The Miz

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.[12][13] He went on to appear in multiple seasons of its spin-off series, Real World/Road Rules Challenge,[13] along with contestants from both Road Rules and The Real World, including Battle of the Seasons,[14] The Gauntlet,[15] The Inferno,[16] Battle of the Sexes 2[17] and The Inferno 2.[18] 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.[2] In contrast to Mizanin's usually placid demeanor, The Miz was angry, combative and headstrong. Mizanin later realized that The Miz would make an excellent professional wrestling gimmick.[2]

In 2004, he appeared on the Bravo reality show Battle of the Network Reality Stars,[13][19] in which his team finished second. Mizanin was also a contestant in the "Reality Stars" episode of Fear Factor.[13][20] His partner was his former girlfriend and castmate, Trishelle Cannatella, and 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.[21] On October 5, 2011, Miz starred in an episode of H8R.

After a seven-year-long absence from The Real World/Road Rules Challenge, Mizanin returned to the reality show on April 4, 2012 as 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.[22]

Non-reality television appearances

In 2008, Mizanin appeared on the Sci Fi reality series Ghost Hunters Live as a guest investigator.[23] In 2009, Mizanin appeared on two episodes of Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, which were both aired on September 29.[24][25] He appeared on an episode of Destroy Build Destroy on March 3, 2010.[26] He also appeared as a guest star in a March 2012 episode of Psych. On March 31, Miz 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, Miz 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.

Pursuing the goal of becoming a professional wrestler, Mizanin joined Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW), where he trained in the Ultimate University.[2] He made his in-ring debut in 2003 as The Miz.[2] During his time with UPW, The Miz competed in UPW's Mat War's tournament, making it to the finals before losing to Tony Stradlin.[2]

The Miz debuted in WWE as a participant of the 2004 Tough Enough

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.[2][27] Despite coming last in an arm wrestling tournament on November 25, Mizanin outlasted six other wrestlers and reached the final round.[28] At Armageddon, Mizanin faced 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.[29] On the December 16 episode of SmackDown, Puder was declared as the winner of Tough Enough by head trainer Al Snow.[30] Despite coming up short on Tough Enough, Mizanin had piqued the interest of WWE and he was eventually offered a developmental contract.[2]

Mizanin was sent to Deep South Wrestling (DSW) to train under Bill DeMott,[2] 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 the finals of a tournament to determine the inaugural Deep South Heavyweight Champion.[2] 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.[31] After Cappotelli's death from brain cancer in June 2018, Miz revealed they were to be called up to the SmackDown roster as a tag team known as Reality Check in 2005, but these plans were halted due to Cappotelli's cancer diagnosis.[32]

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.[2] On the January 28 episode of the OVW television show, The Miz wrestled his first singles match against René Duprée, but lost by countout.[33]

At the February 8 OVW TV taping, Miz and Chris Cage captured the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, defeating Chet the Jett and Seth Skyfire.[2][34][35] On March 19, Deuce Shade defeated Miz in a singles contest to win the championship for his team The Untouchables (Deuce Shade and Domino).[2][34]

From March 7 onwards, a video on WWE's website and vignettes on SmackDown! heralded The Miz debuting on the SmackDown! brand.[2][36] 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.[37]

The Miz debuted as the host of SmackDown! on June 2,[38] hyping up the crowd at the top of the show. Other duties included backstage interviews and hosting a bikini contest. Starting in July, Miz, along with Ashley Massaro, hosted the annual Diva Search competition.[39][40][41]

After the end of the Diva Search competition, The Miz began wrestling as a villain, making his in-ring debut with win over Tatanka on the September 1 episode of SmackDown!.[42] Over the next three months, The Miz remained undefeated, defeating such wrestlers as Matt Hardy,[43] Funaki[44] and Scotty 2 Hotty.[45] At the same time he began a feud with Diva Search winner Layla El, who spurned his advances on more than one occasion,[46][47] leading to Miz helping Kristal defeat her in various competitions.[48][49] However, 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 at December's Armageddon event.[50]

