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What's the story?
The Miz was recently a guest on on CBS Sports' In This Corner podcast, and covered a number of topics, most notably, Daniel Bryan.
In case you didn't know...
The former after show following WWE Smackdown Live, Talking Smack, was very popular among fans as it was completely unscripted. The show's most memorable segment came in August 2016, when then Smackdown General Manager Daniel Bryan called The Miz a coward in the ring. The Miz consequently lost his patience and went off on Daniel, calling Bryan a coward whilst giving his reasons why he was the best WWE Intercontinental Champion in history.
Vince McMahon was said to have personally cancelled Talking Smack. At first, the believed reason was said to be lack of viewers, but apparently that was far from the case and Vince believed that the show being off script, didn't have WWE's best interests at heart.
The heart of the matter
During his appearance on CBS Sports' In This Corner podcast, The Miz covered a number of topics, including his newborn baby, fatherhood changing him, main-eventing WrestleMania, and most notably, Daniel Bryan coming out of retirement. When speaking of Bryan, Miz looked back on his infamous Talking Smack moment and referred to Bryan as being a coward during it. Miz said:
"Am I happy? No. Good for him that he is back. Congratulations. Bravo. The thing is he was the one that said, 'fight for your dreams?' He didn't fight for his dreams when he walked away like a coward on Talking Smack now did he? That's real. Fight for your dreams. His playbook goes something like this: go out there, get sympathy, talk about your wife, cry a little and get your ass kicked."
What's next?
The Miz is set to face Seth Rollins for the WWE Intercontinental Championship this Sunday at WWE Backlash, while Daniel Bryan will face Big Cass. Miz and Bryan are expected to feud shortly after, although some believe the match between them will be saved for a big pay-per-view, like SummerSlam in August.
Author's take
Was Daniel Bryan a coward during Talking Smack? I think that is up for debate, he certainly wasn't ready for The Miz's reaction, and obviously didn't know how to react.
