Paul Donald Wight born February 8, 1972 is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Big Show. Signed to WWE, Wight is a seven-time world champion, having won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twice, the WWF/E Championship twice, the ECW World Championship once, and the World Heavyweight Championship twice. He is the only wrestler to have held all four titles. Wight has also won the WWE Intercontinental Championship once, the WWE United States Championship once, and the WWE Hardcore Championship three times.
Wight is an 11-time world tag team champion, having won the WWE's World Tag Team Championship five times twice with The Undertaker, and once each with Kane, Chris Jericho, and The Miz, the WWE Tag Team Championship three times once each with Jericho, Miz, and Kane, and the WCW World Tag Team Championship three times once each with Lex Luger, Sting, and Scott Hall.
Big Show is the 24th Triple Crown, and 12th Grand Slam winner in WWE history. Between WWE and WCW, Wight has held 23 total championships. He was also the winner of WCW's annual World War 3 60-man Battle Royal in 1996, and has headlined many pay-per-views for WCW and the WWF/E since the mid-1990s, including the 2000 edition of WWE's premier annual event, WrestleMania.
Outside of professional wrestling, Wight has appeared in feature films and television series such as The Waterboy, Star Trek: Enterprise, and USA Network's comedy-drama Royal Pains and the action-drama Burn Notice. In 2010, he had his first major role in the comedy film Knucklehead, which was produced by WWE Studios. Wight has said he would like to continue his acting career and expand beyond roles based on his size.
Wight was born in Aiken, South Carolina. After school, Wight worked various jobs including bouncing, bounty hunting and answering phones. Through doing the latter for a karaoke company, he met Danny Bonaduce in a live mic amateur contest on his morning radio show. Bonaduce introduced Wight to his friend Hulk Hogan. They had an informal basketball game, as part of a WCW promotion for an upcoming show at the Rosemont Horizon. Hogan liked how Wight worked the crowd, and recommended him to WCW Vice President Eric Bischoff. Wight went to the Horizon show, and was invited into the lockerroom, where he met Ric Flair, Arn Anderson his boyhood hero and a naked Paul Orndorff. He later met Bischoff there and came to a deal.
Wight had earlier attempted to inquire about joining the WWF,also at the Horizon, during an autograph session. Promoter and scout Bob Collins turned him away after he admitted he had no experience. He paid Larry Sharpe's Monster Factory $5000, but due to Sharpe's gout at the time, he was only very minimally trained Johnny Polo taught him the collar-and-elbow lockup. While there, he made an audition tape and gave it to Mike Chioda, whom he'd met in a Philadelphia bar. Chioda forwarded it to Pat Patterson, who didn't bother watching it because he assumed Wight was another wrestler, Kurrgan. It was only when he saw The Giant debut in WCW that Patterson realized his mistake, to Vince McMahon's displeasure.
World Championship Wrestling 1995–1999
In 1995, Wight signed with World Championship Wrestling WCW, where he was billed as the son of Andre the Giant, and he accordingly used the ring name "The Giant" and was a member of Kevin Sullivan's Dungeon of Doom stable. Wight made his professional debut at the 1995 Halloween Havoc, defeating Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship via disqualification thanks in part of Jimmy Hart interfering during the match, with the pre-match stipulation that the title can change hands. A week later however, The Giant was stripped of the title due to the controversial finish of the match.
The Giant attempted to reclaim the title at World War 3 but was foiled by Hulk Hogan, who helped Randy Savage win the vacant title. The Giant teamed with Ric Flair to defeat Hogan and Savage at Clash of the Champions XXXII, but was decisively beaten by Hogan in a Cage match at SuperBrawl VI. After a short feud with Loch Ness, The Giant won the World Heavyweight Championship a second time by defeating Ric Flair. After Hogan formed the New World Order nWo he defeated The Giant for the Championship at Hog Wild following interference from Scott Hall and Kevin Nash The Giant joined the nWo twenty three days later, citing Ted DiBiase's money as his primary motivation, feuding with Lex Luger and the Four Horsemen. The Giant was thrown out of the nWo on December 30 for asking Hogan for a World Heavyweight Championship title match. He fought against the nWo along with Sting and Lex Luger, winning the WCW World Tag Team Championship twice.
In 1997, The Giant began a feud with nWo member Kevin Nash, who constantly dodged Giant, failing to appear for their scheduled match at Starrcade. In 1998 at Souled Out the two finally met in the ring, with Nash accidentally injuring Wight's neck when he botched a Jackknife Powerbomb. When Nash left the nWo and formed his own stable, the nWo Wolfpac, The Giant rejoined the original nWo to oppose Nash and his allies. While back with the nWo, The Giant won two more Tag Team Championships, once with Sting as an unwilling partner as the match was signed before The Giant returned to the nWo and once with Scott Hall. In the interim between those two reigns, he lost his half of the Tag Team Championship to Sting in a singles match where only the winner would remain champion and choose a new partner.
On the October 11, 1998, episode of WCW Monday Nitro, Goldberg defeated The Giant in a no-disqualification match; in a show of strength, Goldberg executed a delayed vertical suplex before hitting the Jackhammer on The Giant. After the nWo Hollywood and the nWo Wolfpac merged again in January 1999, Hogan declared that there was only room for one "giant" in the group, and forced Giant and Nash to wrestle for that spot. Nash defeated him following a run-in by Scott Hall and Eric Bischoff. The Giant was then attacked by the entire nWo. Wight allowed his WCW contract to expire on February 8, 1999, his 27th birthday
Wight signed a ten-year contract with the World Wrestling Federation on February 9,1999, debuting as a villainous member of Vince McMahon's stable, The Corporation, at St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House. During the McMahon versus Steve Austin cage match, Wight tore through the canvas from underneath the ring and attacked Austin. However, Wight cost McMahon the match when he threw Austin into the side of the cage and the cage broke, spilling Austin outside to the floor and granting him the victory. Wight subsequently served as McMahon's enforcer.
Wight performed as "Big Nasty" Paul Wight for several weeks before being renamed "The Big Show" Paul Wight. He then gradually dropped his real name, eventually being referred to simply as The Big Show. McMahon wanted to ensure Corporation member The Rock would retain his title at WrestleMania, so he had Wight wrestle Mankind at WrestleMania XV for the right to referee the main event. Wight incapacitated Mankind, but got disqualified in the process, meaning that he could not be referee. Mankind won the right to be the official but was taken to a hospital following the match with Wight although he eventually returned during the Championship match. After a furious McMahon slapped Wight, he punched McMahon. Wight concluded his feud with Foley in a Boiler Room Brawl before turning face and joining Mankind, Test, and Ken Shamrock in a stable known as The Union who fought against the Corporation, and later against The Corporate Ministry. On the May 10 episode of Monday Night Raw, Show was pitted against The Undertaker's manager Paul Bearer. On the June 7 episode of Raw, Big Show faced The Undertaker for the WWF Championship. Undertaker attempted a clothesline from the top turnbuckle, however Wight caught him and delivered a chokeslam, which sent Undertaker crashing through the ring mat; the referee was forced to stop the match so The Undertaker retained his title. Following the match Bradshaw, Faarooq, and Mideon all ran down to attack Big Show and were all subsequently chokeslammed as well. Big Show and The Undertaker later formed an unlikely alliance turning him heel again, wrestling against X-Pac and Kane. As a team, Show and The Undertaker won the WWF Tag Team Championship twice. After The Undertaker was sidelined with injuries, Big Show began a feud with the Big Boss Man turning face again. After it was announced that Big Show's father was terminally ill with cancer, the Boss Man had one of his crooked police colleagues inform Show that his father has died, and then mocked Show's tearful reaction. Several weeks later, when it was announced Big Show's father had actually died in reality, Wight's father had died years before, the Boss Man interrupted the ten-bell toll by reciting an offensive poem. Later, Boss Man invaded the funeral and used a chain to couple the coffin to the Blues Brothers Bluesmobile, towing the coffin away with a grief-stricken Big Show clinging on to it. Big Show then took on Big Boss Man, Prince Albert, Mideon and Viscera at Survivor Series in a 4-on-1 elimination match. He eventually won the match after Big Boss Man left the match and was counted out. Later that night, Wight took the injured Steve Austin's place in the Triple Threat match for the WWF Championship. In that match, which also featured The Rock, he pinned Triple H to become WWF Champion. At Armageddon 1999, Show defeated Boss Man to retain his WWF Championship, despite interference by Prince Albert.
On the January 3, 2000 episode of Raw, Triple H defeated Show for the WWF Championship. Trying to regain the title, Wight participated in the Royal Rumble match where he antagonized The Rock, thus turning heel in the process. The Rock eliminated him to win the Royal Rumble. Wight was convinced that he had won, and eventually produced a video tape that showed The Rock's feet striking the ground first. He was then given a match with The Rock at No Way Out, with the WrestleMania title shot on the line. Wight defeated The Rock when Shane McMahon interfered, knocking The Rock out with a chair shot. Rock was desperate to reclaim his title shot, and eventually agreed to a match with Wight on the March 13 episode of Raw – if he won, the WrestleMania title match would become a Triple Threat match, and if he lost, he would retire from the WWF. Shane McMahon, now actively supporting Wight's bid to become champion, appointed himself as the special guest referee. However, The Rock triumphed when Vince McMahon assaulted Shane and donned the referee shirt, personally making the three count following a Rock Bottom.
On the March 20 episode of Raw, Triple H defended the title against The Rock and Wight on the condition that the match would not take place at WrestleMania, pinning Wight. Linda McMahon stated this match would not occur at WrestleMania as Triple H would defend the title there in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match, with Mick Foley as the fourth man. Wight was the first man eliminated from the match at WrestleMania 2000 after the other three competitors worked together against him.
