Money in the Bank V

[The Man Known as Dan]

Seriously, remember Mania when Cesaro and Wyatt were big deals? Feels like forever ago. The Cena feud sure downgraded Wyatt, and Cesaro... Man, Cesaro felt just as thrown into this match as Del Rio.

Everything about that main pissed me off.

[hammerva]

Yeah I think the idea of keeping the titles on the Uso's until the Ascension comes up is going to bite them in the ass.   Harper and Rowan definitely deserve at least one reign as champ

 

I don't know if you can say that Bray Wyatt and Cesaro were downgraded to nothing because of the match.  I agree they didn't serve much of a purpose except some cool spots but they had to put 7 or 8 people out there and couldn't think of anyone else.  

 

Although unless they start the Wyatt vs authority angle soon there could be a problem.   Cant do another Cena feud and can't work the Uso's again.  

[piranesi]

The evolution of Ambrose continues apace.  Tonight:

 

[muhammedboehm]

Orton and Kane weren't very cohesive, for an alliance. They might be the worst alliance in history.

Who's sitting in Ravens lap?

[Big Fresh]

The evolution of Ambrose continues apace.  Tonight:

 

 

Ban pls

 

[piranesi]

 

The evolution of Ambrose continues apace.  Tonight:

 

 

Ban pls

 

 

 

It's not my fault.

He's developing faster than I thought.  No one could have anticipated this.  He's already one shade toward a white leather jacket and pants away from being part of a Korean boy band.

 

That's the event horizon.  After that no one knows what follows.

[Ace]

 

 

Orton and Kane weren't very cohesive, for an alliance. They might be the worst alliance in history.

Who's sitting in Ravens lap?

 

Terri Runnels.

[twiztor]

just saw that Cena won and became 15 time world champion. hooray! i was really hoping that plucky young upstart would overcome the odds and show that HUSTLE. LOYALTY. and RESPECT. would win out. what a guy! the haters CAN'T SEE HIM indeed!

[Greggulator]

I didn't catch the whole show. I saw from the first MITB match onwards.

As far as the big development goes: Cena winning is the least interesting choice short-term. However, it's the best choice right now.

The thing with having a title is that it will get lost at some point in time. Someone needs to get built up to the point where they can survive their first title loss and not end up looking second rate -- someone like The Miz or Rey or Jeff Hardy or etc. If there's someone they think they can hold the belt for a year or two -- Punk, JBL, etc. -- than go with that guy. But Roman or Bray or Cesaro aren't quite there yet, especially without any of them really chasing the title for anything more than just a few weeks.

Cena has the belt. He can lose it again. He's absolutely bullet proof. If he loses it to Lesnar, than awesome. Beating a champion Lesnar after he ended the streak now becomes the most important victory in ages. Whoever does that -- a healthy, returning Bryan? Reigns? Cesaro? Bray? -- is made way more than winning in a ladder match. Infinitely more.

[Big Fresh]

Greggulator is right, guys, Bray Wyatt sucks. Thanks for saying what needed to be said, Gregg.

[HumanChessgame]

I wonder if they're going to have Rollins cash in against Cena at Battleground or if they're going to just have him hold onto it for a while.  If not, who is he going to defend it against?  As much as I like Bray, another Cena/Wyatt match does almost as little for me as the prospect of him defending it against Orton again.

 

At the end of the Big E/Russev match I almost thought they were going to have Big E break the Accolade similar to what Hogan did against the Iron Sheik.  Big E's promo almost sounded like he was doing an impression of Apollo Creed in Rocky 4.

 

After Ambrose got hurt I was half expecting him to do a Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon 2 and slam his shoulder into the ringpost to knock it back in place.

[Big Fresh]

After Ambrose got hurt I was half expecting him to do a Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon 2 and slam his shoulder into the ringpost to knock it back in place.

 

I totally thought they were gonna do that and still think they probably should have.

[Big Fresh]

I wonder if they're going to have Rollins cash in against Cena at Battleground

 

Rollins would be totally stupid to cash in before he dispatches Ambrose.

[LooseCannon]

 

I fully understand why they go back to Cena.  Top star, most bankable, bad time with the stock, trying to shore up ratings, match with Lesnar at Summerslam... 

 

But it's far from interesting.

Honestly I think the only win that would have been truly interesting to me would have been Bray which wasn't happening with Summerslam around the corner.

