On the August 23 episode of Talking Smack, The Miz went on a highly praised tirade against SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan for calling him a coward, with Miz calling Bryan a "coward" for not returning to the ring when he promised the fans he would. At Backlash on September 11, Miz successfully defended the title against Dolph Ziggler after Maryse sprayed an unknown substance at Ziggler while the Referee was distracted. Afterwards, The Miz continued to blame Bryan and vowed not to defend his Intercontinental Championship on any show until he was granted a contract "renegotiation". On the September 20 episode of SmackDown Live, Miz retained the Intercontinental title against Ziggler in a rematch after he used the same spray on Ziggler. At No Mercy on October 9, Miz lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ziggler in a title vs career match after Maryse and The Spirit Squad (Kenny and Mikey), were ejected from ringside, ending Miz's reign at 188 days. On the October 18 episode of SmackDown Live, Miz and the Spirit Squad defeated Ziggler, Slater and Rhyno. The Miz initially refused Ziggler's offer for a rematch for the Intercontinental title, but on November 8 episode of SmackDown Live, Maryse accepted Bryan's offer to Miz face Ziggler the following week for the Intercontinental Championship in the 900th episode of SmackDown Live. Later that night, Bryan would state on Talking Smack that if Ziggler successfully retained the championship, The Miz and Maryse would be traded to Raw for someone else. On SmackDown's 900th episode on November 15, Maryse helped Miz to win the championship for the sixth time. Miz would go on to defend the title against Raw's Sami Zayn at Survivor Series on November 20, where Miz would defeat Zayn after Maryse prematurely rang the bell, causing a distraction. On the November 22 episode of SmackDown Live, Miz successfully retained his championship against Kalisto after Kalisto was distracted by Baron Corbin and later Miz himself was attacked by Ziggler. Later that night, General Manager Daniel Bryan scheduled The Miz to defend the championship against Ziggler in a ladder match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 4 which Miz won to end their feud.