews all morning. Honestly, it was just to freshen up my speaking ability. I would find things I would say on the radio and think this would be good for WWE. It got me comfortable in front of the live mic.”
