Maryse Mizanin (née Ouellet; born January 21, 1983) is a Canadian media personality, model, actress and retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenures in WWE, where she performed mononymously as Maryse.
After spending years modeling, including winning Miss Hawaiian Tropic Canada in 2003, Mizanin participated in the WWE Diva Search competition and was hired by WWE in 2006. She spent time in developmental territories Ohio Valley Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling, before being assigned to the SmackDown brand in 2008. That year, Maryse won her first WWE Divas Championship.
In 2009, she was drafted to the WWE Raw brand, and won the Divas Championship for the second time in 2010, making her the first woman to hold it more than once. In 2010, she co-hosted NXT and managed Ted DiBiase, prior to her release from the company in 2011. In 2016, she returned to the company and became the manager of her husband The Miz. That year, she joined the cast of the reality show Total Divas. In 2018, WWE announced a spin-off show titled Miz & Mrs., which starred Mizanin. She and her husband also served as executive producers.
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Early life and career
Ouellet was born in Montreal, Quebec, but grew up in Edmundston, New Brunswick. In high school, Ouellet was the only girl in her class, and ran the school's fashion show. She also began developing a range of makeup products. Ouellet began her modeling career as a beauty pageant contestant, winning Miss Hawaiian Tropic Canada 2003 and finishing second at the International Finals of Miss Hawaiian Tropic 2004. She was also on the cover of Playboy's 2007 Girls of Canada calendar.
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2006–2011)
In mid-2006, Ouellet tried out for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s Diva Search. She made the final cut and was one of the top eight contestants, but was the second person eliminated on July 24. Despite her elimination, she was invited to observe workouts and the training facility at WWE's developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), along with Brooke Adams. Ouellet later said that she was "very, very excited", as it was her "dream to become a WWE Diva".
Ouellet was officially signed to a WWE developmental contract on August 24, 2007, and was assigned to OVW for training. She made her in-ring debut at an OVW live event in December 2006. In March 2007, she began wrestling in dark matches prior to the OVW television tapings. In mid-2007, Ouellet began managing Sylvain Grenier. When Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) opened in mid-2007, Ouellet was transferred to the new developmental facility, and on September 25, she made her FCW debut as the valet of Ryan O'Reilly along with Lacey Von Erich. Ouellet then started competing in singles and tag team competition, before managing Ted DiBiase, Jr. in December 2007, and was at ringside when he captured the FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship.
On the September 22, 2006, episode of SmackDown!, Ouellet, known as simply Maryse, was shown on the TitanTron welcoming the Montreal viewers in French to the season premiere of SmackDown! on the CW Network. Maryse made her first official televised appearance on the May 21, 2007, episode of Raw to present American rapper Timbaland's new music video for the single "Throw It on Me", in which she had appeared.
By the time she began appearing regularly on SmackDown at the beginning of 2008, she had adopted a snobby attitude and become a villainous character. On the March 7, 2008, episode of SmackDown, Maryse competed in a swimsuit contest against Victoria, Michelle McCool, Cherry, and Eve Torres, which ended in a brawl between Maryse and Torres. The following week, she was the first eliminated from another swimsuit competition. On March 28, Maryse competed in a "Wet and Wild" match, teaming with Victoria against Cherry and McCool in a losing effort. On a "SmackDown after the bell" video on WWE's website, the tag team Deuce 'n Domino dumped Cherry, who had been their manager, and replaced her with Maryse. Maryse then insulted Cherry, only for Cherry to slap her. On the May 16 episode of SmackDown, Maryse made her in-ring debut in a loss to Cherry, though she defeated Cherry in a rematch the following week. On the June 6 episode of SmackDown!, SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero announced the creation of the WWE Divas Championship, and that same night the Divas competed in a Golden Dreams match to qualify for the championship match at The Great American Bash, which was won by Natalya. On the July 4, 2008, episode of SmackDown!, she competed again in another Golden Dreams match to face Natalya for the championship, however she failed to win. For several weeks, Maryse competed in six-person tag team matches with Victoria and Natalya against Cherry, Michelle McCool and Maria. She suffered a minor broken nose after receiving a bulldog from Maria in August 2008.
Independent circuit (2012)
On October 5, 2012, Maryse appeared at the Family Wrestling Entertainment (FWE) event Back 2 Brooklyn, performing live commentary. She began appearing regularly for FWE, where she commentated during women's matches.
Return to WWE (2016–present)
On April 4, 2016, episode of Raw, the episode after WrestleMania 32, Maryse returned during a WWE Intercontinental Championship match between the champion Zack Ryder and her husband, The Miz. During the match, Maryse slapped Ryder's father, who was in the front row, in order to distract Ryder and allowed Miz to capture the championship for the fifth time, thus becoming his manager in the process, where the two then became an on-screen power couple. She formally re-introduced herself three days later on the April 7 episode of SmackDown before once more helping Miz to retain his championship over Ryder. She then began to cut various promos with Miz as his host during the Miz TV segments, while calling themselves the "It" Couple. Following a hiatus due to the shoot of a WWE film, Maryse returned to WWE television on the June 27 episode of Raw, where she helped Miz to retain his championship against Kane after she faked an ankle injury.
After being drafted to Smackdown as part of the 2016 WWE draft which took place on July 19, she helped her husband to retain the title on several occasions.
