WEBVTT - The Miz 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.440 Whenever there was a camera around, like a professional camera anywhere, 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:06.120 and I'm talking like if they were there was a 0:00:06.200 --> 0:00:09.039 news thing, and I would literally be up behind it 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:11.039 trying to get on the TV to do an interview. 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:13.760 If you look at Netflix right now, there's a show 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:17.040 of Woodstock train Wreck. I went to Woodstock ninety nine 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:19.520 and I got in front of this camera and was like, 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:23.079 Woodstock ninety nine. Baby, had no idea this was out 0:00:23.120 --> 0:00:27.480 there at all until that documentary came out on Netflix 0:00:27.880 --> 0:00:30.640 this year and they used me as like their first person, 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:33.320 like guy. They didn't say it was the Miss, but 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:35.600 everyone on the internet was like, is that the Miss? 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:38.199 Is that the miss? It? Yeah, that was me. That 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:41.080 was like eighteen year old miss out of high school 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:44.720 going to honestly what I thought was the greatest concert 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:52.360 I've ever been to. Hey, what's up? It is the 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:55.080 most musty w w E superstar of all time? The 0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:57.960 Miss or You may know me as Mike from the 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:08.319 Real World and Miss and Misses and I am awesome. Well, 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:13.960 hello everybody, and welcome to a brand spanking new episode 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:18.840 of Off the Beat. I'm your host, as always, Brian 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:22.800 Bob Gartner. Now, as you just heard today I got 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:27.240 to sit down for a full interview with the Miss. 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:34.440 Why because he's the Miss and he is awesome. If 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:37.319 you listen to the Live from Lake Tahoe episode, you've 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:40.319 got a sneak peek into just how freaking awesome he is. 0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:42.399 But if you didn't let me catch you up, you 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:46.320 probably recognize them is from his pure domination in the 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:49.520 w w E. But there might be a group of 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:53.240 you out there who knew him before he was a wrestler, 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:56.600 when he was just planting the seeds of his future 0:01:56.680 --> 0:02:01.800 career on the real world. Tough enough and well then 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:05.720 just about every popular reality TV show of the early 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:11.760 two thousands. The MSS is an entertainer to say the least, 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:15.560 but he's also a true underdog. He went from being 0:02:15.800 --> 0:02:21.080 just well, the token real world guy to the only 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:25.919 two time Grand Slam champion in w w E history. 0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:29.040 But that's not all. He's continued to crush the reality 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:32.679 TV space and a number of ways, including his very 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:37.160 own show with his wife Maurice MS and Mrs Mike 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:40.640 the Ms. He delights me. I don't know what it is. 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:44.760 His spirit is so infectious. He's an interesting guy. I 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:50.400 cannot wait for you to hear this conversation, but buckle up, okay, 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:54.919 because it is going to be a wild ride here. 0:02:54.960 --> 0:03:04.880 He is everybody, Mike the MSS Bubble and Squeak. I 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:11.880 love it. Bubble and Squeak, Bubble and Squeaker Cookie every 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:25.280 month left over from the NAT before. What's up? Mike? 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:28.800 Look at you? What's up? Buddy? How are you? Look 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:33.240 at you? Where are you? I'm at my house. This 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:37.320 is like this is like our office alright, like like 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:41.240 our production company's office. Okay. I I don't know why 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:43.080 I keep feeling like I have to tell people I'm 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:46.600 at a hotel room in Atlanta, Georgia. But I mean, 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:49.600 we've got we've got a studio ready here, you know. 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:52.600 I you know, I lived close to Atlanta, like right, 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:55.560 I lived in mcdonnet, Georgia when I first started wrestling. 0:03:56.840 --> 0:04:00.720 I'm from here originally. I know that I've listened to 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:03.920 Off the Beat literally NonStop since it was before Off 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:06.120 the Beat, So I know, I feel like I know 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:09.840 everything about you, and well, we're gonna get to know 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:14.480 more about you today. Mcdonn. Why were you here? Is 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:18.400 this a training facility or what it was? So? W 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:21.600 W E had a training facility called Deep South Wrestling. 