The Miz entered in the 2007 Royal Rumble match as the 29th entrant. However, his Royal Rumble debut did not go as planned, as he was immediately thrown out by The Great Khali, lasting only seven seconds. Following a brief absence from television, The Miz returned on the March 9 episode of SmackDown! to host an interview segment named Miz TV.[51] After the unsuccessful segment, The Miz returned to in-ring competition with a more intense style and began to pick up wins once again.[52][53]

Miz was drafted to the ECW brand on June 17 as part of the 2007 supplemental draft.[54] 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.[55][56] He made his debut on the July 10 episode of ECW in a match against Nunzio, which he won.[57]

Soon after, The Miz found new managers in Kelly Kelly, Layla El and Brooke Adams.[58] He then began a feud with Balls Mahoney after Kelly Kelly began to fall in love with Mahoney on screen.[59][60][61] On the October 2 episode of ECW, it was revealed that Miz owned the contracts of Kelly Kelly, Layla and Brooke Adams; and he used this excuse to stop Kelly from going out with Mahoney.[62] He was nominated at Cyber Sunday to face CM Punk for the ECW Championship. He won the vote, but lost the match.[63]

From 2007 to 2009, The Miz spent the majority of that time as either WWE or World Tag Team Champion, teaming with John Morrison

On the November 16 episode of SmackDown!, The Miz became one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions with John Morrison when they defeated Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter, giving Miz his first championship within the company.[64] At Survivor Series, Miz and Morrison competed in a triple threat match for the ECW Championship, with the champion CM Punk retaining.[65]

In February 2008, Miz and Morrison were given a streaming segment on the WWE website named The Dirt Sheet in which they mocked other wrestlers and facets of pop culture, showing off their promo skills.[66] Morrison and The Miz co-wrote each episode of The Dirt Sheet each week.[67] Miz competed in a battle royal on the pre-show of WrestleMania XXIV, but was unsuccessful in winning after being eliminated by Jamie Noble. The team of Miz and Morrison had many successful title defenses over the next few months before dropping the championship to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder at the Great American Bash in a fatal four-way match which also involved Jesse and Festus and Finlay and Hornswoggle.[68] Neither Miz nor Morrison were pinned as Hawkins pinned Jesse to win the titles.[68] 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 at Cyber Sunday.[69] The team also feuded with D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels), using phrases such as "Are you 50?" instead of DX's usual catchphrase "Are you ready?" to mock their ages due to DX being formed in 1997, when both Miz and Morrison were in high school.[70][71] On the 800th episode celebration of Raw, Miz and Morrison competed in a match against DX, and were defeated.[71] During the match, they mocked DX's signature moves, with Morrison successfully performing a superkick (mocking Michaels' Sweet Chin Music) on Triple H.[71] On December 13, 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.[72]

In February 2009, the team engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns (Carlito and Primo). In a dark match at WrestleMania XXV, 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.[73] On the April 13 episode of Raw, The Miz lost a match to Kofi Kingston due to Morrison's inadvertent interference, which gave Raw 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.[74]

After his split from Morrison, Miz's first singles feud was against John Cena

Miz challenged John Cena to a match on the April 27 episode of Raw, but as Cena was out due to injury, 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.[75] On the August 3 episode of Raw, The Miz lost a match to Cena, which meant that, in storyline, he was banned from the Staples Center, the Raw brand and SummerSlam.[76] The following week on August 10, 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. He then debuted his new finisher, the Skull-Crushing Finale, and used it on Eugene.[77] After removing the mask to reveal himself, he cut a promo and debuted his catchphrase: "Because I'm The Miz... and I'm awesome".

Miz would then set his sights on the United States Championship.[78] He unsuccessfully challenged for the championship at the Night of Champions, Breaking Point and Hell in a Cell pay-per-views,[79][80][81] before he won the championship on the October 5 episode of Raw, by defeating Kofi Kingston - his first singles championship in WWE.[82] At the following pay-per-view event, Bragging Rights, Miz was inserted into an interpromotional match against SmackDown's Intercontinental Champion, Miz's erstwhile tag team partner John Morrison.[83] At the event on October 25, Miz defeated Morrison.[84] The following month at Survivor Series, Miz captained a team of five wrestlers against Team Morrison in a five-on-five Survivor Series elimination match and once again bested his former partner surviving with Sheamus and Drew McIntyre.[85]