In February 2017, Maryse was involved in her first feud since her return when she and The Miz feuded with the also real-life couple Nikki Bella and John Cena. This culminated in a mixed tag team match at WrestleMania 33, where Maryse and Miz would lose in what was Maryse's first match in over six years. On April 10, Maryse was drafted to the Raw brand along with Miz as part of the "Superstar Shake Up". On June 4, at Extreme Rules, Maryse was in Miz's corner when he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship for the seventh time by defeating Dean Ambrose. In September, following her pregnancy announcement, Maryse stopped appearing on television. On November 19, 2017, she made an appearance on the Survivor Series pay-per-view crowd watching Miz fight United States Champion Baron Corbin.
On January 22, 2018, in the Raw 25 Years special episode, Maryse was honored as part of a segment involving women considered legends that contributed to the company's success, including the Bella Twins, Kelly Kelly, Lilian Garcia, Torrie Wilson, Michelle McCool, Terri Runnels, Maria Kanellis and the Hall of Famers Jacqueline and Trish Stratus. Later she started making backstage promotional videos with Miz supporting him in the WWE Mixed Match Challenge, in which he won alongside Asuka in April in support of the charity Rescue Dogs Rock.
Professional wrestling style and persona
Throughout her career, Maryse has been noted for generating heat due to her snobby persona and bossy attitude in the ring, as well as for her comedy skits that often come unexpectedly during her matches and promos.
Other media
In April 2007, she appeared alongside fellow WWE Divas Ashley, Torrie Wilson, Brooke Adams, Layla, and Kelly Kelly in Timbaland's music video "Throw It On Me" featuring The Hives.
Ouellet also made an appearance in the January 2009 issue of Muscle & Fitness, along with Eve Torres and Michelle McCool. She and John Morrison were interviewed on Eurosport in the same year. She also made a special appearance on Redemption Song, which was hosted by WWE wrestler Chris Jericho, along with Candice Michelle, Mickie James, and Eve Torres. She has also appeared in several newspaper interviews, including Tokyo Headline, and was on the cover of Sessions Magazine in October 2010.
In 2012, Maryse was featured on the cover of Le Journal de Montréal, and on MDA Show of Strength with The Miz and other celebrities. In 2015, Ouellet had roles in Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! and in Santa's Little Helper, the latter starring The Miz. In the same year, she appeared on the E! reality television series WAGS. In 2016, it was announced that Maryse would appear as a main cast member on the sixth season of Total Divas, which prompted her return to WWE. In June 2017, Maryse along with Miz were on the cover of DUB Magazine with a Jeep car.
Maryse has appeared in twelve WWE video games. She made her in-game debut at WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010, later appearing in WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011, WWE '12, and returned in WWE 2K18, WWE 2K19, WWE 2K20, WWE 2K Battlegrounds, WWE 2K22, WWE 2K23, WWE 2K24, WWE 2K25, and WWE 2K26.
In 2018, Maryse and her husband Mike appeared in a reality television series titled Miz & Mrs. It was later announced on July 26 that Maryse would not be returning for the eighth season of Total Divas.
Other endeavors
Following her release from WWE in 2011, Ouellet announced her plans for a clothing and jewelry line named House of Maryse.
Beginning in late 2013, Ouellet began working as a realtor in Los Angeles after spending a year earning her real estate license.
Personal life
Ouellet is a native speaker of French, fluent in English, and she is able to read Spanish, although she cannot speak it. Ouellet has a tattoo of her late father's name, Guy, on her left wrist. She has a degree in business administration, and holds a black belt in Kyokushin Karate. Her favorite actress is Scarlett Johansson, her favorite bands are Simple Plan and Nickelback, and she loves techno music. Ouellet is vegetarian.
She was inspired to become a professional wrestler by Lita whom, along with Victoria, she cites as her dream opponents.
In 2013, Ouellet got engaged to longtime boyfriend and fellow wrestler Mike Mizanin, better known by his ring name, The Miz. The two were married in The Bahamas on February 20, 2014.
On March 27, 2018, Maryse gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Monroe Sky Mizanin.
During Elimination Chamber on February 17, 2019, the couple announced they were expecting their second child. Their daughter Madison Jade Mizanin was born on September 20, 2019.
On June 27, 2018, Ouellet officially became an American citizen. The couple resides in Thousand Oaks, California, as of 2019.
On February 10, 2024, Maryse announced she had been diagnosed with ovarian serous borderline tumors and would be undergoing a complete hysterectomy.
Championships and accomplishments
Beauty pageant
Hawaiian Tropic
Miss Hawaiian Tropic Canada (2003)
Runner-up International Finals of Miss Hawaiian (2004)
Professional wrestling
Bleacher Report
Diva/Knockout of the Year (2009)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Ranked No. 9 of the top 50 female wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2009
Live Audio Wrestling End of Year Awards
Best Comeback (2009) - as "The Gobbledy Gooker"
Best Wrestler: Female/Diva of the Year (2009)
Feud of the Year (2009) - with Michelle McCool for the WWE Divas Championship
The Baltimore Sun
Diva of the Year (2009)
Women's Wrestling Fan Awards
Most Improved Wrestler (2008)
One to Watch in 2009
Heel of the Year (2008)
Best Photoshoot of the Year (2009) - ‘Lady in Red’e
Most Stylish of the Year (2009)
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
WWE Divas Championship (2 times)
Divas Championship Tournament (2010)
Ranked No. 37 of the top 50 Greatest WWE Female Superstars of all time (2021)