The Miz went on to find success in WWE despite not winning Tough Enough.
Tough Enough was a reality Television series by WWE in an attempt to search for the next breakout star. There have been several wrestlers who came into the world of professional wrestling thanks to the reality television show.
A few of the most notable names are John Morrison, Maven, former NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, and many more. But arguably, the most successful star out of all the people who came into WWE through Tough Enough was the two-time WWE Grand Slam Champion The Miz and he didn’t even win the competition. Recently, the A-Lister shared his thoughts on the significance of not winning the show.
A&E featured The Miz on a recent episode of its WWE Legends: Biography series. In the episode, The A-Lister mentioned that not winning Tough Enough was a blessing in disguise as it allowed him to get more training which he required to become a WWE Superstar.
“Honestly, it was a blessing in disguise that I didn’t win Tough Enough. Because I went to train and develop. And Daniel Puder was kind of thrown to the wolves when he wasn’t ready.”
The Miz then went on to compete in Deep South Wrestling
The Miz also shared how his life changed after he managed to fight it through and succeed in Deep South Wrestling.
“Meanwhile, in Deep South, I mean it was tough. The reason it was tough was because you weed the people out. You aren’t going to make it. You aren’t going to cut it when you get up to Monday Night Raw or Friday Night SmackDown. I remember waking up every morning going, ‘Good, one more day. You could do it. One more day. You could do it. Eye on the prize.’ After six months we had to turn people away. So then, I get told Vince [McMahon] wants to see you. And I’m like, ‘Oh my God. Vince McMahon,’” The Miz said.
Vince McMahon wanted the A-Lister to be a host, seeing him as the Ryan Seacrest of WWE. Thus he was called up to Friday Night SmackDown as a host. Now, years later, he is a two-time WWE Grand Slam Champion.
Do you agree that The Miz is the most successful star to come out of Tough Enough?