5 Biggest Winners & Losers From WWE SmackDown Live (30 Aug)

1. Winners: The Miz & Dolph Ziggler

While Daniel Bryan only slid further down the ladder this week, The Miz absolutely killed it. Sure, it would’ve been great to see some face-to-face between he and Bryan again, but the strength of his show-opening in-ring promo largely negated that concern.

Miz was fired-up from the moment he hit the ring, and his lines were packed with venom and bile, fuelled by years of frustration. He successfully justified the “cowardly” style Bryan had criticised in the first place, threw some serious shade at the General Manager’s injury problems and his career’s abrupt end, and came-off like the top-level heel he should be.

Dolph Ziggler interrupted, stating that while he agreed with some of Miz’s points, the Intercontinental Champion was taking things way too far. Ziggler explained that the real reason nobody believed in Miz was because he just wanted to be famous, rather than a great wrestler, and that he’d failed at proving otherwise. Ziggler challenged Miz to wash the “coward” tag away once and for all by facing him there and then, but Miz backed down and walked-out.

Ziggler more than matched Miz’s intensity, and they had the fans firmly in the palms of their hands throughout. It’s hard to think of a better show-opening in-ring segment than this in recent years, and Ziggler and Miz deserve an immense amount of credit. Both men were seemingly lost at sea heading into the Brand Split, but this was SmackDown’s strongest segment last night, and if they can maintain the momentum, Miz and Ziggler will continue among the show’s weekly highlights.