After WrestleMania, Big Show turned face and took on a comical gimmick where he began mimicking other wrestlers, lampooning Rikishi as Showkishi, The Berzerker as Shonan the Barbarian, and Val Venis as The Big Showbowski. He defeated Kurt Angle at Backlash dressed like his friend and role model Hulk Hogan as the Showster, complete with skullcap/wig and yellow tights. Show began feuding with Shane McMahon after Shane voiced his disapproval of Big Show's antics. At Judgment Day 2000, Shane defeated Wight in a Falls Count Anywhere match following interference from Big Boss Man, Bull Buchanan, Test, and Albert. Wight returned two months later, apparently intending to gain revenge on Shane. Instead, he attacked The Undertaker thus turning heel and siding with Shane once more, forming a short-lived stable known as "The Conspiracy" with Shane, Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, and Edge and Christian. After The Undertaker threw Show off a stage through a table, he was removed from WWF television for the remainder of the year. Big Show was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling, a WWF developmental territory, to lose weight and improve his cardiovascular fitness.
Show returned at the 2001 Royal Rumble, but was eliminated by The Rock. Angered by his quick elimination, Wight proceeded to chokeslam The Rock through the announcer's table before leaving the arena. He then began competing for the WWF Hardcore Championship, which he lost to Kane in a Triple Threat match that also included Raven at WrestleMania X-Seven.
Throughout The Invasion, Big Show reverted back to being a face and remained loyal to the WWF. He faced Shane McMahon, the on-screen owner of WCW, in a Last Man Standing match at Backlash and was defeated following interference from Test. Following an unscripted backstage interview, Big Show burst into tears and fled from the arena. Show was also part of the victorious Team WWF at Survivor Series, though he was the first man eliminated.
Shortly after Wrestlemania x8, Big Show turned heel when he chokeslammed Stone Cold during a tag team match against X-Pac and Scott Hall, joining the nWo in the process. At Judgment Day, Big Show and Ric Flair were defeated by Austin in a Handicap match. The stable disbanded after Kevin Nash was injured. After the nWo disbanded, Show achieved little success on Raw after losing matches against Jeff Hardy, Booker T, and the Dudley Boyz.
In late 2002, Big Show was traded to SmackDown!, immediately challenging Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship. During this time, Big Show adopted a new attire, donning black jeans and taking on a new hairstyle and facial hair. Big Show became a two-time WWE Champion defeating Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series, ending Lesnar's undefeated streak with help from Paul Heyman. He lost the title to Kurt Angle a month later at Armageddon. At the Royal Rumble, Big Show lost a Royal Rumble Qualifying Match to Lesnar. He then began feuding with The Undertaker, after Big Show threw him off the stage, injuring his neck, leading to Big Show and his partner A-Train losing to The Undertaker at WrestleMania XIX. He renewed his feud with Lesnar, wrestling him four times for the WWE title including a Stretcher match at Judgment Day but was unsuccessful in his attempt to regain the title. On Smackdown Lesnar superplexed Big Show off the ropes and the ring imploded, two ring posts moved and three rows of ropes came down. The referee called for EMTs, medics,Trainers, and even more referees. This kept the title in Lesnar's hands and both went to the hospital. On the June 26, 2003 episode of SmackDown! Big Show, Shelton Benjamin, and Charlie Haas defeated Mr. America a disguised Hulk Hogan, Brock Lesnar, and Kurt Angle in a six-man tag team match when Show pinned Mr. America. This was Hulk Hogan's last appearance as Mr. America. For several months afterwards, WWE hyped up Big Show as the man who retired Hogan. At No Mercy, Big Show defeated Eddie Guerrero for the WWE United States Championship and then formed an alliance with the then WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. He was eliminated by Chris Benoit at the Royal rumble in 2004
Big Show abandoned a departing Lesnar immediately before WrestleMania XX. At the pay-per-view, Big Show lost the United States Championship to John Cena. On the April 15, 2004 episode of SmackDown!, Big Show promised to quit if he failed to defeat Eddie Guerrero that night. He lost to Guerrero after Guerrero performed a Frog Splash, and, believing that Torrie Wilson had laughed at him for losing, upended her car and threatened to throw her off a ledge. Then General Manager of SmackDown!, Kurt Angle ascended the ledge to try to talk some reason into Big Show, but he chokeslammed Angle off the ledge, kayfabe concussing him and breaking his leg, as well as causing the back of Angle's head to bleed. After the show, Big Show was neither seen nor heard from on WWE television for months.
In mid-2004, Big Show was reinstated by new General Manager Theodore Long, as he interfered during a Lumberjack match between Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle. Big Show had a choice to face either Guerrero or Angle at No Mercy, choosing to fight Angle, turning him face. Big Show defeated Angle at the event. In the weeks before the match, He claimed to have lost his dignity" when Angle tranquilized him in the middle of the ring using a dart gun and shaved his head. At No Way Out he fought JBL for the WWE Championship in the first ever Barbed Wire Cage match. He choke slammed JBL through the ring and busted the lock on the door. But JBL had crawled from under the canvas and won. Show beat down JBL and The Cabinet interfered and beat Show down, Dave Batista interfered and beat down The Cabinet, and John Cena beat on JBL as he crawled away.
On April 3. 2005 at WrestleMania 21 Big Show faced Sumo Grand Champion Akebono in a worked sumo match the match was added to the show to attract a strong pay-per-view audience in Japan, where Akebono is considered a sporting legend. In the weeks preceding the match, Big Show pushed over a jeep driven to the ring by Luther Reigns to show that he was capable of moving the marginally heavier Akebono. Big Show lost to Akebono at WrestleMania 21. Big Show subsequently feuded with Carlito Caribbean Cool and his bodyguard, Matt Morgan.
On June 27, Big Show was drafted back to Raw in the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery; preventing him from participating in a scheduled Six-Man Elimination match for the SmackDown! Championship. He successfully pinned Gene Snitsky in a Tag Team match, which turned into a singles match when both men's partners brawled backstage. After squashing his scheduled opponents for several weeks, Wight returned to his rivalry with Snitsky. On August 22, he foiled Snitsky's harassment of backstage interviewer Maria. On August 29, Snitsky hit Big Show with the ring bell immediately after Big Show had won a match. As a result, Big Show and Snitsky were placed in a match at Unforgiven, in which Big Show defeated Snitsky. On September 26, Big Show defeated Snitsky again in a Street Fight.
On October 17, Big Show defeated Edge and was thus entered in an online opinion poll, with the winner of the poll facing John Cena and Kurt Angle in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship at Taboo Tuesday 2005. The poll was won by Shawn Michaels, meaning that the other two options would wrestle for the World Tag Team Championships. Big Show teamed with Kane to defeat Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch for the Tag Team Championships.
In the weeks preceding Survivor Series 2005, Big Show became involved in the rivalry between the Raw and SmackDown! brands. Big Show and Kane invaded the November 11 episode of SmackDown! and, along with Edge, attacked Batista inadvertently injuring him in the process. On the November 14 episode of Raw, Big Show and Kane defeated SmackDown! wrestlers and reigning WWE Tag Team Champions MNM in an inter-brand, non-title match. On November 21, Big Show and Kane "injured" Batista by delivering a double chokeslam onto the windshield of a car. At Survivor Series, Show, Kane, Carlito, Chris Masters, and team captain Shawn Michaels represented Raw in a match with Team SmackDown!: JBL, Rey Mysterio, Bobby Lashley, Randy Orton, and Batista. Team SmackDown! won the match, with Orton being the sole survivor. On the November 29 episode of SmackDown!, Big Show wrestled Rey Mysterio in an inter-brand promotional match, however, Kane interfered, resulting in the match being declared a no-contest. Following the match, Big Show and Kane attacked Mysterio until The Undertaker chased them from the ring. Big Show and Kane returned to SmackDown! on December 2, defeating Mysterio and JBL after JBL abandoned the match, claiming the referee had poked him in the eye.Following the match, Big Show and Kane's attempt to assault Mysterio was once again foiled, this time when Batista ran in to see them off. As a result, on the December 16 episode of SmackDown!, Big Show and Kane were booked to face Batista and Mysterio, the Smackdown Tag Team Champions, at Armageddon 2005 They won the match, which pitted the Tag Team Champions from each brand against one another.
On the December 12 episode of Raw, Big Show took part in a qualifying match for a shot at the WWE Championship in an Elimination Chamber match at New Year's Revolution 2006. Big Show lost to his opponent, Shawn Michaels, by disqualification after Triple H hit Michaels with a steel chair, intentionally costing Big Show the match and the title shot. In retaliation, Wight cost Triple H his qualifying match with Kane later that evening. On the December 26 episode of Raw, during the contract-signing for the announced match between Big Show and Triple H at New Year's Revolution, Triple H struck Big Show in the hand that Big Show apparently favors when using the chokeslam with his sledgehammer. The following week, Big Show attacked Triple H while wearing a cast on his hand, using the padding provided by the cast to punch a hole in a chair held by Triple H, destroying a monitor from the announcers' table that Triple H intended to throw at him, and chasing Triple H away from the ring. At New Year's Revolution, Triple H defeated Wight after striking him in the head with his sledgehammer.
Subsequently, Big Show was one of eight participants in the 2006 Road to WrestleMania Tournament, the winner of which would receive a shot at the WWE Championship. On the February 13 episode of Raw, Big Show faced Triple H in the tournament semi-finals in a match that ended in a double count-out. As a result, Big Show and Triple H faced Rob Van Dam the winner of the opposing semi-finals in a Triple Threat match to determine the winner of the tournament on the February 20 episode of Raw. The match was won by Triple H after he pinned RVD.
In the weeks following the tournament, Big Show and Kane feuded with Chris Masters and Carlito, leading to a World Tag Team Championships title match being scheduled for WrestleMania 22. Wight and Kane defeated Carlito and Masters, marking Big Show's first victory at WrestleMania after suffering six defeats. On the following evening, Big Show and Kane lost the World Tag Team Championships to Spirit Squad members Kenny and Mikey following copious interference from the other members of the Spirit Squad.They faced Spirit Squad members Johnny and Nicky in a rematch one week later, but lost via disqualification after Kane "snapped" and left the ring to attack the other members of the Spirit Squad. The ensuing feud between Kane and Big Show culminated in a match at Backlash 2006 that ended in a ruling of no-contest.
