A little late, but here's my take on Money in the Bank. All in all, a good show in my opinion. This was my first time watching a Money in the Bank event. The match, and the pay per view that it soon become, became staples of the WWE calendar during my last hiatus as a wrestling fan. (I was a regular watcher from 1985 to 1992, dropped out until 1997 and stayed in through 2002, then went away until 2011/2012) I love the concept, and it provides a lot of intrigue and drama over the next several months for the two winners and the champions they'll be chasing. Now last year they kind of blew the post-event payoffs. John Cena cashed his in and failed to win the title in his championship match, and then Dolph Ziggler was badly booked through the ensuing months before he cashed in the night after Wrestlemania 29 but then promptly get injured. Here's hoping that this year goes better for the winners and their storylines.
The show opened with the World Title ladder match. Cody Rhodes, Dean Ambrose, Damien Sandow, Antonio Cesaro, Jack Swagger, Wade Barrett, and Fandango. I had no idea who would win this one; by the night of the show I was leaning towards Ambrose. I figured Swagger got his World Title shot chance earlier this year and the other guys weren't likely to get the belt put on them. As the match progressed, I still had no clue. When Ambrose's Shield-mates Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns hit the ring I figured that would seal the deal for Ambrose. But then they all ended up outside the ring, and Cody Rhodes made it to the ladder. As he started climbing I noticed that you could see everyone on the floor except Sandow; my radar went off but then Rhodes got to the top of ladder and I figured it was nothing. But lo and behold, Sandow got in the ring and knocked his soon to be former partner off the ladder to claim the win. I was totally shocked. Sandow is one of my favorites, but I figured he was a midcard type of guy in the eyes of WWE management. Color me surprised. All in all a good opener.
Next up we had Curtis Axel vs. the Miz. Meh. I like the Miz, and I like what they're doing with Axel but I kind of want them to get on with it. He obviously has a date with CM Punk ahead, and I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up happening at Summerslam instead of Punk vs. Brock Lesnar. Axel won the match, which didn't surprise me. I like the Miz a lot more than most internet fanboys, and I hope he gets something good to do going forward.
Divas Title Match: I don't hate the Divas; that's another area where I diverge from the 'net fanboys. I will say for the millionth time that the mix of good looking women who can actually do stuff in the ring is better than it was during either of my two earlier stints as a regular fan. The Rock and Wrestling Era had some good wrestlers who didn't exactly set one's heart aflutter. The NWO/Attitude Era had really attractive women who could do next to nothing in the ring. In fact they barely even had any actual matches other than bra and panties matches and the like. If you ask me that was the height of chauvinism, not to mention the physical violence that often received at the hands of male wrestlers. So here we are. The match between AJ and Kaitlyn was what it was, not bad but not particularly good. AJ wins, and she really needs a new challenger now. Which leads us to....
World Title Match: Alberto Del Rio vs. Dolph Ziggler. I had Ziggler not winning the title here. Wasn't sure how it would happen, but I figured it would some kind of way. I was not wrong. Ziggler did well, but AJ got him disqualified. Match was good and suspenseful enough towards the ending. Once AJ came down to the ring I rightly figured she would cost her soon to be ex the match. But instead of a full on betrayal, which happened the next night on RAW, we got the accidental match ending.
Chris Jericho vs. Ryback: Pointless match beyond getting a win back after his recent losses to Cena. I didn't like the match, I knew Ryback was winning from the start because Jericho is world class at putting guys over.
John Cena s. Mark Henry: Pretty decent match. I picked Cena to win, but didn't know if it would be a decisive, storyline ending or a some kind of non finish to keep things going for another month. Turns out we got the clean finish. Cena haters did what they usually do, bitch without providing any real arguments worth listening to. Henry and Cena have moved on to other things already but they gave us something good here.
Main Event: Christian, Rob Van Dam, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, and Sheamus. Great match. I didn't have Orton winning; total shocker. I figured going in that neither he nor Christian, nor Sheamus had a shot. But other than that, I didn't know. Van Dam showed he can definitely still go at a high level and the others (Bryan and Punk) performed at the high level they usually do. As the match went on I figured either Punk would win or would be stopped from winning by Paul Heyman or Lesnar; that turned out to be right. When Van Dam was making his final run at the ladder I just knew he was going to take it; Orton pulling out the RKO and stealing the victory was a nice surprise.
So where do they go from here? I think Orton will eventually cash in on Cena or whoever beats him after a title match, and it could come as early as Summerslam. Sandow will be waiting a while. Alberto Del Rio has to drop the belt to somebody first. Should be fun to watch what happens, though.
