wrestling / News

The Miz Recalls Daniel Bryan Talking Smack Segment: ‘One of the Most Real Moments I’ve Had in WWE’

July 31, 2020 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Daniel Bryan The Miz Talking Smack Image Credit: WWE

Speaking with Jeffrey Harris for the 411 Wrestling Interviews Podcast, The Miz recalled his famous Talking Smack segment with Daniel Bryan. Miz and Bryan got into it on screen in a segment on the August 23rd, 2016 episode of the Smackdown aftershow that quickly became viral when Bryan said that Miz “wrestles like a coward” in reference to Miz’s safe ring style. Miz went ballistic on Bryan, turning it around on the then-retired star for promising fans that he would be back but not doing so due to WWE not allowing him to compete due to his medical situation at the time.

Talking about his feud with Bryan and specifically the Talking Smack segment, Miz recalled how real it was and how Bryan set him off to the point that he doesn’t remember what he said and “blacked out.” You can check out highlights and the full audio below:

On his long-running feud with Daniel Bryan: “Still waiting for a thank you from Daniel Bryan for creating his career. I mean, if it wasn’t for me on the first season of NXT, I’m not sure how big he’d be now. Daniel Bryan and I — look, Daniel Bryan is one of the most talented Superstars WWE has ever seen. Both inside the ring and outside the ring, the guy is very good at what he does. Both of us are complete opposites, you know? In everything that we do. So we butt heads quite a bit, and we’ve been rivals for a very long time. Daniel knows how to push my buttons, I know how to push his, and it makes for great TV for everyone else.”

On if his Talking Smack segment with Bryan is one of his career highlights: “It was pretty great. A highlight? I don’t know. It’s a moment that people talk about a lot. And honestly, it was one of the most real moments that I’ve had in WWE. I was having a really bad day that day, and I kind of took it all out on Daniel Bryan. And it was one of those things like, he just said something that kind of triggered me. It wasn’t even what he said, it was like how he said it. And it triggered something in my brain that had like, just years and years of frustration and aggravation, and people telling me that I wasn’t good enough. And still to that day, I’m holding the Intercontinental Title, the title that he wanted to make prestigious and honorable, and then he had to quit because of all the things that he had with medical. And then here he’s sitting here calling me a coward when literally, the dude could have left WWE and still wrestling. It was just WWE wouldn’t allow him to wrestle because of the protocols they had to go through. And he could still go on the — if he still loved wresting so much, he could have went to the bingo halls and all that stuff. And literally that was just, you know, it just aggravated me.

“And then when he walked away, it kind of triggered even more stuff. Like, even when I’m talking, he’s still not listening. And it reminded me of everyone that just isn’t listening to me, like I get no respect. I get no — if anything, I get the opposite of respect. I get disrespect, and disrespected, by everyone and everything. And it’s not just in the locker room … at that time it wasn’t just like the locker room, it wasn’t just WWE and fans. It was everything, and then I just went to the camera and spoke my mind. It was very real, it was very aggravating. And people ask me, ‘What did you say?’ I don’t even know what I said, I don’t remember what I said. I blacked out. It wasn’t coming from my brain; it was coming from my heart. And when you’re doing that, your brain isn’t even working. Your mouth is just spewing whatever your heart is generating at that moment. And that’s kind of what I felt. I was aggravated, I was mad. And I’ll tell you what. Afterwards, I was relieved. I felt so much better; it was like a therapy session. [laughs]”

In the full interview, Miz talks about his new USA Network game show Cannonball and the latest on Miz & Mrs.’ new season, his longstanding rivalry with Daniel Bryan and their Talking Smack altercation, feeling like he has more to do in his career, John Morrison’s return to WWE revitalizing him, a possible Universal Championship run and more.

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0:00: Intro
2:10: On getting the hosting gig for Cannonball, producers asking for Mike & not The Miz
4:31: On if he’s run through the Cannonball course yet
6:43: On the show providing an escape for people during the lockdown and pandemic
8:22: On how the show treats the competition aspect seriously
10:12: On his UpUpDownDown Championship loss to Tyler Breeze
11:54: On feeling like he has more left to do in the ring, John Morrison revitalizing him, their songs
13:51: On feeling he had to prove himself early on in his career, if he’s still fighting for that respect
14:51: On his longstanding rivalry with Daniel Bryan, their famous Talking Smack altercation
18:38: On his team with John Morrison being a turning point for his career, CM Punk’s beef with him
20:20: On if he and Morrison are looking to target Braun Strowman again after the Swamp Fight, possible Universal Title run
22:46: On adjusting to working under quickly-shifting situations due to COVID-19
24:07: On the upcoming third season of Miz & Mrs.
26:08: Outro

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