Miz vs Bryan Feud-Tracker

We know it's coming. It's just a matter of when. And kudos to WWE, they're playing it coy and milking the tease for everything it's going to be worth, which by my estimation will be dividends by the truckload!

So I'd like to begin a little catalogue thread in all the subtle ways it's being teased. Wish I started this back at Shakeup. Feel free to drop in what I will inevitably miss.

Smackdown Live, 5/22
-Miz kicks off the show, begins by hyping the event that we've all been waiting for. Drags it out until inevitably revealing that he's talking about his reality show with Maryse, Miz and Mrs, crushing the hopes of anyone foolishly hoping for a payoff so soon.
-After winning his match with Big E, celebrates on the ramp with a two or three "YES" points.
-Daniel Bryan wins a second chance match against Jeff Hardy and will face Samoa Joe next week in a qualifying match for Money in the Bank. They're keeping the focus on the contract, which is good, but should Bryan qualify, he'll inevitably cross paths with Miz.

That being said, I hope Bryan doesn't qualify. Joe's could use a showcase, Bryan's protected from a very dangerous match, and he and Miz don't cross paths. Win, win, win.

Current Estimated Match Date: This should be a Big-Four PPV match, and if they can keep it off of SummerSlam, they'll have no problems keeping Miz and/or Bryan busy during the multi-man melees of Survivor Series and Royal Rumble, all the while teasing conflict. Could very well take place at WrestleMania 35.

First match should be after Bryan beats Nakamura for the title and Miz cashes in.

I also like that WWE hasn't rushed into it right off, that they've sorta teased it a bit here and there and have had no interaction between the two.

As for next week, I don't see Bryan going over Joe as I simply see Big Cass interfering to some degree. It might be nothing more than a minor distraction, which is what I think it should be as they shouldn't do anything to really detract from Joe's win. Give Bryan just enough protection by having him give Joe a strong match, same with Joe, and have Bryan simply take his eye off the ball for a few moments. I won't complain if Bryan wins, but I think Joe needs it more at this point as Daniel Bryan will be in the WWE Championship picture at some point down the road anyway. Or, if Cass doesn't interfere, substitute Miz and use that minor interference as the next step in their eventual clash.

It's unlikely that Miz wins at MITB, maybe Bryan will return the favor and up the ante by preventing Miz from winning if Miz keeps him from winning against Joe next week. That also leaves wide open the fact that both men have viable claims to be contenders for the United States Championship, since both hold wins over Jeff Hardy. The United States Championship is the first title Bryan held in WWE and it was Miz he defeated for the title in the fist place, so having it be part of their program could almost be like them coming full circle, to some degree.

Of course, all this could depend on just when WWE wants to have them meet up. Jake's scenario is an interesting one as it'll not only add fuel to the fire, but it'll deliver a ton of heat on Miz. Bryan is one of many who've fallen victim to the MITB cash in format and I don't think anyone got more heat out of it than Randy Orton and Triple H, so Bryan getting screwed out of the WWE Championship after coming back and after being told for so long he wouldn't be medically cleared adds more to it than the United States Championship.

At any rate, there's no shortage of interesting roads they can take for this program and that's a good thing. I think the longer they keep it going but do just enough to keep it fresh in people's minds before ultimately letting it go down, the better it could be.

They had a really good match at a house show I was at last week, itâ??s going to happen and Iâ??d hope it will start in ring at Summerslam

As long as The Miz wins at the end, I'm game.

There's an element in this program that I hope they plan on revisiting. On Miz's Smackdown "debut" post Shakeup, he professed to be a better man than he was when he and Daniel were at odds. Fatherhood changes a man and such. So far, while Miz has still been a dick, he's remained true to that. Think of the New Day segment. He built each of them down but never went for the jugular of tearing them down completely. Very objective, didn't attack them personally.

Where am I going with this? When Daniel and Miz start sniffing the outskirts of their program, I really want them to sell "changed man" Miz. Maybe help Daniel Bryan out of a difficult situation. Help Daniel fight off a 2 on 1 attack. Sure, Daniel wouldn't necessarily trust him at first, but Miz could earn that trust over a few months. Maybe they could even challenge for the tag team titles.

Making when Miz stabs Bryan in the back all that much sweeter.

So a few more items have been peppered in over the last few months, namely Miz pinning Bryan in the Gauntlet match (Smackdown Live 6/20. btw isn't that a turmoil match) under circumstances of the Bludgeon Bros. Last night, we got a little more substance to this budding rivalry

Smackdown Live 7/10
Miz welcomes Team Hell No to Miz TV. Bryan promises to be a professional and refrain from punching Miz in the face. Miz tries to stir the pot by suggesting Kane will turn on Bryan yet again, which Bryan refutes by saying Miz's attempt at instigation is as weak as his wrestling.

Here's where it got good. Jump to :40. https://youtu.be/FndFxVZRfS0

Miz had that very same look in his eye in his iconic Talking Smack appearance in which he confronted Daniel Bryan originally. Here we are again, Miz has been triggered by Bryan downtalking his wrestling skills, and now boasts that all he can think about is ending Daniel Bryan's career for good.

Pretty wild statement, especially if that thread continues during this rivalry. I'm enticed by the idea of Miz chasing such a violent goal. It's certainly not a side we've seen out of Miz before. Sure he's had great rivalries like the one with Cena, but this is like a new gear entirely.

