WWE Money in the Bank (July 2011)

Original Airdate: July 17, 2011

From Chicago, Illinois; Your Hosts are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and Booker T

Opening Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Kane v Sheamus v Daniel Bryan v Cody Rhodes v Wade Barrett v Sin Cara v Heath Slater v Justin Gabriel: Winner gets a World Heavyweight title match. Kane, Sheamus, and Barrett manage to dump everyone else out, and Sheamus and Barrett try ganging up, but Kane dumps them both. Kane brings a ladder in, but Bryan blasts him with a baseball slide before he can get it into the ring. That triggers a sequence where guys grab the ladder and get hit with baseball slides, ending in Slater getting it inside, but Justin steals it. He goes for the case, but Daniel dropkicks him off the ladder - only to get dumped by Cody. Cody climbs, but Sheamus cuts him off, and everyone takes turns doing that. Kane nearly gets up the ladder, but Wade, Heath, and Justin pull him off. As they put the boots to him, Rhodes climbs, but the triumvirate stop him. Bryan climbs, but gets clobbered by those three as well, but the alliance breaks down once they realize a briefcase doesn’t split three ways. Like Tess! Kane comes in and chokeslams everyone, but Bryan gets rid of Barrett on his way to the win at 24:26. The same thing these things usually are. I can see how these would be really fun to watch live, but most of them don’t do much for me as a home viewer. There are exceptions, but most of the time it’s just a car crash, and I’m a workrate guy. * ½ 

WWE Divas Title Match: Kelly Kelly v Brie Bella: Kelly with a Thesz press into mounted punches right away, and a headscissors takedown sends Brie to the outside. Kelly dives off the apron at her, and Kelly tries a headscissors hold on the way back in, but gets dumped over the top. Inside, that gets Bella two, and the challenger works a bodyscissors from there. Bella snaps her throat across the middle rope for two after Kelly escapes the hold, and a matslam gets another two. Bella goes to a crossface, but Kelly uses a jawbreaker to escape, and bangs the challenger’s face into the mat a few times. Kelly makes a comeback, and a neckbreaker gets her two. Reversal sequence ends in Kelly delivering a bulldog for two, so Brie sweeps the leg, and hooks it for two. Kelly fires back with a rocker dropper from there, and that’s it at 4:48. Well, that was super straightforward. ½*

Big Show v Mark Henry: Show wins a slugfest to start, and knocks Mark to the outside with a jumping shoulderblock. Show chases with a clothesline on the floor, and he tries a chokeslam through the announce table, but Henry blocks, and Show has to settle for shoving him into the steps instead. Henry manages to dropkick the steps into Show’s knee, and Mark clips the leg on the way back into the ring. Mark works the leg, and he tries a half-crab to put it away, but Show is in the ropes. Mark goes back to the leg, but Show fights him off to buy time, so Henry uses an avalanche. Again, but Show blocks this time, and dives off the middle with a shoulderblock. He hurts his knee on the landing, however, so no cover. Show manages to try the chokeslam, but Henry strikes at the bad knee to block, and delivers a slam for two. Henry with a second slam to set up a splash, but no cover. A second splash connects, and that’s enough at 5:55. Not very good, but short enough to avoid becoming offensive. ½*

Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Alberto Del Rio v Rey Mysterio v Miz v Alex Riley v Kofi Kingston v R-Truth v Jack Swagger v Evan Bourne: Winner gets a WWE Title match. Everyone comes in armed with a ladder, which comes down to Miz and Truth. They trade off, so Swagger comes in and takes both out, but loses a fight over the ladder to Kofi and Evan. Kingston clears the ring, but Truth jumps him before he can climb, so Alex sneaks in to take him out. That all leads to a dogpile sequence on the outside, and Kofi does a bunch of acrobatics with ladders to avoid attacks on the way back in. Everyone climbs at the same time, leading to a game of king of the mountain, ending in Kingston knocking Mysterio off to take the high ground. He goes for the case, and nearly gets it, before Swagger saves. Both guys end up taking a bump down to the mat, and Miz hustles up the ladder to try and steal this thing, but Rey cuts him off. Rey climbs, but Del Rio rips the mask off to prevent him from getting it, and Mysterio is so broken up over it that he just stops trying. Dude, we’ve seen WCW. Del Rio grabs it at 15:52. * ¼ 

World Heavyweight Title Match: Randy Orton v Christian: If Orton is disqualified, or if there is poor officiating, he loses the gold. Christian slides a chair to the champion right away, trying to tempt Randy into a DQ. Orton doesn’t take the bait, so Christian slaps him across the face, but Orton punches him instead of using the weapon. Randy unloads in the corner, and a cross corner whip rebounds Christian into a backdrop. Kneedrop connects, but Christian turns the tables in the corner, and uses a corner whip of his own - only for Randy to rebound with a clothesline. Orton goes to the outside, so Christian tries a plancha, but Randy dodges. That allows him to whip his challenger into the steps, but Christian takes control on the way back in, and a backelbow gets him two. Killswitch, but Orton blocks, and a clothesline sends both men tumbling over the top. Christian tries a dive on the way back in, but misses. That allows Randy to try an RKO, but Christian dodges. He tries a 2nd rope dropkick, but Randy catches the legs, and uses a somersault cradle for two. Mounted punches follow, and Randy tries the rope-hung DDT, but Christian blocks. That allows Christian a 2nd rope bodypress, but Orton is ready with a dropkick to block, and he hooks the leg for two. Christian snaps his throat across the top rope to buy some time, and a flying headbutt drop gets the challenger two. That knocks him kind of silly too, however, giving us a reversal sequence that ends in Christian delivering the killswitch for two. Spear, but Randy leapfrogs, and drops him with a gutwrench neckbreaker for two. Snap powerslam follows, and another try at the rope-hung DDT is more successful. RKO, but Christian blocks, and spits in Orton’s mouth. That triggers him, and Randy tackles him down for mounted punches, then straight up kicks him in the balls for the DQ at 12:17. I like how Christian was able to outsmart him, but I’m never a fan of changing titles (let alone world titles) with bullshit finishes. Fun match in general, though. ** ½ 

