Earlier this week on the Between The Ropes radio show, I spoke with current WWE United States champion The Miz about WrestleMania, his dislike of Cleveland Browns coach Eric Mangini and much more.

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne were the guest hosts on Raw on Monday night. You got to be the first person to get in the ring and interact with them. Were you a fan of Ozzy before he was on the show?

Absolutely! Who isn’t a fan of Ozzy Osbourne? Just to be in there in the same ring and talk a little smack to him was absolutely fantastic. I had so much fun.

You got to interact with him but can you flex your pecs to “Crazy Train” like Chris Masters did?

(laughs) I think that actually stole the entire show. It’s what everyone is talking about! A man that can flex his pecs to “Crazy Train”. I mean, did that really happen? Chris Masters isn’t the type of person to go out there and start shaking his boobs but then all of a sudden he just starting doing it. It was absolutely incredible.

He’s going to have to do that again now. That’s going to become his regular gimmick.

I know. Now fans instead of asking him to put them in the Master Lock, they’re going to say “hey, can you flex your chest to ‘Crazy Train’ for me?”

WWE has been having guest hosts on Raw now for about five months. Who are some of your favorites that have been on the show so far?

My favorite so far has been Bob Barker. Of all these people we’ve had – Jeremy Piven, Ben Roethlisberger, Nancy O’Dell – so many of these stars have been great but Bob Barker was my favorite. I grew up watching “The Price is Right”. Just to have him on there and have (Chris) Jericho confront and 80-year-old man and go (deepens voice) “listen Barker, I will beat…” and then Barker come back and say “I will bend you over my knee and spank you” is just absolutely incredible. It was so awesome just to see how he was with the WWE superstars as well as the fans. Such a nice, great guy and I really think that this guest host thing that WWE has been doing for the past couple of months now has really elevated the show and has done wonders for it. I think it’s going great and it will continue to do great.

Is there anyone else out there right now that you would like to see guest host the show?

Yeah, I’d love to see – I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – I’d love to see Eric Mangini come and guest host Raw just so I could get in the ring and smack the crap out of him for how bad he’s doing with the Browns right now.

You’ve made some critical comments about him that have got out in the media a little while back. How tough is it for you as a fan to sit there and watch your team? They’re 1-7 after you thought you had some hope with Mangini coming in as the new coach this season.

You know, it’s funny. Being a Browns fan, you’re used to losing. We literally had a 10-6 record two years ago and then all of a sudden last year they were terrible and this year it’s dreadful. I don’t know what happened from that 10-6 team to go to where we’re at right now. I’m just hoping that Mangini can do something with this draft. I’m looking forward to next season now because this season is basically over for me. We’re getting crushed – we’re not even scoring. The only game we actually won (over the Buffalo Bills) was the worst game I’ve ever seen in NFL history. We got lucky that game. We’re the new Detroit Lions and we need to do something and do something fast.

You’ve got an upcoming appearance on the Food Network on November 11th on the show “Dinner Impossible”(airing at 10p.m. ET) . How was that experience for you?

Yeah, I’m really excited about it. I had a great time with it. We had to make food for I think 300 Summerslam VIP’s and Chef Robert is just incredible and that show is really intense. To cook for that many people and start about 9a.m. and have to have all the food done by 3p.m. was insane. It was so much fun and hectic and crazy. I must say, before then, I might have cooked mac and cheese, I might have made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich here and there but Chef Robert took it to a whole new level. It was a lot of fun.

Are you now cooking more often after going through that experience?

Well, I don’t know if you want to call it cooking but I’m definitely trying to do some more stuff in the kitchen.

Do you know how to use your microwave?

I do know how to use the microwave and I know how to read directions. So, if you want a TV dinner, I’m your man.

Right now, you’re the United States Champion. You’ve been coming up through the ranks in the WWE. What is the experience like for you now especially coming from the reality world because I would think there’s a lot of people that question you and not take you seriously.

