WWE Superstar & The Better Half Of 'Miz & Mrs': Maryse Mizanin's Career, Explained

Maryse Mizanin has returned to TV as one half of sports entertainment’s most dynamic couple with Season 3 of USA Network's “Miz & Mrs.” Despite having been one of the WWE’s most popular and successful Superstars for years, many may not know about the French Canadian businesswoman’s accolades both in and out of the ring. 

Before she was one of the toughest female WWE Superstars in the game and the wife of The Miz, Maryse Ouellet got her start in show business as a model. In 2003, she won Miss Hawaiian Tropic Canada and finished as the runner-up in the International Finals of Miss Hawaiian Tropic 2004. Just two years later, she set her sights on Superstardom in professional wrestling. 

Her foot in the door was by way of the 2006 “WWE Divas Search.” She ultimately lost to Layla El, but she walked away from the experience with more than anyone. Not only did she impress fans and higher-ups at the organization enough to secure a deal, but she met the love of her life. 

“When I got to my WWE audition in Los Angeles for the Diva Search, guess who was one of the judges? The Miz. I remember getting to my audition, everyone from WWE, it was a huge production, they were all standing there. And then they said, ‘Hi, what’s your name?’ I said, ‘Hi, my name is Maryse,’ at the time, Ouellet. I started to speak and The Miz stopped me and said, ‘No, we don’t want to have a beauty answer, a beauty pageant answer, we want to have a real answer,’” she told Sportsnet (via WrestlingInc).

“Then he caught me off guard because I learned just on the plane, and I had nothing else to say in English," she continued. "So he said, and they were all kind of looking at each other, he said, ‘How about you cut a promo in French?’ And I got down in his face and to this day he said, ‘I don’t know if I was scared or turned on.’ And then we got married.”

However, you’d be horribly mistaken if you assume her rise to stardom had anything to do with her marrying The Miz in 2014. Even prior to that, she rose through the ranks through sheer athleticism and determination, earning herself the distinction of being the first two-time Divas Champion in 2009. She would hold the title for a record seven months. After that, she had various feuds and title matches within the WWE that ultimately led to her becoming one of the fiercest Superstars to help shape roles for women within the organization. 

Eventually, she retired from the ring. However, she still remained a personality within WWE thanks to her association with The Miz. As a result, she joined the full-time cast of the E! reality series “Total Divas” in Season 6. She remained there through Season 7 as well. In that time, her relationship with The Miz took center stage as well as her feud with Brie Bella. However, it all led to her and her husband getting their own reality series, “Miz & Mrs,” after the exposure made her decide to make a triumphant return to the WWE ring. 

She and The Miz engaged in a rivalry with Nikki Bella and John Cena on “Smackdown.” Eventually, the power couple found themselves on “Raw,” where they remain a dynamic duo in the ring and out of it as they raise their two children, Monroe Sky and Madison Jade. Whether it’s modeling, wrestling, acting as a manager, cultivating an online following, managing her business, or being a top-notch mom, it seems there’s nothing Maryse can’t handle. 

Fortunately, she isn’t anywhere close to being finished, as fans will see when she and The Miz continue to offer an inside look at their lives by way of “Miz & Mrs” Season 3. 

New episodes of “Miz & Mrs” premiere at 11 p.m. ET/PT on USA Network. You can catch up on the first two seasons on USANetwork.com and Peacock.