WWE: Money in the Bank Review

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.