The Miz with the United States Championship, which he held twice

In January 2010, The Miz began a rivalry with MVP that began with a critically well-received verbal exchange between the two.[86] The two met in an unadvertised match for the United States Championship at the Royal Rumble event with Miz retaining his title, but in the Royal Rumble match itself MVP eliminated both himself and The Miz.[87] At Elimination Chamber, Miz again successfully defended his United States Championship against MVP after interference from Big Show, ending their feud.[88]

On the May 10 episode of Raw, Tyson Kidd defeated The Miz in a match, which earned any member of The Hart Dynasty a match for the United States Championship and The Miz, who was allowed to choose his opponent, elected to face Bret Hart.[89] On the following episode of Raw on May 17, Hart defeated The Miz to win the United States Championship, despite Chris Jericho, William Regal and Vladimir Kozlov attempting to interfere on The Miz's behalf.[90] On the June 14 episode of Raw, The Miz defeated R-Truth, John Morrison and Zack Ryder in a fatal four-way match to win the United States Championship for the second time and retained the championship against R-Truth at the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view.[91][92][93]

In January 2010, Miz formed a tag team with Big Show — later dubbed "ShoMiz" — and on the February 8 episode of Raw the two defeated D-Generation X and The Straight Edge Society to become the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions, making Miz the first wrestler in WWE history to hold three championships at the same time (United States, World Tag Team and WWE Tag Team Champion).[94] At WrestleMania XXVI on March 28, ShoMiz defeated John Morrison and R-Truth to retain the title again.[95] At Extreme Rules on April 25, ShoMiz lost to The Hart Dynasty in a gauntlet match, which per the match stipulation gifted them a tag team title opportunity.[96] They would receive their title match the following night on Raw, where ShoMiz lost the titles. After the match, Big Show knocked Miz out and was later drafted to the SmackDown brand, dissolving the team.[97]

In February, Miz began appearing on the NXT show as the storyline mentor of Daniel Bryan.[98] Miz had a tumultuous relationship with Bryan, who was eliminated from NXT on May 11, although he returned the following week to attack Miz.[99][100] Miz returned as a Pro for the second season of NXT, to mentor Alex Riley, the only Pro to return.[101][102]

The Miz as United States Champion and Money in the Bank contract holder in August 2010. Miz would later cash in his Money in the Bank contract to win the WWE Championship

On July 18 at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, The Miz won a Money in the Bank ladder match to win a contract for a WWE Championship match that he could utilize at any time.[103] Over the next few weeks, The Miz made various, unsuccessful attempts at cashing in his Money in the Bank contract on the WWE Champion Sheamus, as the matches were continually interrupted by other wrestlers before the matches could occur, which meant that he retained the contract for future use.[104][105] Daniel Bryan returned to WWE at SummerSlam, taking The Miz's place on Team WWE, causing The Miz to attack him mid-match, which would result in Bryan's eventual elimination from the match.[106] This began a rivalry between the two, with The Miz losing the United States Championship to Bryan at the Night of Champions event in September.[107] In October, Miz defeated John Cena (after interference from Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty) to become the captain of Team Raw, but Team Raw (composed of Miz, R-Truth, John Morrison, Santino Marella, Sheamus, CM Punk and Ezekiel Jackson) were unsuccessful in defeating Team SmackDown at the Bragging Rights pay-per-view.[108]

The Miz (right) successfully defended the WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania XXVII in April 2011

On the November 22 episode of Raw, he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract following a successful WWE Championship defense by Randy Orton against Wade Barrett to become the new WWE Champion. The following week, Miz made his first successful title defense, defeating Jerry "The King" Lawler in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match after interference from Michael Cole.[109][110] He successfully defended the championship at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view in December by defeating Orton in a tables match following interference from Alex Riley.[111] Going into 2011, Miz would then successfully defend the championship against Orton again at the Royal Rumble in January (after interference from CM Punk) and Lawler the following month at Elimination Chamber.[112][113] On 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.[114] This made their reign the shortest in the championship's history.[115] 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 Miz's "Vice President of Corporate Communications".[116][117] In the main event of WrestleMania XXVII on April 3, The Miz successfully defended the WWE Championship against Cena, following interference from The Rock, who then attacked Miz afterwards.[118] The Miz's regisn has been described as a faliure for being "booked ridicusly weakly".[119]

