Miz and Summer Rae Talk Marine 4, WWE, Damien Sandow and More

The Miz has become one of the most controversial characters in recent wrestling history due to his background in reality television, but a reign with the WWE Championship and a budding acting career has his stock on the rise.

In the same vein, Summer Rae has made an impact since joining the WWE’s main roster, and she is climbing to the top as one of the most reliable heels in the Divas division. Now together, the duo looks to be making serious waves in multiple industries.

Not only are The Miz and Summer Rae stars in the new movie The Marine 4: Moving Target which is currently available everywhere movies are sold, but they also joined forces on WWE programming to take down Damien Sandow.

Earlier this week, The Miz and Summer Rae spoke with Ring Rust Radio (transcript via News of Delaware County’s Joe Arcidiacono) about co-starring in The Marine 4: Moving Target, turning on Sandow to retain The Miz brand, the WWE Championship and so much more.

Co-Stars Talk Marine 4: Moving Target

The most notable part of the interview with The Miz and Summer Rae was their chemistry together and the way they played off of each other. It is imperative to feel comfortable with your co-stars, and there seems to be a genuine friendship between the two wrestlers.

For Miz, this is not his first venture into acting. On top of taking several television roles and cameos in movies, he found his stride as the lead role in The Marine 3: Homefront. As the first lead character asked to return for a second film in the series, he looks to be the long-term Jake Carter.

When asked if he’d like to continue working on the series and becoming synonymous with the role as many of the James Bond actors did, Miz spoke candidly about how much he really loves playing Jake Carter:

"

It was a huge honor to be asked to do the Marine once again. We know John Cena did the first, Ted DiBiase did the second and I did the third. Then to be asked to come back and do the fourth I couldn’t believe it. Anytime you do a movie with the name Marine in it, you have a huge pressure put on your shoulders. Those are real heroes over in war zones, sacrificing their lives, being away from their family and friends, and here I am being an actor portraying them it’s a huge honor. I hope I make them proud and entertain them and they enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.

"

As for Summer Rae, this was her first venture into acting. While that would make the experience exciting enough, the fact that she is also the first Diva to participate in a WWE Studios film added even more pressure.

When asked about how she handled the pressure of her first film and how the crew got her through the process, Summer Rae spoke about the strong support system on the set of The Marine 4:

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For me, I was so honored to get the opportunity. Since there hadn’t been any Divas that had done films yet, that kind of took me aback. I really just wanted to perform and show that I knew how to hold a gun and look like a sniper because that’s what they wanted me to be for the movie. So we had a lot of training before we started. Mike had a lot of previous experience, and that helped him bring that calming effect to the set, almost like confidence. Any questions I had no matter how silly or stupid they were I was able to ask him. The great thing was our set was like a family. We had the most amazing actors and actresses on set. The actors would always ask if I had questions and they would bounce ideas off each other, it was a real family situation. On the last day of filming, after 20 days, none of us wanted to leave.

"

As someone who has already seen the film, I was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining it was. It felt like it was made by an experienced company with plenty of action films under its belt, and The Miz was actually a great lead man in the series.

Summer Rae was also a surprise. For someone with minimal acting experience, she knew her role and played the character to the best of her ability. It will be interesting to see Summer Rae grow as an actress as her movie career begins to take off.

Overall, both The Miz and Summer Rae spoke glowingly about the experiences on the set and their happiness with the finished product. The movie was better than expected, and the confidence of both stars makes them a perfect tandem.

Turning on Damien Sandow and Miz Winning Another World Title

Evan Agostini/Associated Press

While the movie careers for The Miz and Summer Rae are taking off, their partnership spilled over onto Raw when Summer Rae turned on Damien Sandow to help The Miz retain his name in what was likely the finale of the feud.

For months, the storyline with Miz and Mizdow was one of the best parts of WWE programming every week. Instead of giving the angle the proper finish with a fitting payoff moment, the company rushed a series of matches and the end didn’t live up to the hype.

The Miz and Sandow deserved so much better after stealing the show week after week.

As great as their relationship once was, The Miz was very honest about his assessment of what will happen next for Sandow after turning on his former employer:

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I don’t think anyone realizes how valuable the Miz brand is. I have had it over 15 years now, over a decade. I have developed it, and now my stunt double/personal assistant that I brought up and made him relevant. Damian Sandow was fired twice from this company and he was on his way out again, and I came in and gave him relevance. I gave him a championship and everything. Then of course, the WWE Universe has to tell him that he is better than the Miz, you should go out on your own, and you can do it. Then what happened? I went out there and proved them all wrong like I always do. It’s up to Damian Sandow what happens next. I can’t do anything more for him because he left and made his decision. It’s up to him if he is going to succeed or fail.

"

In response, Summer Rae chimed in, “Hey I tell you, they hate me, they hate you, and we might as well join forces.”

Now that Miz is going away once again to film another movie, there are some legitimate questions that arise about where his focus is right now. To win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, he needs to be 100 percent focused on that goal, but a crazy schedule that involves constant television appearances and movies is not ideal.

When asked if he would rather be an A-list celebrity in Hollywood or once again hold the most important title in the WWE, Miz spoke about where his focus is right now and what his overarching goal in life:

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It’s a difficult time, because I have done the main event of WrestleMania and retained the WWE championship. Do I want to do it again? Absolutely. I wouldn’t be in the WWE if I didn’t want the ultimate goal and that is for a Superstar to be in that main event. Obviously though doing these movies you want to be the biggest star you can be. In a sense, if I go do movies, I would always come back to WWE. Its home to me and it’s what I have always wanted to do since I was a kid.

"

The Miz and Summer Rae are in different positions. For Miz, he has been acting for several years and is trying to climb the ranks the way a star like The Rock has in the past. He has the confidence and the charisma to be a big star, but that will likely limit what he can accomplish in the WWE.

On the other hand, the hope for Summer Rae is that the confidence gained from working in the movie industry allows her to come back to the WWE roster and capitalize on her confidence with a substantial push.

The two forming an alliance on WWE programming would make for an interesting run for both stars, and the chemistry from working together in the past could give both the confidence needed in the gimmick to make it work.

After watching The Miz and Summer Rae thrive together, it is just a matter of time before they are taking the wrestling world and the movie industry by storm.

For more wrestling talk, listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot topics or catch the latest episode in the player below (some language NSFW).