5 Biggest Winners & Losers From WWE SmackDown Live (23 Aug)

1. Loser: Daniel Bryan

SmackDown’s new “Talking Smack” analysis show has been a surprising success, with Daniel Bryan, Renee Young, and a host of guests running through the night’s talking points in engaging fashion. It’s well worth a watch for anyone following SmackDown on a weekly basis, and last night’s edition was must-see television.

The Miz barged onto the set to interrupt a Bryan/Young conversation, and demand respect as WWE Intercontinental Champion. Miz was furious, firing-off on Bryan for not featuring him more prominently, and chastising the former WWE Champion for not showing recognition to the last championship that Bryan himself held in WWE.

Things kicked-up a notch when Bryan stood up for himself, and said Miz “wrestles like a coward.” Miz exploded into life with a shoot-style interview that saw him laying in for not returning to the ring after multiple promises, and stating that if DB loves wrestling so much, he should “quit and go back to the bingo halls.”

Bryan was so shaken that he dropped his microphone and walked-off stage. Whether this was a shoot or not, SD’s General Manager was verbally eviscerated by The Miz, who was unrelenting in his attack on Bryan’s credibility. While everyone knows that Bryan would still be wrestling in WWE if cleared, Miz’s reality-based rant left him red-faced and humiliated, and if he doesn’t respond strongly next week, he looks like a wet blanket.

And now for the winners...