Reports That JBL Hazed Him Backstage When He First Joined WWE:
It’s funny with JBL. In front of all the boys back in the day he would always be making fun of me or saying [imitating JBL’s voice], “Miz, I look forward to your amazing work. You’re a gift from God.” But whenever no one was around, he would come up to me and say, “You’re doing a good job.” He’d always give me a little pat on the back. Most people think he was really, really bad to me and this kind of stuff – and, granted, there were times – but there were also times when he sat me down and said, “Listen, you’re doing a good job. This is what you’re doing wrong. This is what you have to do to get to the next level.” So he has helped me as well.
Whether He’s Had His “Austin 3:16″ Career Defining Moment Yet:
I think there are defining moments in everything. If you asked me a year ago, I could find a defining moment. But as of right now my defining moment was Money in the Bank. It kind of set the tone that I’m the next main-eventer, I’m the next “future of this business,” and it set the tone for me winning the WWE championship, which then became the next defining moment in my life. Not many people get to say “I’m a WWE champion.” It’s pretty incredible just to hear those words coming out of my mouth. But as for what happens next, there are going to be so many defining moments in my career. My career is just getting started.
His Time Working As Daniel Bryan’s NXT Coach:
We were very cordial with each other, but you could tell on the inside that we were both trying to one-up one another because I thought I was better than him and he thought he was better than me. I thought I was better than him just because I’ve been in WWE for four years now and how long had he been in WWE? Zero time. He basically performed in front of 25 people at a bingo hall and was called the best in the world. I mean, please, I don’t care if some dirt sheet is writing about how great you are and that you were able to perform in front of 100 people. Congratulations. I’m performing in front of 16,000 to 20,000 a night and millions across the globe. As far as working with him, though, he’s a very, very cool guy and very, very talented. He is one of the true up-and-comers in the WWE and has proven himself and keeps proving himself and improving. And he really, really wants it, which is all you can really ask for.
