5 Possible reasons why Daniel Bryan defeated The Miz in under three minutes

One of the biggest surprises at Super Show-Down came in the WWE Championship #1 contender match between Daniel Bryan and The Miz.

The match involved Miz mocking the former SmackDown Live GM with the “Yes!” taunt in the corner before he connected with a Running Knee – a move made famous by his long-term rival.

Then, with “The A-Lister” preparing to hit his Skull Crushing Finale move, Bryan rolled him up with a small package to claim a surprise 1-2-3 victory in just 2 minutes and 25 seconds.

Bryan will now face AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at the Crown Jewel event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 2, while Miz has posted a picture on Instagram labelling his opponent a “cheat”, seemingly claiming that his shoulder was up before the 3-count.

So why was the match booked to end so abruptly? Or did Miz make a legitimate mistake and fail to kick out in time?

Either way, the finish has got fans talking on social media over the weekend, so let’s take a look at five possible reasons why the match ended in such quick fashion.

#5 WWE wants to prolong the story

This rivalry has been eight years in the making

The most common theory behind the short match is that the rivalry between Daniel Bryan and The Miz is far from over and WWE booked the Super Show-Down finish in the manner that they did to prolong the storyline.

Miz no longer has bragging rights from his victories at SummerSlam and Hell In A Cell, so he will now have an even bigger grudge with Bryan than he did before Super Show-Down.

With many expecting this feud to continue until WrestleMania 35, perhaps the finish to Saturday’s match was done to separate the two men for a few months before the rivalry is renewed ahead of next year's 'Mania.

#4 Was it a botch?!

Their SummerSlam match lasted 23 minutes

No matter how WWE explains the match in their storylines, there will be plenty of fans who will believe the finish was a botch until it’s confirmed or denied by Daniel Bryan or The Miz in a media interview.

The fact that the ring bell didn’t sound straight after the win is very suspicious, while it took longer than expected for Bryan’s music to play.

#3 Daniel Bryan needed to gain some momentum

Daniel Bryan hadn't won a PPV match since June

Let’s face it, as much as the WWE Universe loves Daniel Bryan, there hasn’t been enough intrigue surrounding his storylines since he returned earlier this year.

Having spent the last six months feuding with Big Cass, The Bludgeon Brothers and The Miz, “The Leader of the Yes Movement” desperately lacked momentum heading into Super Show-Down following three PPV losses in a row and a defeat to Shelton Benjamin last week.

The quick victory over The Miz immediately gives him some much-needed momentum ahead of a four-week build to his long-awaited WWE Championship match against AJ Styles.

#2 Was it cut short due to time constraints?

WWE has been very inconsistent with the timing of PPV events recently, with some shows lasting less than four hours and some running as long as five hours.

Super Show-Down was advertised as a four-hour event (no kickoff show) and that’s exactly how long it lasted, so perhaps Daniel Bryan and The Miz were simply the victims of time constraints?

AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe (23 minutes) and The Shield vs. Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre (19 minutes) both ran fairly long.

With that in mind, maybe Bryan vs. Miz was cut short ahead of another long match – Triple H vs. The Undertaker (27 minutes) – in the main event?

#1 Is the small package Daniel Bryan’s new ‘finisher’?

Will we see more small package victories soon?

Maybe, just maybe, the match panned out the way it did because Daniel Bryan is bringing back the “Mr Small Package” gimmick name that he used on the independent scene.

Bryan’s last WWE mention of his ability to win matches with a small package came in 2012 after he defeated Kane with the move at SummerSlam.

The new WWE Championship #1 contender sent out the following tweet a few minutes after Saturday’s victory: “Mr Small Package strikes again! Watch out @AJStylesOrg! #MrSmallPackage”

If we see Bryan win more matches with the move in the next few weeks on SmackDown Live, this could be the most plausible reason for the abrupt match at Super Show-Down!