Maryse Mizanin Prioritizes Motherhood Over WWE Return

Former WWE Divas Champion and reality television star Maryse Mizanin has spoken for the first time as a mom of two about how those priorities shifted career aspirations inside or outside of World Wrestling Entertainment. While speaking in an exclusive interview with People Magazine, on the whole, sobriety came with a real challenge: trying to strive for a mommy and pro versus choosing to be a parent over attempting in-ring work against the WWE rings.

A Storied WWE Career

Before discussing Maryse’s current status, let’s go back and understand her fantastic background in professional wrestling. Maryse Ouellet Mizanin was born on January 21, 1983, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and first entered the WWE scene as a finalist in the 2006 Diva Search competition. She didn’t win the competition, but her potential was taken into notice, and she was signed to a contract with WWE.

Maryse soon managed to hold herself within the ring as a stubborn opponent. She faced the proper WWE training in farmlands like Ohio Valley Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling before landing herself with SmackDown in the year 2008. With in-ring talent, adding up some strikes, along with an oozy charm, the game was pretty near getting into the women’s division where one could already have reached above all.

In December 2008, Maryse achieved her first major feat in her career when she defeated Michelle McCool to win her first WWE Divas Championship. That would not be all for this beauty in terms of championships. In the year 2010, she became the first two-time Divas Champion and held the title for a single reign for as long as 216 days. That made her one of the most dominant female wrestlers of her era.

Transition to Management and Reality TV

Since leaving WWE in 2011, Maryse has been pursuing other ventures both within and outside the circle of wrestling. Her career reached an interesting point in April 2016 when she made the surprising return to WWE as a manager for her real-life husband, The Miz. In that position, it put Maryse in an active role that let her wit and cunning come into play, helping The Miz find his way to success inside the ring.

Their on-screen chemistry and real-life relationship sparked interest among fans and executives alike. In 2018, Maryse and The Miz got their own reality TV show, “Miz & Mrs.,” which follows behind-the-scenes of the WWE Superstars and new parents. The show has really done quite well with the audience, having run multiple seasons so far and giving the fans a peek into how challenging it is to balance such a highly visible career with family life.

Everything is Changed by Motherhood

Over the last couple of years, Maryse has become quite focused on being a mom. She and her husband, The Miz, welcomed their first daughter, Monroe Sky, born in 2018, followed by their second, Madison Jade, in 2019. Becoming a parent greatly changed her perspective and priorities.

In a recent interview with PEOPLE, Maryse discussed the wild ways motherhood has changed her and her decisions around her career. “As much as we love what we do, the kids are now priority and number one,” she said. With such changes in priorities, Maryse has used this opportunity to reassess just how much she is investing in the exhausting world of professional wrestling.

There are several challenges in juggling a WWE career with motherhood. Especially for parents with young kids, the grueling travel schedule, physicality of in-ring performance, and time away from family are the most difficult. Maryse was candidly honest about her own struggles in finding a balance: “Especially as a woman, it’s difficult with two kids. I can’t travel that way. And then I don’t want to.”

Choosing Family Over Fame

The decision of Maryse to not return full-time to WWE competition for the sake of her children speaks to what it means to be a mother. She left little doubt as to her feelings: “I want to be there for my kids. And that’s what makes me happy. I want to go to bed at night and know that I’m in the same house as my kids, so as much as I love the business—I miss it—I choose my kids.”

The latter is what connects to the dilemma of many parents who face similar predicaments in their career paths. More so, professional wrestling usually encompasses an unbearable work schedule, considering the time investment required on tour and preparing bodies for the grind in the ring. Maryse’s choice pinpoints how seriously difficult options lay ahead for women in wrestling, much like other fields, once the family-building stage is considered.

The Challenges of “Mom Guilt”

Maryse has been candid about feeling “mom guilt,” as many working mothers do. She once shared in an interview, “I’m with them all day, every day, but I sometimes feel like it’s never enough. The mom guilt is really something that not many moms talk about. You leave your house for an hour, and you feel guilty about it.”