At WWE vs. ECW Head to Head on June 7, Big Show was drafted to the newly debuted ECW brand; he removed his Raw shirt to reveal an ECW shirt during a twenty man battle royal including members of the Raw and SmackDown rosters against members of the ECW roster. Big Show won the match for ECW by eliminating Randy Orton. Big Show then appeared at One Night Stand, attacking Tajiri, Super Crazy, and the Full Blooded Italians after their tag team match turning him heel again.
On the July 4 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Big Show beat Van Dam to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship on an ECW show in Philadelphia with the assistance of ECW's General Manager Paul Heyman, who declined to make the three-count for Van Dam after Van Dam hit his finisher Five Star Frog Splash on the Big Show.Heyman then instructed Big Show to chokeslam Van Dam onto a steel chair, before making the three-count. The fans almost rioted when Big Show became the ECW World Champion, throwing drinks and empty cups into the ring, as Heyman and Big Show celebrated. The victory made him the first ever professional wrestler to hold the WWE Championship, WCW World Heavyweight Championship, and ECW World Heavyweight Championship. He is also the first non ECW Original to hold the ECW title. Over the next several weeks, Wight defeated many other wrestlers from other brands, such as Ric Flair and Kane to retain his championship but lost to Batista and The Undertaker by disqualification. He lost to the Undertaker, however, at The Great American Bash in the first ever Punjabi Prison match; he was a substitute for The Great Khali, who was removed by SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long and replaced with Big Show as punishment for an attack on The Undertaker shortly before the match. He also had a brief feud with Sabu, whom he defeated at SummerSlam.
At Cyber Sunday he faced John Cena and King Booker in a Champion of Champions match. The fans voted for King Booker's World Heavyweight Championship to be on the line. Booker won the match following interference from Kevin Federline, who was just beginning a feud with Cena at the time. At Survivor Series, Cena wrestled Big Show in a traditional 10-Man Survivor Series Tag Team Match, with Cena and Bobby Lashley leaving as the sole survivors of the match after Cena pinned Big Show to claim the victory due to a double team with Lashley. Big Show then began a feud with Lashley, who left SmackDown! to join the ECW brand to participate in the Extreme Elimination Chamber match at December to Dismember for the ECW Championship After busting Big Show open by breaking one of the plexiglass pods with his face, Lashley speared and pinned him to claim the ECW Championship. On December 6, 2006 following an unsuccessful rematch, WWE.com announced that Big Show was taking time off from the ring to heal injuries he had sustained on ECW. After December to Dismember, Big Show told the WWE and he said "I'm a raw boned bastard that breaks things and moves the immovable objects. When I'm injured, I can't do those things," the Big Show told the official WWE website. "I'm much more valuable healthy both mentally and physically, and this hiatus will help me to get there." WWE announced that Wight's WWE contract had expired on February 8, 2007, his 35th birthday.
After a two-month departure from WWE, Wight replaced Jerry Lawler when the WWE withdrew him from a match with former nWo partner Hulk Hogan at the PMG Clash of Legends on April 27, 2007. Wight was introduced as Paul "The Great" Wight. He stated that "Big Show" was his slave name and that he didn't want to be owned anymore. Hogan won the match after he picked him up and bodyslammed Wight and pinned him following the leg drop
A noticeably slimmer Wight returned to WWE under his last used ring name The Big Show, at No Way Out on February 17, seemingly as a face , stating that he had lost 108 pounds, when he took time off from injuries. Wight then turned heel again by attempting to attack Rey Mysterio after his World Heavyweight Championship match with then champion Edge but got into a physical confrontation with boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr. after Mayweather came from the crowd to defend his friend Rey. The confrontation ended with Mayweather breaking Wight's nose with a punching combination.Big Show was then assigned to the SmackDown brand.
Big Show lost to Mayweather at WrestleMania XXIV via knockout after a shot to the jaw with brass knuckles. On March 31, Big Show turned face by having a feud with The Great Khali, concluding at Backlash, where Big Show defeated Khali pinning him after executing a chokeslam.
At One Night Stand, Show defeated CM Punk, John Morrison, Chavo Guerrero, and Tommy Dreamer in a Singapore Cane match. During the bout, he received a black eye and deep gash along the eyebrow, which required stitches after John Morrison swung a Singapore cane to his knee, which caused Show to fall with the steps. As he fell, the steps accidentally moved to the right, which hit Show in the eye. The win gave him contentionto face Kane and Mark Henry at Night of Champions for the ECW Championship, which Henry won by pinfall.
Big Show sided with Vickie Guerrero in her ongoing feud with The Undertaker by attacking him at Unforgiven, and later interfering in many of Undertaker's matches on SmackDown, most notably against Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Chavo Guerrero, and The Great Khali. He went on to defeat Undertaker by knockout at No Mercy. However, Show lost to him in a fan voted Last Man Standing match at Cyber Sunday and a Casket Match at Survivor Series. Show then lost a Steel Cage match against The Undertaker on SmackDown, ending the feud. At No Way Out, Show wrestled in the Elimination Chamber for the WWE Championship, but lost after being the third person eliminated by Triple H. In March, it was revealed by John Cena that the Big Show was having secret relations with Vickie Guerrero. At WrestleMania XXV, Show was involved in a Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship featuring champion Edge and John Cena. Once again, he was unsuccessful as Cena won.
Unified WWE Tag Team Champion 2009–2010
See also: Jeri-Show and ShoMiz
On April 13, Big Show was drafted to the Raw brand as a part of the 2009 WWE Draft. At Backlash, Big Show interfered in a Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship between Cena and Edge when he threw Cena into a spotlight, thus resulting in Edge winning the title and Cena being seriously injured. He continued to feud with John Cena, losing to him at Judgment Day by pinfall and at Extreme Rules by submission by Cena's submission known as the STF, before defeating Cena on the June 22 episode of Raw to end the feud.
In the weeks prior to Night of Champions, Big Show constantly attacked U.S. Champion Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne among others. He then feuded with Kingston over the U.S. Title and earned himself a spot in the six-pack challenge at Night of Champions. At the event, Big Show was announced as Chris Jericho's new tag team partner due to Edge needing time off to tend to an injury, thus taking Show out of the six-pack challenge for the U.S. Title. Together, Jeri-Show were able to successfully defend the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship against The Legacy. Jeri-Show successfully defended the title against Cryme Tyme at SummerSlam, MVP and Mark Henry at Breaking Point and Rey Mysterio and Batista at Hell in a Cell. At Bragging Rights, Big Show represented Team Raw, but he betrayed and attacked his team-mates, which led to Team SmackDown winning, so that he could receive an opportunity at the World Heavyweight Championship. Big Show received his title shot at Survivor Series in a triple threat match against The Undertaker and Jericho, but the Undertaker successfully retained his title.
The 140 day reign of Jeri-Show as Unified Tag Team Champions came to an end at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view at the hands of D-Generation X DX As a member of the SmackDown roster, Jericho could only appear on Raw as a champion and so DX intentionally disqualified themselves in a rematch to force Jericho off the show. Eventually the teams had a match with a definitive finish, though DX still won, signalling the end of Jeri-Show.
On the February 8 episode of Raw, Show regained the title from DX with his new tag team partner The Miz in a Triple Threat Tag Team Elimination match, which also included the Straight Edge Society CM Punk and Luke Gallows. On February 16, he and Miz successfully defended the title against Yoshi Tatsu and Goldust on the final episode of ECW. On the March 1 episode of Raw, Show and Miz defeated DX in their rematch. At WrestleMania XXVI, Show and Miz defeated John Morrison and R-Truth to retain the title again. At Extreme Rules ShoMiz was in a tag team gauntlet match where the team that beat them would get a title match the next night on Raw. ShoMiz beat the first two teams in the gauntlet match, John Morrison and R-Truth, then MVP and Mark Henry. They then lost to The Hart Dynasty, who earned the title shot. On the April 26, 2010 episode of Raw, Show and Miz lost the Unified Tag Team Titles to The Hart Dynasty.
Various feuds and reunion with Kane 2010–2011
See also: Big Show and Kane
After the title loss, he hit The Miz with a knockout punch and hugged Teddy Long, thus Show turned face for the first time since 2008. Later on in the night as part of the 2010 WWE Draft, Big Show was drafted back to the SmackDown brand.
He returned to the brand on the April 30 episode of SmackDown, and was subsequently named the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, later on in the night he interrupted World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger as he was giving his "State of Championship Address" and knocked him out with his signature punch. On the May 7 episode of SmackDown, Big Show sat ringside during the Swagger/Kane main event. After Swagger was disqualified, Show chokeslammed him through the announce table. He also crashed Swagger's achievement celebration and cost him his match with Kofi Kingston in the next weeks. Big Show defeated Jack Swagger via disqualification at Over The Limit. On the May 27 episode of Smackdown, General Manager Thedore Long announced that qualifying matches were going to take place that night for the World Heavyweight Championship match at WWE Fatal 4-Way. Long then announced due to Jack Swagger losing his match with Big Show via disqualification at Over the Limit, Big Show qualified automatically, but was unsuccessful in this attempt. At WWE Fatal 4-Way he faced Rey Mysterio, CM Punk and Swagger for the World Heavyweight Title, but Mysterio won the title. The following night, Swagger debuted his new finishing move The Ankle Lock applied the submission move on Big Show, thus injuring his ankle and continuing their feud. Two weeks later on Smackdown, Big Show saved Rey Mysterio, whose ankle was injured by the same move, from Swagger. Later that night, Big Show fought Swagger to a double count-out. Soon he began a feud with CM Punk and his Straight Edge Society, confronting him the Friday night before the Money in the Bank event, and unmasking him to reveal his bald head. After failing to win the ladder match for the Money in the Bank contract, he fought the mysterious masked member of the SES, also unmasking him as Joey Mercury. Show's feud with the Straight Edge Society continued after he defeated them in a 3 on 1 Handicap match at SummerSlam and CM Punk at Night of Champions.Big Show was announced as Team SmackDown's captain for Bragging Rights on the October 8 episode of SmackDown. At the event, Big Show was counted out with Sheamus during the match but his team ultimately won with Edge and Rey Mysterio left on the team. He was on Rey Mysterio's team for Survivor Series where he was a survivor along with Mysterio. The following episode of SmackDown, he was unsuccessful in qualifying for King of the Ring as he was defeated by Alberto Del Rio by count-out thanks to interference by his personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez.
