John Cena, The Miz and How WWE SmackDown's 'Talking Smack' Became Must-See TV

Unleashed on the world with a live microphone in hand, John Cena, The Miz and much of the WWE SmackDown roster have turned Talking Smack into a surprise success.

The WWE Network's exclusive show doesn't sound like much on paper. Wrestlers fresh off slugging their rivals on SmackDown sit down at a desk and talk. 

There are no moonsaults, no steel chair shots, no roundhouse kicks.

Yet Tuesday nights after SmackDown have become a key part of the WWE schedule. Talking Smack feeds off chaos in a controlled environment. Controversy is the norm. And given freedom, a number of Superstars have produced some of their best work to date.

Talking Smack premiered on Aug. 2, and the majority of WWE fans likely didn't think much of it.

The WWE Network is brimming with non-wrestling shows, from Table for 3, where a trio of wrestlers chat around a table, to WWE Ride Along, a show about Superstars driving together. If one assumed that Talking Smack would fit into the same minimal-consequence category as those, nobody would argue.

The effervescent Renee Young and SmackDown's general manager Daniel Bryan hosted the proceedings.

Both Young and Bryan are charismatic and likable, the kind of people you want to hang out with. But that didn't seem like enough to pull in viewers after three hours of Raw on Monday and two hours of SmackDown the next day. 

Bryan earned Talking Smack some publicity right away when he addressed SmackDown's tag team championship scene. He mocked Raw's newly minted Universal Championship, saying he wasn't going to dub his future tag titleholders as "the Milky Way Tag Team Champions":

The sound bite traveled well, and Bryan offered some more solid moments in the coming weeks, but it was The Miz who transformed the WWE fanbase's perception of Talking Smack.

On Aug. 23, he appeared on the show with his wife Maryse at his side and the Intercontinental Championship folded on the desk in front of him. Things quickly went from standard interview to something of the everybody-come-look-at-this variety.

Bryan said the intercontinental champ wrestled "like a coward." The Miz responded with a nuclear rant:

He called out Bryan for quitting wrestling, talked about his own longevity and spoke red-faced about how much disrespect he endures. It felt so impassioned and personal that one had to wonder where the script ended and the shoot began.

Brandon Howard of Fightful.com talked about how authenticity powered the promo:

Twitter was abuzz with praise for The Miz. His speech spawned articles on UPROXX, Fox Sports, Cageside Seats and elsewhere. Word-of-mouth promotion bolstered Talking Smack like no commercial could have.

The realness The Miz displayed that night has been a regular feature on the show. 

Promos have been less cookie-cutter than what we see on Raw and SmackDown. Wrestlers have been more fiery, more emotive. The strategy for Talking Smack seems to be stick Superstars in front of the camera and let them go nuts.  

As John Moore of ProWrestling.net wrote, "Talking Smack is allowing people [to] talk their hearts out."

Each week, someone new grips the mic and shoots off something worth sharing on social media, something that emphatically advances a current feud or angle. 

Dean Ambrose dismissed the idea that Cena is WWE's top dog. The Usos growled about how fans abandoned them. Alexa Bliss cut down each and every member of the women's division:

The weekly dose of verbal fire leaves the internet buzzing. By the time a clip goes up on WWE's YouTube page, fans feel as if they missed out on something. 

Cena continued that tradition on Tuesday's Talking Smack. In hyping up his Triple Threat WWE World Championship match at No Mercy, he dismissed Ambrose's comments on last week's Talking Smack about them not getting along:

He said, "Dean Ambrose doesn't like John Cena. John Cena doesn't care about Dean Ambrose."  

It was yet another home run of a promo on the talk-centric show. Like The Miz's diatribe and several recent Tuesday tirades, it got people talking. 

EVOLVE promoter Gabe Sapolosky labeled Cena's speech "must-see":

"

Just watched John Cena on Talking Smack. WOW! Talk about must see TV.

— Gabe Sapolsky (@BookItGabe) September 28, 2016"

That adjective is an apt description for Talking Smack as a whole. Cena cemented that. The audience knows that if it's going to see more performances like that, it can't afford not to tune in.

In letting SmackDown focus on wrestling and allowing this supplementary program to make space for the spoken part of the equation, WWE has found a winning formula. Giving talents more autonomy has allowed them to be at their best.

The Usos haven't had a promo nearly as strong as their Talking Smack work. Bliss' top interview has come on that WWE Network exclusive, as well. And The Miz can put his verbal undressing of Bryan next to anything he's done in the past.

More resume highlights will follow. More Superstars will harness the electricity of Talking Smack and the freeing nature of the format.

WWE may not have expected it, but it has a hit on its hands.