6 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Raw (7 August)

1. A Miz Feud That Works?

Who had “Miz versus LA Knight” being a rivalry that got you excited in 2023 on their bingo card?

Miz has been WWE rivalry poison for a while now, basically kryptonite for getting over with fans. Ask Tommaso Ciampa how his little feud with Miz helped him out.

But LA Knight – who admittedly is already pretty damn popular with WWE crowds – shone brightly Monday, two nights after winning the SummerSlam battle royal. Miz came out to kvetch about Knight being disrespectful, only for the Megastar to come out and confront him.

To his credit, Miz referenced one of the common – but unspoken on TV – criticisms of Knight, that he’s little more than “an Attitude Era fanboy playing cosplay.” Ouch. Fair point, and it set the tone.

What happened next was incredible: Miz went the tried-and-tired route of reading his Wikipedia page, only for Knight to throw it all back in his face. Miz talked about being thrown out of the locker room and how he’s still here 20 years later, and LA pounced, calling himself “a dangerous man” who would never have taken that abuse. Calling Miz “safe” and essentially saying he’s soft for taking that abuse was a perfect neg, putting the A-Lister down by using his own story against him.

And then Knight dropped Miz with a Blunt-Force Trauma, following it up by shaking the unconscious superstar’s hand. No notes.