WWE Money in the Bank (June 2016)

Original Airdate: June 19, 2016

From Las Vegas, Nevada; Your Hosts are Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, and John Bradshaw Layfield

Opening WWE Tag Team Title Fatal Four-Way Match: The New Day v The Club v Enzo & Cass v The Vaudevillains: The entrances and pre-match spiels take forever, the bell not ringing until we're fifteen minutes deep into this show. Kofi Kingston starts off with Karl Anderson, and a nice criss cross ends in Kofi hitting a jumping backelbow for two. The Club respond by doubling up in the corner, but Kofi blocks a side suplex from Luke Gallows, and Enzo Amore comes in with a flying bodypress on Anderson for two. Kingston breaks the budding pact with a quick schoolboy on Amore for two, and a reversal sequence between them ends in a stalemate. They do a neat tug-of-war spot for a tag that ends on Big E and Big Cass squaring off, but we never get the showdown, as the Vaudevillains force a tag. That ends badly for them. Everyone brawls, and the dust settles on Kofi and Aiden English. The Vaudevillains briefly cut the ring in half on Kofi, until Kingston hits English with a jawbreaker, and Anderson tags himself in. The Club now work Kingston over, but a double-knockout spot ends in tags to Amore and English - which may also be the name of a course at Georgetown. The Club quickly take Aiden out of the running, however, but Enzo manages to escape Luke's clutches long enough to tag Cass. That triggers another brawl between all four teams, and we get a dog pile sequence on the outside. Inside, Bada Boom Shakalaka looks to finish Anderson, but Gallows saves in the nick of time. The announcers are actually concerned over who is the legal man, which is a nice touch that I thought was forever lost to history during the Attitude Era. The brawl continues, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on! Finish comes when the Club deliver the Magic Killer on English, but New Day break up the cover, and pin Aiden themselves at 11:42. Yeah, no surprise who ate the fall there. Really energetic, with lots of fun combinations. Good opener. ** ½

Dolph Ziggler v Baron Corbin: Dolph sticks and moves in the early going, but Corbin dodges a superkick, and bails. Back in, Ziggler keeps after him with a dropkick and a stinger splash, but gets clobbered with a right, and a lariat gives Corbin two. Baron works Ziggler over with dull punch-kick stuff, but Ziggler manages to fight him off in the corner, and hit a neckbreaker to setup an elbowdrop for two. Fameasser, but Baron blocks, and lariats him again for two. This is just going nowhere, with Corbin looking totally lost at what to do when he's in control of things. Dolph helps him out with a fameasser for two, but Baron dodges the superkick again, and drops Ziggler with the Deep Six on the floor. Dolph beats the count in, so Corbin punishes him (and us) with more punch-kick offense. End of Days, but Ziggler counters with a superkick for two. I'm honestly surprised Shawn Michaels hasn't filed a lawsuit against Ziggler yet. His act has went well past the point of paying tribute, and is now well into the territory of a direct impression - down to his ring gear. Dolph mimics Shawn's mannerisms as he climbs for a flying elbowdrop, but Corbin knocks him off, and the End of Days finishes this dull match at 12:23. Far too long for what Corbin was bringing to the table, but at least Dolph looked to be having a ball living out some childhood backyard wrestling fantasy of playing Shawn Michaels. ½*

Charlotte and Dana Brooke v Natalya and Becky Lynch: I may still be 50/50 on Maryse (she certainly looked damn good during that RAW food fight segment a few weeks ago), but I know I definitely don't want to fuck Dana, that much is for certain. She looks like Buzz's girlfriend, woof! Dana starts with Natalya, and gets quickly rolled up in a schoolgirl for two. Nattie with a seated dropkick, so Brooke tags out, and Charlotte eats a weak Hart Attack from the faces as they clean house. Tandem baseball slide gets Becky two on Charlotte as they head back in, and Nattie schoolgirls her for two. Cheap shot from Dana allows Charlotte to turn things around with a big boot for two, and they cut the ring in half on Nattie. Charlotte gets cocky and misses a charge in the corner to allow the tag to Becky, and she's a crotch of fire! You have no idea how long I've been waiting for a Becky Lynch tag team match to work that one in. Brawl breaks out, with Brooke continually getting in Charlotte's way, but Nattie and Becky are so incompetent that they can barely capitalize. Case in point, Nattie gets the Sharpshooter on Charlotte, but still gets pinned with the Natural Selection at 6:57. This whole match felt like it was building to a Charlotte/Brooke breakup, so of course, it's Nattie and Becky who break up after the match. * ¼

Sheamus v Apollo Crews: They trade headlocks to start, until Crews throws a dropkick, and clotheslines Sheamus over the top. He tries following, but ends up taking the Irish Curse out there, and Sheamus clobbers him with a pair of short-clotheslines on the way back in. Sheamus with a rolling fireman's carry slam gets two between courses at the Randy Orton School of Chinlockery, but Crews manages a schoolboy for two. He starts mounting his comeback with clotheslines and a stinger splash, and a bodypress leads to an enzuigiri for two. Overhead suplex sends Sheamus out clear over the top ropes, and Apollo follows with a moonsault off the apron! Back in, an Olympic slam gets two, but he runs into a bodyslam for two, and a White Noise off the top looks to finish - but only gets two. A shocked Sheamus (try saying THAT five times fast) argues the count, however, thereby allowing Crews a crucifix cradle at 8:38. Watchable. **

