The Miz Emphasizes How Crucial It Is For WWE Developmental Talent To Find A Character
As a guest on the latest episode of Out of Character with Ryan Satin, WWE superstar The Miz joined the show to talk about his experiences working with The Rock, advice Triple H gave him during his WrestleMania 37 match involving Bad Bunny, and the recent praise he received from AJ Styles. During a previous episode of the podcast, Styles called Miz the greatest heel in the business right now, which led to this response from Miz.
"It's an honor, honestly," Miz said. "Ever since the first time AJ stepped foot in WWE, I was like his first competitor, like the first person to go up against him. Sometimes you can feel it, you just know. Everyone can be like, 'well, it's AJ Styles,' but that doesn't always happen when people come from outside of WWE into WWE. It takes a lot of hard work, and dedication, and a special person and superstar. As soon as I got in the ring with AJ, I was like, he's going to be something in WWE, he's going to be one of the biggest stars out there. You could feel the energy, you could feel the passion, the electricity that surrounds him, and the aura. You just know and I knew right away.
After talking about AJ's first appearance in the WWE, The Miz continued to talk about the style and passion some talent need to have to make it in the WWE. The former WWE Champion mentioned how important it is to know who you are when you're in the WWE, and revealed some tips he provides NXT talent whenever he heads there to help out.
"You can bring any athlete in here and you can teach someone the moves. If they have the passion for, and the character, is honestly the hardest to find because a lot of times it's like, who are you?" The Miz said. "I'll go down to NXT and the first question is, 'Who are you? Give me a one-sentence on who you are.' The first thing shouldn't be 'ugh...' The first thing should be, 'I am this person, I am this, this, this, and this. And here's why I'm going to make it to WWE, and here's why I'm going to do this and this.'
"These are the reasons and motivations as to who you are as a character. A lot of times, you'll go to a developmental territory or someone will ask advice and I'll go, 'oh, you're a wrestler? What's your character?' 'Ugh, I don't know, I'm kind of this guy...' No, you shouldn't be 'kind of'. If you want to be a WWE superstar, you need to know exactly who you are going in there because guess what? When you get here, they're probably going to change you, but they know you can find something into it and they'll give you something else and say try this."
The Miz continued to talk about the one superstar he's really been impressed with lately and their ability to make the most of their opportunities. When talking about Chad Gable, The Miz praised his ability to take several gimmicks and make the best out of them and believes he can become a main-eventer.
"Chad Gable, when he first came with Jason Jordan, amazing tag team, incredible, but didn't click and get to the upper echelon," Miz said. "Then they took him and made him a singles competitor and said, you're going to be Shorty G, and everyone was like, 'what? What?' Honestly, sometimes it's just, 'I see something in you, let's see if I can get something out of you. Let's see if we can find something that's different from everyone else.' Most of the time, the fans or critics are like, 'why is this guy doing this? This guy's been to the Olympics.' Like, we're just trying to find something here, in my mind, that's what they're doing. He took it and I thought he did exceptional at it. He didn't take it to the upper echelon or whatever, but he took that character and made something out of it.
"Now you look at Chad Gable and he found his voice, he found his character, and now you go, oh wow, this character is a money maker. I look at that and go, 'he's ready and prepared, now he just needs the battles to work himself up, work himself up, And every time, they take something, just take it with a grain of salt. Whatever you give me, I'm going to make it gold, and that's what he's been doing. If he keeps doing that and doing that, we're going to see Chad Gable become a contender, a superstar, a main-eventer, and a person that can put asses in seats. I think if he keeps working at it and keeps going and going, he'll be even more special than he already is."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Out of Character with Ryan Satin with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.