At the SmackDown tapings on January 4, Big Show participated in a Fatal 4-Way match to determine the 1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. He lost due to interference by former Nexus leader Wade Barrett. The next week, Show faced Barrett, and won via DQ, when former Nexus members Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel attacked him. Moments later Ezekiel Jackson appeared to help him, but instead attacked Big Show. The next week, Barrett, Slater, Gabriel and Jackson informed that they had formed the Corre. In the following weeks, the Corre continued to assault Show, due to the size and power of Ezekiel Jackson. At Elimination Chamber, Show participated in the Elimination Chamber match, eliminating Wade Barrett before eliminated by Kane. Big Show feuded with The Corre in the following weeks.
On the March 4 episode of SmackDown, Big Show faced Kane in a confrontation until the Corre interfered on Kane's behalf. However, a miscommunication led to Kane turning on the Corre. Big Show and Kane thus reunited to take on the Corre. At WrestleMania XXVII, Big Show and Kane teamed with Santino Marella and Kofi Kingston to beat The Corre. On the April 22 episode of SmackDown, the duo defeated Corre members Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater to win the WWE Tag Team Championship, their second championship win as a team. Big Show was drafted to Raw as a part of the 2011 WWE Draft. He and Kane then started feuding with the New Nexus. After defending the titles against Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson at Extreme Rules and CM Punk and Mason Ryan at Over the Limit, Kane and Big Show lost their titles to Michael McGilligutty and David Otunga on the following day on Raw. After losing the titles, Show was run over by Alberto Del Rio's car, driven by his ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez, and was sidelined with an injury for almost a month. He returned during a match between Kane and Del Rio, attacking both Del Rio and Rodriguez.
Show then began feuding with Mark Henry after he attacked and injured him on the June 17 episode of SmackDown, as Big Show's frustrations and anger towards Del Rio was redirected unintentionally to Mark Henry. Henry retaliated by attacking Big Show during his match at Capitol Punishment and hitting him with the World Strongest Slam through the announce table, thus costing Show his match against Del Rio. Henry did same thing on Kane through the announce table the next day on Raw after their arm wrestling match, and again on the June 27 episode. Henry then broke the cage door during the steel cage between Big Show and Alberto Del Rio, allowing Del Rio to escape. He then attacked Show with the cage door, breaking the cage viciously. On July 17, 2011 at Money in the Bank, Henry defeated Big Show. After the match, Henry fractured Show's fibula, keeping him out of action for almost three months.
On the October 7 episode of SmackDown, Show returned to the SmackDown brand to become number-one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship after he attacked Mark Henry and chokeslammed him through the announcer table. At Vengeance Big Show fought Henry to a no contest after the ring collapsed following a superplex from Henry, similar to his match with Brock Lesnar in 2003. This time less damage was done, and the damage mainly occurred around the lower right hand ring post. Show ended up being taken out on a motorized cart with a flatbed. Show faced Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship once again at Survivor Series winning via disqualification when Henry hit Show with a low blow, afterwards he leg dropped a steel chair on Henry's leg, much like what Henry did to Show months before.
On December 18 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Big Show finally defeated Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship in a Chairs Match. Afterwards, Henry knocked Big Show out with a DDT onto a steel chair and Daniel Bryan immediately cashed his Money in the Bank contract on Big Show to win the title. This gave Show the shortest-ever World Heavyweight Championship reign, 45 seconds. Show challenged Bryan for his world title on the January 6, 2012 episode of SmackDown, but Bryan retained his title by disqualification when he goaded Mark Henry into attacking him. The following week on SmackDown, Show received a rematch for the title contested under no disqualification, no count-out rules. Bryan again retained his title as the rematch ended in a no contest after Show accidentally crashed into AJ Bryan's storyline girlfriend at ringside, injuring her. At the 2012 Royal Rumble event, Show faced Bryan and Henry in a triple threat steel cage match for the world title, but Bryan escaped the steel cage to retain his title. At the Elimination Chamber event, Show failed again to capture the World Heavyweight Championship after he was eliminated second by Cody Rhodes.
In the following weeks, Show began a feud with Rhodes after Rhodes highlighted Show's embarrassing moments in previous WrestleManias, often costing Show to lose matches in the process. At WrestleMania XXVIII, Big Show defeated Rhodes to win the Intercontinental Championship. With this, Big Show became the twenty-fourth wrestler to win the Triple Crown Championship and the fourteenth Grand Slam Champion in the WWE. Show then began highlighting embarrassing moments in Rhodes' career. After a four-week reign, Show lost the title back to Rhodes at Extreme Rules in a Tables match.Show received his rematch on the May 7 episode of Raw SuperShow, where he defeated Rhodes via countout after he walked out on the match.
After a series of confrontations with General Manager John Laurinaitis, he was fired by Laurinaitis for making fun of his voice on the May 14 episode of Raw.Big Show returned on May 20 at Over the Limit, seemingly to help John Cena in his match against John Laurinaitis; instead, he knocked Cena out with a WMD and allowed Laurinaitis to win the match by pinfall, thereby turning heel again in the process. The following night on Raw, Big Show explained that his actions were of necessity to keep his job in the WWE, therefore resulting in Laurinaitis re-signing him to an "ironclad contract with a big fat bonus", also stating that nobody showed him any sympathy when he got fired.Over the next few weeks, he attacked Cena, Brodus Clay, Alex Riley, R-Truth, Santino Marella, Zack Ryder, and Kofi Kingston because of the terms of his contract. On the June 21 episode of Raw, he accidentally knocked out Vince McMahon after McMahon announced Laurinatis would be fired if Show lost to Cena at No Way Out in a steel cage. Show went on to lose that match and as per stipulation, Laurinaitis was fired. At Money in the Bank, Show faced Cena, Kane, Chris Jericho, and The Miz in WWE Championship Money in the Bank ladder match, but was unsuccessful as the match was won by Cena. On July 23 at Raw 1000, Big Show attacked Cena during his WWE Championship match against CM Punk causing a disqualification.He continued the attack on Cena until The Rock made the save. The following week on Raw, a WWE Championship number one contenders match between Show and Cena ended in a no contest due to interference from Punk. Following this, both Show and Cena were entered in the championship match at SummerSlam by Raw General Manager AJ Lee At the event, however, Show would be unsuccessful in winning the championship as Punk would go on to retain the title.
Show returned on the September 24 episode of Raw, attacking Brodus Clay and Tensai during their match. Four days later on SmackDown, Big Show defeated Randy Orton to become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship.Show received his title opportunity on October 28 at Hell in a Cell, where he defeated Sheamus to win the World Heavyweight Championship for the second time. On November 18, at Survivor Series, Show lost a title rematch to Sheamus via disqualification, retaining the World Heavyweight Championship as a result. Afterwards, Sheamus attacked Show and repeatedly hit him with a steel chair. This led to a Chairs match on December 16 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, where Big Show defeated Sheamus to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. On the December 24 episode of Raw, Show was defeated by Sheamus in a non-title lumberjack match. On the December 28 episode of SmackDown, Show defended his title against Alberto Del Rio, however, the match ended in a no contest after Sheamus interfered and attacked Show. Three days later on Raw, Show defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Del Rio's ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez and defeated him via disqualification after Del Rio attacked Show from behind. On January 8, 2013, at the tapings of the January 11 episode of SmackDown, Show lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Del Rio in a Last Man Standing match, ending his reign at 72 days. Show received his rematch for the title in another Last Man Standing match on January 27 at the Royal Rumble, but was again defeated by Del Rio when Rodriguez used duct tape to stop Show from getting up. After Show repeatedly attacked Del Rio and Rodriguez, Del Rio defeated Show via submission on February 17 at Elimination Chamber, to again retain his title.
WWE Championship pursuit and feud with the Authority 2013–2014
On the March 1 episode of SmackDown, Big Show became a tweener by knocking out Roman Reigns of The Shield with the KO Punch after Reigns was shoved into him during an attack on Randy Orton and Sheamus. After the March 4 episode of Raw went off-air, Show was attacked by the Shield. Four days later on SmackDown, Show again assisted Sheamus and Orton in warding off The Shield, though he hit Sheamus with a KO Punch and was hit with an RKO by Orton in return. On the March 11 episode of Raw, Show defeated Shield member Seth Rollins via disqualification after the rest of The Shield interfered. Orton and Sheamus were then allowed to pick a third partner to face the Shield in a six-man tag team match at WrestleMania 29 and originally chose Ryback. However, on the March 18 episode of Raw, Ryback was booked in another match at the event, leaving the spot open. Later that night, Big Show saved the two from an attack by The Shield and was immediately recruited as their partner. On April 7 at WrestleMania 29, Show, Orton and Sheamus were defeated by The Shield, after which, Show reverted to a heel by knocking out both of his teammates. The following night on Raw, Orton and Sheamus faced off in a match to earn a match with Big Show, however, the match ended in a no contest after Show interfered. Show was then defeated by Orton and Sheamus in two handicap matches, first on the April 12 episode of SmackDown via count-out, and second on the April 15 episode of Raw via pinfall. On the April 19 episode of SmackDown, Show teamed up with old rival Mark Henry to defeat Orton and Sheamus in a tag team match, with Show pinning Orton for the win. The feud between Big Show and Orton led to an Extreme Rules Match on May 19 at Extreme Rules, which Show lost.