0:04:21.720 --> 0:04:24.479 And once I got off the show Tough Enough, which 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:26.280 is a show where you could win a contract. It 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:28.920 was a reality show for w W, but I didn't win, 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:32.520 but I got a contract for Developmental and Deep South 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:37.279 Wrestling and mcdonnoh, Georgia was where we trained. And yeah, 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:40.720 your look says it all. Uh it's it wasn't the 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:44.320 greatest place, but honestly, I really enjoyed it, like I 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:47.640 loved I had such a blast. It was very grueling, 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:50.880 hard work. It was a great place to dedicate yourself 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:54.919 into a profession. Well, we're gonna talk about all of 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:58.960 that and more. I want to start going back now. 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:02.040 My understanding is not just born, but lived in Ohio 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:13.480 exclusively for a very long time. Born in Parma, Parmasana. Yeah, yes, 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:16.880 I was born in Parma, Ohio, and um I lived there. 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:21.239 My entire life grew up kind of I guess middle class, 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:24.880 you know. Um, and it was it was a great 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:27.440 place to live. Like I I still have friends to 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:31.160 this day that I talked to on a weekly basis 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:35.880 from you know, Cleveland, and uh, it's it's it's amazing. 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:39.560 It's like I've developed friendships that will last literally a lifetime, 0:05:39.680 --> 0:05:43.200 and they have lasted my lifetime. So growing up Parma 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:45.960 was a great spot. I lived in a condo. It 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:49.200 was like a eight square foot condo and yeah, I 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:53.120 lived there basically until I got off the real world. 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:57.640 How would you describe yourself as a kid? Exactly like 0:05:57.760 --> 0:05:59.840 my kids. I have a four and a half and 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:03.080 three year old and they have way too much energy. 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:05.599 Like when I say way too much energy, I'm like, 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:07.520 I have a lot of energy, Like I know I 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:12.240 am high, like I am high energy person. But these kids, man, 0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:15.760 they they'll worry out tell you what. And now I 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:21.000 really appreciate my parents even more having kids because man, 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:23.640 it's it's gruel. It's it's not that it's grueling. It's 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:25.839 it's great. You love them to death, but man, it 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:28.080 is tough because they just want to play at all 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:30.159 times and sometimes you just want to sit down and 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:32.880 relax and have you time. But I'll try to talk 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:35.039 to my wife and my kids would be like, dada, dada, dada. 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:37.320 I'm like, I'm just starting. I just want to talk 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:40.120 to Maurice just for five minutes. Is that okay? That 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:43.599 that that a It's like all right, you played basketball 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:47.120 and cross country. Would you consider yourself like, were you 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:50.240 an athletic kid? Was sports like was that your main 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:52.839 focus and interest when you were a kid? Yeah, definitely, 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:56.680 I was very sports oriented. I wasn't very good at them, 0:06:56.720 --> 0:06:58.280 Like I was a captain of the cross country and 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:01.960 baseball team. I played basketball, football, I swam a year. 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:05.240 It was funny actually, uh my, uh, I don't even 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:06.760 know if I had told this story before. So when 0:07:06.760 --> 0:07:09.279 I was in high school, I was on the basketball team, 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:11.720 and my sophomore year I got on the varsity team 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:16.120 and played the varsity team, and the next year I 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:19.560 got cut and I didn't understand it, Like I was like, 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:21.640 how do you get cut? And I wasn't like it 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:23.720 wasn't like I was a rude person or a bad 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:27.440 kid or anything that. Like, I was very devoted, very dedicated, 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:30.680 hard working. I just didn't understand how you can make 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:33.400 the varsity team your sophomore year and then junior year 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:37.600 nothing really, If anything, I got better and bigger and 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:39.960 everyone liked me on the team, and it wasn't like 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:42.240 there was some sort of thing. I didn't understand what happened. 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:45.080 I went home and I was like dad, like, the 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:48.480 weirdest thing happened, Like I got cut from the basketball team. 