In 2009, for one night only, The Miz wrestled while wearing a mask. While the moment may be forgettable, the change helped alter his appearance going forward.
There have been many Superstars throughout WWE history who at one point donned a mask. Whether it be a staple of his gimmick, like with wrestling legend Rey Mysterio, or to hide his identity as a “Conquistador” like Edge and Christian, or even to hide the shame of having a shaved head like with CM Punk, he has There have been countless fighters who have used one. The Miz is someone who is a member of that list, though many fans may have forgotten about the time he wrestled under a mask on an episode of Monday night rawespecially since it came over a decade ago and it was only for one night.
The Miz’s fight with John Cena led him to wear a mask
Back in 2009, The Miz was enjoying his time in a tag team alongside John Morrison, with the pair winning the Tag Team Championship and becoming quite a popular act despite beginning their path to Tag Title glory at the least watched ECW show. In the 2009 draft, the pair broke up and Miz was drafted to Raw. He would then attack and kill Morrison, ending his tandem and beginning his rise as a singles star for the first time in several years.
At the time, The Miz still sported the same look he had during his tag team career, complete with three-quarter length shorts and long gloves. Even though he had parted ways with Morrison, he still felt like a tag team wrestler. WWE started giving him some mic time, and he used it to try to develop as an individual star in the best way possible: by targeting John Cena. At the time, Cena was ruled out with injury, but that didn’t stop The Miz from challenging him and claiming lost wins. Eventually, Cena returned and essentially crushed The Miz in a match at The Bash PPV.
The feud did not end there, as they fought once more on the August 3 edition of Monday Night Raw. This was a Lumberjack Match with the added stipulation that The Miz would be fired from Raw if he lost, along with missing SummerSlam as well. The Miz actually suffered a loss and was released from his Raw contract. However, it wasn’t long before The Miz returned, though fans wouldn’t know it right away due to him wearing a mask.
A Masked Miz got his WWE Raw contract back
The following week, a match was scheduled to determine the newest member of the Raw roster, as a contract was hung on top of a pole, with the first competitor to retrieve it winning a contract. In a surprise, Eugene was one of the participants, making his first televised WWE appearance in two years. His opponent was revealed to be The Calgary Kid, and the audience in Calgary responded very positively, giving him a decent round of applause and high-fiving him during his entrance.
The Calgary Kid wore basic red briefs and a red mask, donning the classic Canadian maple leaf. Eugene quickly gained the upper hand, hitting a Rock Bottom and People’s Elbow, but the Calgary Kid rallied and counterattacked, throwing Eugene off the top rope and reclaiming the Raw contract, in which came as a surprise given fans had no idea of who was. . He celebrated and helped Eugene to his feet, before making a very familiar move. The Calgary Kid would remove his mask to reveal his identity.
The Miz’s “Calgary Kid” outfit influenced his WWE outfit going forward
The fans drowned The Miz in thunderous boos as he removed his mask and proceeded to correct the announcer stating that the winner of the match was “The Miz”. To be fair, this was pulled off pretty well, and a big part of that was because fans never saw The Miz wrestle in classic wrestling briefs and boots, so exposing his legs and arms managed to keep fans less savvy fans. to reveal.
The look of the masked Calgary Kid would continue to influence The Miz’s outfit well into the future, and he began wearing the briefs and boots consistently from then on, remaining his go-to outfit for the next thirteen years and probably several more. . The Miz has never returned to this persona and probably never will due to it being quite forgotten and only appearing on a singular episode of Raw, but it was still a decent segment that was pretty funny, and would definitely boost The Miz’s time. as a singles competitor, as it didn’t take him long to win the United States Championship and the Undisputed Tag Team Titles.