Ahead of WrestleMania 27 in 2011, The Miz famously dressed up as The Rock during a segment on the March 14 episode of Monday Night Raw. Speaking on Games with Names with Julian Edelman, Miz looked back on how the bit came together and the praise he later got from The Rock.
“The week before (WrestleMania), I dressed up as The Rock. I remember going to Vince [McMahon] going, ‘This isn’t going to work. No one is going to believe I’m The Rock. I don’t look like The Rock. I have blue eyes. I’m not bald. I’m not a 6’7″ Samoan.’ He’s like, ‘They’ll believe. It’s not going to work. We’ll put a bald cap on you.’ I’m still 6’5′. I’m built, but I’m not built. I ended up putting on a t-shirt, and The Rock’s music hits. The crowd goes nuts. In my head backstage, I’m going, ‘This is going to be horrible.’ As I’m about to walk out, Vince is going, ‘Wait!’ I hear the crowd start to come down. ‘Now.’ I walk out and did the best Rock impression I possibly could. As I’m walking out, there is another eruption, bigger than the one before. ‘How is this working? Do they not know that I’m not the Rock?’ I take the sunglasses off, and they pop again. ‘This is unbelievable.’ As I’m walking down, they start realizing it’s me, and the pop goes into a huge chorus of boos, which is exactly what we wanted. I beat up John Cena, cut a promo on Rock, fans, Cena, and we are ready for WrestleMania.”
The Miz was WWE Champion at the time and went on to face John Cena in the main event of WrestleMania 27, with The Rock serving as host.
