The Miz Details How The Dirt Sheet With John Morrison Was First Created
Dave LeGreca and Bully Ray welcomed The Miz back on the Busted Open podcast, where they talked about The Miz's new USA Network show "Cannonball", as well as The Miz's rise back up in WWE after losing the WWE Championship.
The Miz said he learned the ability to listen to a crowd from John Cena, something that Cena has called "playing jazz". The Miz said that helped him become a main event level wrestler.
"I learned a long time ago to listen to a crowd, like, to hear a crowd," The Miz stated. "There's a difference between being able to hear it, and there's difference between being able to listen and know exactly what to do on how to get a crowd to where you need them to be, and I think John Cena taught me that the most.
"Being in the ring with John Cena allowed me to realize what it is to be a main event caliber talent. You should not ever go down from that. You always have to be at that top level and wrestle at that top level no matter where you are on the card. It doesn't matter."
The Miz talked more about how wrestlers should maximize the time they are given. He says that if wrestlers do that, the crowd will respond and will remember you.
"No matter how much time you have, whether it's one minute or 30 seconds, you need to make the most out of that time. And if you keep making the most out of that time, people will see it, people will respect it and people will understand it," The Miz said. "Knowing how to listen, how to hear and how to be able to utilize that and say OK, this is what I need to do to get them where I need them to be, and here's the moment that they're going to remember this entire time."
The Miz talked about the different outlets that can be used to promote yourself in WWE. He revealed a conversation he had with WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon that led to the creation of The Dirt Sheet.
"WWE has so many avenues to go to. It's not just the show," The Miz prefaced. "You can develop things on YouTube and podcasts. WWE has a venture into everything. I remember when John Morrison and I first started wrestling, and we were having great matches, but nobody knew who the hell we were. Nobody cared, nobody knew our characters. Nobody knew our dynamic because we weren't getting promo time.
"So what do we do? I remember going up to Stephanie McMahon and cutting a promo. The last thing was our tagline, 'Be jealous,' and she goes, 'Be jealous. I like that.' The next day, I got a call, and I think this is when Stephanie was the head of creative, from one of the people and they said, 'Hey, what's this thing you guys want to do?' It was The Dirt Sheet, and we started the first ever show on WWE's YouTube channel called The Dirt Sheet."
The Miz said that younger wrestlers like Elias and Apollo Crews have come up to him asking him what they can do given the lack of TV time. He tells them to go and do entertaining things on social media to attract more attention to themselves.
"Young guys will come up to me now, like Elias and Apollo Crews," The Miz revealed. "They want to know what they can do more. 'I'm not where I want to be. How do I get there?' I'll be like, 'Look, if you're not getting TV time, then find other ways to make sure that people know exactly who you are.' Right now, we have tons of social media, and I'm not telling you to go do stupid stuff on there, but do entertaining stuff. Things that people might look at and go wow."
The Miz praised R-Truth for doing the things that he has advised younger wrestlers to do. He notes the many ventures that R-Truth has his hands in and says that is why R-Truth has the success that he has. The Miz has said that Elias has the potential to be a top star in WWE, and he said he has told Elias that he can do live broadcasts of himself singing and playing the guitar to get creative's eyes on him.
"I honestly believe that no one is more entertaining on TikTok than R-Truth," The Miz asserted. "The guy is so entertaining, and not only that but R-Truth will send me raps that he's doing. These are amazing songs. Truth is doing stuff outside to gain attention to entertain an audience, and that is why I think he's still having the successes that he has to this day because you see the entertainment value.
"You see what he can do, and so there's just so much more that you can do. I told Elias like,'Elias, how many people can play the guitar and sing at the same time? Do your shows on Instagram. Do shows on Twitter.' Creative will see it, and they'll love it."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Busted Open with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.