The Miz Recalls Night He Was Supposed To Beat John Cena For WWE World Title

After CM Punk's contract expired with him still carrying the WWE Championship in July 2011, WWE were tasked with crowning a new champion. In the finals of the subsequent championship tournament, The Miz found himself pitted against Rey Mysterio in the finals on "WWE Raw." Mysterio ultimately won, but according to Miz, WWE initially had him slated as the victor.

"I remember CM Punk left the show and he took the title with him, so they made up a paper champion," Miz recalled on "Bussin With The Boys." "They brought a championship and said, 'Hey, if he's leaving the show, he's gone.' He put the title in a refrigerator; that was the big meme.

"So they're going to have a tournament, and I think I went up against Rey Mysterio. I was going to beat Rey Mysterio, then I was going to beat John Cena, and I was going to be a champion," he continued. "Then they switched it because usually we like babyface versus heel. Bad guy versus good guy. Especially back then, it would been babyface versus babyface, Rey versus Cena and they were like you need a bad guy versus a good guy. So I was the bad guy, but then it was like well it's two huge monumental babyfaces that are Rey Mysterio and John Cena, let them go at it."

Had he defeated Mysterio in the tournament finals, Miz would have been a two-time WWE Champion at that point. Instead, Mysterio went on to defend and lose his newly-won WWE Title to John Cena later in the same "Raw" broadcast. Upon Cena's victory, Punk made a surprise return to confront him with the original title, setting the stage for their undisputed WWE Championship match at WWE SummerSlam. 10 years later, Miz officially claimed his second WWE Championship by cashing in his Money in the Bank contract on Drew McIntyre.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Bussin With The Boys" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.