Main Event: WWE Title Match: John Cena v CM Punk: Super hot crowd for this one, with loud cheering and booing through basic feeling out process stuff. Cena with a takedown into a fujiwara armbar, as the announcers do a really good job of making this feel important, and getting the history of it across. Punk forces a criss cross, but Cena shoulderblocks him to win it, and digs in with a side-headlock. Punk forces another criss cross, and wins this time with a hiptoss. Dropkick follows, and Punk grounds him with a headlock of his own, as the announcers jump the shark by giving some odd explanation of the Montreal Screwjob. Cena escapes, so Punk stomps him down, but a cross corner whip gets reversed on him, and John uses a one-handed bulldog for two. Cena keeps it grounded with a front-facelock from there, but Punk slugs free, so John takes his head off with a clothesline for two. Chinlock, but Punk fights to a vertical base, and uses a side suplex for two. Corner whip gets two, but John blocks a piledriver by railroading him into the corner, and a suplex gets the champion two. Attitude Adjustment, but Punk counters with a DDT for two, and he grounds the champion in a headscissors hold. John fights to a vertical base for an electric chair, but Punk blocks, and dumps John to the outside. Punk drags him onto the apron for a guillotine kneedrop, and he hooks the leg for two on the way back in. Punk with a corner whip, but the charge in misses, allowing Cena to go for the STF. Punk blocks, and covers for another two, then snapmares the champ into a chinlock. Cena escapes, so Punk uses a sloppy 2nd rope bodypress for two, but a suplex gets reversed over the top by the champion. That gets him a two count on the way back in, and another suplex sets up an elbowdrop for two. Sitout front-powerslam gets two, but Punk fights back during a slugfest, so John goes to an abdominal stretch to cut him off. Punk escapes, but a charge with a clothesline is met in kind, leaving both men looking up at the lights. Both guys beat the count, and Cena is ready with a pair of jumping shoulderblocks, but Punk counters the side suplex with a schoolboy for two. Kneesmash, but Cena dodges, and Punk crashes into the turnbuckles. That allows John the suplex to set up the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Punk blocks, and dumps the champ to the outside for a tope! Punk is battered, but has the presence to mind to break the count before dragging John back in for a springboard flying clothesline - only for Cena to sidestep. That allows John to drop the Shuffle, but Punk blocks the AA. That allows Punk a series of strikes for two, but Cena counters the GTS with a gutwrench suplex for two. Back to the AA, but Punk counters with a pair of kneesmashes, and a bulldog follows. That allows the challenger to land a springboard flying clothesline for two, but a series of kicks get countered into the STF. Punk makes the ropes, so Cena tries to drag him to center ring, but Punk is ready with a roundhouse kick for two. Flying bodypress, but Cena rolls through into the AA - only to gte countered into the GTS, which Cena then counters into the STF! Brilliant sequence there. Punk inches toward the ropes, so Cena lets off preemptively, dragging him back to the middle to trap him. Punk manages to counter into a headlock to escape, and the crowd is losing their minds for this. Cena powers to a vertical base for the AA for two, but a flying rocker dropper gets dodged, and Punk covers for two. That didn’t come off well, but this crowd has no problem overlooking it. GTS, but Cena grabs the top rope to block, and snaps Punk’s throat across it. Cena lands the flying rocker dropper for two on the second go around, and another AA only gets two as well. Cena responds by trying an AA off the middle rope, but Punk throws wild elbows to block. That allows CM a rana off the top, and he blasts John with a kneesmash to set up the GTS - only for Cena to fall out of the ring before a cover can be made! Punk muscles him back in, but that takes a lot out of him, and he’s moving slowly. Meanwhile, Vince McMahon shows up to try and prevent a title change, and the distraction allows Cena to apply the STF. Vince wants to ring the fucking bell, but John lets off, and tells him to get lost. That distraction allows Punk to recover, however, and the GTS wins him the title at 33:42. This was an awesome match overall, with strong, layered storytelling, and an insanely hot crowd from start to finish. That said, I really disliked the finish, which felt like a major plop of bullshit after thirty minutes of old school wrestling. There were also some pretty glaring flaws in the execution of some of the spots, which kept this well short of perfection even before that. Afterwards, Vince goes to plan-b and demands that Alberto Del Rio come out to cash in his title shot, but Punk fights it off, and escapes with the gold. **** ¼ 

BUExperience: The main event is truly awesome, but the rest is mostly skippable, unless you’re a bigger fan of the Money in the Bank gimmick than I am. 

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