Big Show returned to WWE as a face on August 11 at a house show in Oakland, California. Show made his televised return on the following night's Raw, helping Mark Henry and Rob Van Dam fend off an attack by The Shield. Four days later on SmackDown, Show, Henry, and Van Dam defeated the Shield in a six-man tag team match. On the following episode of Raw, as result of speaking out against COO Triple H, Show was placed into a three-on-one handicap tornado tag team match against The Shield, which Show lost. Additional punishment followed with Show being forced to sit ringside and watch his friends being attacked by the Shield and Randy Orton at the risk of being fired. Following this, The Authority Triple H and Stephanie McMahon claimed Show was broke, and in order to save his job, forced him to knock out his friends including Daniel Bryan, Dusty Rhodes, and The Miz. When Show attempted to revolt on the September 30 episode of Raw, he was almost arrested for threatening to knock out Triple H but Stephanie McMahon would come to his aid and insult him afterwards. At WWE Battleground Big Show interfered in the WWE title match between Bryan and Orton and knocked out both of them sending a message to Triple H and the Shield as well. The following night on Monday Night Raw, he was slapped by Stephanie McMahon after Big Show said Stephanie and Hunter had told him to knock out Daniel Bryan and then fired him in kayfabe. He returned later in the night after the main event and attacked the Shield and then proceeded to knock out Triple H. A week later on Raw, Big Show would interfere in a no disqualification match between Goldust and Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins for the WWE Tag Team Titles, knocking out Reigns, Rollins, and Dean Ambrose, costing The Shield the titles and making up for his knocking out of Dusty Rhodes.
On the edition of October 21 of Raw the following Monday, he appeared via-satellite and aired his grievances against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon even mentioning a lawsuit against The Authority before he was shut-off mid-sentence by Stephanie herself. He later appeared in the broadcast driving a semi-truck during the contract signing between Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton. On the October 21 episode of Raw, Big Show announced he was kayfabe suing WWE for breach of contract and slandering. Show would then get barred from both Hell in a Cell and the following episode of Raw, although this would still not stop Show appearing on Raw. After being attacked by The Shield, he was saved by Cody Rhodes, Goldust and The Usos, he then interrupted Randy Orton's WWE Championship celebration and gave Orton a KO Punch. Unfortunately, however, when Michael Cole conducted an interview with Triple H uploaded onto WWE's official website on October 30, 2013, Triple H announced that Show is banned from WWE for life in kayfabe. On the November 4 Raw, The Authority was forced by the Board of Directors to give Big Show whatever he wants in return for not suing the company. Big Show wanted his job back and a WWE Championship match at Survivor Series, which he received. He was then forced to compete in a handicap match against The Shield and Randy Orton. Big Show won the match by disqualification after Kane, who had recently pledged allegiance to The Authority, distracted him. The Shield proceeded to Triple Powerbomb him through the announcer's table.
At TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs Mysterio teamed with Big Show to unsuccessfully challenge Cody Rhodes and Goldust for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a four-way match, also involving RybAxel, and The Real Americans.
Teaming and feuding with Mark Henry 2014–present
On the edition of December 30 of Raw, Brock Lesnar returned with his agent Paul Heyman to announce his intentions to challenge the winner of the match between Orton and Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Lesnar then called out any wrestler who wanted to stop him, which resulted in Mark Henry answering the challenge and the two brawling until Lesnar speared Henry through the ringside fan barricade. and hitting him with an F-5 on the arena floor. The following week on Old School Raw, Henry challenged him again only to have Lesnar dislocate his elbow with the Kimura Lock. Following this, Big Show came out and confronted Lesnar, which lead to a short physical confrontation between the two, with Show throwing Lesnar across the ring. On January 10, Big Show issued a challenge to Lesnar to fight during a Miz TV interview on SmackDown. Heyman accepted the challenge on behalf of Lesnar, and said it would take place at the Royal Rumble. Show lost at the event, and also was brutally assaulted with numerous steel chairs. Big Show participated in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX, being the last person eliminated by winner Cesaro. On July 26, 2014, Big Show made his return at a WWE house show, defeating Cesaro. He made his television return on the edition of August 8 of SmackDown, teaming with Mark Henry defeating RybAxel.
On the edition of September 5 of SmackDown Big Show and Mark Henry teamed up with John Cena, Chris Jericho and Roman Reigns in which they won a 10 man tag team match by disqualification against the Wyatt Family, Kane and Seth Rollins. He then began feuding with Rusev in which Big Show would win by DQ disqualification. On October 13 episode of Raw he faced Rusev and lost by DQ in which he and Mark Henry attacked him ending it with a WMD. At Hell in a Cell on October 26, Big Show was defeated by Rusev by TKO when he passed out to Rusev's submission hold The Accolade.
The following night on Raw, Big Show and Mark Henry faced the WWE Tag Team Champions Gold and Stardust for the title. Henry attacked Big Show, costing their team the match. During a television taping in October 2014, Big Show encouraged the live audience to send a get well message to the injured Daniel Bryan. The ensuing "Yes!" chants were used on the October 31 episode of SmackDown to seem like the crowd was chanting in support of Vince McMahon's announcement of a new WWE Network promotion. On November 10 Edition Of Raw, Big Show came out to save Dolph Ziggler when Mark Henry was going to perform the World Strongest Slam on the steps to Ziggler, but Big Show saved Ziggler, telling Henry he joined Team Cena at Survivor Series. On the November 10 episode of Raw, Big Show was given an opportunity to leave Team Cena and get in the WWE Hall of Fame 2015 by Stephanie McMahon he refused and was booked in a match against Sheamus with the winner getting a WWE World Heavyweight Title shot at a later date. During the match, Sheamus was attacked and given Worlds Strongest Slam through the announce table as Rusev attacked Big Show and put him in the Accolade causing Big Show to lose consciousness.
At Survivor Series, Big Show hit the KO Punch on Cena to allow Seth Rollins to pin Cena, turning heel. He then shook hands with Triple H, and left, intentionally getting himself counted out. However, Team Cena won the match when Dolph Ziggler pinned Seth Rollins, thanks to assistance by the debuting Sting. The next night on Raw, Big Show explained his actions, stating he has a family to care for and the Authority had created issues for him in the past, thus he had to make that tough decision. He was then confronted by Erick Rowan who referred to him as a bully, igniting a feud.Big Show has been featured in infomercials for Stacker 2 with NASCAR drivers Kenny Wallace, Scott Wimmer, and Elliott Sadler, crew chief Jeff Hammond, and 2002, 2005, and 2011 Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart. In addition, Wight made a cameo appearance on the "Thong Song" remix music by Sisqó and Foxy Brown. Wight was featured on the game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, winning $15,000 for his chosen charity, United Service Organizations He is the only contestant to appear on two versions of the game show in two different countries.
On March 31, 2012, Big Show won the first ever Slime Wrestling World Championship at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, defeating The Miz after throwing him into a tub of slime. Big Show also appeared in a Vine with Cameron Dallas, which generated over 12 million loops.
Wight appears as a playable wrestler in WCW vs. nWo: World Tour and WCWnWo Revenge. He has appeared in every WWE video game since WWF WrestleMania 2000 except for WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role, WWF No Mercy where his story line character was replaced with Steven Richards during the Right to Censor storyline, although his likeness can be used in both the former and the latter via cheat device, and SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 when he left WWE in 2007. He also appears in the game WWE Crush Hour as a starter. Most recently, Wight has appeared in WWE All Stars and WWE '12 and appears in WWE '13 as The Big Show and Paul Wight. He is also a playable character in WWE 2K14 with his modern and retro attires from WrestleMania 2000 and Wrestlemania XXV.
Personal life
Like André the Giant, Wight used to have acromegaly, a disease of the endocrine system. By the age of twelve, Wight was 6 ft 2 in 1.88 m tall, weighed 220 lb 100 kg, and had chest hair. In 1991, as a member of the Wichita State University basketball team at age nineteen, Wight was listed at 7 ft 1 in 2.16 He underwent successful surgery in the early 1990s on his pituitary gland, which halted the progress of this condition. His shoe size is 18, his ring size is 22, and his chest is 64 inches 160 cm in circumference. In 2005, Wight leased a bus and hired a bus driver because of the practical problems his size presents to air travel and car rental.
Wight played basketball and football in high school at Wyman King Academy in Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina. He was a standout center for the basketball team and a tight end for the football team. He quit football after his freshman year, because of disputes with the coach. He continued to support the team by joining the cheerleading squad as a sophomore, partly from spite. He later called it "the greatest experience of my life...everybody else was riding a bus with sweaty equipment and I'm in a van with seven cheerleaders who are all learning about life." The van a Ford Econoline was driven by "a mom who was deaf in her right ear and chain-smoked".
While at Wichita State University, Wight played basketball. Prior to attending Wichita State University, Wight attended Northern Oklahoma Junior College in Tonkawa, OK, competing on the basketball team. At Northern Oklahoma, his averages of 14 points and 6.5 rebounds earned him all-conference honors and helped the team win the Western Division of the Oklahoma Bi-State Conference. Wight also attended Southern Illinois University Edwardsville from 1992 to 1993, was a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association NCAA Division II Cougars basketball team, and is a member of the Xi Beta Chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. During his one year at SIUE, Wight scored a total of thirty-nine points for the Cougars in limited action.
Wight married his first wife, Melissa Ann Piavis, on February 14, 1997. They separated in 2000 and their divorce was finalized on February 6, 2002. Together, they have a daughter named Cierra.On February 11, 2002,he married his second wife, Bess Katramados. Together they have two children.
In December 1998, Wight was arrested and detained for allegedly exposing himself to a hotel clerk in Memphis, Tennessee. Wight denied the incident, and was later released due to a lack of evidence.
In March 1999, Wight was charged with assault by Robert Sawyer, who alleged that Wight had broken his jaw during the summer of 1998 in the course of an altercation at Marriott Hotels & Resorts in Uniondale, New York. Wight claimed that Sawyer had verbally abused, threatened, and shoved him, and that he had responded by punching Sawyer. After three days, Judge Thomas Feinman delivered a verdict of not guilty.
