WWE SummerSlam 2018: Results, Highlights, and Grades

Photo Source: WWE.com

Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz

Result: The Miz defeated Daniel Bryan via pinfall

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

Daniel Bryan not wearing burgundy, or at least red, looks weird as hell. I get that he’s on SmackDown, his newest merch is blue accented, and he’s basically wearing Seattle Seahawks colors, but the American Dragon should be in a red palette. (Hey, I didn’t mention the Phenomenal AJ Styles wearing purple like The Phenom The Undertaker, so give me this one.)

Gotta wonder if the encounter with the former Miztourage filled Miz with even more rage for this one. Even without that, we knew this one would be a barnburner. As such, it didn’t take very long for Bryan to fulfill his greatest wish — punching The Miz in the face.

But my favorite part of the match was that Miz was able to hang with Bryan. The A-Lister isn’t generally seen as one of the great mat technicians on the planet like Bryan, but in his never-ending quest to do everything Bryan does, just better, Miz busted out a surfboard that looked passable, and locked in a cravate for some time.

Of course, we’re over four months into the Daniel Bryan comeback, and anything that looks remotely like a head bump still brings me to a standstill. When Bryan backflipped out of being crotched on the top rope, I literally stopped breathing for a minute. Even knowing he’s “fine,” it’s terrifying.

As a grudge match nearly a decade in the making, I don’t know if it was intense enough. It was intense, sure, but I didn’t feel eight years of hatred throughout. When Bryan came out of the It Kicks and started slapping the taste out of Miz’s mouth, yeah, it was brutally intense. But most of the match? It just seemed like any other pay per view match.

Oh, but raise your hand if you thought The Miz had pulled out a clean victory after the Skull Crushing Finale. Wow, that had me for a second. Anyone who question’s Miz’s toughness from this point forward should just check out this match — dude’s chest looked like hamburger meat from the chops and kicks.

Plus, MIZ DID THE FIGURE FOUR CORRECTLY. Because people get this wrong all the time, here goes: A figure four does damage to the straight leg, not the bent leg, so if you yelled “MIZ IS WRONG,” actually NO, THE DEFENSE IS WRONG. Anyway, that was just the cherry on top of an amazing match.

Even the finish was perfect. Miz needed the victory. He didn’t just want it, he needed it, so he grabbed a set of brass knuckles from Maryse at ringside on the sly. One well-placed left hand later — a punch in the face, folks — The A-Lister beats his protege. Simply marvelous booking all around.