AS his egomaniacal WWE Superstar character, The Miz, he is booed by crowds across the globe.

But when Mike Mizanin was shut out of a wrestling changeroom because his own colleagues hated him he suddenly realised pro wrestling didn't always follow the script.

"That's as real as real gets," said Mizanin, who joins fan favourites John Cena and Rey Mysterio among wrestling's star stable competing in Adelaide's swing of the WWE world tour tomorrow night.

"Nobody liked me, everyone wanted me fired and was trying to get me fired. I'm in the WWE, and everyone there and the WWE universe (the industry's legion of fans) hates me. It made me feel like I was walking on egg shells.

"I got kicked out of the locker rooms, so I couldn't find a place to change or shower. I remember one time going down the corridor to go to the (stadium's public) bathroom and fans going `Oh my god, that's The Miz' - thanks, I'm going to the bathroom next to a kid that has my shirt on. It's kind of belittling and humiliating. But it's one of those things that made me stronger and made me realise I could take everything that anyone dishes."

With his catchcry "I'm The Miz, and I'm awesome", Mizanin is one of the WWE's most despised villains, loathed for his win-at-all-cost climb from reality TV hopeful to headline act on wrestling's biggest stage, Wrestlemania. The 30-year-old grew up in conservative US state Ohio, captivated by the 1980s boom of professional wrestling driven by over-the-top antics of the Ultimate Warrior, and the "Attitude Era" shift of the '90s through renegade "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and the "People's Champ" The Rock.

His breakthrough came when he was selected as a contestant in reality show The Real World, similar to Big Brother.

He was eventually recruited by regional wrestling franchise Deep South Wrestling and in 2004 was a finalist on talent-search show Tough Enough, a Contender-type program where the winner earnt a WWE contract. He impressed WWE bosses enough that he was recruited despite finishing runner-up, and in five years has risen to become one of the most recognisable figures in the company.

The WWE World Tour hits Adelaide's Entertainment Centre at 7.30pm tomorrow.