Michael Greg Mike Mizanin born October 8, 198 is an American professional wrestler, reality television star, and actor. He is signed to WWE, where he performs under the ring name The Miz and currently holds the WWE Tag Team Championship with Damien Mizdow.
Mizanin first gained fame as a cast member on MTV's The Real World: Back to New York, which first aired in 2001, and its spinoff series, Real World/Road Rules Challenge. He later entered the fourth season of Tough Enough, a televised competition which awarded the winner a WWE contract, and became the first runner-up. Mizanin has also made appearances on television shows including Battle of the Network Reality Stars, Fear Factor, Identity, Ghost Hunters, Dinner: Impossible, Psych and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?. Mizanin trained and wrestled with Ultimate Pro Wrestling and Deep South Wrestling, where he became the first Deep South Heavyweight Champion. Mizanin was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling OVW, working in tag team matches and winning the tag team title, the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, on one occasion.
Mizanin became host of the annual WWE Diva Search competition in 2006. Following his hosting duties, Mizanin made his wrestling debut in September 2006, as a villain who went undefeated for 3 months, but his winning streak ended when he was later defeated by the Boogeyman at Armageddon 2006. In 2007, Miz was drafted from SmackDown to the ECW brand, where he formed a partnership with John Morrison, in which the two were the only tag team on the ECW brand to ever hold a tag team title, and were the only one to hold both Smackdown's WWE Tag Team Championship and Raw's World Tag Team Championship. He was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2009 WWE Draft, and won the WWE United States Championship. In July 2010, he won the Raw Money in the Bank ladder match at the first WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view, earning a contract for a WWE Championship match, which he used in November to win the WWE Championship, which he held for six months. In 2011, The Miz was ranked number one on Pro Wrestling Illustrated's annual PWI 500 list. The Miz had main-evented several pay-per-view events in WWE, including WrestleMania XXVII.
In total, The Miz has won 13 championships in WWE, and is the 25th Triple Crown Champion in company history.Mizanin was born in Parma, Ohio. He was raised in Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended Normandy High School and was the captain of its basketball and cross country teams. He also participated in swimming, and was a member of the student government and the editor of his high school yearbook. He then attended Miami University, where he was a member of the Theta Chi Fraternity, and studied business at the Richard T. Farmer School of BusinessMizanin dropped out of college, where he was pursuing a degree in business in order to appear on the 10th season of MTV's reality television program The Real World in 2001. went on to appear in multiple seasons of its spin-off series, Real World/Road Rules Challenge, along with contestants from both Road Rules and The Real World, including Battle of the Seasons, The Gauntlet, The Inferno, Battle of the Sexes 2, and The Inferno 2. Except for Battle of the Sexes 2, Mizanin made it to the end of all the Challenges on which he competed and won both Battle of the Seasons and The Inferno 2.
After a seven-year-long absence from The Real World/Road Rules Challenge, Mizanin returned to the reality show on April 4, 2012, as the host of The Battle of the Exes season finale Reunion special. It marked the first time The Miz appeared on the series since becoming a main event WWE superstar.
It was during an episode of The Real World that Mizanin first displayed an alter ego known as The Miz. In contrast to Mizanin's usually placid demeanor, The Miz was angry, combative, and headstrong. Mizanin later realized that "The Miz" would make an excellent professional wrestling gimmick
In 2004, he appeared on the Bravo reality show Battle of the Network Reality Stars where his team finished second. Mizanin was also a contestant in the "Reality Stars" episode of Fear Factor. His partner was his former girlfriend and cast mate, Trishelle Cannatella, and the two won the competition. In April 2007, he appeared on the game show Identity, where he appeared as a stranger, and contestant John Kim correctly identified his identity as a professional wrestler by the odd way he added Miz- before most words. In 2008, Mizanin appeared on the Sci Fi reality series Ghost Hunters Live as a guest investigator. In 2009, Mizanin appeared on two episodes of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, which were both aired on September 29. He appeared on an episode of Destroy Build Destroy on March 3, 2010. On October 5, 2011, Miz starred in an episode of H8R. He also appeared as a guest star in a March 2012 episode of Psych. On March 31, Miz appeared in the first ever Slime Wrestling World Championship at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, losing to the Big Show which resulted in him being thrown into a tub of slime. In 2012 Miz appeared on Disney XD show Pair of Kings as a guest star. In 2013 Miz along with Francia Raisa were in a movie together called Christmas Bounty.Pursuing the goal of becoming a professional wrestler, Mizanin joined Ultimate Pro Wrestling UPW, where he trained in the Ultimate University. He made his in-ring debut in 2003 as The Miz. During his time with UPW, The Miz competed in UPW's Mat War's tournament, making it to the finals before losing to Tony Stradlin.In October 2004, Mizanin entered the fourth season of Tough Enough, a televised competition which awarded the winner a World Wrestling Entertainment contract and US$1,000,000. Despite coming last in an arm wrestling tournament on November 25, 2004, Mizanin outlasted six other wrestlers, and made it to the final round. At the pay-per-view event, Armageddon, Mizanin faced the other remaining entrant, Daniel Puder, in a three round "Dixie Dogfight boxing match. Neither man achieved a knockout, and the contest was awarded to Puder on the basis of crowd reaction. On the December 16, 2004, episode of SmackDown!, Puder was announced as the winner of Tough Enough by head trainer Al Snow.
Despite losing the Tough Enough contest, Mizanin had piqued the interest of WWE, and he was eventually offered a developmental contract. Mizanin was sent to Deep South Wrestling DSW to train under Bill DeMott, relocating to McDonough, Georgia in the process. In July 2005, he wrestled two dark matches for WWE, teaming with former Tough Enough champion Matt Cappotelli to face The Highlanders Robbie and Rory McAllister. On December 1, 2005, Mizanin defeated Mike Knox in the finals of a tournament to determine the inaugural Deep South Heavyweight Champion.He continued his partnership with Matt Cappotelli throughout the second half of 2005 in WWE dark matches and house shows until Cappotelli, nominally of Ohio Valley Wrestling OVW, was diagnosed with a brain tumor after an injury at a taping in December 2005.
On January 3, 2006, it was reported that Mizanin had been transferred to OVW. On the January 18, 2006, OVW TV show, Mizanin made his debut as "Miz", with a Miz TV segment, where he was shown talking backstage.On the January 28, 2006 episode of the OVW television show, The Miz wrestled his first singles match against Rene Dupree, but lost by countout.
At the February 8, 2006, TV taping, Miz and Chris Cage captured the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, defeating Chet the Jett and Seth Skyfire. In what was deemed a "disciplinary move", WWE released Cage over the weekend of March 18, 2006, making it necessary for Miz and Cage to drop the titles. On March 19, 2006, Deuce Shade defeated Miz in a singles contest to win the championship for his team The Untouchables Deuce Shade and Domino.
Main article: John Morrison and The Miz
On March 7, 2006, WWE's official website featured a video of The Miz" stating that he was headed to SmackDown! and throughout April, SmackDown! aired vignettes hyping his debut. When Mizanin actually attempted to make his debut on the April 21, 2006 episode of SmackDown!, however, he was, in storyline banned from entering the arena by "network executive" Palmer Cannon who told him that he had been "canceled" before having security escort him from the premises.The Miz debuted as SmackDown!'s "host" on June 2, 2006, announcing the planned card at the top of the show and attempting to hype up the crowd. Other "host" duties included backstage interviews and hosting a bikini contest. The hosting duties seemed sporadic at best, with some weeks having little to no involvement of Miz at all. Starting in July, Miz, along with Ashley Massaro, became host of the annual Diva Search competition on both Raw and SmackDown!.
After the end of the Diva Search competition, The Miz returned exclusively to SmackDown! and as a heel, starting his in-ring competition with win over Tatanka in September 2006 episode of SmackDown!. After this win he, along with commentator Michael Cole, began to note whenever possible that he was "undefeated", though he only wrestled five matches over the next two months, defeating such superstars as Matt Hardy, Funaki, and Scotty 2 Hotty. At the same time he began a feud with Diva Search winner Layla El, who spurned his advances on more than one occasion, leading to Miz helping Kristal defeat her in various competitions. Soon, however, Miz and Kristal found themselves being stalked by The Boogeyman. This began a feud in which the Boogeyman ended The Miz's winning streak at December's Armageddon event.
Following a brief absence from television, The Miz returned to SmackDown! to host an interview segment called Miz TV. After the unsuccessful segment, The Miz returned to in-ring competition with a more intense style and began to pick up wins once again. On the June 11, 2007 episode of Raw, Mizanin faced off against Snitsky in a match to determine a draft pick for SmackDown!. Snitsky easily defeated The Miz to give ECW the draft pick, but after constantly assaulting The Miz after the match, the referee reversed the decision and awarded the match to Miz, thus allowing SmackDown! a draft pick. SmackDown!'s pick was then revealed to be Chris Masters.
Miz was drafted from SmackDown! to ECW on June 17, 2007, as part of the 2007 Supplemental Draft. He was absent from the first few weeks of ECW, though he was the subject of backstage mentions between matches and had several short Miz TV Crashes ECW video segments. He made his debut on the July 10 episode of ECW in a match against Nunzio, which he won.
Following this match, Extreme Exposé began expressing admiration in him and gave him a lap-dance, starting a new gimmick for him of a self-proclaimed "chick magnet. Extreme Exposé then became managers for The Miz. He then began a feud with Balls Mahoney, after Kelly Kelly began to fall in love with Mahoney on screen. On the October 2 episode of ECW, it was revealed that Miz owned the contracts of Kelly Kelly, Layla, and Brooke Adams, and used this excuse to stop Kelly from going out with Mahoney. He was voted at Cyber Sunday to face CM Punk, for the ECW Championship but lost the match.
On the November 16 episode of SmackDown, he became one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions with John Morrison when they defeated Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter MVP in a title match, which gave The Miz his first title within the company.
