The Miz Reveals First Person To Tell Him He's Not A Babyface

The Miz has been one of WWE's most conscientious and relied-upon heels for nearly 15 years. Over his lengthy career, Miz has headlined WrestleMania, won the WWE Championship twice, and held the Intercontinental Championship eight times — with most of those accomplishments coming while he was a heel. However, he did not start as a heel, as in Deep South Wrestling, Miz was the first world titleholder there as a top face. In his move to Ohio Valley Wrestling, he did not find himself connecting with the crowd like he did, leading to him eventually turning heel. Miz revealed who was the first person to inform him that he should act as a heel instead of a face.

"Paul Heyman what the first person who said, 'You're not a babyface,'" Miz said appearing on "Off The Beat with Brian Baumgartner." "I go to Ohio Valley Wrestling and they weren't cheering. They were just, it was kind of just meh ... Paul goes, 'Do you know why you're not connecting?' I go, 'No.' He goes, 'Because you're not a babyface. You're a heel' ... We set up, we wrote this promo, and I went out there and cut it and I don't think I've ever went back since. It just felt right. Oh my God."

Miz was a face during two different periods in his career, once around 2013 and the most recent being 2019, when he won the "SmackDown" Tag Team Championships alongside Shane McMahon. Despite Miz receiving cheers at the beginning of his most recent face run, the love wore off, and he has been a heel since early 2020.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Off The Beat with Brian Baumgartner" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.