John Cena v AJ Styles: The crowd is hot for this one, not surprisingly. Feeling out process to start, until Cena sends him absolutely flying with a monkeyflip, but Styles blocks the FU, and chops at him. He gets cocky and caught in a belly-to-belly suplex for two however, and AJ bails. John follows, but Styles avoids a whip into the steps, and pounds Cena on the way back in. I'm not sure if they're just not clicking, or if maybe Cena is simply working through some ring rust, but whatever the case, this one feels like it's having trouble getting into gear. Styles with a kneedrop and a vertical suplex, but he runs into a backdrop. That triggers the usual Cena comeback routine, but Styles cuts it off with a dropkick, and he grounds John with a chinlock. Cena escapes and mounts his usual comeback again, but this time Styles cuts him off with an enzuigiri. Stinger splash (popular spot tonight) misses, but a rana blocks the Five Knuckle Shuffle, and he hits John with a plancha on the outside. He decides to go to the well once too often work a corkscrew tope, however, and Cena brings him in for the FU - only for Styles to block, and hit the stinger splash. Phenomenal Forearm, but Cena counters to the STF - AJ in the ropes. John tries a superplex, but AJ slips free and charges into a backdrop over the top spot that got badly botched. They recover with Cena trying an FU off the top rope, but Styles blocks. Phenomenal Forearm, but Cena counters to the FU - countered back to the Calf Crusher. Cena gets the ropes, but the calf has been damaged, and AJ zeroes in. He runs into a well executed clothesline, however, and John delivers the Shuffle to setup the FU for two. Cena tries the flying legdrop to finish, but AJ catches him in a sloppy powerbomb for two. Pele Kick sets up the Clash, but it only gets two. So now it's AJ's turn to go for a high flying attempt to finish, but the springboard 450 splash hits John's knees. Well, he tried. FU is countered to the Clash, but back to the FU, then countered to the Pele Kick – which misses. STF is countered to the Phenomenal Forearm, but Cena dodges, and hits the FU - only to take out the referee in the process! He has AJ pinned, but there's no one to count, and here come the Club! Magic Killer, and Styles scores the cheap fall at 24:11. Not a bad match, but certainly a letdown, to some degree. Quite a few botches, too. ** ¾

Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Dean Ambrose v Chris Jericho v Kevin Owens v Sami Zayn v Cesaro v Alberto Del Rio: Big brawl to start, naturally. Ambrose and Jericho take the ring while everybody else goes at it on the outside, but that doesn't last, as Dean decides to dive after Owens with a tope out of nowhere. That allows Jericho to go for a ladder, but Cesaro cuts him off. He ends up trading tilt-a-whirl backbreakers with Del Rio, then hitting Chris with a somersault bodyblock on the floor to trigger a dog pile sequence. These matches may not have much at all in the way of psychology, but I can't help but dig the crazy inventiveness of the high risk spots. They take turns bodyslamming each other onto ladders in the ring, until everyone ends up battered enough for Cesaro to go on a crazy run of uppercuts - until Owens cuts him off with a superkick. That allows Kevin to go on his own crazy run of somersault bodyblocks in the corner, but Sami cuts THAT off, and starts dropping everyone with Helluva Kicks galore! Sami climbs, but Alberto pulls him off, and hangs him in a tree of woe. He's got a clear path to the case, but instead decides to go out to the floor to retrieve a needless second ladder to beat Sami with. And do that he does, including a flying double-stomp with it, but by the time he remembers to, you know, climb the ladder, Cesaro cuts him off. Cool sequence, as Del Rio holds Cesaro in a cross armbreaker ON the ladder, but Owens runs over and superkicks him - knocking Cesaro into springboard corkscrew backelbowing Kevin! Nuts! Ambrose then caps it off by giving Cesaro the Dirty Deeds, but Jericho rushes past them an up the ladder - Owens eventually shoving it over to stop the effort. Kevin climbs, but Del Rio brings him down with the Backstabber, so Cesaro throws grabs Alberto for the giant swing. Jericho tries to save with a Codebreaker, but ends up taking his own swing into a ladder, allowing Dean to come of the top of another ladder with a flying elbowsmash on Cesaro! He's slow to follow-up, however, and Owens is able to sandwich him onto a ladder with a flying frogsplash. That leaves him Zayn to slug it out with, and Sami gets the better of it with a crazy Michinoku driver onto a ladder. That was nasty! Sami climbs, and nearly gets the case, but Del Rio bashes him with another ladder to knock him down for a DDT. Del Rio then stops to help erect a ladder bridge, with one standing ladder at the center, then two other ladders coming off the side, sandwiched into the opposing turnbuckles. It looks cool, sure, but it's not like it serves any logistical purpose. So, everyone bumps off said bridge (with Del Rio taking an especially nasty spill), until Ambrose manages to knock Owens off to snag the case at 21:37. Sure, the psychology was completely non-existent, but these modern ladder matches aren't about that anyway. They're basically the wrestling equivalent of a big summer blockbuster, where there's almost no plot, but it's fun, loud, and visually impressive. And it succeeded in that sense. *** ½