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:50.520 My dad was like, yeah, I figured that, I got 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:52.920 What do you mean you figured that? Bees? Yeah, I 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:56.600 got a fight with your coach um last year. I 0:07:56.640 --> 0:07:58.120 didn't want to tell you about it because I didn't 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:00.560 think it would I thought it would blow over. But uh, 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:03.080 I'm probably the reason why you got cut. Like my 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:06.320 dad got in a full blown fight with my coach 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:08.280 which got me cut from the team. Now here's how 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:10.960 I know this is true. So I went for out 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:13.200 for I was like, I had to do something during 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:15.360 my I just get bored real easy. So I went 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:17.160 to for the swimming team and I was one of 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:20.120 the best swimmers on the team. And the next year, 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:23.000 this coach got fired and I tried out for the 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:27.640 varsity team. Guess what, I made the team. So it 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:30.520 was literally like like that was what happened, and it 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:33.319 was crazy. And I know with off the beat you 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:36.080 like to talk about acting. In my school we did 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:39.240 have theater, but I never I never even thought about 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:41.600 it because it was so sports oriented and I wish 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:45.520 I did because I love entertaining, I love acting, but 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:48.040 I also loved sports. So I really didn't have the 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:50.520 time to do the theater, but I'd always go to 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:54.120 the plays and watch them and think, wow, these guys 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:57.640 are so great at this. But you would go, you 0:08:57.640 --> 0:08:59.960 would go and watch Okay, Yeah, absolutely. Was a press 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:02.000 into the student government and then senior editor of the 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:04.080 year book. Like I was highly involved with the school. 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:08.040 So uh, whenever you're like president of anything, you should 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:12.320 go to everything is what I'm It was instilled in me. 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:15.160 So as president student government, I would go to all 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:17.880 all the functions and try to just you know, meet 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:20.240 people and talk to people and have a great time. 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:22.040 And I would go to these things and they were 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:25.760 so good, like even back then, like watching them, you know, 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:28.200 watching some of the kids that would do the plays, 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:30.600 I'd be like, wow, that's so amazing. And I never 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:33.679 thought I could ever do anything like that. Like coming 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:35.959 from Cleveland, I was always like I want to be 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:39.400 a basketball, baseball, football player, but I was never the athlete. 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:43.479 And then once I got to college, I started realizing 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:46.280 I was like, I don't I don't want to do business, 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:48.600 Like I wouldn't mind peop Ohio and my pet Ohio 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:52.199 has a great like theater school, like very good in acting. 0:09:52.320 --> 0:09:55.320 I didn't. I didn't even think to go there, and 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:58.560 nobody actually like that. I knew went to that side 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:01.240 of the campus, but it was a really cool side, 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:05.080 um is more artsy, and so I never went over there. 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:08.080 But I was wished in high school and in college 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:10.679 that I would have done theater. It wasn't until I 0:10:10.720 --> 0:10:13.600 got on the real world. It made me realize, screw everything, 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:17.000 I'm gonna try and do everything I possibly can. Right, 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:20.360 So okay, so let's let's take this moment for a second. 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:23.760 So you, I mean, your president of student council, your 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:27.079 head of the yearbook, you're playing three varsity sports or 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:29.360 whatever it is. So I mean, you're incredibly active and 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:32.679 involved and you decided to go to Miami of Ohio 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:37.200 study business whatever. But what what did you at that moment? 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:39.760 What did you see yourself doing? Like? Where did you 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:42.240 did your life going? You didn't. I didn't. I had 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:44.840 no idea, Like I thought. My dad owned a Mr. Hero, 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:48.120 which is kind of like a like a hot subway 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:51.040 sandwich if you will, like it's it's like a Cleveland 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:54.640 version of like a better subway. Think of it like that. 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:58.720 And so Billy Chi Steakes like I worked there. I 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:02.040 worked there from when I would fourteen. I bought my 0:11:02.120 --> 0:11:04.160 first car because I didn't want my dad to pay 0:11:04.200 --> 0:11:05.920 for my car, because a lot of kids in school 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:08.240 would have their parents buy their cars. I didn't want that. 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:10.080 I wanted to buy my own car on my own. 