How The Miz Got The Nickname “Missionary Mike” In The WWE Locker Room
There is no shortage of reputations surrounding various pro wrestling personalities behind the scenes. The modern era of tell-all books, documentaries, podcasts, and reality TV has peeled back the curtain. So it is that the way a number of wrestlers look at their colleagues has become relatively public knowledge. Some of those reputations are bad, like JBL being known as a bully, while others are positive like the way The Undertaker commands such respect all but universally from his peers. Still others fall into shades of gray that are harder to define. The Miz carries with him the backstage moniker “Missionary Mike,” which is pretty humorous to consider.
The Miz & Mrs. Reality TV Series Exposes Missionary Mike
While WWE probably got overzealous in pushing The Miz in 2010 and 2011 as the WWE Champion and someone who could viably rank as number one in Pro Wrestling Illustrated's PWI 500, there are real merits to what he brings to the table for WWE. He gets heat as a heel character, and has a good, accessible look. That's not to mention that his background in reality television helped not only cut promos very well on live WWE television, but also groomed him to be well-spoken hitting the talk show circuit, communicating to a more general audience. WWE may well have found the best application for his skill set in the Miz & Mrs. reality TV series.
Related: 10 Things We Learned From The Miz & Mrs. Reality ShowMiz & Mrs. portrays Mike Mizanin in his real life, interacting with his family. On an episode titled “Back Again,” the show revealed to the public a nickname The Miz carries behind the scenes among his friends—Missionary Mike. There’s obviously a sexual connotation to phrasing, and it doesn’t exactly come across as complimentary.
The Origins Of The Missionary Mike Nickname
In an interview with Notsam Wrestling (h/t Wrestling Inc) The Miz explained that it was actually Matt Cardona (formerly known as Zack Ryder in WWE) who first called him Missionary Mike. As Miz described it, Cardona was discussing his sexual exploits behind the scenes, including some relatively outrageous acts and positions, which amazed Miz. Catching his wide-eyed look of surprise, Cardona called him Missionary Mike as a reference to his relatively “vanilla” tastes and background in the bedroom.
It's been well established on Miz & Mrs. and in various interviews that Miz and Cardona are real-life friends. As such, it seems the nickname is all in good fun, though, each time Cardona uses the moniker, he is also quite clearly teasing his buddy for his inexperience or lack of desire to think outside the box in his private life.
Missionary Mike Fits The Miz’s Wrestling Style
While the Missionary Mike nickname clearly references The Miz’s sex life, the argument could also be made that it accurately renders his wrestling style as well. While the missionary position as it pertains to the bedroom tends to refer to a straightforward, uninteresting approach to performance, Miz has faced similar critiques throughout his wrestling career for working a safe, relatively basic style in the ring with few overly technical holds or impressive athletic spots.
Related: 8 Ways WWE Failed The MizIndeed, such criticisms relating to The Miz came to a head in a famous 2016 Talking Smack promo between Miz and Daniel Bryan which walked the line between a work and a shoot, culminating Miz demanding more respect for how hard he works and what he brings to the wrestling business.
In the end, the Missionary Mike nickname is one The Miz could never bring to WWE television (unless, perhaps, he hopped in a time machine back to the Attitude Era). Just the same, it’s a fun insight into his personality on a number of levels, and how his friends in the locker room have teased him in the past.
