5 Ups And 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (July 14)
3. Miz TV Shows Good Fire
Some heads were scratched when it became clear that Darren Young had fluked his way to a win on Monday Night Raw to become the new top contender to the WWE Intercontinental Title. That was the story WWE went with, and it was a risky one. Having the main contender to any title come across like a happy accident can be challenging to write properly.
SmackDown cleared things up admirably, and people should now be looking forward to the title bout. Inviting both Young and his mentor Bob Backlund onto Miz TV, The Miz actually put over Backlund before laying into his new rival. That contrast between highlighting Bob's amazing career and the lack of it for Young really worked a treat.
This allowed Young to show some fire with a rousing promo, pretty much acknowledging his underdog status but warning Miz not to take him lightly. The feud really needed a segment like this to help get it over, and now there's some merit to Young's claims that Backlund is teaching him properly.