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.[120] He then failed to regain the championship from Cena again in an "I Quit" match at Over the Limit on May 22, after botched interference from Riley.[121] The following night on Raw, the Anonymous Raw General Manager denied The Miz's request for another WWE Championship match; Miz blamed Riley for being unable to regain the championship. Riley then attacked him, turning Riley into a fan favorite.[122] At Capitol Punishment on June 19, Miz faced Riley in a losing effort.[123] The Miz lost Raw's Money in the Bank ladder match at the titular event as the match was won by Alberto Del Rio.[124] After the WWE Championship was declared vacant by Vince McMahon, Miz would enter into a tournament to crown a new champion, defeating Riley and Kofi Kingston to advance to the finals,[125] where he lost to Rey Mysterio.[126] At SummerSlam in August, Miz teamed with R-Truth and Alberto Del Rio to face Mysterio, Kingston and John Morrison in a losing effort.[127]

In 2011, Miz was involved in a short-lived tag team with R-Truth (right) known as The Awesome Truth

On the August 22 episode of Raw, Miz and R-Truth attacked Santino Marella before his match. They then cut 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.[128] They began referring to themselves as "The Awesome Truth".[129] At Night of Champions, after the referee was distracted while The Miz attempted a pin, Miz assaulted him, causing Awesome Truth to lose a WWE Tag Team Championship match to Air Boom (Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne) by disqualification.[130] Seeking retribution, Miz and Truth later attacked both Triple H and CM Punk during their No Disqualification match in the main event.[131] 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.[132][133] At the conclusion of the main event match at Hell in a Cell, R-Truth and The Miz jumped the barricade wearing black hooded sweatshirts and entered the cell as it was being raised. They then used weapons to attack Alberto Del Rio, CM Punk, John Cena, the Referee 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 the fans for their actions.[134] The Miz and R-Truth were reinstated by John Laurinaitis on the October 10 episode of Raw. At Vengeance, Miz and R-Truth defeated CM Punk and Triple H in a tag team match, 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.[135] At Survivor Series in November, The Awesome Truth were defeated by John Cena and The Rock.[136] On the November 21 episode of Raw, Cena instigated an argument between R-Truth and Miz, which resulted in Miz performing a Skull Crushing Finale on the stage on R-Truth.[137] This was a pretext to explain R-Truth's absence during his suspension as a result of his violating of the Wellness Policy.[138]

The Miz at a WWE live event in 2011

On the November 28 episode of Raw, Miz defeated John Morrison in a Falls Count Anywhere match after a Skull Crushing Finale on the stage.[139] On the December 5, episode of Raw, 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 after a win over Randy Orton via countout, but was unsuccessful.[140][141] Miz would be the first entrant in the 2012 Royal Rumble match, scoring two eliminations and lasting over 45 minutes before he was eliminated by Big Show.[142] At Elimination Chamber in February 2012, Miz competed for the WWE Championship in the titular match, which was won by CM Punk.[143]

Desperate for a spot on the card for the upcoming WrestleMania XXVIII event,[144] he later joined John Laurinaitis' team for the 12-man tag team match after saving Laurinaitis from Santino Marella.[145][146] 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 2011.[147] He followed this up by losing a battle royal and a singles match against Brodus Clay at Over the Limit in May.[148]

After a two-month absence, The Miz returned at Money in the Bank as a last-minute participant in the WWE Championship Money in the Bank contract match, won by John Cena.[149] At Raw 1000, Miz defeated Christian to win his first Intercontinental Championship, becoming the 25th Triple Crown Champion and a Grand Slam Champion in the process.[150] Miz successfully defended his championship against Rey Mysterio at SummerSlam in August,[151] and in a fatal four-way match against Cody Rhodes, Mysterio, and Sin Cara at Night of Champions in September,[152] before losing the championship to Kofi Kingston on the premiere episode of Main Event ending his reign at 85 days.[153] Miz failed to regain the title from Kingston in two rematches—at Hell in a Cell and on the November 6 episode of SmackDown.[154][155]

