Dolph Ziggler won the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank match, beating Christian, Damien Sandow, Cody Rhodes, Lord Tensai, Tyson Kidd, Santino Marella and Sin Cara. It was an exciting and fast paced contest for the most part, with an unfortunate amount of sloppy moments that spoilt it a little bit from the likes of Tensai and Sin Cara. Otherwise it was a good opener, with solid efforts from most of the men involved. Hopefully this also won't be the last we'll see of Sandow and Kidd on PPV, they both did well considering it was their first match of this kind.
The result also pleased the fans in attendance, at last Ziggler won what he'd worked so hard this year to achieve. I have to also give the victor credit for taking possibly the most insane bumps during the match, he really didn't hold back.
The Miz came out to a positive reception, sporting a new hairstyle and stylish suit. He announced that he would be the fifth man in the WWE Championship Money in the Bank match later on. As I said before I was really hoping the likes of the Miz or Mysterio would be added to the match, it just needed someone else to freshen it up a bit in my opinion. His announcement went down well and the crowd, and I was just relieved to see him back. Hopefully this is the start of a deserved revival of his career.
Sheamus (c) defeated Alberto Del Rio to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. It was a solid bout, with both wrestlers putting on a good display as they went back and fourth throughout. As usual Del Rio logically targeted the arm of 'The Great White' in an effort to weaken him down and force him to tap with his signature arm breaker (although strangely we didn't see him actually apply the submission), which is something I always appreciate in his match ups. I thought this would be a decent contest with these two and I'm glad it lived up to it.
Afterwards Ziggler came down and was about to cash in his MITB contract until Sheamus Brogue Kicked him before the bell even rang. Nice little tease there.
Primo and Epico defeated Titus O'Neil and Darren Young. It was a fair tag team match up, mainly thanks to the work of the talented Primo and Epico which helped keep it interesting. The bout quickly lost the crowds interest, but managed to get it back a bit when Abraham Washington amusingly began taunting Rosa Mendes at ringside. It's not a good sign when the manager is getting more of a reaction than the action inside the ring, not to take away from AW's good work lately.
CM Punk (c) defeated Daniel Bryan to retain the WWE Championship. And what a terrific title match this was. From start to finish both proud wrestlers put on superb performances as they went toe to toe in this physical encounter. From kendo stick shots to chair attacks these two really didn't let up here and provided a dramatic and engrossing bout, not to take anything away from special guest referee AJ either.
She did a good job as the unpredictable Diva forced the two to scramble over weapons and smiled in the face of both wrestlers as they went through plenty of pain. The finish was nice too, as Punk backdropped Bryan through a table he'd set up for the one-two-three. I honestly can't think of any major criticisms for this contest, they told a great story in the ring and kept you glued throughout. Great work.
Ryback defeated Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkings in an average Handicap match. At least Ryback was made to look a bit more vulnerable and human here.
Layla, Kaitlyn and Tamina defeated Beth Phoenix, Natalya and Eve in a passable Divas tag bout. For the most part it was fair, although there were the periods of mediocrity as expected with Divas matches.
John Cena won the WWE Championship Money in the Bank match, beating Chris Jericho, Kane, Big Show and The Miz. It was a largely stellar bout, exceeding the World Heavyweight MITB match from earlier. The contest was well timed and the sequences well executed, it just came across as a lot more professional than the other MITB. Jericho for me was the stand out performer, providing the most entertaining moments, including a moment with him swinging on the actual briefcase itself in mid air. Another highlight came when Cena applied an impressive Attitude Adjustment on Show through an announce table, which cued the other competitors to then pile on a load of ladders onto the fallen giant.
Although I'm disappointed with the victor (Cena really didn't need this win at all, Miz could've used it a lot more) I'm even more disappointed that Cena was the main event ahead of a WWE Championship match once again. It's a joke. The CM Punk and Daniel Bryan bout had a good build up and was the most important match heading into the event, so why was it undeservedly pushed back? I honestly don't get it.
Overall I enjoyed the Money in the Bank pay-per-view. Most of the bouts were solid (bar the Ryback and Divas ones, although they weren't terrible) and the results, except the main event, made sense. Ziggler's win was the highlight of the night for me. He's really been a standout performer this year and has worked damn hard for this chance to become World Champion.
No comments:
Post a Comment