The Miz Gives His Honest Thoughts on AEW's MJF, The Comparisons Between the Two
MJF has been drawing comparisons to WWE's The Miz for quite some time, but they were kicked into overdrive late last year during his first dueling promo with CM Punk on AEW Dynamite. Punk said at the time, "He thinks he's somebody, he thinks what he does is revolutionary to the wrestling business. When in reality, he's just a less-famous Miz." That line even wound up getting referenced days late on an episode of Raw by Edge. Miz was a guest on Cheap Heat this week and was asked about those comparisons, arguing that Friedman is trying to do his own thing.
"I don't think he wants to be The Miz, to be honest," Miz said. "I don't think any superstar, no matter what company you're in, wants to be the next 'this person.' You want to be an original. There are comparisons. I've always been compared to, I was compared to Jericho for a while, I was compared to Ric Flair for a while. I don't want to be compared. I want to be an originator. You take things. When you're learning and coming up, you see things that you like out of certain superstars and are like, 'Oh, I'll use that, sprinkle of that, sprinkle of this' as an homage. In a sense, you want to be an original. I don't think he wants to be the next Miz, I think he wants to be the first him.
"Honestly, he's doing a great job at it," he continued. "25 years old When I was 25 years old, I was still in developmental and Deep South Wrestling and still learning the trade. I wasn't putting on matches on national television and putting together memorable promos that people talk about. I wasn't doing that. Applaud to him."
MJF will have his long-awaited match with Punk on next week's episode of Dynamite in Chicago. Meanwhile, Miz will team with Maryse to take on Edge and Beth Phoenix at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view this Saturday.