“Quiet on the set!”

Nearly every Monday night for the past year, WWE fans have been greeted with the same introduction to The Miz, the wrestling star who fancies himself as an A-list celebrity whenever he walks through that curtain and performs in front of an audience.

The remarkable thing about all of this, is that The Miz’s schtick isn’t too far off from the actual role he plays on a weekly basis for the WWE. Over the past year, Mike Mizanin has become the WWE’s A-list player and heading into WrestleMania, there’s no question that The Miz will be trying to steal the show once again.

“Even though my match is not called the main event, I plan on making it the main event and people to talk about it for years to come, moments that last a lifetime,” The Miz told Yahoo Sports. “We have all of the components. Finn Balor and Seth Rollins, as much as I make fun of them and degrade them, they are two of the top, elite, talents in WWE.”

The Miz, who for the better part of the past year has held or been involved with the WWE’s Intercontinental Championship, has been faced with a task that arguably no other WWE talent has had to handle. On “Monday Night Raw” – the company’s biggest weekly show – The Miz’s championship has been the most prestigious title that’s been present and defended on a regular basis.

Since WrestleMania 33 last year, Brock Lesnar has held the WWE’s Universal Championship, Raw’s biggest title, if in name only. While Lesnar, a “part-timer” in wrestling speak, has made appearances on the show and defended his belt during pay-per-view events, the Intercontinental title has, for all intents and purposes, become Raw’s biggest draw.

“To be one of the focal points of Raw, to know that Vince [McMahon], Hunter [Triple H], Stephanie [McMahon], Shane [McMahon], that all of the execs, believe in me and know that I can put out there and revolve a show around me, that my star power can bring people into an arena, make people watch at home, that is second to none,” The Miz said. “That trust, that is what you live for as a WWE superstar.”

Traditionally, the Intercontinental Championship was awarded to the company’s best “worker,” a wrestler who has both the technical skill in the ring as well as the ability to draw fans in with the ability to cut a promo – wrestling jargon for being able to use the microphone well.

“I was the person that elevated that title, that made it prestigious and that was my goal,” The Miz told Yahoo Sports. “My goal was to have this title where it was when I was a kid, when Ultimate Warrior was going up against Hulk Hogan. It was the biggest match that you could see. That is where I’m taking the Intercontinental title.”

A lot of that prestige, is due to Miz’s relentless devotion to his craft, both on the microphone and in the ring.

While The Miz, a 12-year WWE veteran, certainly checks both of those boxes, it’s his ability to connect with fans, despite being a “heel,” in this new era of WWE wrestling, that makes him such a valuable commodity.

“I think social media is so huge nowadays,” The Miz said. “It’s like a reality show, if you really think about it. You’re learning about everyone’s life at every minute, I know exactly what The Rock and Kevin Hart are doing at every moment because they’re always talking about themselves and filming themselves doing it. I feel like I know them. I think it’s a great opportunity for people to know who you are as a person and as a character.”

This evolution didn’t just happen overnight, however. More than five years after he was in the main event of WrestleMania XXVII against John Cena, The Miz had, arguably, the defining moment of his WWE career.

In a vicious 2016 promo on “Talking Smack,” WWE’s version of a post-game show for “Smackdown Live,” The Miz unleashed on Daniel Bryan, who at the time was barred from competing due to previous head injuries. The moment perfectly blurred the lines of television show and reality. The segment went viral and set the course for the The Miz’s renaissance, where, to this day, fans know what they are getting every week will be entertaining.

“There is no line,” The Miz said. “It’s one of those situations where I want the fans talking about my match and I will do whatever it takes. Whatever I feel out there, it’s what’s going to happen.”

Story continues