After his loss to Kofi Kingston,[156] The Miz turned into a fan favorite for the first time since 2006 when he joined Mick Foley's team at Survivor Series after confronting Paul Heyman on the November 12 episode of Raw.[156][157] At the event on November 18, he eliminated Wade Barrett before being eliminated by Alberto Del Rio; his team would also go onto lose.[158] The Miz then began a feud with United States Champion Antonio Cesaro after Cesaro insulted America.[159][160] During this feud, Ric Flair became his mentor and Miz adopted the figure-four leglock from Flair as a new finisher.[161] The Miz challenged for Cesaro's United States Championship at the Royal Rumble pre-show,[162] at Elimination Chamber[163] and on the March 3, 2013 episode of SmackDown, but was unsuccessful each time.[164]

Miz next sought Wade Barrett's Intercontinental Championship.[165] He lost a triple threat match against Barrett and Chris Jericho on the March 18 episode of Raw,[166] but defeated Barrett in a non-title match to earn another shot at the title.[167] He captured the title by defeating Barrett at the WrestleMania 29 pre-show,[168] only to lose the title back to him the following night on Raw.[169] Miz failed to recapture the title at Payback[170] and Money in the Bank.[171]

On August 18, he was the host of SummerSlam, during which he had a run-in with Fandango, beginning a feud between the two.[172] Miz went on to defeat Fandango both on the September 2 episode of Raw and on September 15 at Night of Champions.[173][174] The following night on Raw, Miz was assaulted by Randy Orton in front of his parents, resulting in a storyline injury.[175] When Miz returned in October, he quickly lost to Orton.[176] Miz started a feud with Kofi Kingston, defeating him on the Survivor Series pre-show,[177] but losing a no-disqualification match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs to end their feud.[178] In February, Miz stormed out during matches to complain about his lack of screen time and claiming that he should be in matches.[179] He participated in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX, but was eliminated by Santino Marella.[180]

In June 2014, The Miz adopted a movie star persona, bringing in Damien Sandow as his "stunt double" (known as Damien Mizdow)

After a two-month hiatus filming The Marine 4: Moving Target, The Miz returned as a villain for the first time since 2012, on the June 30 episode of Raw and immediately began to insult the crowd and taking on the gimmick of a movie star before being interrupted by the returning Chris Jericho, who defeated Miz in his return match. At Battleground on July 20, Miz won a battle royal by lastly eliminating Dolph Ziggler to win the Intercontinental Championship for the third time.[181] At SummerSlam on August 17, Ziggler defeated Miz to recapture the title.[182] Later that month, Damien Sandow began appearing with Miz as his "stunt double" (mimicking all of Miz's moves and mannerisms) and was subsequently billed as Damien Mizdow.[183] At Night of Champions on September 21, Miz defeated Ziggler to regain the Intercontinental Championship, only to lose the title to Ziggler in a rematch the following night.[184] After defeating Sheamus several times with the help of Mizdow, Miz challenged him for the United States Championship at Hell in a Cell on October 26, but he was unsuccessful.[185]

At Survivor Series on November 23, 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.[186] At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 14, Miz and Mizdow lost by disqualification against The Usos after Miz hit Jimmy Uso with a Slammy Award.[187] On the December 29 episode of Raw, Miz and Mizdow lost the titles to The Usos.[188] Miz and Mizdow were unsuccessful in regaining the at the Royal Rumble on January 25, 2015. Miz was the first entrant in the Royal Rumble match later that night but was eliminated by Bubba Ray Dudley.[189] After Mizdow began to get more attention from the audience, Miz relegated Mizdow to his personal assistant out of spite.[190] Miz and Mizdow then competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31 in March, which Miz failed to win after being eliminated by Mizdow, dissolving their partnership.[191] On the April 20 episode of Raw, Miz defeated Mizdow in a match where the winner retained the Miz brand, with help from Summer Rae.[192]

At SummerSlam in August, Miz was competed for the Intercontinental Championship in a triple threat match also involving Big Show and Ryback, but failed to win.[193] At Survivor Series on November 22, 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.[194] At the Royal Rumble in January 2016, Miz competed in the 2016 Royal Rumble match, entering at number 25 and lasting nearly 9 minutes before being eliminated by Roman Reigns.[195] On April 3, at WrestleMania 32, Miz wrestled in a seven-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship, which was won by Zack Ryder.

