Bryan Danielson’s time in WWE as Daniel Bryan saw his most noteworthy rivalry coming against The Miz. This may come as a shock on paper since Bryan worked major programs with the likes of John Cena, Triple H, CM Punk and many other legendary names. Even though Miz is clearly a Hall of Fame act, he was rarely in the main event picture.
Bryan and Miz working together at the start of the former’s WWE career in NXT instantly bonded them as rivals. The years would see them stopping and starting their feud with many chapters. Bryan and Miz having such polar opposite approaches to wrestling added to their story. The following tidbits will provide some forgotten details about their feud.
10 Miz Referenced Bryan Wanting To Leave WWE In Infamous Promo
The Talking Smack promo from The Miz created a rare time when a talking segment was the high point of a wrestling feud. Daniel Bryan and Miz had some solid matches, but this was clearly the most discussed moment from their work together.
Miz broke character when Bryan made things personal by calling out his wrestling style. There were rumors of Bryan wanting out of his WWE contract to wrestle elsewhere when not cleared. Miz bringing that up and asking Bryan why he didn’t quit brought that to a bigger forefront than online rumor mills.
9 Vince Paired Them Together Due To Differences
WWE picked The Miz to mentor Daniel Bryan in the first season of NXT to get people talking. Bryan was by far the biggest name of the new wrestlers starting off in a new WWE concept. Miz was known for talking without the in-ring skills at the time, and Bryan had the opposite reputation. Even their backgrounds of Bryan wrestling for years making a name and Miz starting off in reality television placed them at odds. Vince McMahon did this since it would help both talents and create instant tension for television.
8 WWE Tried To Recycle Storyline With Alex Riley
The Miz remained involved in the second season of NXT as a pro for Alex Riley after his stint with Daniel Bryan. Riley started off as a heel wanting to learn from Miz and becoming his backup for many months together. However, WWE tried to turn Riley face by having another feud involving Miz facing someone from his NXT past. Riley didn’t get over as a face nearly as much as Bryan, and it led to a lackluster program. Miz putting over Riley months after losing the WWE Championship couldn’t even get him over.
7 WWE Canceled Plans Of Them Being Co-Captans Of Survivor Series Team
WWE tried to add another chapter to the Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz feud at Survivor Series 2018. Both wrestlers had spent the previous months feuding, but the angle here forced them to team up as co-captains for the SmackDown team against Raw. Fans expected Miz and Bryan clashing throughout the weeks to add some flavor to the match. WWE changed plans by having Bryan win the WWE Championship from AJ Styles. Miz remained the sole captain for Team SmackDown in a losing effort.
6 Bryan Beat Miz To Earn Multiple World Title Shots
There were a couple of instances of Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz having high stakes for the winner of their singles matches. Bryan and Miz had a singles match at Super Showdown 2018 with the victor getting a title shot against AJ Styles. The win for Bryan came in under three minutes to the shock of the audience, and he went on to defeat Styles for the top prize. WWE ran the same stipulation back a year later when Bryan defeated Miz again to get a Universal Championship match against Bray Wyatt, which he lost.
5 Bryan Won First WWE Title Beating Miz
WWE had Daniel Bryan feuding with The Miz in the latter half of 2010 to pay off the previous story built from their NXT days. Miz was the United States Champion, but he also held the Money in the Bank briefcase to move into the World title picture later.
Bryan benefited from this by winning his feud with The Miz in impressive fashion. The big win gave Bryan his first title in WWE as the United States Champion. Another victory over Miz and John Morrison cemented Bryan as a credible mid-card champ.
4 Their Main Roster Feud Started In SummerSlam 2010 Main Event
Daniel Bryan’s first main roster storyline joining the Nexus faction only lasted a week before he was fired for choking Justin Roberts with a tie. WWE sympathized with Bryan not knowing their rules and brought him back after a few months. The big moment of Bryan’s return saw him as the mystery partner of an all-star face team led by John Cena against Nexus at SummerSlam 2010. Miz assumed he would get the spot after arrogantly bragging to the other members, but it was Bryan. WWE started their feud when Miz interfered to get Bryan eliminated.
3 WWE Added Their Wives' Personal Issues To Feud
The 2018 return for Daniel Bryan allowed him to pick back up his wrestling career after retiring three years prior. Bryan had a couple of matches before entering a bigger feud with The Miz throughout the summer and fall to pay off their previous drama. Miz won the first big singles match that year at SummerSlam 2018 when his wife Maryse interfered. Brie Bella returned to the ring as well to set up a big mixed tag team match. WWE referenced the past drama of Maryse and the Bella Twins that went back to Total Divas.
2 Miz Also Spoofed Bryan During Parodies Of Cena
The WrestleMania 33 tag match of John Cena and Nikki Bella vs. The Miz and Maryse over-delivered as a storyline during the month’s build. Miz parodying Cena and Maryse parodying Nikki were the most memorable segments of the feud. However, there were a couple of other impersonations during their Total Bellas spoof. Miz impersonated Bryan to get more heat from their personal issues, even though Bryan wasn’t an active wrestler at the time. Maryse also went back and forth from her impressions of both Nikki and Brie.
1 They Had Dark Matches With Roles Reversed
Daniel Bryan turned heel shortly after his feud against The Miz by cheating AJ Styles out of the WWE Championship. Miz was turning face around this time as well after WWE felt the audience would cheer him this time around. There were a few compelling dark matches that felt like a Freaky Friday role reversal. Fans cheered Miz doing the Yes kicks against the heel Bryan in the opposite direction of how their usual matches went. WWE unfortunately didn’t have them in a televised feud to book those matches for a bigger audience.