In February 2008, Miz and Morrison were given a streaming segment on the WWE website named The Dirt Sheet in which they mocked other wrestlers and facets of pop culture, showing off their promo skills. Morrison and The Miz co-wrote each episode of The Dirt Sheet each week. As the duo continued to hold the titles, WWE downplayed the angle of Miz and Morrison disliking each other, and portrayed them as friends. The team had many successful title defenses over the next few months, before dropping the championship to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder at the Great American Bash in a Fatal Four-Way match which also featured Jesse and Festus and Finlay and Hornswoggle. Neither Miz nor Morrison were pinned, as Hawkins pinned Jesse to win the titles. Miz and Morrison soon followed a feud with Cryme Tyme Shad Gaspard and JTG as a battle of their webshows, "Word Up" and "The Dirt Sheet". They were voted into a match with, and defeated, Cryme Tyme at Cyber Sunday. On December 13, 2008, Miz and Morrison defeated Kofi Kingston and CM Punk to win the World Tag Team Championship during a WWE house show in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.The team then engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns Carlito and Prim. In a dark match at WrestleMania XXV, they lost the World Tag Team Championship to The Colóns in a Lumberjack match to unify the World Tag Team and the WWE Tag Team titles. On the April 13 episode of Raw, The Miz lost a match to Kofi Kingston due to Morrison's inadvertent interference, which gave Raw a draft pick in the 2009 WWE Draft. The pick was then revealed to be The Miz, and retaliated by subsequently attacking Morrison, ending their partnership and thus turning John Morrison face.
Main article: Miz challenged John Cena to a match on the April 27 episode of Raw, but as Cena was out due to injury, Mike "Miz" claimed an unofficial win via forfeit and continued to do this over the following weeks, until Cena defeated him in a singles match at The Bash. On the August 3 episode of Raw, The Miz lost a match to Cena, which meant that, in storyline, he was banned from the Staples Center, Raw and SummerSlam. The following week, on August 10, Miz competed under a mask as "The Calgary Kid", and won a Contract on Pole match against Eugene, earning a contract in storyline, and revealing himself by removing his mask afterwards. He then created the Skull Crushing Finale and used it on Eugene. After removing the mask to reveal himself, he cut a promo and debut his catchphrase "Because I'm The Miz and I'm Awesome."
On the August 17 edition of Raw, The Miz announced his intention to challenge for the WWE United States Championship, and also debuted new ring attire and defeated Evan Bourne. He challenged for the United States Championship at the Night of Champions, Breaking Point and Hell in a Cell pay-per-views, but was unsuccessful. On the October 5 episode of Raw, the night after Hell in a Cell, The Miz received a rematch for the championship, and defeated Kofi Kingston to win the United States Championship and his first singles championship in WWE The following pay-per-view event, Bragging Rights, was themed with interpromotional matches and now that The Miz was the second-tier champion on Raw he was booked against SmackDown's Intercontinental Champion, his erstwhile tag team partner John Morrison. In the buildup to their first match since splitting, the two hosted a one-off edition of The Dirt Sheet on the October 16 episode of SmackDown where the two compared themselves to '80s tag team The Rockers, debating over which is more comparable to the successful Shawn Michaels and which was the less successful Marty Jannetty.At Bragging Rights, Miz pinned Morrison to become the only member of the Raw roster to win an interpromotional match. The following month at Survivor Series, Miz captained a team of five wrestlers against Team Morrison in a five-on-five Survivor Series elimination match and once again bested his former partner surviving with Sheamus and Drew Mcintyre.In 2010, The Miz began a rivalry with MVP that began with a critically well-received verbal exchange between the two. The two met in an unadvertised match for the United States Championship at the Royal Rumble event with Miz retaining his title, but in the Royal Rumble match itself MVP eliminated both himself and The Miz. During the rivalry with MVP, Miz began showing signs of an allegiance with The Big Show and on the February 8 episode of Raw, the two defeated champions D-Generation X Triple H and Shawn Michaels and The Straight Edge Society CM Punk and Luke Gallows to become the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions, making Miz a triple champion U.S., World Tag Team, and WWE Tag Team Champion.
Miz appeared on the WWE NXT show as the storyline mentor of Daniel Bryan. At WrestleMania XXVI, Show and Miz defeated John Morrison and R-Truth to retain the title again. During the 2010 WWE Draft on the April 26 episode of Raw, ShoMiz lost the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship to The Hart Dynasty when Tyson Kidd made The Miz submit to the Sharpshooter. After the match, The Big Show knocked out The Miz, and was later drafted to the SmackDown brand, leaving The Miz on Raw.
On May 10, Kidd defeated The Miz in a match, which earned any member of The Hart Dynasty a match for the United States Championship, and The Miz, who was allowed to choose his opponent, elected to face Bret Hart. On the following episode of Raw on May 17, Hart defeated The Miz to win the United States Championship, despite Chris Jericho, William Regal, and Vladimir Kozlov attempting to interfere on The Miz's behalf.The Miz had a tumultuous relationship with Bryan, who was eliminated from NXT on May 11, although he returned the following week to attack The Miz.
The Miz returned as a Pro for the second season of NXT, to mentor Alex Riley, the only Pro to return. On the June 14 episode of Raw, The Miz defeated R-Truth, John Morrison, and Zack Ryder in a fatal four-way match to win the United States Championship for the second time, and successfully retained the championship against R-Truth at the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view.On July 18, at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, The Miz won a Money in the Bank ladder match to win a contract for a WWE Championship match that he could utilize at any time over the next year and became the first superstar to win Money in the Bank while being a champion and the second superstar after Rob Van Dam to hold a MITB contract and a title at the same time. Over the next few weeks, The Miz attempted to cash in his Money in the Bank contract on the WWE Champion Sheamus, but was continually interrupted by other wrestlers before the matches could occur, which meant that he retained the contract for future use. Daniel Bryan returned to WWE at SummerSlam, taking The Miz's place on Team WWE, causing The Miz to attack him.This began a rivalry between the two, with The Miz losing the United States Championship to Bryan at the Night of Champions event in September. The following month, Miz defeated John Cena to become the captain of Team Raw, but at the Bragging Rights pay-per-view Team Raw—The Miz with Alex Riley R-Truth, John Morrison, Santino Marella, Sheamus, CM Punk, and Ezekiel Jackson—were unsuccessful in defeating Team SmackDown.
On the November 22 episode of Raw, following a successful WWE Championship defense by Randy Orton against Wade Barrett, he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to become the new WWE Champion making him the first person from Tough Enough to win the WWE Championship. He successfully defended the championship against Jerry Lawler in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match on the following episode of Raw, due to help from Michael Cole and Riley, and again at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view in December by defeating Orton in a Tables match following interference from Alex Riley. The Miz defeated Morrison to retain the championship in a Falls Count Anywhere match on the first Raw of 2011. He defeated Orton again at the Royal Rumble, after interference from CM Punk, in January 2011 and Lawler the following month at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view to retain the championship.The night after Elimination Chamber, The Miz and John Cena were paired together by the Raw general manager to challenge The Corre Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater for the WWE Tag Team Championship. The Miz and Cena were successful in winning the titles, but lost them back to Corre immediately afterward in a rematch, after The Miz turned on Cena. This made their reign the shortest in the championship's history. The following week, The Miz lost Riley as his apprentice after Cena defeated Riley in a steel cage match with the stipulation that if Cena won, Riley was fired from his job, but The Miz hired Riley back, this time as his VP of Corporate Communications, in mid-March. On April 3 in the main event of WrestleMania XXVII, The Miz successfully defended the WWE Championship against Cena, following interference from The Rock. At the Extreme Rules pay-per-view on May 1, The Miz lost the WWE Championship to Cena, in a triple threat steel cage match, also involving John Morrison.The following night on Raw, The Miz failed to regain the championship from Cena in a singles match whn he lost by disqualification, and failed to regain the championship again in an "I Quit" match at Over the Limit .
