Nearly two years in the making, The Miz and Daniel Bryan’s war of words may be finally leading to a showdown in the squared circle.
After Miz’s scorched earth promo on Bryan in 2016 (one in which he admits he took shots below the belt), the two spent much of their time on Smackdown Live taking verbal shots at each other. With Bryan relegated to a general manager role and Miz having arguably the greatest run of his wrestling career, Bryan didn’t imagine there would ever be a payoff to their feud at the time. The former WWE Champion was miraculously cleared in early 2018 though, and now appears on a collision course with Miz.
WWE has done well in planting the seeds for this money rivalry, keeping the two competitors just far enough away to keep things interesting. The Miz’s latest antics involved him taking advantage of the Bludgeon Brothers beatdown two weeks ago in a gauntlet match on Smackdown. He’s remained curiously in the background as Team Hell No prepares to challenge for the Smackdown Live Tag Team titles at Extreme Rules, interjecting himself just enough to know he’s there, lurking and ready to strike.
Miz continues to stoke the flames from the background, recently talking up Bryan before noting the Yes! man isn’t on the level he is in an interview with Gorilla Position:
“I think there’s some jealousy if I’m really being honest of the fact that I was able to do what he couldn’t. I was still able to do what he couldn’t, but now he’s able to do that. But I don’t think he’s at the level that he was four years ago. He’s not, and people are always saying Miz vs Daniel Bryan, Daniel Bryan vs The Miz but he’s not at the caliber that I’m at right now,” Miz said.
“Has he showcased anything since he’s been back that he is a main event-level talent beside the audience doing the, ‘yes, yes, yes’ that was cool four years ago? Has he had a match where you go, ‘wow he’s back. He’s showcasing all the stuff that Daniel Bryan knows how to do.“
With questions about what Bryan will do when his contract expires later this year, WWE is apparently working to get as many “dream matches” out of him as possible before his potential exit. According to Wrestling Standard, this is leading to the showdown between Miz and Bryan at SummerSlam.
Per the report, the match’s winner is expected to show WWE’s hand in regards to Bryan’s future plans. If he wins, their feud could carry on to a final match at Hell in a Cell. As of now, the report indicates Miz is expected to walk away with the win.
(H/T Wrestling Inc)