 

 

The most interesting scenario for Bray winning the belt would have been if Cena had won the briefcase match, so you could have Bray taunting Cena that he was going to be revealed as the fraud that he is when he cashes in his briefcase in a sneak attack and Cena refusing to do so.

 

For me, Cena is one of the more interesting choices because it's not as obvious which direction they should go in for a match at Battleground.

 

What it comes back around to is my belief going into the event that this PPV was screwed up because some guys who should have been vying for the briefcase ended up in a ladder match for the title.

[Jamal]

I like both Summer Rae and Layla but I hope that this is the end of this "feud". That match was just like this entire storyline, a mess. And did we ever figure out which was the face?

 

By contrast, I really dig the chemistry between Naomi and Paige. Hoping we get another match out of them. Cameron gives good bitch. It's too bad that she's not better in the ring. 

[THEmanWITHnoNAME]

Cena/Brock should be good, but I really don't have much interest in that match, to be honest, nor do I have interest in Cena or Brock as champ. 

 

I wanted to see a Wyatt Family reign of terror where they have all the gold and are stalking poor Dean Ambrose, holder of the cash-in briefcase, beating him up until he gives them his case. Of course, Wyatt getting utterly wiped out by Cena might have killed the chance of that sort of storyline working if people can't buy the Wyatt Family locking down the WWE WHC and tag belts.

 

Even a Corporate Ministry-redux where the Authority and the Wyatts create an unholy alliance would have been great. Ah well, it is what it is. 

 

That would have actually been interesting...WWE says eff that noise.

[Spontaneous]

IAfter Ambrose got hurt I was half expecting him to do a Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon 2 and slam his shoulder into the ringpost to knock it back in place.

Me too! He needs to do that at some point. It'll look badass if Cole and Lawler don't talk over it.

I fear we are getting Cena vs Orton or Kane at Battleground, probably in some sort of gimmick match stacking the odds against Cena.

At least The Authority's reaction to Cena winning will have provided us with another gif we can post on here for a variety of situations.

[LooseCannon]

I wonder if they're going to have Rollins cash in against Cena at Battleground or if they're going to just have him hold onto it for a while.  If not, who is he going to defend it against?  As much as I like Bray, another Cena/Wyatt match does almost as little for me as the prospect of him defending it against Orton again.

 

Maybe they can have Kane soften up Cena, Rollins cash in his title shot, then do a Fingerpoke of Doom type scenario to get the belt to HHH so that he can have an "Oh, shit" reaction when Lesnar comes out on Raw and demands a title shot at Summerslam. 

[piranesi]

I kind of like the idea of HHH having to go to Heyman asking for Brock's help to get the title off Cena.  Although I'm not sure in storyline why HHH should be that bothered by it.  Like he was acting all pissed...but Cena's totally an A+ guy, right?  They always used his name to belittle Bryan.

[pipGofern]

Big E is totally mimicking Eddie Murphy's preacher from Coming To America.

And now that you mention it, I can totally see Ambrose being the wrestling version of Martin Riggs. Too bad he can't use "Lethal Weapon" as a nickname. That will always belong to one man and one man only.

[piranesi]

Why does Seth Rollins have that textbook model of the female reproductive system we all see in sex ed. on the front of his chest now?

 

I mean, I know why...I just don't think it should go unmentioned.

[Spontaneous]

Cena is an A-, he isn't quite there yet. Needs to break Flair's record, then maybe he'll be a solid A.

[Tim Evans]

So when Lesnar beats Cena for the title, is he gonna be there ever week or is it gonna be like the 80's and he only shows up once a month? Cena winning was predictable but just felt so lazy. Orton hit a nice gusher though. I liked the first MITB better. I want to see guy take death defying highspot moves and not play it "safe" like the main was.

Ambrose being so over makes me even more angry that creative screwed over Cesaro by putting him with Heyman. That should have been Cesaro.

[steve]

Have Orton and Brock ever had a match? On the main roster, at least...

 

I've got no problem with Cena/Brock II, but I'd like to see Orton/Brock at some point, whether it's got the belt or not.

 

And anybody who says they aren't interested in Brock as champ is nuts.

[Parties]

Lots of smark vitriol for what was a really good show. The Cena rage is unwarranted given the unexpected Bryan injury and what they're booking within the next 1-2 months. If you can't handle 4-6 weeks of a Cena run with a Lesnar build, then the Internet has neutered your attention span. Cena-Lesnar was one of the best WWE matches of the last several years the first time, and soon enough the belt goes on whichever new generation guy is (Bryan, Reigns, Bray) ready after Summerslam. The "Cena! Durr, how original!" digs and comparing this to the end of WCW is all pretty hyperbolic.

