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After nearly a month of anticipation, we rolled into Philadelphia for the Money in the Bank PPV. Money in the Bank has to be one of the most anticipated Pay Per Views this year, as WWE hit the nail on the head by bringing in Rob Van Dam, the most over performer in the original Extreme Championship Wrestling, which was based out of Philadelphia.
Anyway, going into the show, Kane was taken off the Money in the Bank ladder match for the WWE title, and no replacement was named. The card opened with the pre-show bout between the WWE tag team champions Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns taking on The Usos with the tag team belts on the line.
Pre–show:
The Shield (Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) defeated The Usos for the WWE tag team championships
This has to be one of the best pre–show matches I’ve ever seen. The crowd loved every minute of it (No surprise there) as Seth Rollins is one of the best workers in the industry. The match also received about 16 minutes, which enabled the story to play out without rushing into things. The crowd broke into a “This is awesome” chant, and it was just the pre–show! It was a good back and forth match, and the end saw Reigns spearing one of the Usos to pick up the victory.
Rating: *** ¼
Main card:
The Money in the Bank ladder match for the World Heavyweight championship:
Damien Sandow defeated Cody Rhodes, Antonio Cesaro, Dean Ambrose, Jack Swagger, Fandango and Wade Barrett
Going into the show, I predicted that this could be the match of the night, and it came close to being just that. I had originally predicted Ambrose to win, and he showed signs of why he’s one of the best things in the WWE.
The surprise package was none other than Cody Rhodes though, who was undoubtedly the star of the match. Cody has been under-utilized, and he showed just how awesome he is in this match, and nearly retrieved the briefcase only to be double crossed by Sandow! I absolutely loved it, as I’m a huge fan of Team Rhodes Scholars. At least now they’ll be a part of something other than being dominated by Sheamus. An excellent way to kick things off, and the Philly crowd loved the bout.
Rating: ****
The new General Manager Brad Maddox then came out for a pointless segment. WWE would have wanted to kill some time, and they used him for it. The segment also included a video of how WWE bullied Vickie Guerrero.
Curtis Axel (With Paul Heyman) defeated The Miz for the WWE Intercontinental championship
The match received about 10 minutes, and it was an okay bout. I am not a huge fan of The Miz, but he did well to keep the momentum going. Heyman was sent to the back after Miz played coy with the referee. Axel then came back with the Perfectplex and Miz kicked out. Miz then went for a figure four which was countered by Axel. The finish saw Axel planting The Miz face first into the mat with a modified neckbreaker.
Rating: **
AJ Lee (With Big E) defeated Kaitlyn (With Layla)
This match received about 7 minutes, which is a good amount of time for a Divas match. Kaitlyn was in control for the majority of the match, while AJ got the upper hand in between. There were some neat spots, with AJ going for a bridging armbar and Big E catching AJ as she was pushed from the top turnbuckle. The end saw AJ locking in her Black Widow submission maneuver, and Kaitlyn had no choice but to tap out.
Rating: * ¾
Ryback defeated Chris Jericho
This was the most pointless match on the card, and I expected Ryback to get a dominant win although he managed to squeeze out a victory. Jericho certainly had better matches than this, but he made a good match out of Ryback, which is as difficult as it gets. The bout went on for about 10 minutes, and the end saw Ryback pinning Jericho with a roll up after Jericho went for a Lionsault and landed on his feet.
Rating: ** ¼
Alberto Del Rio defeated Dolph Ziggler via Disqualification for the World Heavyweight championship
The Philly crowd was hot for Dolph Ziggler, as a huge “Let’s go Ziggler” chant ran through the entire bout. These two are phenomenal athletes, and can put a great match when they’re given sufficient time. They received about 15 minutes, and the bout was fast paced as expected.
Just when both the guys were building steam, AJ came out and distracted Ziggler. The end saw Ziggler avoiding a Shining Wizard kick by ADR, but AJ came in and decked ADR with her Divas title to cause the disqualification. ADR went to the back with his title while Ziggler and AJ dropped to their knees in the ring. Ziggler went to the back alone while the Philly crowd started a “You Screwed Ziggler” chant directed at AJ.
Rating: *** ½
John Cena defeated Mark Henry for the WWE championship
It’s funny how the announcers act surprised when Cena locks Henry in the STF or lifts him for the AA. We’ve all seen it before, WWE. Anyway, the match was slow as expected, and Henry dominated till Cena made his usual comeback. They told a good story, with Henry trying to win the match at any cost, even low-blowing Cena when the ref got distracted, but Cena won the match against all odds like only he can. The match went for 15 minutes, and the finish saw Henry tapping out to the STF.
Rating: ***
Randy Orton defeated CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Christian, RVD and Sheamus to win the Money in the Bank ladder match for the WWE title
The Philly crowd exploded as RVD came out first, followed by the other competitors. Huge “RVD” chants rang throughout the arena, and it was the match of the night, to no one’s surprise. There were some good spots, and RVD delivered a huge splash from the top of the ladder onto Christian.
As it looked like Bryan would win the match by climbing the ladder, Axel came down and decked him with a chair shot and planted Bryan face first on the outside with the modified neckbreaker. CM Punk then dropped Axel with a GTS, which brought Heyman out. Heyman yelled at Axel for trying to ruin the match for Punk and cheered on Punk to climb the ladder, only to double cross Punk.
I called it, and I’m happy it finally happened. Orton then delivered an RKO to RVD and climbed the ladder to retrieve the briefcase and win the match. I did not see that coming! It was a great 25-minute bout, but the ending made little sense to me.
Rating: **** ¼
PPV rating: ****
That was a solid PPV, but I expected Bryan to win the ladder match. Orton has no direction at the moment, but was given the briefcase while the most over performer in the company, Daniel Bryan, was screwed out of the match by Axel.
I won’t be happy if WWE goes ahead with a Bryan–Axel feud. Bryan needs to main-event for the WWE title. Anyway, that was one of the better PPVs of the year, and we now go to Summerslam from here. Lesnar is booked for tomorrow’s show, so expect a Lesnar–Punk confrontation and the fallout from this PPV.
