The Miz opened up about the complexities of his current standing with fans during an interview on Insight with Chris Van Vliet. Despite his efforts to remain a “complaining, veteran heel”—mocking fans and the locker room on the first SmackDown of 2026—The Miz admitted that the past year has been “weird” due to the audience’s refusal to fully boo him.
The two-time WWE Champion explained that his traditional heel tactics are no longer generating the desired vitriol. “The things I do that I know in my rolodex of being a heel and being a bad guy, I’ll do and it doesn’t get the boos anymore,” Miz said. He expressed frustration with the “respectful” reaction he now receives, describing it as detrimental to his character work. “If you’re gonna cheer me, cheer me. If you’re just gonna go ‘Ah! He’s so good,’ I don’t want that. I don’t want that. That’s the death.”
Miz elaborated on this concept of respect, comparing his reception to that of other stars. “I feel the respect, I feel it in the locker room. I feel it in the crowd, but I’ll hear you say it. ‘Oh, Miz has gotten his flowers,'” Miz noted. “You don’t give me a full bouquet of flowers that are like, here are your flowers. John Cena gets the flowers. I don’t get the flowers. I get the half-dead flowers that are like, Here you go, here’s your flowers. We’re giving you your flowers. It’s the half assed flowers.”
The “A-Lister” also touched on the importance of wins and losses, challenging the notion that they don’t matter in modern wrestling. He argued that while his heel character can recover from defeats via promos, babyfaces lose their appeal when they fail to win. “Winning doesn’t matter. Winning doesn’t matter.’ It matters. It really does matter,” Miz emphasized.
Current plans for The Miz involve a high-stakes opportunity later this week. He is scheduled to face fellow veteran Randy Orton in a qualifying match on SmackDown in London. The winner will advance to a Fatal 4-Way Match at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event on January 24 in Montreal, where one superstar will earn a shot at Drew McIntyre’s Undisputed WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. You can find the full interview on Chris Van Vliet’s YouTube channel or podcast feed.
