New WWE champion The Miz spoke with Sports Illustrated about his big win at last night’s Elimination Chamber, where the A-lister assures fans that he will not just be a transitional champion, and how he’s stepped up his game over the last five years. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
Says he doesn’t plan on being a transitional champion:
I do not plan on being a transitional champion. That idea only fuels my fire, and hearing it is nothing new. It makes me think back to when I cashed in the Money in the Bank contract and won the belt in 2010. People thought I would lose, but I didn’t. Instead, I won the WWE championship. When I won, I heard I was only going to be a transitional champion, but I went on to main-event WrestleMania and I won, as a bad guy, in the main event, which never happens. Ten years later, I heard the same thing: I’d never win the title. So this is another opportunity for me to prove people wrong, which is what I plan on doing.
Believes he’s elevated his work over the last five years:
Over the last five years, I’ve found a new gear. I remember facing AJ Styles when he came to WWE, and his style was so different than anything I was used to. That’s when I knew I needed to elevate my work. And my wife deserves a lot of credit, too. Working with her, she gave me confidence that brought me to a new level.