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:15.200 So I spent like three summers just saving, saving, saving 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:17.640 until I could buy my first car, which was a 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:22.960 V six Firebird and it looked like kit and I 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:26.240 thought it was the coolest thing ever. So I worked 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:29.040 for my dad at Mr. Hero. Then I also worked 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:32.679 at J. C. Penny as a stock boy, and Abercrombie 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:35.520 and Fitch as a greeter. So I had many jobs. 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:39.440 And then once I got into Miami of Ohio, which 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:42.319 once you get done with with high school, you basically 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:43.680 are like, all right, what do I do? I go 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:46.959 to college. That's that's the standard where where I'm from, 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:50.240 you know, nothing else was even in my mind. So 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:51.960 I went to college and I was like, all right, 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:53.160 what do I do? Like, I don't know what I 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:54.120 want to do with the rest of my life, my 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:56.800 own my own business like my dad, So maybe I 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:58.520 should just go in business. And it was a very 0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:02.080 good business school, very public school to get into and 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:04.560 so I went there and I just I would do 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:07.960 terrible in all of my like business classes, but all 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:10.600 of like like I did Greek mythology and art history 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:14.120 and I get straight a's and it was just like 0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:18.240 I wasn't into the business side of it. And got 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:21.400 into a fraternity. Yeah, I got into a fraternity, uh, 0:12:21.520 --> 0:12:24.199 Theta Kai. And then I saw I was watching I 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:26.360 would sitting at home watching TV and it said, do 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:27.679 you want to try out for the Real World? And 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:30.839 I was like, uh, yeah, definitely, Like I want to 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:33.760 be on TV. Okay, so did you did you watch 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:36.480 The Real World? Yes, you're a fan of the Real World? 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:41.080 Then yeah, it was. It was the biggest show in 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:44.040 in my demographic if you will, like you know, a 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:47.640 teenager going out of you know, high school into college, 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:50.040 like that was the prime time for the Real World. 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:53.520 I'll never forget like sitting at home sick when I 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:56.160 was in eighth grade watching the seasons like the I 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:58.400 think it was the third season San Francisco with Pedro 0:12:58.520 --> 0:13:01.640 and Puck, and I was like, this is the greatest 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:05.360 show ever. And I and and now actually being on it. 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:07.240 I get people all the time that tell me like 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:10.160 I watched the Real World or everyone has their season 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:13.640 that they invested in that they watched, at least my 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:17.640 generation does, and so it's kind of interesting to hear, 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:21.559 you know, different people in their different views and what 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:24.040 what show they watched, like because I was I was 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:26.640 in San Francisco and New Orleans person that I watched 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:28.480 those seasons of the Real World, and that's what made 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:31.160 me want to be on the Real World. You auditioned 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:36.000 by sending in a VHS tape basically, guys that that 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:40.600 would existed back in the sixties, what what was its 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:43.280 eight and nineties two? I mean there was my camera phones. 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:46.600 I know what was on the tape, all right, So 0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:49.480 I would videotape everything. So I would have parties at 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:51.439 my house and I would videotape and I had the 0:13:52.000 --> 0:13:54.640 camera over the shoulder. I don't know if you remember 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:59.640 those back in the big, big order camp order. I 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:02.760 had one of those things, and I would videotape everything. 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:07.200 And so i'd video tape just different things that I 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:10.600 would do in my life, partying, dancing, you know, hanging 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:13.240 out with friends, that kind of stuff. So I edited 0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:17.520 an entire video together. Now nowadays kids can edit on 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:21.320 their computers. Back then, we didn't have like the computers 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:23.280 and the editing tools to do that. So you had 0:14:23.280 --> 0:14:26.600 to hook up your camcorder to your VHS tape and 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:29.520 press play on the camcorder and then record on the 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:32.600 tape on the VHS and then stop at the same time. 