The WWE Champion even reveals a humiliating off-camera loss you never knew about.

Mike “The Miz” Mizanin dreams of becoming the face of the WWE. “When people think of WWE, I don’t want them to think of John Cena or Steve Austin,” he tells HollywoodLife.com. “I want them to think of The Miz.” And as the newly crowned WWE Champion, the Superstar is closer than ever. But first, he’s got some business he wants to take care of… with LeBron James. ”I’d love to smack him,” the Cleveland, Ohio, native confesses. “I’d love to put a skull-crushing finale on him.”

But even though The Miz talks a big game, he admits even he isn’t immune to defeat. For the past three years at Christmastime, he’s lost the family bench-pressing competition at Uncle Jimmy‘s house. Apparently, The Miz’s upper-body strength pales in comparison to his insurance agent cousin Don. And yes, Don made a plaque for this year’s competition.

So what’s next for The Miz, besides this year’s family feud?

A Dwayne Johnson-style film career is doubtful, he tells us, unless the right movie comes along. “I don’t just want to be thrown into something,” he says. “You have to earn your stripes and gain respect in order to get it.”

And don’t expect him to make any surprise appearances on a Real World/Road Rules Challenge show, either. Though he says he owes so much to MTV, he officially retired from the Challenges when he turned 25 and won The Inferno 2. “I didn’t want to keep coming back,” he says. “I didn’t want to be 40 and still doing Challenges.”

For now, the WWE Champion is just focused on moving up in the WWE, keeping Randy Orton (admittedly his biggest competition) off his back, and remaining the pillar of awesomeness in a world full of haters.

And here are five more ‘awesome’ little nuggets from my chat with The Miz:

1. The Miz still treasures ‘Real World’ memorabilia: When Mike first invented “The Miz” on The Real World: Back to New York in 2001, he made a replica of the WWE Championship title — and it still has a special place in his trophy room at home.
2. The Miz equates the Nexus to ‘Herpes’: “One day they’re gone, the next day they’re here,” he says of the Raw stable of Superstar-wannabes. “They’re like Herpes.”
3. The Miz prefers blondes — especially Barbie: “It’s pretty awesome,” he says about being made into an action figure. “Mattel does such a great job with detail. … I’m way better looking than Ken. Barbie’s been hitting on my action figure the whole time. She actually asked the stocking people if she could hang next to me, but they said no — because it’s PG.”
4. The Miz was a huge fan of The Rock growing up: “You always wanted to know what he was going to say next. … I think the ‘Attitude’ Era was the greatest era ever. So entertaining.”
5. The Miz sees potential in David Otunga: “He still needs a lot of work in the ring — we’ve all seen that. But the fact is he’s very good on the mic. And he’s got a superstar wife [Jennifer Hudson] which gives him tremendous hate-ability.”

And those of you who still think of The Miz as the “bad guy” of the ring (a reputation he tells me is undeserved), you really should watch the WWE’s eighth annual “Tribute to the Troops” holiday special, airing Dec. 18 at 9 p.m. on NBC. The Miz, along with his fellow Superstars, WWE Divas and a slew of celebrity guests, show their support to our armed forces in the U.S. and overseas.

Seriously, it’s going to be… awesome.