Many mothers can relate to this feeling as they fight to be present for their children while keeping their professional ambitions. Maryse’s honesty about these feelings normalizes the experience for other working mothers and sheds light on the emotional challenges often unspoken.

The Miz’s Take

Although Maryse has stepped back from active competition, her husband, The Miz, is still very relevant in WWE. In this same PEOPLE interview, The Miz spoke to the balance between fatherhood and his wrestling career: “I love my kids to death. And I try to find that healthy balance of fulfilling our dreams—but also because we want to show our kids if you have a dream, go after it and do what you have to do. But you also have to be that parent and that dad.”

The different approaches the couple has toward their careers after the baby really bring out how personal such decisions are. While The Miz is still chasing his wrestling dreams, he knows being a present father is important. This dynamic between the two offers an interesting glimpse into how different individuals navigate the challenges of parenting while maintaining high-profile careers.

Women’s Wrestling: The Evolution

Maryse’s decision to prioritize motherhood comes at a time when women’s wrestling has seen unprecedented growth and opportunities in WWE. Looking back at her brief return to in-ring action in 2018, Maryse reflected on the huge changes in the women’s division: “After I was pregnant with Monroe and, and when I came back to WWE, you know the first, I mean, I hadn’t wrestled in seven years, six years, and the first match I had was two, like I said, main event, Smackdown Live. Back in my days. Things like this wouldn’t happen. We were fighting for minutes on TV, and nowadays it’s just absolutely insane where it’s at.”

Knowing the rise of women in professional wrestling—and, in particular, the case with women main-eventing WrestleMania for the first time—what Maryse chose to do was so poignant. It spoke to the personal nature in which she made such a choice and to the worth placed on motherly duties rather than being faced with very exciting opportunities as a performer.

Future Endeavors and Occasional Appearances

While Maryse has opted to put her family first and not return full-time to WWE, she hasn’t shut the door completely on her wrestling career. She has appeared periodically on WWE programming many times in support of The Miz or for special events. In this way, she can keep connected with the industry she loves and still put her family first.

The reality show “Miz & Mrs.” has been going great guns, and that’s a good avenue for Maryse to be in the limelight without the grind of a full-time wrestling schedule. The show gives a glimpse into the family life of the couple and the challenges they face being working parents in the entertainment industry.

He added that The Miz has been teasing the possibility of the couple working on new projects together. In a recent interview, he teased, “Well, I think we can’t really. We can tease it. So maybe. Maybe you’ll hear about some things. Keep your eyeballs open for a new show with the Miz and Maryse.” This would suggest that while Maryse may not be returning to regular in-ring competition, she and The Miz continue to explore opportunities that allow them to balance their careers with their family life.

Inspiring Other Parents

The fact that Maryse is candidly open about how she had to choose between being a mother and being a wrestler really connected her to many of her fans who were parents, too. The fact that she would also speak to the balancing act that career goals sometimes have to do with family responsibilities—her feelings and experiences have resonated in many other working parents.

She further helps in keeping relevant the discourse about working-class life balance by sharing her own experiences in one of the fields that involve great times spent out of home. This further encourages any individual struggling with a decision like that of Maryse because here comes the proof that even after leaving at the height of success, life without career regret could be enjoyed as well.

Conclusion

The transition of Maryse Mizanin from being the WWE Divas Champion to a full-time mother encompasses many of those personal decisions faced by professionals, more so by females, as a means to create a balance in their careers once they build families. In this interview, Maryse speaks candidly about putting motherhood before any return to wrestling full time.

While fans may miss Maryse regularly in the WWE ring, this decision to focus on her children is deeply personal and thus one that many can respect and understand. Continuing to balance her roles as mother, wife, and occasional WWE personality, Maryse Mizanin serves as an example of how one can redefine success and fulfillment beyond professional accolades.

Her story reminds us that even in the fast-paced, high-profile world of professional wrestling, family can still come first. As Maryse herself said, “I choose my kids.” This powerful statement encapsulates the heart of her decision and the values that guide her life beyond the wrestling ring.