WWE: Vince McMahon Still Has It

Just when I thought Vince McMahon had lost sight of what real wrestling fans want, he helped deliver the best WWE event in years at Sunday’s Money In The Bank.

Just when I thought that Vince McMahon had gone completely soft and become too predictable, the Money In The Bank pay-per-view event happened. As a lifelong wrestling fan, Sunday night’s event at the AllState Arena in Rosemont forced it’s way into my top 10 WWE events ever. Quite simply, it delivered like any great pay-per-view should.

For a wrestling pay-per-view to succeed, you need to have a reason to come back and watch Raw the next night to see what happens. Do you think that the ratings for Raw Monday night see a spike after what happened at Money In The Bank? With C.M. Punk winning the WWE title even though he isn’t signed to a WWE contract, the storylines and possibilities are endless. Nobody knows for sure what will happen next, and that’s the beauty of it.

Before heading through the Chicago crowd, Chi City’s own C.M. Punk blows a kiss to the boss after winning the WWE title from John Cena.

I’ve been critical of Vince McMahon in the last 3-4 years for letting his product become watered down, predictable & downright boring. The C.M. Punk storyline brought me back in, and judging by the fact that “PUNK WINS” was trending on Twitter Sunday night, it brought back a lot of old school fans as well. Kudos Vince, I didn’t think you had it in you anymore.

My hope is that this is only the start of engaging WWE television as the Summer of Punk starts. As I wrote on Sunday, they can do so much with the “Punk is the champ without a contract” angle that it can carry the company for the next few months. It is also a shot in the arm to the talent backstage. In Punk’s “shoot” promos the last few weeks, he made mention of guys being pissed off at what has become of the company. The everybody looks the same and has to be vanilla is boring as shit, and would drive me nuts if I wrote for the WWE or wrestled for McMahon.

What transpired in the main event between Punk and the now “fired” John Cena was as old school of a match as you’ll ever see. Sure, the atmosphere at AllState makes for an amazing setting (Chicago wrestling fans are the best hands down), but both guys deserve credit for putting on the most entertaining match I’ve seen since I was at WrestleMania 22 when Cena defeated HHH. It was that electric. AllState Arena is a special place to see a wrestling show, and they actually got one on Sunday. For that, I applaud McMahon.

My fear was that one of the Money In The Bank ladder match winners would come down and beat Punk for the title after he had defeated Cena. It almost happened, but laid out Alberto Del Rio before taking his new WWE championship to his people. There are now more questions than answers, just the way it should be.

I have no idea what comes next in the Punk-Cena-Vince angle, but it will no doubt be compelling. Cena could use some time off and the stipulation of him getting “fired” is a perfect way to make that happen. This is no C.M. Punk’s time. It’s his chance to bring back fans that had long given up on the WWE’s annoying and drama-less product. He is the right guy to lead this revival, and make the WWE a must watch again. As for the chairman, it makes me smile to know that he still cares about the feelings of so many true wrestling fans. Enough of appealing to 13 year-olds all over the country; it’s gotten ridiculous. For the old school generation of fans like myself, Money In The Bank was our night. And if it’s properly handled, the old school fans will have many more nights like Sunday during the Summer of Punk. Thank you, Vince. It’s about time.

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