The Miz reflects on one of the more infamous stories from his WWE career.
The A-Lister recently spoke with Chris Van Vliet about his WWE tenure, which began in 2004 with an appearance on Tough Enough. The Miz soon graduated to the SmackDown brand, where a backstage incident resulted in him being banned from the WWE locker room.
According to the rumors, Chris Benoit kicked The Miz out of the WWE locker room in 2006 for “unprofessional behavior.” One of The Miz’s “unprofessional” actions included eating chicken over someone’s bag. The Miz was eventually let back in the locker room by The Undertaker, but the story highlighted how Miz had a difficult time early on in his WWE career.
The Miz has addressed the incident in the past, including during his WWE 24 special. However, he has never spoken about Benoit’s involvement by using his name. Miz recently spoke with Chris Van Vliet about the incident, sharing that he had no idea how long his ban would last.
The Miz had no idea when he’d be allowed back in the WWE locker room
“I knew the person that told me that, hey, you’re kicked out of the locker room. He said you’re not coming in until I say so,’” The Miz recalled.
Miz once again did not refer to Benoit by name. However, he confirmed that The Undertaker was not the person who kicked him out. Miz said that Undertaker actually helped end his ban, alluding to the fact that Benoit was no longer with the company. Benoit’s tenure in WWE ended after he murdered his wife and son before ending his own life in June 2007.
“No, [it wasn’t The Undertaker who banned me]. [T]hat person went away. So then when that person went away, I was like, oh boy, how am I gonna get back in the locker room? So I had to wait another three months. I asked Taker. I was like, ‘Man, I’ve been out of the locker room for a long time.’ He goes, ‘Oh, you have?’ Yeah, I’ve been out like six months. ‘What’d you do?’ I ate a piece of chicken in the locker room, and it got all over. I still believe it did not, but other people will tell you differently, and they can have their opinions. That is fine.”
The Miz explains why he didn’t stick up for himself and fight back
Miz explained how the story of him eating chicken over someone’s bag spiraled out of control, chalking it up to being the new guy who was going to get hazed.
“Then by the time the telephone game was played, I was throwing chicken all over the locker room. I was smearing it on stuff, that’s what it felt like,” The Miz recalled. “So yeah, I went to Taker and I said, I ate chicken over a bag. Yeah, it’s real.”
The Miz agreed that the whole situation was ridiculous. However, he felt that he would have been fired if he had fought back, or he would have lost the opportunity to learn from the veterans he needed guidance from.
“So I knew I needed reps with stars, with main eventers so I could wrestle like a main eventer. I can watch all the footage I want of it. But there’s a difference between watching it and actually doing it. Everyone can watch it, not everyone can do it.”
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