WWE United States Title Match: Rusev v Titus O'Neil: Titus' family is at ringside, so I think we can all guess where this is going. They start with a double-knockout spot on the floor after Rusev goes to taunt said family, and Titus slams him into the rail, but eats steps before he can get the champion in. Rusev with a spinheel kick on the way in for two, and a somersault senton splash follows. Cobra clutch, but a cross corner charge misses, and Titus slams him for two. Spinebuster gets two, and a pumphandle-slam gets two - Titus very clearly gassed at this point. They spill to the floor for Mr. O'Neil to introduce Rusev to the apron and steps, but he runs into a superkick on the way in, and the Accolade ends it at 8:20. Afterwards, we get the one worthwhile bit of the match, as Rusev goes to the floor, and wishes Titus' heartbroken kids a happy Father's Day. That was great. This wasn't offensively bad, or anything, but it was superfluous on what had already become an overlong show. In the pre-Network era, this would have probably gotten the Bam Bam Bigelow/Kamala at WrestleMania IX treatment. Though, I feel like Jim Harris and Bam Bam Bigelow would have had an infinitely better time on their off night in Vegas than these two would have. If anything, these two probably would have stayed in their rooms and played video games. Hey, but maybe they'd download some community created CAWs of Kamala and Bam Bam Bigelow in WWE 2K14 and (after they unlock the WrestleMania IX arena, of course) pit them against each other in a battle of the pay per view castoffs, as played by pay per view castoffs. Ah, what could have been. Instead, we got this match. ¾*

Main Event: WWE World Heavyweight Title Match: Roman Reigns v Seth Rollins: Seth and AJ Styles should either form a tag team, or stop wearing matching gear. Reigns brings the power to start, so an annoyed Rollins forces him to wrestle, and gets the champ down in a mat-based side-headlock. Dropkick and a high knee send Roman to the outside for a tope, and Seth rushes him right back in for a pair for cross corner forearms - only to run into a Samoan drop on the following. Reigns with a vertical suplex for two and a tilt-a-whirl slam gets two. I should note that the elapsed time between those moves was about two minutes, however. Reigns seems to be moving at half speed tonight, which is ironic for a guy allegedly on amphetamines. Brawl on the outside goes nowhere until Seth reverses a whip into the steps, but gets crotched on the top turnbuckle on the way back in, and eats a sitout crucifix powerbomb for two. Superman Punch, but Seth counters with a reverse STO into the turnbuckles, and then throws an enzuigiri. Dropkick knocks Reigns to the floor for another tope, and this time Seth adds a somersault plancha for good measure. Rollins with a sling blade on the way back in, and Reigns is doing an absolute shit job of selling here. Like, his facial expressions are really lacking, especially around the eyes. Pedigree looks to finish, but Roman counters with the Superman Punch for two. Spear, but Seth counters with a knee, and a springboard high knee sets up a flying frogsplash for two. Turnbuckle powerbomb and a superkick get two, and a pair of cross corner forearms soften Roman for a floatover superplex into a falcon arrow for two. Pedigree is blocked again, however, and Reigns hooks a schoolboy for two - shifting Seth's momentum on the kickout into a sitout powerbomb for two. Slugfest is won by Reigns, but the Superman is blocked, and Seth delivers another turnbuckle powerbomb - only for Reigns to rebound with the Superman for two! Seth bails, so Roman chases with a Spear into the rail - only for Rollins to sidestep. Inside, Rollins looks to capitalize with the Pedigree, but Reigns counters with the Spear for two. Another Spear, but Rollins counters with the Pedigree for two - in a nice spot. Great timing on that one! Another Pedigree, and that's finally enough at 26:01. Not a bad match, but it felt like they were moving at half speed throughout, and I thought it relied far too heavily on the signature move/counter stuff. I realize that's become par for the course these days (remember when it was only a WrestleMania main event thing?), but at least usually it's saved for the final moments. This match had about ten minutes of feeling out, then got right into trading finishers for the next fifteen. I wish the bookers and agents would realize that there are other ways to build drama than simply countering and doing near falls off of signature moves. ** ½

WWE World Heavyweight Title Match: Seth Rollins v Dean Ambrose: Unfortunately for Rollins, Ambrose shows up to cash in - knocking Seth out with the case with a sneak attack, then hitting Dirty Deeds to win the title at 0:09. And the crowd goes wild! DUD

BUExperience: Not necessarily a ‘bad’ show, but certainly a disappointing one. The Cena/Styles match underperformed, the main event was fairly flat, and the Money in the Bank match – while very good – didn’t feel like anything we haven’t seen a dozen times before already this year, and from the same players to boot. Overall, more of a letdown than anything else

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