The Miz Reveals How He Got WWE’s Attention Early in His Career

The Miz had a specific strategy to make sure WWE noticed him in his early days as a pro wrestler.

There’s little The Miz hasn’t accomplished in his WWE career. The star has been a mainstay in the sports entertainment giant for well over a decade, and he holds the honor of being the first two-time Grand Slam Champion in the company. Miz even went on to main event WrestleMania 27, though it didn’t exactly go to plan.

However, despite being a reality TV star, The Miz had to work hard to achieve his dream of being signed by WWE. Speaking in an interview with Jay Glazer on Unbreakable, Miz revealed that not only did he have to take a pay cut to join WWE, he did plenty of work to invest in himself to make sure those in the company took notice.

“I was making a lot of money, I was making six figures. When I got to developmental, I took a pay cut, because I said ‘I can take a pay cut in this because I believe that I can make more.’ So I invested in myself. I’ve always invested in myself … I paid for acting classes, improv classes, and learning the art of professional wrestling, UPW, and wrestling classes. And then I also was like ‘Oh, where do all the big world trainers go? Gold’s Gym.’”

The Miz Promoted Himself On His Way To WWE

Continuing, The Miz explained how investing all his money into promoting himself paid off in a big way.

“I worked out there, got a nutritionist. So I invested all my money I would make into myself. I bought all these t-shirts ahead of time and got them at $3 a t-shirt and sold them for $15 a t-shirt. So I wouldn’t make money off them, but it wasn’t to make money, it was necessary to promote myself and get people talking about me … so WWE would see that. WWE would see that, they gave me a contract, I took a pay cut, went to McDonough, Georgia, went to Louisville, and then from Louisville, I got into WWE and started making the money I thought I could possibly make.”

h/t WrestlingInc