WWE's Miz Proves Why He Is Indeed Money in the Bank

On Sunday night the Miz won Raw's Money in the Bank match which guarantees him a future shot a World Title whenever he wants. This is by far the most important victory in the career of the up and coming superstar.

I wanted to take the time to acknowledge all the hard work he has put into his career in the WWE by starting from the beginning.

Start on TV

Mike Mizanin first came into the lives of television audiences in 2001 when he appeared on MTV's The Real World: Back to New York.  

Mike was funny enough to keep people interested in watching the show, which at that point had begun to go downhill year to year in ratings.

The moment that sticks out in my head is when he was in a costume shop and spotted a foam WWE replica belt. He bought it and kept it like a trophy.

The last image of the season came when everyone was leaving the New York house. Mike was the last person there, and to send himself off he ran around the house holding up the foam belt celebrating like he had just won the title for real.

It was a funny scene, but almost omniscient in its symbolism to the future.

After the season ended Mike appeared on numerous seasons of Real World/Road Rules Challenge. He proved to be a natural leader and determined competitor during his time on the show.

Start in Wrestling

Mike began training to be a pro wrestler in Ultimate Pro Wrestling's school Ultimate University. He also spent time in Deep South Wrestling where he became the promotion's first Heavyweight Champion.

In 2004 Mike entered the WWE's Tough Enough program, where he ended up in the finals of the show's fourth season.

Despite losing the finals, Mike captured the attention of WWE officials, and he was offered a developmental contract to train in the company's farm territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling.

Called up to the show

In 2006 The Miz became Smackdown's host. His duties included announcing the night's upcoming matches, hyping the crowd, and interviewing backstage. The host gig eventually fizzled out so WWE made him host of the Divas Search.

Alongside Ashley Massaro The Miz hosted the Divas Search on both Raw and Smackdown. After declaring Layla the winner, Miz began wrestling on Smackdown where he was constantly pursuing Layla.

He first defeated Tatanka in a match that led to Miz declaring he was undefeated every chance he got. Over the next few months he gained more victories over the likes of Matt Hardy, Funaki, and Scotty 2 Hotty.

Miz's first loss came at the hands of The Boogeyman at Armagedon.

Extreme Chick Magnet

Miz was soon drafted to ECW and began airing short videos about coming to ECW on WWE.com. His first ECW match was a victory over Nunzio.

Shortly after debuting, Extreme Expose, ECW's dancers, showed interest in The Miz and eventually became his managers. Miz would end up feuding with Balls Mahoney over Kelly Kelly in the coming weeks.

After revealing that he owned the contracts for Extreme Expose he used the leverage to stop Kelly from dating Balls. The feud ended abruptly when Mahoney was released by WWE.

Miz went on to win the fan vote for Cyber Sunday to face CM Punk for the ECW title. He lost the match, but the fact that he got the most votes as a heel meant he was here to stay.

Tagging with the Shaman

The Miz won his first WWE championship when he and John Morrison defeated Matt Hardy and MVP for the Tag Team Titles on Smackdown.

After bringing the gold back to ECW, Miz and Morrison began recording videos for WWE.com called The Dirt Sheet. Miz and Morrison actually wrote the segments where they made fun of pop culture and other wrestlers like Carltio and Primo.

The two made waves as WWE's top tag team gaining the tag team titles on two occasions. Miz and Morrison both progressed greatly during their time together, honing their promo and in-ring skills together.

The fact that they were both one time contestants on Tough Enough was barely ever used as a reason for why they teamed together, which was probably a good thing.

Their biggest victory came when they defeated Shawn Michaels and Rey Mystero on an episode of Raw. You could see how happy they were to get a win over the two living legends by the way they celebrated afterwards. You could tell they were genuinely excited.

From Jomo to Big Show

After being drafted to Raw, The Miz attacked Morrison thereby ending their partnership. Miz then began a program against the face of WWE, John Cena.

The Miz would use Cena's injury as a chance to start a feud by challenging Cena week after week knowing he wasn't in the building. Eventually the count of Miz's so called victories got up to seven.

After being silenced by Cena, Miz began challenging for the US Title which was held by Kofi Kingston. Miz lost his first two matches but ended up winning the third to become the new United States Champion.

During this time, Miz began using new entrance music and attire to accommodate his new style of more brutal wrestling.

While he was still US champ, Miz won the unified Tag Titles from the D-X with The Big Show. He became the first person to ever hold the three championships at once. The amount of gold Miz had at this time was insane.

He and Show held the titles on two different occasions before splitting up. The Miz tapped out to Tyson Kidd's Sharpshooter to lose the gold, and his partnership with Big Show.

After being defeated by The Hart Dynasty for the tag titles Tyson Kidd defeated Miz to earn a shot at the US Title for any member of the Hart Dynasty. The Miz elected to face Bret Hart in a no DQ match.

The match ended with Bret Hart winning the US Title making Hart a five time US Champion.

NXT and Daniel Bryan

The Miz became one of NXT Season One's mentors. He was in charge of Indy Star Bryan Danielson, who was using the ring name Daniel Bryan. This was no doubt the decision of one of WWE's genius writers to basically reverse his name.

The two held the most attention of the fans by getting into fights after almost all of Bryan's matches. They hated each other and the story worked in Bryan's favor when he became the top draw in the first pros poll.

Miz and Bryan had friction that made their relationship all the more interesting. After being eliminated from NXT, Daniel Bryan attacked the Miz on his way up the ramp.

The two would have more verbal exchanges before Bryan was eventually released for choking Justin Roberts with a tie and spitting on John Cena during the first NXT invasion.

A career on the rise

The Miz recaptured his US Title after winning a Fatal Four Way match against R-Truth, John Morrison and Zack Ryder.

After getting back his title, The Miz announced that he would be the only returning pro for NXT Season Two where he became the mentor of Alex Riley. These two mesh well together as Riley is cocky and talented just like Miz.

Two nights ago The Miz took his first step towards a World Title in WWE by winning Raw's Money in the Bank match against seven other superstars, including his one time partner John Morrison.

The Miz was noticeably emotional after his win because this was truly his breakout moment in the WWE. He came out last night on Raw and got right in Sheamus's pale face to declare "every breath you take, every move you make, I'll be watching you."

His reference to Sting and The Police was not lost on many fans as he was cheered loudly during the promo despite being a heel.

After Sheamus beat Evan Bourne The Miz pounced, driving Sheamus's face into his briefcase with the Skull Crushing Finale. Miz was going to cash-in his case but got interrupted by R-Truth.

To sum it all up

The Miz is truly an example of "If you work hard enough anything is possible." He is dedicated to being the best, and he is gaining more and more fans each week.

I have been a Miz-fit for a long time now. I have always felt that he was one of the best on the mic and his in-ring skills get better each and every time he is in the ring.

I am very happy for Mike Mizanin for accomplishing something he has wanted to do for years, and that is to be a force to be reckoned with in the WWE.

Miz is on the way up and as Michael Cole said last night "The Miz is the future of Raw."

I hope the WWE doesn't drop the ball with his push because he deserves all the acclaim he has gotten.

Good Luck Miz and I look forward to seeing you become WWE Champion.

On a sidenote, If the Miz's fans don't already call themselves Miz-fits, they should.