As for Kane, I'd like to point out that when he was last a regular on WWE TV, he had a soft alliance with Miz through the SHIELD rivalry. Could that be a factor? Could Miz have orchestrated the Hell No reunion with the end game of Kane indeed betraying Daniel Bryan, and possibly trying to break his neck again, all masterminded by Miz.

Current Estimated Match Date: If Kane betrays Daniel (by Miz's orchestration or otherwise), or they win the Tag Team Championship, then Daniel has someone to work with at SummerSlam while prolonging the build for Miz vs Bryan one on one. If so, they can keep them away from one another at Survivor Series and Royal Rumble easily enough. I'm still hoping, and believe it's in the realm of possibility, that this match happens at WrestleMania 35

Touching on Miz being "afraid" to take a hit or not being a "good wrestler" was a nice way to go as it's one of the few things that's played off as genuinely getting under Miz's skin. Whenever he's insulted by anyone, he usually just makes some sort of smarmy comment or something but Bryan's declaration about Miz's courage and abilities always evokes a strong emotional response from Miz and the reason why is that there's a basis in reality for it. For years, I mean really up until the last 3 years or so, Miz has been eaten alive by internet fans left and right for not being a "good wrestler" or whatever because he doesn't do a ton of high spots and doesn't do these insanely risky moves that are done mostly for the sake of popping fans. In truth, I think Miz is absolutely right as there are too many wrestlers, especially outside of WWE, who do some dangerous shit.

At any rate, this thing will pick once Kane is out of the picture. Maybe they could have Miz play a huge part in Kane being "injured", aka written off TV, this Sunday as it gives Bryan more incentive to go after him. There's been talk of possibly extending the feud to WrestleMania next year but I don't see that happening. I don't have faith in Vince McMahon to successfully keep this program going that long, not without having a bunch of matches along the way that'll ultimately dilute the feud itself.

Smackdown Live 7/17
Miz holds a memorial service for Team Hell No, in which he boasts that he was right about Kane being a broken down demon all along, and that he's right that Daniel Bryan is tarnishing his own legacy in this comeback run, and Daniel will never headline WrestleMania again. Bryan's music hits, and he gets physical with Miz for the first time in over five years (spare the gauntlet). Miz escapes while Bryan makes mincemeat out of the funeral procession.

So, I think it's safe to say that this feud is ON!

Projected Match Date: This wasn't a moment that was feeding a slow burn, but the strike of a match. This match is all but confirmed for SummerSlam. I've been worried that SummerSlam would be too soon, but I've been a little naive because I was also thinking of their first encounter as the payoff in the feud. Miz's promo tonight, and chatting with BestSportsEntertainer in the LD made me realize there's mileage far past their first encounter. Miz could get the SummerSlam victory and ride that wave to a Championship match during the fall, and even pick up the win. All the while, they could keep touching upon what Miz said tonight, that Daniel Bryan's glory days of headlining WrestleMania are behind him. That alone is enough to build a feud around, but these two will have that and so much more to work with. I'm now hoping for Miz vs Bryan at SummerSlam, with a rematch at WrestleMania for the WWE title.

The WWE KNOWS that long-term storytelling works with Daniel Bryan. Hell, they even know that it works in the window from SummerSlam to WrestleMania. I hope they keep that in mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9qJKzPo9hQ

GAW-DAMN! I don't often like when mainstream media and pop-culture spills into the WWE, but I like when it goes the other way.

Miz and Bryan are like Yin and Yang. Miz brings us the build and Daniel is going to bring us the match. Not that Miz underperforms in a ring or Daniel underperforms on a mic, but so far they are definitely building all this around their respective strengths.

Miz and Bryan just flat out work well together. They're able to get under each other's skins with sly little remarks and condescending insults that believably sting because you feel that there's a little bit of truth to them.

Bryan calls Miz a "coward" and has said that he's someone that works a very, very safe WWE style because he doesn't have the heart or the ability to do more challenging stuff. These are things that a LOT of internet fans have said about Miz, except over the past few years when so many began to embrace Miz and finally appreciate how talented he is. Those things really, really bothered Miz in the past and probably still does today to some degree, though the sting isn't quite the same as it was say about this time 8 years ago. Miz, on the other hand, keeps bringing up all the wrestling in bingo halls and high school gyms, sort of poking fun at the people who feel that's superior to WWE, taking a shot at the various "indy darlings" while saying that he looks at his style as working smart rather than stupid which, let's be honest, is par for the course among a lot of wrestlers these days. It has a nice, potent little sting when he mentions that to Bryan, essentially saying it's because of his own recklessness that he suffered all those injuries, that he should've taken better care of himself. It resonates so well because, quite frankly, there's a good deal of truth to it because as much as I enjoy Bryan, Bryan is someone that's been guilty of putting the thrill of the moment ahead of his long term health way too often. I mean, Miz is kind of right and the fact that he comes off as such an arrogant creep, who happens to have made very legitimate points, makes it all the easier to dislike him.

Right now, a lot of people are salivating over Bryan getting his hands on Miz and I think they should have a good, strong, heated confrontation along the lines of their classic interaction on Talking Smack. Miz was livid and I'd never seen him that intense, that riled up and I'd like to see Bryan get heated up as well to match it. While Miz has gotten the better of Bryan a few times by sly tricks, I kinda don't want to see Bryan do more than maybe shove Miz or grab him by the lapels of his jacket. I'd rather it was kept a war of words and bitter frustrations towards each other for now.