Daniel Bryan vs The Miz is a feud that must happen

Daniel Bryan versus The Miz is the type of program that could keep fans excited for a long time to come.

The professional wrestling world has had a few days to calm down after the surprise announcement that Daniel Bryan is returning to active competition. Breaking the news on Twitter midday allowed for Tuesday’s edition of SmackDown to hit 2.8 million viewers; the highest number in recent years. Those numbers cause excitement for a future that involves one of the most popular champions this generation, and that future should involve one of the best personalities in the game today.

This Daniel Bryan return comes with a must-have program with The Miz. Story is an important element to the success of any feud in professional wrestling. Think back to some of the greatest moments in the industry; they come with in-ring action and the aspect of an intriguing story that captures the fan’s attention. The Miz and Bryan have that chemistry built in. This goes beyond the 2016 Talking Smack segment, but back to Bryan’s beginning with the WWE on the original NXT.

Imagine the idea that Bryan, considered the “Founding Father” of Ring of Honor, would be assigned a “veteran” in The Miz; a former reality television show. While the Miz has headlined WrestleMania and held the WWE Championship, it’s hard to compare his resume to that of Bryan. Whether it’s kayfabe or not, that foundation is there and ready to be used to build to a confrontation between the two wrestlers.

Then, there’s the Talking Smack segment from 2016. This segment didn’t look like it was meant to be anything special at the time, but as the seconds clicked away that suddenly changed.

Bryan laid down a harsh criticism of The Miz, then Intercontential champion, by saying he “wrestles like a coward.” From there The Miz went into an emotional rant that left people wondering if that moment was “fake.”

"“There was a lot of emotions going on here. This wasn’t just to Daniel, this was to everyone. I unleashed a lot, because what we didn’t see before this was creative had nothing for me that day,” The Miz said in an interview with Nick Schwartz of USA Today. “And Daniel Bryan called me a coward, and it set off everything. I didn’t know if Daniel Bryan was going to hit me, I didn’t know if he was going to punch me, or what was going to happen. But sometimes my mouth just keeps going, and I don’t even know what I’m saying. I’m just going off everything I’m feeling at the time.”"

It’s that moment of breaking the fourth wall that can make this a special moment between the two wrestlers. The Miz is heading into WrestleMania in a triple-threat against Finn Balor and Seth Rollins; two men who can do much more with the Intercontential title than he can at this time. If he drops the title, now is the perfect time to move him back to SmackDown to create the slow build toward a main event worthy feud with Bryan.

One important point to make is that this needs to be a slow build. The Miz versus Daniel Bryan cannot occur on a “throw away” episode of SmackDown. Instead, this match needs to draw out overtime for a major PPV such as SummerSlam 2018 or even WrestleMania 2019. Much the same way the WWE put a slow burn on the original feud between Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin or The Rock versus John Cena. Patience for the payoff is an important component to effective storytelling and an effective build is imperative for anything that involves two wrestlers that seem to have real life animosity.

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Three months into 2018 and the year has already been special for the WWE. Daniel Bryan’s return pushed the excitement meter to the top right before WrestleMania 34. Once that show comes and goes, building toward a feud with The Miz and Daniel Bryan is the right direction for both competitors, SmackDown and the promotion as a whole.