2. Miz keeps insulting him regularly, pretty much every time he talks.

3. DB tries to find a challenger that will beat Miz and be an honorable champ for their brand. Miz beats each of them. Maryse cheats. He cheats. He just keeps finding a way to hang on to the belt. Goes on for a few months.

4. Bryan seemingly gives up. Shane starts booking the IC title matches.

5. Miz continues to insult him, saying he proved Bryan was the real coward.

6. A couple weeks before Rumble or Mania, Bryan says he's gonna have a mystery opponent that is his perfect surrogate. Someone he's scouted for a while rather than just throwing into the fire because he was pissed. The surrogate finally takes the title away. I'd book an undersized guy who can tell a story in the ring like Johnny Gargano*. Actually a few of the cruiserweights they have coming in would be good choices, but they're probably heading over to Raw.


*2 in 1: Gargano & Ciampa can debut on Smackdown as a tag team in a couple months. That'll give them both a chance to build. Once Johnny wins the IC title, Ciampa can turn on him. Everyone's already anticipating the turn. People will go nuts.