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:34.600 You're doing your left hand in your right hand and 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:36.120 you stop it at the same time, and then you 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:39.240 like fast forward on the camcorder and then you press 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:42.080 record on your on your VHS and play and it's 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:45.520 like that's how you edited. So that was my edited. Yeah, 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:51.120 that was my editing technique. And just how that is unbelievable. Yeah, 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:55.320 it's pretty crazy. Wow, And what did you did? You 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:59.480 deliver like a monologue like, yeah, I did a whole 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:02.560 Like here's why you should choose me. I'm from Parmer, Ohio. 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.880 I go to college. This is who I am. Gave 0:15:05.960 --> 0:15:08.040 him a whole thing. My parents were divorced when I 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:10.800 was in fifth grade. Uh. You know, when you're going 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:13.040 on in the real world, you tell them all your drama, 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:15.960 all your ups, all your downs. But I like to 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:19.960 make it more entertaining and energetic, and so I uh, 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:22.360 that's kind of how I did my monologue if you will. Okay, 0:15:22.360 --> 0:15:24.600 So this this is where I'm starting to go deep 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:26.080 with you here because I want to know at this 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:30.240 moment and obviously could change, But at this moment, what 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:35.440 did you perceive as the greatest reason that you should 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:39.200 be on the show? Was Yeah, Like, was there a 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:42.200 quality within you that that you were saying to them, 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:45.080 this is why you should choose me. I'm the most 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:48.000 fun person you'll ever have on your entire show. Like that, 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:50.440 That's that was basically the gist of it. Like I 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:54.640 am You're token frat boy that will literally go out 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:57.200 and party and have fun, and I'm an open book. 0:15:57.680 --> 0:16:00.640 And I didn't realize that being an open book on 0:16:00.680 --> 0:16:05.000 TV was so difficult for people like me. Whenever there 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:08.080 was a camera around, like a professional camera anywhere, and 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:11.320 I'm talking like if they were there was a news thing, 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:13.800 and I would literally be up behind it trying to 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:15.720 get on the TV to do an interview. If you 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:19.280 look at Netflix right now, there's a show of Woodstock 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:22.280 train Wreck. I went to Woodstock ninety nine and I 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:24.360 got in front of this camera and was like, Woodstock 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:27.920 ninety nine, Baby had no idea this was out there 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:32.440 at all until that documentary came out on Netflix this 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:35.040 year and they used me as like their first person, 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:37.720 like guy, they didn't say it was the miss, but 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:40.000 everyone on the internet was like, is that the miss? 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:42.200 Is that the miss of it? Yeah? That was me. 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:45.120 That was like eighteen year old miss out of high 0:16:45.120 --> 0:16:48.760 school going to honestly what I thought was the greatest 0:16:48.760 --> 0:16:51.800 concert I've ever been to. In that tape, and as 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:54.920 you began the real world, are you playing a character? 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:57.840 Are you showing yourself? I? I, uh so when I 0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:01.360 got on that show, like it's interesting. So I started 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:05.760 in August and I didn't get on the show until February. 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:09.399 Like that's how long the audition process took. So I 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:11.840 sent in a videotape. Then I got had this fifty 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:15.240 page application asking everything and anything about my life. Then 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:17.520 you do like a sit down interview where you have 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:19.879 a camera in front of you and you videotape it 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:23.359 and they're on your speaker phone and you are talking 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:26.480 directly to the camera and they're asking you questions and 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:29.320 these aren't your normal, average every day questions. Like the 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:32.320 one question that sticks in my mind to this day 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:35.800 is Mike, you're an onion? And I peel Away, your 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:38.960 fraternity at peel Away, your friends at peel Away, your family, 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:44.480 what's at the core of Mike mazzanin And I literally 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.199 was like at a loss for words, and I was like, 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:51.840 I don't know, I I don't know. And it was 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:55.439 an honest answer and an honest question. And then the 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:59.320 next interview I had in person interview. And when I 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:01.159 was there it was like in Detroit. I had to 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:04.680 drive from my me Bhio to Detroit in my Firebird, 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:08.760 drove up there and I had to wait like fifteen minutes. 