Three weeks before his WrestleMania 27 major event match for the WWE Championship, John Cena took on Alberto Del Rio on “WWE Raw,” with interference from Brodus Clay leading to a disqualification. When Del Rio and Clay then unleashed a post-match beatdown, the sound of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s theme song blared throughout the world, suggesting that “The People’s Champ” would take part on the motion as well. As a substitute, fans were stunned by the reveal of The Miz, who arrived in a bald cap and The Rock’s signature “I Bring It” muscle tee.
During an appearance on “Games With Names,” The Miz looked back on his infamous impersonation, which initially got here with some doubts. “I remember going to Vince [McMahon], ‘This is not going to work. Nobody’s going to consider I’m The Rock.’ I do not seem like The Rock. I just don’t. I actually have blue eyes. I’m not bald. I’m not a six-foot-seven Samoan. I’m not The Rock,” Miz recalled. “He’s like, ‘They’ll consider.'”
“…The Rock’s music hits, and the gang goes nuts. That is when Rock wasn’t there on a regular basis. In my head, I’m backstage going, ‘That is going to be horrible.’ Then I remember as I’m about to walk out, Vince goes, ‘Wait!’ I hear the gang at the height they usually start coming down. He’s like ‘Now!’ Then I walk out and I did the perfect Rock impression I possibly could. As I’m walking out, there’s one other eruption greater than the one before. I’m like, ‘How is that this working? Do they not know I’m not The Rock?’
With the St. Louis audience bamboozled by his ruse, The Miz eventually provided them with clarity by taking off his sunglasses and walking down the doorway ramp. It was then that their cheers transformed into boos, an indication that “The A-Lister” had done his duty as a heel, and impersonator, well.
The Miz Recalls Voicemail He Received From The Rock Afterward
The chorus of boos continued as The Miz headed all the way down to the ring to further the beatdown on Cena alongside Del Rio and Clay. Within the type of The Rock, The Miz notably planted Cena with a Rock Bottom and posed atop the turnbuckle together with his arm raised. Together with his bald cap removed, The Miz then launched Cena into the steel ring post. Combined together with his subsequent promo about Cena, The Rock, and the WWE Universe, The Miz revealed that he later received a message of praise from The Rock himself.
“I flew back to LA. I got a voicemail from The Rock being like, ‘That is the way you do it. That is the way you step as much as the plate and hit a house run,'” Miz recalled. “It was one in all those motivational [things]. By the best way, doesn’t must do that. He’s The Rock. But man, I remember after I was on The Real World and folks were like ‘What made you would like to do it?’ I remember my castmates got me an motion figure of The Rock and it was on my shelf. After I was looking myself within the mirror saying ‘What do you would like to do with the remaining of your life?’, there was an motion figure of The Rock. I said I’ll be a WWE Superstar. Then here I get a voicemail from The Rock being like ‘that is what you needed to do.'”
Miz went on to defeat Cena at WrestleMania 27 with the assistance of The Rock, who ordered their WWE Championship match to be restarted after it originally led to a double countout. Under the brand new rules, there have been no disqualifications, no count-outs, and no cut-off dates, which allowed The Rock to nail Cena with a Rock Bottom with no repercussions. As Cena lay on the mat, The Miz then capitalized by covering Cena for the match-winning and title-retaining pinfall.
In the event you use any of the quotes in this text, please credit “Games With Names” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.