The Miz became WWE Champion during Sunday’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event when he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract against Drew McIntyre and entered into his second reign as champion. He also became the only 2-time Grand Slam Champion in the company by capturing the title.

His first reign a decade ago in 2010 wasn’t as significant though, as he appeared merely as a secondary character in the main story between John Cena and The Rock. After losing the title to Cena in 2011, Miz was moved from the main event scene to the midcard, where he slowly climbed up the ranks and was even lauded as a champion who bought importance and prestige to the Intercontinental Championship which was treated as a somewhat unimportant title with throwaway reigns.

Entering into the main event scene again and becoming the top champion seemed like a long shot for The Miz again, with even him admitting that he himself wasn’t sure a successful Money in the Bank cash-in against a strong competitor like Drew McIntyre was possible. In fact, it wasn’t until the day of the Elimination Chamber event that he found out that he could be cashing in his briefcase.

Speaking to the Bleacher Report, The Miz said: “To be completely honest with you, I thought, ‘I’m never going to cash in until these two get rid of the titles because they’re such strong champions. I can’t remember the last time we had such strong champions in WWE. To be able to go in there, beat Drew McIntyre, who has been on fire as of late, and win my second WWE Championship… I wasn’t sure it was ever going to happen.

“Ten years ago, I was WWE champion, and I’ve had opportunities here and there but sometimes you just wait and you see and you push and you make sure you’re always evolving, always getting better, always doing the right things,” The Miz said regarding his rise.

The Miz expressed confidence on his comeback to the top spot, stating earlier that he does not plan to be just a transitional champion. He is set to face Bobby Lashley on next week’s Monday Night Raw as part of the deal he stuck with The Hurt Business. Miz expressed confidence and said that his second reign will be better than the first because this time he’s ready.

“It feels better because I feel that I’m ready and I’m worthy,” The Miz said. “When I first won the WWE Championship, I was still gaining my confidence in WWE. I was pretty new to the main event scene.

“As a matter of fact, I think that was my first main event,” he continued. “I wasn’t in the main event picture. To be able to work with Randy Orton and John Cena, who literally took me from his lower-level midcard Superstar into a main eventer… This is how good they are, that when you’re in the ring with them, you have to elevate yourself and get to that level. If you don’t, they’ll swallow you up and spit you out, and so many Superstars have done that,” The Miz concluded.