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:11.080 So I saw all these girls and they were all 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:14.200 going to prom so I kind of went up to him, 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:17.560 sort of talking to him, not realizing that the producer 0:18:17.600 --> 0:18:19.119 is going to come down and see me talking to 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:22.440 like ten girls. I was like, oh, wow, this probably 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:25.240 was a good thing anyway, So go up there. I 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:27.480 talked to them in this interview, and you ever see 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:30.560 people on reality shows and they're bawling, crying, and you're like, 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:33.320 why is this person crying? Like, I don't get it. 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:37.000 I don't get like. That's that was my mentality until 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:40.440 I got into that interview and they were not necessarily 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:43.399 dissecting me, but asking questions that I've never been asked before, 0:18:43.840 --> 0:18:47.879 and questions that I felt meant something, and and it 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:51.960 made me, I don't know, think, And you know, when 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:54.439 you're just living your life, you don't ever have people. 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:57.399 Sometimes you don't have people that really challenge you. And 0:18:57.440 --> 0:19:00.800 I thought this show was really going to challenge me. 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:04.520 And so I was like driving back from Detroit to Miami, 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:07.159 I was like, I have to make this show. I 0:19:07.200 --> 0:19:09.119 have to make this show. This is gonna make me 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:13.399 better and a better person. And so that's what happened. 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:16.639 Like I got done, went on the show, and I 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:20.879 didn't play a character. I was Mike until I was 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:23.359 on the show, and I was just uncomfortable. Now was 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:25.760 New York for the first time in my life. It 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:28.800 was a big city, is a melting pot, all this diversity, 0:19:29.320 --> 0:19:31.840 so many people from different backgrounds, different ways of life, 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:35.159 different ways of thinking. And I am an unfiltered person, 0:19:35.200 --> 0:19:38.000 so I just speak whatsever on my mind, and I 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:41.600 was hurting people's feelings and I didn't realize it and 0:19:41.640 --> 0:19:45.879 didn't know. And then finally, like everyone started not liking me. 0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:47.880 It felt like I was the outcast of the show. 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:49.440 And it was the first time in my life, I've 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:52.119 ever been an outcast anywhere. I was always able to 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:55.240 fit in, always able to be a chameleon, if you will. 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:58.120 And this was the first time that I couldn't do that, 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:00.520 and nobody liked me no matter what what I did. 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:03.840 And so I created this character called the Miss, which 0:20:03.960 --> 0:20:08.560 was a w W E wrestler that was basically cutting 0:20:08.560 --> 0:20:12.040 promos on everyone. And so I would get hammered and 0:20:12.160 --> 0:20:15.480 literally just start cutting promos on everyone, telling him exactly 0:20:15.480 --> 0:20:19.320 how I felt. And everyone loved the Miss but didn't 0:20:19.400 --> 0:20:21.800 like Mike. And so everyone will always be like, do 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:23.600 the Miss, do the Miss, Do the Miss? Do the Miss. 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:25.359 So I just keep on doing the Miss, keep on 0:20:25.400 --> 0:20:27.639 doing the Miss, keep on doing the Miss. So you asked, 0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:30.119 did I was I a character on that show? No, 0:20:30.640 --> 0:20:32.919 I wasn't. I was. I always look at the real 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:36.080 world is as real as real can get with cameras 0:20:36.080 --> 0:20:39.280 in front of you. But the first week, so we 0:20:39.320 --> 0:20:41.959 had this, uh this tryout right where we all went 0:20:42.000 --> 0:20:43.920 to Palm Springs before we were on the real world. 0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:46.080 It was a tryout. It was like twenty six people 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:49.119 were brought there and they had cameras and everyone was 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:51.800 talking about all these different things, like as soon as 0:20:51.800 --> 0:20:54.680 you meet them, like they were talking about religion. Uh, 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:58.320 all these different issues that were at the time very important. 0:20:58.600 --> 0:21:00.800 But you don't meet them and say, Hi, I'm Mike 0:21:00.840 --> 0:21:03.160 Mazzen and uh, this is my religion, this is who 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:05.320 I You don't you don't just do that. And that's 0:21:05.320 --> 0:21:07.520 what everyone was doing. And I literally in an interview, 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:08.880 I went, this is the biggest thing I ever seen 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:12.119 in my life. But three days into that that shoot, 0:21:12.200 --> 0:21:14.919 I guess you can say people started getting real and 0:21:14.960 --> 0:21:18.120 it started you started forgetting about the cameras. So once 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:20.119 you're on the real world, the first week is a 0:21:20.160 --> 0:21:23.119 little weird, but then it just becomes the norm and 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:27.080 you're just in front of a camera. Yeah that makes sense. 0:21:27.160 --> 0:21:32.160 I mean this is fairly early early days of reality TV. 0:21:32.760 --> 0:21:35.520 What was your experience with other people in your life 0:21:35.560 --> 0:21:39.439