On the weekly SmackDown! Live recap show, WWE Talking Smack, General Manager Daniel Bryan had a small altercation with the Intercontinental Champion, The Miz and how he took offense to Bryan’s remarks about him wrestling “like a coward.”
“I’m the coward in the wrestling ring?,” asked Miz. “Let’s talk about cowards for one second. The reason I wrestle the way I wrestle is because I can do it day in and day out, all the time for ten plus years!” As Miz continued, you could see his face get redder and he became more aggressive towards Bryan. Miz talked about how he doesn’t get injured for six months and beyond. “I am here each and every week, but you sit here and call me a coward?”
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Eventually Bryan left the broadcast with Miz still berating him. “I’m the one that loves the fans…you’re the one that gets up and walks away!” It’s an intense promo that was making the rounds this morning and is getting a ton of praise for Miz’s character and rightfully so. There’s this feeling about Miz and his place in the company among fans. Does he deserve being champion? He was rarely seen on TV for a while as he was filming a movie, but each time he came back, his work in the ring never took a hit. The thing about what he said to Bryan is that it’s 100% accurate. He does do a low-key style, but it’s a style that preserves long health. Think about where he started and where he is now and the guys who were around him and where they are now. Only a few remain. That’s something to think about.
Looking at this again, you can see that he had several places of anger to pull from. A few years ago, he was main-eventing WrestleMania against John Cena for the WWE Championship. And he won, too. He sort of got lost in the shuffle, taking a few of the secondary titles along the way, but still wasn’t seen as a legitimate threat. Could this be a turning point of his career and finally gets the heel run that fan knows he’s capable of? It was solid character work and it was told in a manner that was so visceral and true that you couldn’t help but be Team Miz by the end of it. Mind you that this has been speculated as a return angle for Daniel Bryan at some point as well. The Miz and Daniel Bryan go all the way back to the first season of NXT when it was still in its reality show competition format. Miz was Bryan’s mentor as Bryan himself was labeled a “rookie”, which amused hardcore wrestling fans that had been following Bryan Danielson’s career for years. It’s doubtful that Bryan could return to the WWE under his current medical state, but in the meantime, we should be on the lookout for the second coming of The Miz as it seems it’s right around the corner.