Yeah, there’s always been naysayers. There’s always people putting me down all the time and I look at that at something to motivate me with. All those naysayers and all those people that put me down have really motivated me to be where I’m at today and the reason why I’m there is because of those people. Some people are like “man, you get such a hard time and some people are so critical of you” but I’m like good, let ‘em be because that just fuels my fire. It allows me to do what I have to do to be the best at what I can be. So, all those people that always do that, keep on doing it. Keep on hating me. Keep on booing me. That’s fine because I will prove to you that without a shadow of a doubt that I am the best because I am The Miz and I am awesome.

Have you gotten a lot more respect from your peers as well because I’m sure they had some question marks seeing your past and your motives for getting into wrestling?

Oh yeah. That’s always a topic of conversation. People always ask me how does the locker room like you and the locker room has always hated me. I’ve never had too many friends in the WWE whether it was jealousy, whether they just didn’t like me because I came from the reality world. I find it amazing that WWE fans but also the locker room will take in MMA stars, they’ll take in football players, they’ll take in seven-foot tall people, you know. But a reality star comes in and oh, low and behold, he can’t fight. He can’t come into our business. I’m there just to prove everyone wrong, to prove to all those people that said he’s not supposed to be here, he’s just from a reality show. Let him host something. Let him host a Diva thing or something. I can actually wrestle and I can actually mean business and do what I say I am and actually be the best in the business.

So you’re actually more than just the Ryan Seacrest of the WWE?

I would love to think I’m more than just Ryan Seacrest but if people call me the Ryan Seacrest of the WWE that’s fine too because I’ll just prove them wrong.

There have been some people as of late that think the WWE main-event matches have become stale. We keep seeing the same guys whether it be Triple H or Randy Orton or John Cena. You’re one of the guys moving up and I think people would like to see you and Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston and some other guys get in the mix. What are your thoughts when it comes to that? Is it a little stale and do things need to be freshened up when it comes to the top of the card?

I think right now we’re at a time where a lot of the veteran WWE main-eventers are starting to get a little older and we’re starting to realize that they’re not going to be here for the next 10, 15 years and they need to start bringing up a new crop of new WWE superstars. And I think a lot of WWE superstars are really stepping up, names like you just mentioned. Kofi Kingston has just turned it up a whole notch. You’re seeing a new side of Kofi who is the person I just beat for the United States Championship. When I was wrestling him, he had a Jamaican accent and now he has no accent and he’s taken a serious tone and he’s been going up against Randy Orton. So, I can’t wait to see what happens with that whole feud. Other WWE superstars that are up-and-coming – that are really making improvements – are John Morrison, CM Punk, myself. We’re all making improvements to be that main-event guy. I actually put my foot in my mouth calling out a main-eventer, calling him out for the past two months. John Cena, I called him out when I first came to Raw because I wanted to make an impact. Granted, it was a little too fast for me but I learned a lot from that feud. Now I’m earning my way, I’m earning my stripes up into that main-event caliber which I think I will be in if not this year then definitely next year.

What was your first reaction when you heard that Shane McMahon was leaving the company?

My first reaction – I thought maybe he wanted to do something else that wasn’t wrestling-related. Maybe he wanted to venture off on his own which I wish him the best of luck with whatever he does. I’m not sure exactly what he’s going to do but if I was a son growing up with a father as powerful as Vince McMahon, and always kind of doing what my daddy did and that kind of stuff. I think it’s very noble of him to say you know what, I want to venture out. I want to do something different. So, hopefully he’ll do great and I imagine he will.

Next year at WrestleMania, you’ll probably be in your first singles match. Where do you expect to be when it comes to that show?

For WrestleMania 26 - which tickets go on sale this Saturday, November 7th - I plan on doing something very big. WrestleMania is our Superbowl. WrestleMania is the biggest event that we all wait for, that we all look forward to. So when that moment comes, I plan to be ready. I’m hoping to have a singles match. If not, I’ll hopefully be in the Money in the Bank where I can win an opportunity to go up for the World Championship or the WWE Championship. So I look forward to WrestleMania. There’s always something that’s unpredictable, that shocks and awes audiences, that people will talk about for years to come. Last year, if you remember, Mickey Rourke came on who is an Oscar nominated actor and actually knocked out Chris Jericho. You had that amazing, amazing match with Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker that was an instant classic. So I’m looking forward to this WrestleMania where I’ll actually get to be into it and hopefully make a classic match and memorable memories for everyone.
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