The Miz celebrating along manager Maryse after winning his fifth Intercontinental Championship in April 2016

On the Raw episode post-WrestleMania 32, Miz won the Intercontinental Championship for the fifth time, after his wife Maryse made her return to WWE and distracted Ryder by slapping his father, thus becoming his manager in the process, where the two then became an on-screen power couple.[196] In the weeks following, Miz and Maryse then began to cut various promos during the Miz TV segments, while calling themselves the "it" couple.[197][198][199] At Payback on May 1, 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 the Intercontinental Championship between the four men.[200] At Extreme Rules on May 22, Miz successfully retained the championship against Cesaro, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens in a highly acclaimed fatal four-way match, when Miz pinned Cesaro.[201] The following night on Raw, Miz failed to qualify for the 2016 Money in the Bank ladder match when he was defeated by Cesaro,[202] setting up another championship match between the two set for the week's SmackDown, which Miz won.[203] 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.[204] At Battleground on July 24, the Intercontinental Championship match between Miz and Darren Young ended in a double disqualification after The Miz pushed Bob Backlund (Darren Young's mentor) and Young attacked him.[205] On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft, Miz along with Maryse was drafted to SmackDown, with the Intercontinental Championship becoming exclusive to that brand.[206] At SummerSlam on August 21, Miz successfully defended the championship against Apollo Crews.[207]

On the August 23 episode of Talking Smack, The Miz went on a highly praised tirade against SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan for calling him a coward, with 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".[209] At Backlash on September 11, Miz successfully defended the title against Dolph Ziggler after Maryse sprayed an unknown substance at Ziggler while the referee was distracted.[210] 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".[211] At No Mercy on October 9, Miz lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ziggler in a title vs career match after Maryse and The Spirit Squad (Kenny and Mikey), were ejected from ringside, ending Miz's reign at 188 days.[212] On the 900th episode of SmackDown on November 15, Maryse helped Miz to win the championship for the sixth time.[213] Miz successfully defended the title against Raw's Sami Zayn at Survivor Series on November 20 after Maryse prematurely rang the bell, causing a distraction.[214] Miz faced Ziggler once more in a ladder match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 4 which Miz won to end their feud.[215]

The Miz as Intercontinental Champion in April 2016

On December 6 episode of SmackDown, Miz successfully defended the title against Dean Ambrose after interference from Maryse and distraction from James Ellsworth.[216] Two weeks later on SmackDown, Miz successfully defended the championship against Apollo Crews. After the match, Miz was interviewed by Renee Young, where Miz sarcastically responded by revealing Young and Ambrose's real life relationship, prompting her to slap Miz.[217][218] On the January 3, 2017 episode of SmackDown, Miz lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ambrose despite interference from Maryse.[219] On January 29, Miz entered the 2017 Royal Rumble match at number 15 and lasted 32 minutes until he was eliminated by The Undertaker.[220]

On January 31 episode of SmackDown, Miz was revealed as one of the participants of the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship[221] which took place on February 12, where Miz lost after John Cena eliminated him.[222] On the February 21 episode of SmackDown, Miz participated in a ten-man battle royal to determine the challenger for the Bray Wyatt's WWE Championship, but was eliminated by Cena. On the February 28 episode of SmackDown, 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.[223] On the March 14 episode of SmackDown, after a showdown between Miz and Maryse against Cena and Nikki, SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan scheduled a mixed tag team match at WrestleMania 33, which Miz and Maryse lost.[224]

On April 10, Miz was drafted to Raw along with Maryse as part of the Superstar Shake Up, where they made their debut on the same night dressed as Cena and Nikki, before being confronted by the Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose, who was also drafted to Raw in the Superstar Shake-up.[225] At Extreme Rules in June, Miz defeated Ambrose to win the Intercontinental Championship for the seventh time.[226]

