The Miz recently reflected on his memorable "Talking Smack" segment with Daniel Bryan during his appearance on Renee Paquette's "Oral Sessions" podcast.
Featured below is an excerpt from the interview where the former WWE Champion talks about the infamous segment helping get his career back on track.
That was a bad day for me. I had the Intercontinental title and had just gotten drafted to SmackDown, and that night, I wasn’t on the show. I really wanted to make the Intercontinental Championship, like I said, I wanted to make it relevant again. I wanted to make it as big as it was when I saw it in the 80s with the Ultimate Warrior having it, Shawn Michaels having it. It was literally like the workhorse title, and I wanted it to get back to that, and then you walk into TV, and they said, ‘Ah, yeah. You’re not needed. You’re going to be on the dark match tonight.’ I go, you’re kidding, right? I’m trying to do something here and you’re not allowing me to do it. I was so angry that I went up to Road Dogg and said, ‘Put me on Talking Smack.’ He goes, ‘Why?’ I go, ‘Daniel Bryan is the General Manager, and I’m gonna unleash it all on him.’ And so they were like, ‘Alright, cool.’
So, we go into Talking Smack, and he called me a coward. In my head, I’m going, ‘This guy is calling me a coward,’ and everyone gets called a coward, but when Daniel Bryan called me it, it was different. It was different than when someone on a promo says, ‘You’re a coward.’ There was something underneath it. I knew what it was. I knew where he was going with that, and it infuriated me because I was still able to do what I do and he wasn’t. He wasn’t there anymore. The way you wrestle and you can sit there and hate it the way I’m in the ring, but I guarantee I can entertain an audience. I don’t have to do all the flippy stuff, all the stupid stuff that gets you injured because I’m gonna be there day in and day out, each and every week, and you’re not. It made me think of everyone that just doesn’t understand me. I was trying to make people understand why I do the things I do. And then when he walked off, it was almost like, that was even more disrespectful. If you’d have punched me, it would have been better than him just walking off. This was the guy who was beloved by everyone. I was like, why don’t they love me?
I don’t think he was trying to be mean. I think he was just trying to get under my skin, and he did. He was very successful at it, and then it created a whole thing where I was actually successful at making the Intercontinental title relevant again, which was great. So, sometimes you just need those moments and those opportunities and when things aren’t going your way, find avenues. Talking Smack wasn’t anything before I went on it, and even Road Dogg was like, ‘Why do you want to be on Talking Smack?’ And I was like, ‘If you’re not going to give me the opportunity, I’m going to make an opportunity for myself.’ That’s just the lessons that I feel like a lot of up and coming superstars need to understand to do. If you’re not on television, WWE has many different avenues where you can showcase your talents.
Check out the complete interview at Apple.com. H/T to 411 Mania for transcribing the above quotes.
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