WWE SmackDown Highlights, Grades, and Analysis For Apr. 24, 2018

Miz TV

This didn’t disappoint. Immediately, The Miz spoke highly of the Intercontinental Championship, stated he’d win it back at the Greatest Royal Rumble PPV, and started taking shots at Daniel Bryan. He blamed him for Talking Smack being cancelled, calling back to his promo on Bryan in 2016.

The Miz then said that he’s a changed man after the birth of daughter, but if Bryan still wants to punch him in the face, he should come down and punch him in the face. Needless to say, that’s the only thing the crowd had on its mind.

Instead of Bryan, though, Big Cass’s music hit, and the fan speculation that he could be the A-Lister’s bodyguard started to kick into another gear.

Cass spoke about how he and Bryan were cleared on the same day, but even though Cass rehabbed to return from his ACL tear, nobody spoke about him. They were all focused on Bryan.

It’s a valid point. Sensing that Cass might want to help The Miz fend off Bryan, Miz told him that he doesn’t need any help. After they briefly bickered, Cass started hating on Bryan, calling him an “average Joe” who looks like he should be laying tile or picking up his trash. And, of course, Cass started talking about how tall he is and how he hates Bryan because Bryan reminds him of when he was a child and got picked on for being small.

Although the material was iffy (the solution to responding to bullies isn’t magically growing taller), Cass has legitimately improved on the mic, and this was a fun segment. I like corporate, suit-wearing Cass, and I love how he and Miz work together on the stick. You could tell The Miz liked what he was hearing, and I’ll be he liked the fact that Cass laid Bryan out backstage in order to hijack Miz TV.

Grade: B, good way to kick off the show, definitely makes me intrigued about this program