WWE SummerSlam 2018 review: What we learned, takeaways, future projections

Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz

What we learned: I think we learned here that too much hype for a match can lead to some disappointment and that’s what I felt watching The Miz and Daniel Bryan go at it. I wasn’t overly excited for this one going on but still felt it could be okay and that’s really all it was. I’ve seen a lot of people already saying how much they enjoyed the match but I just couldn’t get crazy into it, which is unfortunate as they really did tell a good story.

You figured that with Maryse sitting ringside — I’m still unsure why if Brie Bella was there that she would choose to be out there for the RAW Women’s Championship Match and not her husband’s but whatever — that something would go down at the end, and it did play very nicely and fed right into what Bryan has been saying about his former mentor. The Miz had to cheat to win but he actually controlled a lot of the matchup, even if his chest got torn up with those vicious chops from DB. Bryan kicking the post led to some good submission work toward the end, but overall, something just felt off to me throughout the whole thing.

What’s next: This is another case of this being the start of something as opposed to the end. There’s still no word on if Bryan is going to re-sign with WWE — I still think he will — and perhaps that’s why he took the loss here. There’s no sense in knocking The Miz down knowing he’ll be there night in and night out, so I do like the call. Bryan should have some things to say on the matter Tuesday night, especially given how he reacted in the backstage area following the match. As long as we don’t get the mixed tag that nobody wants to see, I’m good.