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The Miz Is That Awesome

Last night my Facebook feed blew up with people proclaiming the Miz’s promo on Talking Smack as the promo of his life. I beg to differ. As great as last night was (and I defy to you tell me it wasnt great), the promo of his life took place a few years ago. There was no musical introduction. He didn’t come down the ramp. He walked around the side of the ramp into the arena, shooting about the road he took to get to the WWE and fulfill his dream.

I don’t recall anything specific he said that night, but I recall how it made me feel. It was the first time I truly believed in the Miz.

The Miz has worked for everything he has been given. His reality TV show fame did not translate to a free pass at OVW; Danny Davis and Rip Rogers would never allow it. He learned from old school guys how to make it in the business, and he learned his lessons well.

The Miz also seized the moment every chance he had. Roni Jonah tells a story about a time she was supposed to work a program as Seth Skyfire’s girlfriend at OVW. Paul Heyman was disappointed with the kiss Seth laid on Roni during a TV taping, and he let his feelings be known to the locker room. “You expect me to believe she’s your girlfriend with a kiss like that?”

The Miz spoke up: “She could be my girlfriend.” Within a few weeks, Roni left Seth on OVW TV for the Miz.

As opportunistic as he can be, the Miz also knows how to put people over when it’s his turn. Did you hear him on Talk is Jericho with Damien Mizdow? At first listen, it sounded like the Miz was there to put himself over Mizdow. Listen again; the Miz puts his tag partner over huge, and then quietly steps away. It was masterful.

Crazy Mary Dobson also experienced the generous side of the Miz in her first appearance on Raw. According to her, the Miz did everything he could to give her as much face time as possible, telling here where to stand so the camera would pick her up.

Crazy Mary’s story runs counter to the general perception most fans have of the Miz: he’s a big mouth hack, a talentless loser, an opportunist who is only out for himself. People who see the Miz that way are seeing exactly what the Miz wants them to see. They don’t see a guy who grew up loving wrestling playing a character on TV because they can’t distinguish the real man from his character.

In an age when kayfabe is supposedly dead and buried, the Miz has done the impossible. He has made himself a true heel in the eyes of the fans. He’s not getting booed because the fans understand that he’s playing a heel and that’s the story being told. He’s not being booed because he’s the heel people “love to hate.” He’s being booed because people truly hate the Miz.

The Miz is a rare talent that could easily has worked in a long-gone era. He’s the kind of guy who makes the fans forget they’re watching a show and boo from the bottom of their hearts. He’s a true student of the game who learned his lessons well, and he’s only getting better.

I don’t expect my thoughts to persuade many Miz haters to see him differently, and that’s okay. The Miz wouldn’t want you turning into a fan of his anyway. The more you hate the Miz, the more you’ll demand – and pay – to see him get his butt kicked

That, friends, is what makes the Miz AWESOME.

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Book Sandow Now!

If you live outside Louisville, you know him as Damien Sandow. If you’re an old OVW fan, you remember Idol Stevens. Whatever you call him, fans know that he’s a versatile performer who can not only wrestle but take the worst of gimmicks and get over. Seriously, he was the Miz’s copycat sidekick for nearly a year and he had a bigger face pop than the Face That Runs The Place.

Sandow/Stevens is now a free agent. He’s also free to become whatever he wants to be on the Indies. His email is below. Book him NOW!

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A Life Lesson from the Miz

02Roni Jonah, who is now hosting Eat Sleep Wrestle: The Golden Age on the INC Channel, used to be a wrestler herself. In fact, when she was at Ohio Valley Wrestling in Louisville, she was the Miz’s valet/ girlfriend. Want to know how that happened? She shared the story with me for Bluegrass Brawlers. It’s a fun story involving Miz and Heyman, and whether you like him or not, we can all learn a little something about seizing the day from the Miz.

Roni was in the amateur class at OVW when Paul Heyman arrived, and one of her best friends was Seth Skyfire, a former OVW main eventer whose star had fallen in recent months.

“Seth was no longer getting time on the show because he wasn’t under contract with WWE,” says Jonah. “When Paul came down to OVW, he wanted to showcase those guys and give them a chance.”

Roni wanted to make sure Seth got noticed by the new boss. She sat with her friends dead center in the audience and held signs calling out for Seth. Heyman noticed, and when he put Skyfire back on TV, he was impressed with what he saw. Heyman was equally impressed by the determined young woman in the crowd. “One night, he told Seth to go out to the ring and kiss ‘his girlfriend’ in the audience,” says Jonah. “Seth said, ‘But, she isn’t my girlfriend.’ Paul said, ‘She is now.'”

Seth did as he was told, but the kiss was weaker than Heyman wanted. When Heyman called him out on the weak kiss, Mike “The Miz” Mizanin chimed in: “She can be my girlfriend.”

Shortly after the backstage incident, Roni “left” Seth Skyfire for the Miz on OVW television. The angle elevated the both of them to top heel status in OVW, and the Miz was one step closer to his his WWE dream.

Read more OVW stories and discover over 130 years of wrestling history in Louisville in Bluegrass Brawlers: The Story of Professional Wrestling in Louisville.

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Kenny Bolin in Hot Tub Time Machine 3??

bolin1Let me begin today’s blog by saying I was as upset as everyone to hear that Jim Cornette is now denying that he wrote the introduction for Kenny Bolin’s book, “I Probably Screwed You Too: The Mostly True Stories of Kenny Starmaker Bolin” as heard on today’s episode of The Jim Cornette Experience. The introduction was emailed to me from a legitimate source, and I while I did find the praise and platitudes to be a bit much, I accepted it as being from Jim because, as Jim himself said, the quality of writing (grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization) is far too good to have come from Kenny. We will investigate the matter in conjunction with Kenny and Jim’s attorney, Tim Dennison of Louisville, and we will act accordingly as we go to press.

I can tell you that another story heard on The Jim Cornette Experience, IS true and will be included in the upcoming book. Idol Stevens, as he was known to the OVW faithful, is now Damien Sandow on the main WWE roster, and he recently phone Kenny with a story so outrageous, so crazy, it has to be true. He and the Miz were invited to a Hollywood party during Wrestlemania week. They were approached by members of the cast of Hot Tub Time Machine 2, who claimed to be fans of The Jim Cornette Experience. They were also fans of Kenny Bolin and his regular guest appearances, but they had a question: is Kenny Bolin for real? All that stuff they talk about, that’s all a work, right?”

Stevens laughed. “Sit down, let me tell you about Kenny Bolin.”

You’ll have to wait for the book to come out or tune in to the Experience to hear the rest, but it’s all true. Okay, maybe not the part about Bolin being in the 3rd movie, but the rest is the honest truth!