RAW Superstar credits John Cena for teaching him how to be WWE Champion

The Miz believes his matches with John Cena taught him how to handle the responsibility of being WWE Champion.

In 2011, The Miz defeated Cena in the main event of WrestleMania 27 to retain the WWE Championship. Before their marquee match, Cena defeated The Miz at several live events in June 2009 and November 2010.

Speaking in his WWE 24 documentary, The Miz credited Cena for improving him as a performer during those live event matches.

"Once you get into WWE, it takes time to develop confidence, to be at a level in which you need to be, and sometimes you think you’re there but you’re not," The Miz said. "And I didn’t realize I wasn’t there until I started wrestling John Cena. John Cena taught me more than I could ever imagine. I remember going on live events and learning from John Cena. He taught me what it takes to be the caliber of superstar I needed to be to be WWE Champion."

.@mikethemiz lays bare the truth about his WWE career — the struggles, the triumphs and everything in between — on #WWE24, premiering tomorrow on @peacockTV in the U.S. and @WWENetwork everywhere else. pic.twitter.com/lnGucZrf7n

— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) April 24, 2021

The Miz held the WWE Championship for 160 days between November 2010 and May 2011. He recently had another eight-day reign with the title after cashing in his Money in the Bank contract on Drew McIntyre at Elimination Chamber 2021.

The Miz disliked his first big match against John Cena

WWE 24 showed The Miz and John Cena joking around backstage

In June 2009, John Cena recorded one of the easiest pay-per-view victories of his career against The Miz at The Bash. The Miz never realistically looked like he could win the match, which lasted just five minutes and 39 seconds.

The two-time WWE Champion said former WWE producer Arn Anderson offered him some advice after the disappointing match.

“I went back and I was like, ‘Man, I thought I should have did better,’” The Miz added. “And I remember Arn Anderson telling me, ‘Well, Miz, you haven’t been through the battles, you haven’t been through the wars to go up against a John Cena.’”

Be golden. BE MIZ. 😎 @JohnCena #WWE24: @mikethemiz streams your way this Sunday on @peacockTV in the U.S. and WWE Network everywhere else. pic.twitter.com/XKSTSDI8p3

— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) April 20, 2021

Just 22 months after that match, The Miz received help from The Rock to defeat John Cena in the WrestleMania 27 main event.

Please credit WWE 24 and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.