 

Usos are cool, over babyfaces. I'm not sold on Harper as "top 5-10 guy in the world" the way he's been billed by some. Being a 300 pounder doing topes is impressive, but stylistically it's a mistake to have him and Rowan do flying high spots against a team whose whole gimmick is flight. Would rather the Wyatt Clan was built on fierce strikes and power moves. The Usos' double superplex was cool, as were their kicks. To the credit of all involved, I found myself eagerly wanting the faces to beat the heels. Very deserving long-term title reign for the Usos, and it told the story that they'd overcome their biggest obstacle to date.

 

Really liked Ambrose's promo. Give them credit when it's due: they put the camera in his face and let him do his thing.

 

Naomi has improved a ton, and the Divas division is better than advertised these days. The Paige variation on the Nestea Plunge was awesome, as was Naomi's big plancha. Naomi showed a lot here – beer break for the crowd, but it shouldn't have been. Live they liked the surfboard submission, as arenas like any holds that accentuate lady-junk, but there were other good reversals and near-falls that got zero reaction live.

 

The analyst table was lame, but Christian has a future as a commentator somewhere. He played the role of ladder match expert well. The idea that Kane's been in more MITB matches than anyone is horrifying. Adam Rose sucks on the mic. Sandow was fine. Horrid announcing here. That's what wrestling needs: more inane, humorless bickering. Delighted to see Jon Stewart at the show, in Boston, fully decked out in Cena gear.

 

Crowd was massively behind Ziggler. His scream of "They hear you!" while pointing back to the Gorilla Position was interesting. Everyone worked their asses off: the big Kofi springboard plancha, the Kofi-Ziggler race to the top, Ambrose out for Rollins' blood. The dynamic of Rollins as the pampered chickenshit and Ambrose as the new Walking Tall brawler is excellent. Even Van Dam was semi-useful here. Ambrose selling his big suplex of Rollins off the ladder shows why he's one of the best-in-da-biz. Too many great spots to call here. Some smart camera work as well: they had that close-up where for about three seconds you thought, "Holy shit: Kofi Kingston might win this", only to have Ziggler catch him. That bouncing Rollins bump on the bridged ladder was unreal. Terrible finish from Kane: weakest tombstone you've ever seen. You can always tell when a turd finish is coming by the very presence of Kane, who came into his own tonight as one of my all-time least favorite workers. Poor ending, telegraphed by the ref pulling Zeb out of the way.

 

The Dust Brothers gimmick is fun. Cody gets how to play it, and it's a surprising, inspired way to extend such a good team. I even liked Lawler's cheesy line of a tag between the two: "Dust to Dust". It was put in a dead spot and felt more like a RAW match than PPV, but fine stuff from two teams I like.

 

Fandango's bedazzled shirt was inspired, and one of those weird minor details that makes you think whoever wrote this show was actually paying attention.

 

I was surprised to enjoy Big E-Rusev as Rusev's done nothing for me and E is a booking afterthought nowadays. Good short power match with all of E's signature spots (the tope out of the ring seemed particularly crazy).

 

Could have sworn that in a tremendous Freudian slip, Lilian Garcia said of the Layla-Summer match, "The following contest is shit for one fall." And Layfield's line, "I never kissed Bronco Lubitsch" wasn't bad either. Lousy match, but they tried. Layfield mocking Layla's legs with Vince cackling in his ear was really gross, but the whole thing was a mess by that point with the announcers sarcastically groaning and giggling through it all.

 

Only guys in the main event who seemed over were Bray and Reigns. There was something wrong with this match from the beginning. It felt really dangerous given the guys involved, and not in the fun way.  A bunch of dudes who don't really know how to make a ladder match exciting, but could still end up bad injuring each other in some cringe-inducing botch. Cesaro, Bray, and Reigns looked best, with Wyatt as the breakout star on charisma alone. His mannerisms to the crowd got over better with me than any of the big spots, all of which paled compared to what the other set of guys did in the prior match. But Orton's hardway cut was impressive, as was his big RKO on Cesaro.

 

Still, eight matches. One was great, five were very good, one was decent brief comedy, leaving only one clunker in the Diva death spot. If Kane retired tomorrow, it'd still be ten years too late. But Ambrose looks like Steve Austin circa late '96 right now.