Miz Blasting Daniel Bryan and the Top Moments in WWE 'Talking Smack' History

No one impacted the short history of WWE's Talking Smack like The Miz.

The post-SmackDown talk show allowed Superstars a freer space to bark at their rivals. It was a showcase of rising talent and verbal acumen. A sense of realness and chaos made it one of the best stretches of the WWE TV schedule each week.

And The Miz was time and time again at the center of all of that. The former intercontinental champ thrived in that environment, firing truth bombs at Daniel Bryan, unraveling after a loss or gleefully mocking John Cena.

Unfortunately, those kinds of moments won't happen nearly as often.

WWE has decided to cancel Talking Smack, at least as a weekly show. It will still air after pay-per-views, but the days of it being a regular thing are gone.  

Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated reported that WWE headman Vince McMahon made the call to cut the show: "Sources close to the situation reported that McMahon was unhappy with the show and strongly believed it did not serve the company's best interests."

That unexpected, ill-advised move shifts the Talking Smack conversation from "What will happen next?" to a reflective look a back at its greatest hits. The show's standout moments are ranked here based on how memorable and exciting they were, how they spotlighted a character and/or advanced a story.

Honorable Mention

• John Cena says he doesn't care about Dean Ambrose (Sept. 27, 2016)
• Heath Slater and Rhyno bicker on air (Dec. 6, 2016)
• Natalya attacks Nikki Bella (Feb. 7, 2017)

Cena and Ambrose traded some stinging barbs last fall ahead of their Triple Threat match (also involving AJ Styles) at No Mercy. One of the best of those came in response to Ambrose saying that he and Cena didn't like each other.

The Leader of the Cenation retorted: "John Cena doesn't care about Dean Ambrose."

While that was one of the better lines uttered on Talking Smack, there have been better, more newsworthy promos before and after it.

Slater and Rhyno's relationship splintering on live TV was a stunner. It was a reminder of how anything can happen on this show and how it felt like reality so often bled into fiction.

Natalya cracking Bella's head against the Talking Smack set was a vicious attack that added fire to an already hot feud. It wasn't as memorable as some of the other ambushes we've seen on that same stage, though. A punch-drunk Sami Zayn and Carmella blazing a trail pushed this moment off the list proper.

7. Baron Corbin Attacks Sami Zayn (April 25, 2017)

Talking Smack has seen its share of rivals rushing the stage with bad intentions.

Baron Corbin's assault on Sami Zayn stands out in big part because of the victim. Zayn looked out on his feet, his eyes glazed over, his frame limp. The Underdog from the Underground made it hard to be concerned for his well-being.

Corbin's anger bolstered the scene, too.

He stormed onto the set seething. He mocked Zayn as he laid him out. The Lone Wolf even waylaid a referee during the attack. 

The Corbin-Zayn feud made a major step here, and the heel got to show off his mercilessness. That's exactly what Talking Smack was all about.

6. The Usos Goof Around with Daniel Bryan (March 21, 2017)

A major chunk of the best stuff on Talking Smack was dead serious. Enemies cut into each other. Tempers erupted.

The show also cultivated a relaxed vibe that created some great comedy, though.

Talking Smack co-host Daniel Bryan gave us the best of those moments when he played up his dorkiness with The Usos. He talked up how cool the tag champs were before trying to rap with them. The result was perfectly ridiculous.

This didn't advance any narratives or do all that much for The Usos, but on entertainment value alone, it deserves a spot on the list.  

5. Carmella Ambushes Nikki Bella (Aug. 23, 2016)

Carmella leaped onto Nikki Bella to cement herself as a villain early in Talking Smack's history.

The smiling, energetic newcomer from NXT looked to make her mark on SmackDown by going after the most successful woman on the roster. Carmella ripped at Bella's hair and threw her around, leaving Bryan and fellow host Renee Young stunned.

This was one of the first tastes of this kind of story on the show.

The sneak attack became a staple. The Princess of Staten Island got the tradition going.

That and the fact that it was key to her character's transformation makes it one of the most memorable things to unfold on Talking Smack. 

4. The Miz Goes Off on John Cena (March 7, 2017)

By the time The Miz went all-in on Cena ahead of their tag match at WrestleMania 33, The A-Lister had become the heart and soul of Talking Smack.

He maximized the show's creative freedom and masterfully insulted his rival. Cena had dissed him for stealing parts of his act from others. The Miz offered a resounding retort.

It looked as if he was having a blast as he mocked his foe in theatrical fashion. 

This was yet another example of The Miz's verbal prowess. He was killing it, as Tommy Gunn of the Answer the Ten Count podcast pointed out: "Miz's mic work is on the level of CM Punk in 2011 and he's not getting near enough credit for it."

3. AJ Styles Confronts Shane McMahon (March 7, 2017)

When whispers of a possible AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon started to emerge, one could almost feel the disappointment floating in the air.

But a fiery exchange that felt like real life bursting its way into a scripted world helped change that. A frustrated Styles stormed backstage and got into the SmackDown commissioner's face. The intensity popped on-screen.

Chair Shot Reality host Josh Isenberg tweeted: "The best part of last night's show was actually on Talking Smack an hour later. AJ Styles killed it backstage confronting Shane McMahon."

The two men nearly coming to blows was original, too. It happened outside of the Talking Smack set, making it feel like more of a real-life eruption.

Only The Miz's two best promos on the show pushed past this moment on the list. Nothing created as much buzz as The A-Lister's tirades.

2. The Miz Loses It After Dropping IC Title (Jan. 3, 2017)

One of the ways in which The Miz made the Intercontinental Championship feel special was how gutted and heartbroken losing it left him.

Fresh off dropping the title to Dean Ambrose in the year's first SmackDown, The Miz lost his mind on live TV. What started out as a standard exchange became an acting clinic.

After Bryan said other Superstars were better than him, The Miz unraveled, becoming a part-petulant child and a part-balloon with its air escaping. His emotion made this must-see, but it also brought attention to his rivalry with Ambrose, forcing people to talk about a midcard feud above anything else that SmackDown had going on.

1. The Miz Goes Off on Daniel Bryan (Aug. 23, 2016)

The Miz shredding Bryan wasn't just the best promo to ever air on Talking Smack—it was one of the best wrestling interviews ever.

Bryan called The Miz cowardly for working a safer style. The IC champ fired back with some hard truths and a white-hot rant. When he called out Bryan about retiring, it felt like The Miz was genuinely angering Bryan.

Acclaim poured in. Miami Herald columnist Scott Fishman tweeted: "The Miz and Daniel Bryan on Talking Smack is one of the most intense three or so minutes of #WWE TV you will find. Wow!"

And it got people talking in a big way. 

Not only was it the talk of the internet, but major outlets were picking up the story. Sports Illustrated, the Washington Post and Hollywood Life all covered the moment. You simply don't see that for a talk-show segment.

The Miz and Bryan showed the audience what Talking Smack was capable of, demonstrating the power of veering off the script, of great performers getting a platform to shine.

Too bad Kevin Owens, Carmella, Styles or anyone else won't get the chance each Tuesday to try and top this. One of WWE's best programs has been foolishly downsized.