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SHOW SUMMARY: In this edition of the Wade Keller Hotline, PWTorch editor Wade Keller recaps and analyzes in great depth the fascinating altercation between Daniel Bryan and The Miz on “Talking Smack” after Smackdown went off the air. Did it feel orchestrated or like a total shoot? What is the backstory behind both wrestlers saying such harsh things to one another, and is this reflective of a larger divide in WWE? Plus, how does this issue date all the way back to the Attitude Era and The Rock?
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To defend The Miz – he has been for the longest time the victim of unfair treatment from the wrestling community. He’s been plagued and essentially bullied forever over his past as a reality TV person before becoming a wrestler. I get the whole “you’re from Hollywood and didn’t earn it,” but I’ve always felt like fans never let up on the guy. He does work hard, does work his ass off from a schedule-stand point, makes all the appearances, takes all the bumps, does the side-projects … like what more can the guy give? Blood? What would it take to finally get people to stop hating on him because of the path he had (not given – just was dealt in life). It’s like the fans who chant “you can’t wrestle” at Cena when all the guy does is have 5-Star matches with everyone over the last 5 years. When does it end?
I don’t mean this as an anti-bullying tirade, but I’ve just always felt like “enough was enough” with the treatment on MIZ, like he proved he loved this as best he could given the circumstances he had. It’s not his fault as a young teenager he was on Real World. He then went and took the indy bumps for a short while, went through Tough Enough…and look at how long he has remained in WWE. So many “indy darlings” or “real wrestlers” praised more than Miz have come and gone in the last 10 years (Sandow, Barrett, Kennedy, Rhodes, Morrison, Benjamin, Jeff Hardy, Punk, Carlito, the list goes on), but it’s the MTV punching bag that has managed to stick around and that’s because of the faith he’s earned from Vince. I just feel like there’s something to be said for that and MIZ has honestly taken it all…all the beatings and bullying from the internet fans and insiders…and I like how he finally lashed out and told everyone the record.