Miz in March 2018

On the June 19 episode of Raw, Miz allied himself with Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel, a team which would later dubbed "The Miztourage".[227] Miz successfully defended the Intercontinental Championship against Dean Ambrose at Great Balls of Fire on July 9, due to interference from the Miztourage.[228] At the SummerSlam pre-show on August 20, Miz and The Miztourage defeated Jason Jordan and The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) in a six-man tag-team match.[229]

In September, Miz began a feud with Jordan after he was declared number one contender to Miz's championship.[230] At No Mercy on September 25, Miz successfully retained the championship against Jordan.[231] The following month, he allied himself with Cesaro and Sheamus in order to take on the reformed Shield faction (Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns).[232] Miz teamed with Cesaro, Sheamus, Kane and Braun Strowman against Ambrose, Rollins and Kurt Angle (who replaced Reigns after he was not medically cleared to compete[233]) in a 5-on-3 handicap Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on October 22 in a losing effort.[234] In November, Miz faced SmackDown's United States Champion Baron Corbin at Survivor Series in an interbrand champion vs. champion match, which he lost.[235] The following night on Raw, Miz lost to Roman Reigns in an Intercontinental Championship match, ending his title reign at 169 days.[236] Miz then took time off to film the movie The Marine 6: Close Quarters.

Miz (center) with The Miztourage as Intercontinental Champion at WrestleMania 34

The Miz returned on the January 8, 2018 episode of Raw to host Miz TV. On the 25th anniversary of Raw, he defeated Roman Reigns to win his eighth Intercontinental Championship. Miz then participated in the annual Royal Rumble match at the namesake pay-per-view on January 28, but he failed to win the match after being eliminated by the combined effort of Rollins and Reigns. The next night on Raw, Miz defeated Reigns in a rematch to retain the title. On the February 5 episode of Raw, Miz defeated Apollo Crews to qualify for the 2018 Elimination Chamber match to determine the number-one contender for Brock Lesnar's Universal Championship, where he was the first wrestler eliminated after lasting over 20 minutes.[237] In parallel to his activities as a singles wrestler, Miz took a part of the Mixed Match Challenge tournament, with Asuka as his partner in support of the charity Rescue Dogs Rock.[238][239] They defeated the teams of Big E and Carmella on January 23, 2018, and Finn Bálor and Sasha Banks on February 27.[240][241] In the semi-finals on March 20, they defeated the team of Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss to qualify for the finals.[242] On April 4, they defeated Bobby Roode and Charlotte Flair in the finals to win the tournament and earn $100,000 for their charity.[243] At WrestleMania 34 on April 8, Miz lost the Intercontinental title to Seth Rollins in a triple threat match also involving Finn Bálor, suffering his first pinfall loss at WrestleMania.[244]

On April 16, during the Superstar Shake-up, Miz was traded to SmackDown. Later that night in his final match for Raw, Miz teamed with The Miztourage, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn against Seth Rollins, Finn Bálor, Braun Strowman, Bobby Roode and Bobby Lashley in a ten-man tag team match; his team lost after The Miztourage walked out on him, officially ending their partnership.[245] Miz would fail to regain the Intercontinental Championship from Rollins in a ladder match also involving Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe at the Greatest Royal Rumble event,[246] and subsequently in a singles match at Backlash.[247]

On the May 8 episode of SmackDown Live, Miz defeated United States Champion Jeff Hardy to qualify for the men's Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake event.[248] At the event, Miz failed to win the ladder match.[249] Throughout July and August, Miz would taunt and goad long-time rival Daniel Bryan. Despite initially backing down from his Bryan's challenge for a match at SummerSlam,[250] he would later reconsider and accept it.[251] At the event, Miz defeated Bryan, after pinning him following the undetected use of a pair of brass knuckles.[252]

Following SummerSlam, it was announced that Miz and Maryse would be facing Bryan and his wife Brie Bella at Hell in a Cell in September.[253] At the event, Miz and Maryse would go on to win the after Maryse pinned Bella.[254] In October, Miz and Bryan were announced to be facing each other once more at the Super Show-Down event with the winner getting a future WWE Championship match.[255] At the event, Miz was defeated by Bryan.[256]

On the 1000th episode of SmackDown on October 16, Miz defeated Rusev to qualify for the WWE World Cup tournament to determine the "Best Wrestler in the World" at the Crown Jewel event.[257] At the event in November, Miz defeated Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio to advance to the finals against Dolph Ziggler, but injured his knee before the match, rendering him unable to compete. SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon replaced him and defeated Ziggler, winning the World Cup.[258]

