In a night which promised so much, WWE finally delivered. From the moment the show started, to the moment Punk walked out of Chicago, the new WWE Champion, the show delivered. Minus the Diva's match of course, which I'd like to go on record to say that was the worst match I have ever witnessed in my life, and that's all I'll say about that.
Smackdown MITB Match
The second annual 'Money In The Bank' got off to a bang, with the Smackdown Ladder match opening the show. This match involved many high-flying spots, which was to be expected with superstars like Sin Cara, Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater involved, with all three providing over-the-top action. Daniel Bryan, or 'D-Bry' as referred to by Booker T, took some great bumps, and was really influential in the match, and actually ended up coming out on top. Sheamus and Kane were the power-houses of the match, and Sheamus really did throw his weight around, with my 'Spot-of-the-night', when he power-bombed Sin Cara through a ladder, with Cara then stretchered out, as a way to write him off TV for 30 days, as he is currently suspended (report coming soon. As previously stated, Daniel Bryan, former star of the Independant Wrestling scene, pick up the breifcase, thus earning him a match for the World Heavyweight Championship.
This really was a great moment for a number of reasons. Daniel Bryan, after 10 years of blood, sweat and tears, finally making it in the WWE, and seemingly on course to become World Champion. Also, it was a moment literally no-one predicted. Daniel Bryan was one of my last choices to win the SmackDown ladder match, so for him to win, did provide a mark-out moment. Finally, the crowd made this a great moment. As they were for the whole show, the fans in Chicago were going crazy for Bryan, as he un-hooked the case, and all in all, I think WWE have made a safe choice, and I hope they can spend the next 3-4 months building up Bryan, with some character development and then when ready, they should pull the trigger, and there you have it, a new main event star, which, is hopefully a face. Far too often, WWE has pushed Heels to the moon very quickly, leaving only Cena and Orton as main event faces, but hopefully this is the start of a new era, something which I will elude to later on in the post.
All in all, a great match, and I actually preferred it to the RAW ladder match, and it was a great opener.
AiQ Rating - 4.7/5
Mark Henry vs. Big Show
Mark Henry vs. Big Show was, as expected, a very slow paced match. We saw Henry working on the leg that was 'run-over' by Del Rio, and the match ended with a World Strongest Slam. After the match we saw Henry deliver a splash to Show's leg with a chair attached. It seems Show will be taking some time off, which in my opinion is a good thing, as he has become very stale, and perhaps a bit of character development will do him good. All in all, a pretty poor match, and I hope there is no rematch.
AiQ Rating - 1.7/5
RAW MITB Ladder Match
Next came another Ladder match, this time the Raw MITB match, and again, it delivered. There were many good spots, and although the match took a while to 'pick up', once it did, it was amazing. We saw some high-flying moves from R-Truth, Alex Riley and Rey Mysterio, to leave all participants outside the ring, before Evan Bourne went to the top of the ladder and delivered a shooting-star-press cross-body, which looked absoulutly amazing. The Miz sold a knee injury to perfection, and was taken out of the ring, only to come running back out, to what was a huge pop from the crowd, and attempt to win the match for the second year running. He was unsuccessful however, as Alberto Del Rio unmasked Rey Mysterio, before shoving him off a ladder, to pick up the MITB. Overall, this was another good ladder match, but it was just overshadowed by the Smackdown equivalent.
AiQ Rating - 4.3/5
Randy Orton vs. Christian
Now onto the first of the two World Title matches, which saw Christian go up against Randy Orton, for the third time on PPV. Again, the match flowed well, and it's obvious these two have great chemistry in the ring, and I was very suprised to see that Christian picked up the win through DQ, which meant that he won the title, due to the special contract signed on Smackdown just a few weeks earlier. The match, as I mentioned, was a good paced match, which perhaps was a bit short, and we didn't get too many false finishes, minus a Killswitch from Christian, but for me anyway, there was no way Randy would be losing clean, so I didn't see it as that big of a 'kick-out'. After the match, we saw Orton give Christian two RKO's, yet both times fail to break the table. Christian was carried out, and is now a two-time, World Heavyweight Champion. Amazing.
AiQ Rating - 3.7/5 - A good match, but it was too short to get into the 4's, but nevertheless, hardly any botches, and the match flowed well.
John Cena vs. CM Punk
Onto the main event, and what a main event. CM Punk entered his hometown to a huge pop, and wearing a new T-Shirt, labelled 'Best in The World' (possible RoH link?) and the reaction was sustained cheers. Then Cena came out to the loudest sustained 'boo' I have ever seen. I thought the crowd would be about 70/30 in the favour of Punk, but it seemed to be 95/5, and the atmosphere is what made this match. Both competitors pulled out all the stops, as they went back and fourth, in an instant-classic. Yes, there was little mis-haps, but these only added to the unpredictably and everything just felt 'right'. This is what pro-wrestling is about. Cena looked to be on top, when he locked Punk in a STF, only for Johnny Ace to accompany McMahon down to the ring, ordering for the bell in a 'screwjob' finish. Cena met Ace with a huge punch, before telling McMahon that the match would end fairly. As Cena walked back into the ring, he was greeted with a G-T-S, and the ref counted the three, and the roof exploded, and CM Punk was crowned the new WWE Champion. Vince's face was perfect, and he immediately called for Del Rio to come out (as I predicted), but in a great swerve, Punk gave Del Rio a swift kick to the head and proceeded to run out of the arena, ending a truly great pay-per-view.
AiQ rating - 5/5 - A simply perfect match, 35+ minutes, a match that will define Punk's career, and something we will look back on, for years and years to come. Amazing.
Overall Thoughts: WWE suprised us, and it means that RAW's rating's tonight will be huge. They've thrown a curveball, and it really seems the creative team are 'pushing the boat out', and if we get more of the same, we can look back to last night, as being the start of a new-era. Optimistic? probably, but WWE has really delivered with a top, top PPV. There's a really huge buzz around Pro-Wrestling at the moment, and it seems WWE are going to capitalise on that.
AiQ Rating for 'Money in The Bank' - 4.9/5 - Minus the Mark Henry-Show match and the awful Diva's match, this was a simply perfect show. But because of the two matches mentioned, MITB has to settle for a 4.9 'And I Quote Rating, which is still a truly amazing rating, and tops any Pay-per-view of the last 4 years, at least.
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