Mike Mizanin in 2001's "Real World: Back To New York" and as the host of MTV's "Rivals" after show in 2011.
It's hard to believe it was more than a decade ago when Mike Mizanin--a naive, 19-year-old Midwesterner--first crossed our TV screens as the token frat boy on "Real World: Back To New York," only the 10th season of the series. Mike pissed off Coral (his eventual partner-in-crime) within 24 hours over race generalizations, became buddy-buddy with cancer-survivor Kevin and was mocked daily by all of his roommates about his dream to be a WWE (then, WWF) superstar.
Thing is, that very dream came true. All those who laughed can eat it!
Now 30, Mizanin, or "The Miz," is a staple of WWE's "Monday Night Raw" and a champion many times over of the organization's various franchises. "ARE YOU READY?!" has been replaced by "I'm the Miz and I'm awesome!" as a battle cry, and throngs of fans chant his name. But the fame hasn't gotten to his head--in fact, he admitted to us backstage at the "Rivals: After Show" taping that he misses his days of competing on MTV. The guy was pretty damn good at these games, after all--he made it to the end of every Challenge except one!
Check out the below video clips from MTV.com's exclusive interview with "The Miz" to get his take on how "The Challenge" has changed over the years and why he's so awesome.
Dimitar Berbatov says last season's top-scoring exploits are consigned to history as he looks forward to the 2011/2012 season.The Bulgarian is happy to fight for his place in the side, even if he is aware that the depth of talent at Old Trafford spreads to those coming up from the Academy.
In an interview with PA Sport, he was reluctant to dwell on last term, stating: "I don't want to go back to that. What it is, it was - does that make any sense? Now I am looking to the future. I was pretty happy we did the historical thing about the 19th title. I was part of it. I was the top goalscorer of the team. For me, the personal thing was great. I come from a small country and I always dreamt big. I was pretty happy when we did all these things.
"I am not 21 any more. There are many young and talented players now, including some from the Academy. You can see that if you watch games on TV. All my life, I have tried to prove myself. I have worked hard. Given a chance, I have tried to show what I can do. The last season is in the past. The goals I scored, what I did, I have done it. This is a new season. It starts all over again."
Berbatov is determined to remain at United after quashing all speculation about his future.
"Manchester United are at the top," he asserted. "Where can you go from there? Only down. Maybe Barcelona. At the moment, I don't see anything else. If you go somewhere it is a big step down. For me, I always went up, up, up in my career. I am happy."
The former Spurs striker also stressed he is not going to change his style on the pitch - both in terms of his play and his demeanour.
"You are not going to see me puffing around the pitch," he vowed. "There is a saying in Bulgaria that great quality doesn't require much effort.
"I am a very proud person. I don't like to show my weaknesses in public. I don't want to show my emotions in public. That is why people probably sometimes misjudge me. But that is okay."
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