World Wrestling Entertainment’s seventh-annual “Tribute to the Troops” program will air on NBC on Saturday at 9 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. Central.

The event, which has become one of the most important on the WWE calendar, chronicles the four days that the WWE Superstars and Divas spent in Iraq, along with a live performance in a makeshift arena, built by and filled with U.S. military personnel.

“The Miz” Mike Mizanin, 29, wrestled on the tour for a second consecutive year and the United States champion was proud to once again be a part of the show. I spoke to Mizanin by phone on Thursday afternoon about his experience in Iraq, as well as his career.

Phil Strum: What is the experience like going overseas and performing in front of the troops.

Miz: It’s an eye-opener. The first time I went was last year. Just flying over there on the air cargo plane, where you can see all your luggage and everything, was a new experience. I’m used to flying on American Airlines and stuff and we’re flying over in this big humongous cargo plane. It’s insane. Getting over there, at first, you’re kind of scared, but you know you’re safe with soldiers all around you.

They talk about these things that you just don’t hear about in America. Like a mortar. We hit a mortar over there. It’s a bomb. A freaking bomb! And you hear them talking about it non-chalantly. You always look at the news and things on CNN and in the newspaper and you don’t really realize until you actually get over there and talk to the soldiers that some of these experiences are incredible.

One camp we visited didn’t have running water. They had to live without running water the entire time. We asked them what they did and they said, ‘work out, work and sometimes when the internet works, we can go online and talk to our families.’ They had to pee in tubes and also burn their own poop, because they didn’t have any running water. All that and talking about bombs and guns non-chalantly. I mean, I come from a neighborhood in Cleveland where not everybody has a gun.

PS: I think you’re a little bit younger than me (I’m 30 and Miz is 29) Does it mean more to you to be able to do it because there are a lot of soldiers around your age?

Miz: It brought me a whole new respect for our armed forces. It was incredible seeing them and seeing the smiles on their faces. They don’t get to see their families during Christmas and birthdays. It was incredible to meet these people and bring smiles to their faces. The morale there can get kind of down. In a desert, there’s nothing to do. I was signing an autograph for one guy, whose kid was having a birthday and he said, “Oh my God, my kid is going to love this.’ I made phone calls to some of their kids. And just seeing the dads’ faces while their hearing their kid’s laughter, was great. Especially when the kid’s missing his dad.

It’s really, really incredible. And to have an actual WWE show there is priceless.

PS: Some folks in WWE have said that this show is just as important or more important than a WrestleMania. Why is it so important to be able to perform on this show?

Miz: It’s so important for this show to be on to see the soldiers in a new light. We see the news with all the negatives and the bombing. On our show, you see soldiers with smiles and posters saying hi to their daughter. Seeing them in a new light, and not the bombs and the guns, that’s what it’s all about.

And President Obama is actually going to have a speech on the show, so that’s pretty cool.

PS: It must have been unique doing the show without JBL this year, since he was the one who I believe started the concept.

Miz: JBL brought the idea to WWE’s attention. He retired this year, so we’ll take over the reins. Once one person goes, we’re not going to quit going over there. We want to keep going every year and we want our soldiers to be safe.

PS: You wrestled John Morrison on this year’s show. The last time I interviewed you, you guys were tag team champions. Do you have any regret over splitting up the tag team without having a big feud or anything? Do you think you guys could have a nice rivalry down the line?

Miz: I think it’s actually better this way. We can both go the singles route. We were the best tag team of the 21st century and now we’re both moving up the ladder as singles wrestlers. John won the Intercontinental championship and I won the United States championship. I still have the United States championship, which proves who the talent was in that tag team.

Not really having a full feud saves it for when it might happen in the future.

PS: Last time we talked, you mentioned that you were a big fan of The Rockers growing up. So what do you have against Marty Jannetty? What was it like getting in the ring with him in the Morrison feud?

Miz: You have no idea how excited I was. I wanted to prove I wasn’t the Marty Jannetty of the team. I almost felt bad because I was ripping on him right in front of his face. It’s terrible, but it was something I can do because I’m the Miz and that’s what I’d do.

As a kid, when we’d be The Rockers, I always said, ‘I want to be the one with the brown hair.” So I actually always wanted to be Marty Jannetty! Until I realized that Shawn Michaels made it really big and Marty didn’t. Then, I didn’t want to be Marty anymore.

He’s still got it though. I don’t know how old he is, but he’s got to be in his mid-to late-40s and it was incredible to get in the ring with him.

PS: Since you’re a longtime fan too, how did you feel about the possiblity of Bret Hart coming in to WWE, that was mentioned on Monday Night Raw?

Miz: There’s one word to describe that: very interesting.

PS: That’s actually two words.

Miz: Yeah. I’m really curious on the whole situation. Will Bret be a little bitter? Will Vince be bitter? It’s one of those things: This will be very entertaining and definitely shocking.

That would be fantastic if he came in. He hasn’t been with us since he was inducted into the Hall of Fame and hasn’t been in a WWE ring in over 12 years.

(Miz mentioned that he did meet Hart at the Hall of Fame in April 2006.)

PS: Would you like to work more with John Cena. I thought the stuff you did in your feud over the summer with the 1-0, 2-0, 6-0 thing was a lot of fun.

Miz: I would love to, but I would love to build myself up a little bit more before I put my foot in my mouth again. I wasn’t ready to be in that league. I have to have more battles and wars to get myself to that level. I did and said things about John Cena no one has said before. I gained a lot of respect doing that, like ‘this kid means business.’ Then, I went back down again and will build myself up going through more battles and wars.

PS: As you said before, Miz and Morrison really helped bring the tag team titles to a higher level. What are your goals to get the United States title to that point?

Miz: Some of the biggest stars ever in WWE have had the honor of holding the United States championship. I plan on being the United States champion and don’t plan on losing it. I plan on being the WWE champion and don’t plan on losing that either. Maybe I’ll just retire as the only man never to lose the title. Being a 16-time champion means that you lost the belt a lot.

PS: Finally, any good stories about working with guest hosts?

Miz: Oh yeah. I got to work with a bunch of the. Snoop Dogg, Ben Roethlisberger, (Jeremy) Piven. I was psyched about Jeremy Piven because I am a huge Entourage fan.

And Dr. Ken Jeong — the naked guy in “The Hangover.” He is that guy you see in “The Hangover.” When he starts going nuts, watch out.

Ozzy Osbourne. I grew up listening to Ozzy Osbourne. But everybody grew up listening to Ozzy because he’s that old. These guest hosts have been phenomenal. My favorite guest host was actually one I didn’t get to work with: Bob Barker. Everyone there loved Bob Barker. When he told Chris Jericho, ‘I will bend you over my knee and spank you,’ that was great.

PS: That’s about all I have. I really appreciate you doing this and wish you all the luck in your career. Have a Happy Holiday and a Happy New Year.

Miz: Thanks, Phil. Happy Holidays to you too.