The Miz Hates Daniel Bryan Because He Wants The Same Love From The Fans
Perhaps no rivalry in WWE is as anticipated as a clash between The Miz and Daniel Bryan, who have been two of the best performers in wrestling for years. But why does The Miz hate Bryan so much? What is at the root of his obsession for tearing down one of wrestling’s most beloved figures?
The Miz is a villain’s villain. With his grandiose entrances, delusions of greatness, and self-absorbed monologues, Miz has the psychopathic tendencies of the best comic book villains. He has worked his tail off to become a talented wrestler who is capable of at least hanging with the likes of Jeff Hardy and Roman Reigns, and the self-anointed A-Lister is consumed with being the “best”. Or, more precisely, he already believes he is the best.
In 2016, The Miz delivered one of the most memorable promos of the decade when he absolutely lit into Daniel Bryan. From that moment onwards, his obsession with Bryan began.
Previously, Miz had been consumed with being more popular than John Cena, who has been the established top guy in WWE, and he’s a little bit like the evil, alternate version of Cena. He does movies, he does media appearances, and he walks around like he owns the place. But he’ll never be THE John Cena, and, in his heart, he knows it.
Because what Miz wants more than anything else is adulation from the fans. He wants to be adored, he wants to be honored, and he wants to be remembered as the greatest who ever lived. His drive is equivalent to the drive that elite athletes like Cristiano Ronaldo possess.
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And that’s where Bryan comes in. Bryan has that same determination that The Miz does, and while Miz gets booed out of arenas every week, Bryan receives the most flattering cheers week after week. Miz craves that attention. No, no, he needs it. He’s begged for that type of love from the fans for years and years, believing he’s deserving of it.
The Miz is obsessed with Daniel Bryan. He’s obsessed with the fact that Bryan is the one who receives the plaudits and adulation, and because Miz is a psychopath, he can’t understand Bryan’s human qualities. He can’t fathom how Bryan’s hard work, determination, and ability to love the fans are what make him popular.
He sees everything in terms of power and spotlight. He believes he has everything Bryan doesn’t have, and he can’t understand why the fans don’t support him over Bryan. That’s why he’s targeted Bryan, because Bryan is the most beloved one. Miz wants that same love from the audience.
But it’s one-sided hatred, because to Bryan, The Miz is just another obstacle in his path to being the best wrestler he can be. He’s another bully Bryan has to stand up to. He’s another villain that disrespects Bryan and whom Bryan must conquer.
This entire feud goes beyond just Miz’s blow-up on Talking Smack nearly two years ago, copying Bryan’s moves, or any of his nasty promos over these past few months since the two have been reunited on SmackDown Live.
See, this feud is about Miz being a remorseless villain who wants to receive love without giving any. He always talks about how he is “deserving” of great things, whereas he talks about how Bryan is washed up or no longer great, mocking how much the crowd loves Bryan.
On some level, maybe Miz has become self-aware enough that he realizes he’ll never be cheered by the audience. Maybe he realizes that he’ll never be accepted as the hero of his own story and that he’ll always be resigned to being the villain. Because he did threaten to end Bryan’s career once and for all, which is a statement that cannot be taken lightly, given Bryan’s history of head injuries.
This man is so sick and disturbed after years of feeling neglected that he wants to rob the fans of the person they’ve chosen to love the most instead of him. He’s so delusional that he might even think that taking Bryan away from the fans will cause them to love him by default, simply because they’ll have nobody else to send those same feelings to.
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The Miz believes he’s better at Bryan in every respect of being a performer and a wrestler, and he wants you, the fans, to know this. He wants you to feel foolish for having chosen Bryan over him as a favorite. Over the next several months, this incredible rivalry will continue to unfold, and it’s up to Bryan to prove why everything Miz says is unequivocally and patently false. In some ways, Miz is the perfect villain to counteract Bryan, because for as much as he believes he’s better than Bryan, The Miz is everything that Bryan is not.
(Editor’s Note: If you get worked into a shoot by this piece, please step outside for a bit. See, there’s this thing called the sun, and it’s really quite pleasant!)