The following niht on the May 23 episode of Raw, The Anonymous Raw general manager announcement that The Miz's request for another WWE Championship match was denied, and ended the feud with John Cena. The Miz blamed Riley for not being able to regain the WWE Championship because of Riley not being at ringside at Extreme Rules when Miz lost the championship. The following night on Raw, Riley raised the hand of Miz with the WWE Championship with leading to his disqualification and at the Over the Limit. Riley left his phone behind that he used to trick the referee into thinking that Cena said "I Quit". Riley attacked him, sending him crashing into a barricade at ringside and then head first over the announce table and which turned Riley a fan favorite for the first time in WWE. On the May 30 episode of Raw, The Miz assaulted Riley after an interview from Michael Cole, but Riley gained the upper hand and Miz escaped through the crowd. At Capitol Punishment, Riley defeated Miz in a singles-match. He went on to lose to Riley in various singles and tag team matches. It was later announced that Miz lost Raw's Money in the Bank ladder match at Money in the Bank after leaving with a knee injury kayfabe, then returning but being stopped from claiming the briefcase by Rey Mysterio. The next night on Raw, Miz made it to the final of the WWE Championship tournament, defeating his former NXT rookie, Alex Riley, in the first round. The next week on Raw, Miz lost to Rey Mysterio. At Summerslam,The Miz teamed with R-Truth and Alberto Del Rio to lose to Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston and John Morrison.On the August 22 episode of Raw, Miz and R-Truth attacked Santino Marella before his match. They then cut a promo agreeing there was a conspiracy in the WWE keeping both of them out of the main event picture, and declared they would, together, seize any future opportunity. They began referring to themselves as "The Awesome Truth. On the August 29 episode of Raw, Truth interfered in Miz's match and the duo attacked CM Punk. At Night of Champions, after the referee was distracted while The Miz attempted a pin, Miz assaulted him, causing Awesome Truth to lose a WWE Tag Team Championship match to Air Boom Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne by disqualification. Seeking retribution, Miz and Truth later attacked both Triple H and CM Punk during their No Disqualification match in the main event. Because of their actions from the previous night, R-Truth and The Miz were fired by Triple H on the September 19 episode of Raw. At the conclusion of the main event match at Hell in a Cell, R-Truth and The Miz jumped the barricade wearing black hooded sweatshirts and entered the cell as it was being raised. They then used weapons to attack Alberto Del Rio, CM Punk, John Cena, the Referee and camera men while the cell was again lowered. After this, the entire WWE roster led by Triple H came out to find a way into the cell, before New Orleans Police Department officers were able to get the door open and arrest them. The two later posted a video on YouTube apologizing to the WWE Universe for their actions. The Miz and R-Truth were reinstated by John Laurinaitis on the October 10 episode of Raw. At Vengeance, Miz and R-Truth defeated CM Punk and Triple H in a tag team match, after interference from Triple H's long time friend Kevin Nash. Later that night they assaulted John Cena during his WWE Championship match with Alberto Del Rio. On the October 24 episode of Raw, Awesome Truth attacked John Cena and Zack Ryder. On the November 7 episode of Raw, Miz and R-Truth defeated Cena and Ryder. At Survivor Series, The Awesome Truth were defeated by John Cena and The Rock. On the November 21 episode of Raw, Cena instigated an argument between R-Truth and Miz, which resulted in Miz hitting his finisher on Truth as they were heading up the steel ramp, signaling the end of their alliance. This was a pretext to explain R-Truth's absence during his suspension as a result of his violating of the Wellness Policy.On the November 28 episode of Raw, Miz defeated John Morrison in a Falls Count Anywhere match after he, once again, hit his finisher on their steel ramp. On the December 5, episode of Raw, Miz qualified for a Triple Threat Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match against Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk at the TLC pay-per-view for the WWE Championship after a win over Randy Orton via count out, but was unsuccessful. Throughout January and February 2012 Miz feuded with R-Truth, which included a WWE Championship match at Elimination Chamber, which was won by CM Punk.During this time Miz lost to R-Truth in a singles match with a stipulation that the loser would enter the Royal Rumble match first; in the Rumble match, Miz lasted longest, over 45 minutes, before he was eliminated by Big Show. Desperate for a spot on the card for the upcoming WrestleMania XXVIII event, Miz later joined John Laurinaitis' team for the 12-man tag team match after saving Laurinaitis from Santino Marella. Miz picked up the win for Team Johnny after pinning Zack Ryder with the help of Eve, which ended his 20 match losing streak dating back to 2011.At Over the Limit, Miz was the last man to be eliminated in a 20-man "People Power" battle royal to battle for either the WWE United States Championship or the WWE Intercontinental Championship, being eliminated by the winner Christian. Later on in the PPV, he was defeated by Brodus Clay in a singles match.
After a two-month absence, The Miz returned at Money in the Bank, as a last-minute participant in the WWE Championship Money in the Bank contract match, won by John Ce At Raw 1000, Miz defeated Christian to win his first Intercontinental Championship, becoming the 25th Triple Crown Champion in the process Miz successfully defended his championship against Christian four days later on SmackDown, against Rey Mysterio at SummerSlam,and in a Fatal Four Way match against Cody Rhodes, Rey Mysterio, and Sin Cara at Night of Champions, before losing the championship to Kofi Kingston on the premiere episode of WWE Main Event Miz failed to regain the title from Kingston in two rematches, at Hell in a Cell and on the November 6 SmackDown.
After his loss to Kofi Kingston, The Miz turned face for the first time in his career when he joined Mick Foley's team at Survivor Series after confronting Paul Heyman on the November 18 Raw. At Survivor Series, The Miz eliminated Wade Barrett before being eliminated by Alberto Del Rio.In the months to come, Miz's turn was not well received by critics, who commented that Miz as a babyface was too similar to his heel character because he was "still cocky, arrogant, and egotistical" while "pivoted toward calling out established heels". Other criticisms were that Miz was "juvenile", lacking of depth, "grating and not endearing to the audience" and that "there was not that moment when he officially turned and aligned his values with the audience's.
The Miz then began a feud with United States Champion Antonio Cesaro, after Cesaro insulted America. During the Raw 20th Anniversary special, Miz hosted Miz TV with guest Ric Flair. They were interrupted by Cesaro but Miz hit the Skull Crushing Finale on him and Ric Flair gave The Miz the honor of applying his submission move, the figure-four leglock, on Cesaro. Miz subsequently adopted the figure-four from Flair and used it as a new finisher. The Miz faced Cesaro for the United States Championship at the Royal Rumble pre-show, but was unsuccessful. Later that night, Miz entered the Royal Rumble at number twenty-eight but was eliminated by Ryback. Miz continued his rivalry with Cesaro, losing a shot at the United States Championship via disqualification after he accidentally hit Cesaro in the groin at Elimination Chamber. The following night on Raw, Miz defeated Cesaro in a non-title No Disqualification match via submission to earn another shot at the United States Championship. The title rematch took place the following week on SmackDown in a two-out-of-three falls match, where Miz once again failed to capture the title from Cesaro. On the March 11 episode of Raw, The Miz faced Chris Jericho in a number one contenders match for Wade Barrett's Intercontinental Championship, but the match was ruled a no contest after Barrett interfered and attacked both men As a result, both men were entered into the title match the following week on Raw, where Barrett retained his title after pinning Miz. The next week on Raw, Miz defeated Barrett in a non-title match via submission to earn another shot at the Intercontinental Championship. During the WrestleMania 29 pre-show, Miz defeated Barrett via submission to win his second Intercontinental Championship. He lost the title back to Barrett the following night on Raw. After over a month of inactivity, Miz returned on the May 13 Raw, defeating Heath Slater. At Payback, Miz again failed to recapture the title from Barrett in a Triple Threat match which was won by Curtis AxelMiz unsuccessfully challenged Axel for the Intercontinental Championship at Money in the Bank.
On August 18, The Miz was the host of SummerSlam, during which he had a run-in with Fandango, beginning a feud between the two. Miz went on to defeat Fandango both on the September 2 episode of Raw and on September 15 at Night of Champions. The following night on the September 16 episode of Raw in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, Miz was assaulted by Randy Orton in front of his parents, resulting in a storyline injury. When Miz returned in October, he lost to Orton again. On the November 18 episode of Raw, Miz started an on-screen feud with Kofi Kingston after he walked out on Kingston during a tag team match, causing Kingston to lose the match. Miz went on to defeat Kingston on the Survivor Series pre-show. After the match Miz offered a handshake, but Kofi retaliated with a slap to face. Miz tagged with Kingston again on the December 2 episode of Raw, but Kingston once again slapped him across the face after the match. On the December 13 episode of SmackDown, Miz attacked Kingston before his match with Alberto Del Rio. On December 15 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Miz lost to Kingston in a No Disqualification match to end their feud.
On the January 27 episode of Raw in his hometown of Cleveland, Miz lost a 'Battle of Cleveland' match against fellow Cleveland native Dolph Ziggler who is billed from Hollywood, Florida, but was born in Cleveland. On the February 3rd episode of Raw, Miz stormed out during a match between Zack Ryder and Titus O'Neil to complain about his lack of screen time, calling Ryder a "wannabe" and claiming that he should be in matches instead. The following week on Raw, Miz once again came to the ring to complain, this time during a match between Fandango and Santino Marella. Four days later on Smackdown, The Miz faced Fandango and won the match after Fandango was distracted by Santino and Emma. Miz participated in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX, but was eliminated by Santino. After WrestleMania, The Miz took a hiatus from WWE.After a two-month hiatus filming The Marine 4: Moving Target, The Miz returned to WWE on the June 30 episode of Raw and immediately began to insult the crowd, turning heel and taking on the gimmick of an arrogant movie star. He was then interrupted by the also-returning Chris Jericho. A week later, on the July 7 episode of Raw, Miz was defeated by Chris Jericho in his return match. On July 20 at Battleground, Miz won a battle royal by lastly eliminating Dolph Ziggler to win the Intercontinental Championship for a third time. Miz dropped the title to Ziggler on August 17 at SummerSlam, ending his reign at 28 days. Later that month, Damien Sandow began appearing with Miz as Miz's 'stunt double', and was subsequently billed as "Damien Mizdow". At Night of Champions, Miz defeated Ziggler to regain the Intercontinental Championship, however he lost the title back to Ziggler in a rematch the following night on Raw. On the September 29 edition of Raw, Miz once again unsuccessfully challenged Ziggler for the Intercontinental Title in a triple-threat match also involving Cesaro. After defeating Sheamus several times with the help of Damien Mizdow ,Miz challenged Sheamus for the United States Championship at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on October 26 ,but was unsuccesful in winning the title. At Survivor Series, Miz and Mizdow won the WWE Tag Team Championship by winning a Fatal-4-Way match against defending champions Gold & Stardust, The Usos, and Los Matadores.Mizanin played a small role in the film The Campaign. On April 30, 2012, it was announced that The Miz would star in WWE Studios film The Marine 3: Homefront. Mizanin replaced fellow wrestler Randy Orton who was dropped of the role due to his past with the USMC. That day, it was also announced that Mizanin will be featured in the WWE Studios and Kare Prodproject Les reines du ring Queens of the Ring alongside Eve Torres and CM Punk.
He has featured in WWE video games WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011, WWE All Stars, WWE '12, WWE '13, WWE 2K14, and WWE 2K15. Mizanin starred in the ABC Family TV movie Christmas Bounty, which premiered in December 2013.When Mizanin was 11, his parents divorced. He has a step-father named Donnie and two half-siblings, Jimmy and Tonia. His father George Mizanin, owns several Mr. Hero sandwich shops in the Cleveland area. Mizanin passionately roots for his hometown Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Cleveland Indians. Prior to the Cleveland Indians vs. Los Angeles Angels game on July 26, 2011, he fulfilled one of his lifelong goals when he threw out the first pitch. Mizanin got married to his longtime girlfriend and former WWE Diva Maryse Ouellet on February 20, 2014, in a private ceremony at the One and Only Ocean Club in the Bahamas. The couple live together in Los Angeles.