The Miz Discusses Being A Heel, Hating Pittsburgh, Being WWE's Ryan Seacrest & More
Recently, former WWE champion The Miz was interviewed by the guys at The Fan Morning Show in Pittsburgh to promote yesterday's Raw. During the interview, they discussed a number of topics. Topics included; his hatred for Pittsburgh, being a heel, hosting MTV's The Challenge: Rivals reunion episode, being WWE's Ryan Seacrest and more. Here are some of the highlights:
On his hatred for Pittsburgh: "I do (hate Pittsburgh). I've grown up hating Pittsburgh all my life. So, I come to Pittsburgh all the time and they're like, 'Can you do media here?' And I'm like, 'Absolutely.' Just so I can tell you how disgusted I am with this city.
"I can't wait for the Browns to beat the Steelers this year — twice. [The Browns are] not a disgrace! We had a great draft. You were making fun of me before about our great draft. Now, we have a quarterback, a running back, we have the fastest wide receiver in the combine. ... Pittsburgh's not going to make the playoffs this year! You heard it hear first."
On whether or not he enjoys playing the villain: "Absolutely. I don't want to be liked. I enjoy people hating me, I enjoy the Tweets that I get at @MikeTheMiz with people going, 'You suck, you're the worst, I can't stand you. I don't like you.'
"Some people don't like to hear negative things. That's what feeds me. That's what makes me want to do better and prove everyone wrong. So that's basically why I'm so good."
On hosting The Challenge: Rivals: "You've always got to pay homage to where you come from. I came from MTV. MTV was absolutely incredible to me, they were always wonderful to me. They always call me up and say, 'Hey, can you do a challenge? Can you do a challenge?' 'No, I'm retired from the challenges. I retired at 25 from the challenges. I'm not going to be that 40-year-old doing challenges.'
"They were like, 'Listen, we have this thing we want you to do. Would you like to be a host for the after show?' So, I thought, what better way to get MTV fans to come to WWE then to host a show.
"So, I'm gaining more fans by going to MTV, bringing them all over to WWE so we get higher ratings. Everybody has more fun and everybody knows that I'm in WWE now."
On starring in a WWE Films movie: "I'm doing a movie — Marine: Home Front. I'm huge. I'm going to be a huge movie star. I'm the most must-see WWE superstar, I'm a huge movie star. I mean, it's going to be the whole chi-bang."
On Vince McMahon wanting him to be WWE's Ryan Seacrest when he first arrived: "It's funny you bring up Ryan Seacrest. When I first came to WWE, they wanted me to be the host of Smackdown! I go into Vince's office and he's like, 'Alright, Miz. We want you to be like the Ryan Seacrest of the WWE.' By the way, I didn't even think Vince McMahon even knew who Ryan Seacrest was.
"But, whenever your boss tells you, 'We want you to be the Ryan Seacrest of this.' That's just a bad thing in general. Especially when you're in WWE. You want to be the guy that's tough. 'Hey, I'm The Miz!' But, no. I'm in there like, 'Hey, What's up! Welcome to WWE's Friday Night Smackdown!'
"... Then, I turned that into the most must-see former WWE champion. And [I steal] the show. Everybody [watches] me."
Check out the entire interview below.