Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
Bryan Danielson (Formerly known as Daniel Bryan in WWE) has always been considered one of the very best professional wrestlers in the business. Mike ‘The Miz’ Mizanin was groomed in WWE’s style since day one and many fans and wrestlers alike, never gave him the respect that Danielson has received throughout the years. The two opposites were rivals on screen and off with Danielson admitting that while the respect was there, the two did not like one another personally. That animosity seemed to spill over into their characters on a random WWE produced show called ‘Talking Smack.’ On that particular episode, the lines between kayfabe and reality were blurred.
The Date: August 23, 2016
The Place: ‘Talking Smack’ (WWE’s Smackdown Post Show)
The Participants: Renee Young (Host) Daniel Bryan (Co Host) The Miz and Maryse (Guests)
The set up for this verbal confrontation ran a bit deeper than just this particular evening. The animosity between Bryan and The Miz goes as far back as 2010, when NXT was a reality show and inexplicably Miz was the “mentor” to the “rookie” in Daniel Bryan. The internet was abuzz with anger at how could someone like the Miz be a mentor to the much more established wrestler Daniel Bryan? A wrestler who competed all over the world against some of the biggest names internationally and on the independent circuit?
In the time between NXT and Talking Smack, Bryan was fired and rehired by WWE, became an underdog superstar with the entire “Yes Movement,” while the Miz was a steady fixture on WWE programming. The Miz and Daniel Bryan went on to win multiple championships in their WWE careers separately. Then, after years of physical abuse to his body with the style of wrestling Bryan applied….he was forced to retire from in ring competition. While Daniel Bryan was now on the shelf and not cleared by WWE medical staff, he became an on air authority figure by becoming the Smackdown general manager. Meanwhile, the Miz continued his career by winning the Intercontinental title.
Two different personalities going in two different directions career wise. By the time the episode of Talking Smack aired, both Daniel Bryan and the Miz were feeling the exact same way…frustrated. For Bryan, it was simply feeling trapped and not allowed to do the one thing he loved and that was wrestle. For the Miz, despite being the reigning Intercontinental champion, he wasn’t being used much and after being bumped off that evening’s edition of Smackdown…finally began to crack.
The Miz could not understand why as a reigning champion, he was being left off the show. He asked to be a guest on the post show Talking Smack to get some much desired air time and perhaps let out some of his frustrations. What followed was a culmination of both Bryan and Miz’s frustrations with the company and how their careers were stagnating. According to Bryan, the two talked before the show went on the air to outline what would be said and how it would be presented. Bryan didn’t realize how far things would go.
The two wrestlers were going back and forth taking shots at one another when Bryan called the Miz a person who wrestles soft and like a coward…that comment according to the Miz legitimately set him off and what followed was a venomous diatribe against Daniel Bryan and his career, This is what the Miz said during their verbal spat…
Miz: Let me tell you about a coward! Let me tell you about a guy who tells his WWE fans, people that he loves that he will be back — he PROMISES THEM! — “I promise you, I will be back in one year’s time to claim this (Intercontinental) title!” But you didn’t, Daniel, did you? But I’m the coward. I’m the one who doesn’t love the fans.
Bryan: If they would let me come back, I would come back.
Miz: Oh you would? You love that WWE ring, you love wrestling. You love being right in that wrestling ring and you love wrestling, right? Well why don’t you quit? Why don’t you quit and go to the bingo halls with your indie friends, then?
Renee Young: I think you need to calm— That’s not what this show’s about!
Miz: No, no, I got this! Me and the GM have this. Thank you very much, Renee, this is is a great show, but we’re talking here. I need to talk to you (Bryan) real quick, because the fact is you’re the one who calls me the coward, but you’re the one that doesn’t get in the WWE ring again.
At that moment, Daniel Bryan got up and walked out. According to Bryan, he had seriously considered taking a swing and punch the Miz in the mouth, but thought better of that idea. He said that if he did, he probably would have been fired. The Miz continued his rant holding up his IC title and looking directly into the camera with his emotions completely taking over with some tears in his eyes. The Miz didn’t want things to go as far as they did and he wasn’t just talking to Daniel Bryan, but every fan and everybody in WWE’s upper management that doubted him as a wrestler.
Renee Young, who was hosting the show, said that Kevin Dunn was shouting in her earpiece to take the show off as things were getting more and more heated. She felt for both Bryan and the Miz…not their characters but as the real life humans they were. She said she was generally concerned for both as friends.
In the end, Daniel Bryan would go on the following week and apologize to the fans for walking off the show. He also apologized to the Miz saying that he was actually right in what he said. He is afraid to return to the ring because he and his wife Brie Bella were trying to start a family and the issue of him getting back in the ring has been a source of contention between the couple. Bryan would correct the Miz on one aspect of his promo and that was that if he did return to wrestle again, he would be working more “Tokyo Domes” than “bingo halls.”
The entire Talking Smack segment helped elevate the Miz to another level of respect for many fans who were critical of him and his career. While the incident was not a complete shoot, it wasn’t scripted and brought out real raw emotions from both men.