On the following episode of SmackDown, Bryan and Miz were announced as co-captain of the Men's Survivor Series match at the Survivor Series pay-per-view,[259] however, SmackDown General Manager Paige removed Bryan from the match the following week and replaced him with Jeff Hardy, leaving Miz as the sole captain of Team SmackDown for the event.[260] At the event, Team SmackDown lost to Team Raw.[261]

Miz would begin to pursue a partnership with McMahon, with the promise of becoming the "best tag team in the world".[262] McMahon would finally agree to the team proposal in December, turning Miz into a fan favorite for the first time since April 2014.[263] The duo would then challenge SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Sheamus to a title match at the 2019 Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 27, 2019,[264] in which Miz and McMahon would defeat the duo to become the new champions.[265] However, the next month at Elimination Chamber, Miz and McMahon lost the titles to The Usos, ending their reign at 21 days.[266] The duo then failed to regain the titles from the Usos at Fastlane in March. After the loss, McMahon turned on Miz by attacking both him and his father at ringside.[267] This led to a falls count anywhere match at WrestleMania 35, which Miz would lose.[268] On April 15, Miz was drafted to Raw as part of the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up. Upon his acquisition, he would attack McMahon with a steel chair.[269]

Subsequently, Miz would challenge McMahon to a steel cage match at Money in the Bank in May.[270] At the event, Miz was again narrowly defeated.[271] The following month at Super ShowDown, Miz competed in the 51-man battle royal, but did not win.[272][273]

In July, Miz restarted his feud with Dolph Ziggler after a confrontation on Miz TV.[274] A match between the two was arranged for SummerSlam, however during the contract signing on the August 5 episode of Raw, Miz revealed that he was not Ziggler's opponent, instead it was the returning Goldberg who would take Miz's place in the match. He stated in an interview: “I’ll have many other opportunities at SummerSlam, but this might be Goldberg’s last.”[275] On the Raw after SummerSlam, Miz defeated Ziggler to end their feud.[276] Miz then competed in the 2019 King of the Ring, but was eliminated in the first round by Baron Corbin.[277] Miz then unsuccessfully challenged for Shinsuke Nakamura's Intercontinental Championship at Clash of Champions in September, after interference from Nakamura's manager Sami Zayn.[278]

As part of the 2019 draft, Miz was drafted to SmackDown.[279] During the November 1 episode of SmackDown, NXT wrestler Tommaso Ciampa disrupted an edition of Miz TV to air his grievances towards Miz, accusing him of being self-centered. He subsequently challenged Ciampa to a match, which he would lose via pinfall.[280] The following month, Miz began a feud with Universal Champion Bray Wyatt, who, under his sinister alter ego "The Fiend", proclaimed he wanted to become part of Miz's family. He would later attack Miz backstage.[281] Subsequently, a non-title match between Miz and Wyatt was arranged for the TLC pay-per-view, which Miz lost.[282] At Starrcade, The Miz faced Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental title in a losing effort.[283][284]

On the January 3, 2020 episode of SmackDown, Miz blindsided Kofi Kingston after being defeated in a match against him and subsequently lashed out at the audience after being booed, turning heel in the process.[285] Later that night, he reunited with his former tag team partner John Morrison, who made his return to WWE. After winning a title shot on SmackDown,[286] Miz and Morrison won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from The New Day at Super ShowDown.[287][288] At Elimination Chamber on March 8, Miz and Morrison retained the championship over The New Day, The Usos, Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) and Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode in a tag team Elimination Chamber match.[289] Miz and Morrison were originally set to defend the championship in a triple threat tag team ladder match against The New Day and The Usos at WrestleMania 36,[290] but Miz pulled out of the event due to concerns arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.[291] Instead, Morrison individually defended the championship in a triple threat ladder match against Kofi Kingston of The New Day and Jimmy Uso of The Usos, which Morrison won.[292] On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, the duo lost the titles back to The New Day after Miz unsuccessfully defended the titles by himself in a triple threat match against Big E and Jey Uso.