Money in the Bank: Cashing in on Old Faithful

The WWE Network era produced another solid pay-per-view offering with Money in the Bank that gave us a firm direction of where we are heading this summer. There were some hits and misses throughout the evening, but John Cena winning his 15^th world title left some fans disillusioned citing, “Same old #&$@*.”.

Speaking as someone who promotes the occasional independent show, the opening match is extremely important because it sets the tone for the entire evening. The Usos vs. The Wyatt Family gets my vote for match of the night. I really wasn’t sure who was going to win and the action in the ring lead me in both directions multiple times. These are two teams that I could watch wrestle each other again and again. The Usos winning was the right call because they are hot right now and there is no need to take the belts off of them.

Seth Rollins won the traditional MITB ladder match and it was actionpacked from the opening bell. Everyone pulled their weight making this a must-see spectacle. There was one false finish where Kofi Kingston climbed the ladder and I was convinced he was going to win. He didn’t, which made me wonder if Kofi will ever get his due? This would have been match of the night, but the only bad part was the finish with Kane costing Dean Ambrose that briefcase was awful. Ambrose was selling a shoulder injury, which made it tough to climb the ladder, but Kane took so long to get to the ring that it looked as if Ambrose was frozen in fear. Right result, wrong way to get there, great match.

Paige went over on Cameron to retain the title in another string of great Diva’s matches as of late. I think NXT has forced WWE to step up their game in the female realm because all of these fun matches are happening in Orlando and it proves the company is capable doing this on a consistent basis. This wasn’t the case until Paige debuted and, while her character has received a lukewarm welcome from the audience, she has been a key component in raising the bar for the division. 

The Rusev vs. Big E match was exactly what it needed to be at this stage of the Bulgarian’s rise. Big E gave him his biggest challenge to date. In the end, Rusev not only beat him but made Big E suffer, pulling back really hard on the camel clutch which looked vicious. Stardust and Goldust vs. Rybaxel was simply a platform to get the golden duo over as a tag team. Layla beating Summer Rae was the Days of our Lives  part of the show.

The ladder match to crown a new WWE champion ended in predictable fashion, thanks to the Amazon.com spoiler last week, and John Cena is your winner. This won’t fall in line with popular opinion, but Cenawinning was the right call. There is all this talk about elevating this guy and elevating that guy. The belt is a prop. No one is  going to be elevated unless there is a good story behind their ascension. Orton, Del Rio, and Sheamus, are too flat to be champions, Kane would have been worse, Cesaro and Wyatt are not ready, yet, and Roman Reigns is super close to not just being the next main event player but THE GUY. That is something you hold off on until WrestleMania. Then we have John Cena who is currently THE GUY and the smart bet to make when injuries force your hand creatively. On a personal note, it was nice to see Cena win his second world title in Boston.

Summer is always an interesting time for WWE and Money in the Bank did a good job with presenting a fun show that is worth going out of your way to see.