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‘WWE SmackDown Live’ Kills The Daniel Bryan-Miz Angle

By Shawn Lealos
Published on: 13:09 PST, Sep 1, 2016

When The Miz delivered the best promo of his career against Daniel Bryan on Talking Smack, it got the WWE Universe talking. Fans wanted to see what happened next and The Miz was hotter than he had been in years. The Inquisitr previously reported that it was an unscripted promo, which was even better, but that caused problems backstage at WWE SmackDown Live.

WWE SmackDown Live chose to ignore the angle and feud, and instead just put Miz into a scripted feud with Dolph Ziggler. It turns out that the WWE had no idea that the promos would go the direction they did and PWInsider reported that the WWE will not follow up on the hot angle on WWE SmackDown Live.

WWE SmackDown Live is fighting to gain ground on WWE Monday Night Raw. For years, WWE SmackDown was the B-show and Raw was always treated like the main show that provided can’t-miss television. Nothing screams can’t-miss television than a WWE SmackDown Live angle that seems steeped in so much real life problems.

However, there is one big problem for WWE SmackDown Live and might lie in the reason that the WWE is killing the Daniel Bryan-Miz angle. Bryan was forced to retire because of concussions and the WWE has no intentions to bring him back to WWE SmackDown Live as a wrestler. There were some rumors that the WWE was leaving the door open for a possible return, but reports indicate that the idea of Daniel returning is not true.

That makes this angle an actual problem to pay off for the fans. Some might look at WWE SmackDown Live ignoring the angle and moving into a scripted feud between Miz and Dolph Ziggler to be a step down. However, those two men can wrestle and that means that a feud can actually pay off with live in-ring action on WWE SmackDown Live.

If the WWE continued the Daniel Bryan-Miz promo on WWE SmackDown Live, they would have to build to something. Thanks to the concussion lawsuit the WWE is involved in with previous superstars, there is no way that they take a chance putting Bryan back into the ring. If Daniel Bryan can’t wrestle The Miz, then the feud between the two will lead to nothing on WWE SmackDown Live.

That also leads to another problem. Daniel Bryan is the general manager of WWE SmackDown Live. This gives the fans a chance to see their beloved star, but it also hurts Daniel because he wants to wrestle again. Bryan even said in an ESPN interview that he believes he can still wrestle at 100-percent, but knows it is a bad idea.

With that said, The Miz asked Bryan why he doesn’t just go back to the indies instead of working as a general manager on WWE SmackDown Live. When Daniel was feuding with John Cena, he once said that he would return to the indies if his WWE career ended. According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Bryan’s contract doesn’t expire until 2018.

Related WWE Reports By the Inquisitr

This is important to understand. When a WWE talent is injured, their contract freezes. This caused huge problems for Rey Mysterio when he wanted a release. It could also have led to problems for Daniel Bryan. However, by becoming the general manager of WWE SmackDown Live, Bryan’s contract has resumed.

The idea is that Daniel Bryan took the position on WWE SmackDown Live so that his contract will eventually expire. At that time, Bryan can make a decision on his future. However, as long as Daniel is under WWE contract, WWE SmackDown Live won’t see a Daniel Bryan vs. Miz match to pay off the feud.

[Image via WWE]

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