WWE Money in the Bank Thoughts and Results

Posted by Peter W on June 19, 2017 in Wrestling | 10 Comments

If I was someone attending this event and paid even $50 for it, I would have left the arena thinking it may have been worth it for the last match of the night. For those that paid more than that, I feel sorry for you wasting your money.

Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Natalya vs. Tamina vs. Carmella –
Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match

This was the most hyped match on the card. I found it odd that after all the women entered the ring, WWE decided to run 3 minute video package showing how the match came to be and the women discussing their ambition to win it. You’d think this would have aired before the intros but what do I know?

The women played it safe for the most part with only minimal “holy shit” moments but that was alright because it made the bigger spots look great and the pacing of the match was actually really good. Tamina actually looked pretty damn strong in the match and I was impressed by her offense and bigger bumps. Same goes with Carmella. She delivered more in this match than I had anticipated.

Unfortunately, the great work of all the women came to a grinding halt when James Ellsworth climbed the ladder, unhooked the Money in the Bank briefcase, and threw it down to Carmella. What a slap in the face and an insult to the women that participated. Yeah, it got people talking but I feel it’s all for the wrong reasons.

JBL was feeding his BS McMahon-fed lines stating “there are no rules!” Uh, yeah. There ARE rules to the match. After the match, WWE showed Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan Tweeting, opposing what happened and stating it would be handled on Smackdown Live this week. So WWE was trying to get us to believe that a) Shane wasn’t backstage at his brand’s huge PPV to make sure crap like this didn’t happen and b) that neither of them could use Twitter (or a phone) to make the decision the match would restart later on in the show? What a disappointment.

Winner: James Ellsworth (I mean, Carmella)

The Usos (Champs) vs. The New Day – SmackDown  Tag Team Championship Match

This was, to me, a run of the mill TV match with a TV copout finish. The New Day are as boring and stale as ever and I wonder if they got in trouble about the “not dropping the soap” bit. As long as the kiddies and idiots are buying the merch, that machine won’t stop.

The Usos have been great heels and proficient in the ring so it makes no sense that they would just take their titles and force a count-out. That’s not the kind of team The Usos are. The second garbage ending was another slap in the face to the people watching this event. I understand it keeps the feud going and generates some heat on the Usos, but WWE Creative can do better than this.

“Winners:” The Usos

Naomi (Champ) vs. Lana – Smackdown Women’s Championship

Yeah, Lana got in some offense here, but there should be no reason Naomi should have sold what she did when Lana focused on Naomi’s “injured” leg. Speaking of selling, why on Earth did Lana keep selling her face hurting when she should have sold her back? As well, someone in the back should tell Lana not to scream in the ring anymore like she was last night. That will be an instant channel change or fast forward on the PVR for me if it continues.

I did like the tease of Carmella cashing in the MITB briefcase as it woke up the crowd and it shows that Carmella will pick out the appropriate time to do so and that’s IF she keeps it with her after Smackdown this week.

I had to laugh at JBL spewing the lines over and over again about how he didn’t expect Lana to be so good and that no one saw it coming. No. She wasn’t good. The match was basically going at a snail’s pace for her. Lana, while decent on the mic, has a long way to go.

Winner: Naomi

Jinder Mahal (Champ) vs. Randy “Boring” Orton – WWE Championship Match.

Fun fact – it was just over 25 minutes from the time the women’s match ended to the bell ringing for this match. This match was just a hair over 20 minutes. Imagine if you were in the live crowd and subjected to all of that. I would be pissed.

This match was basically the same match we saw at the last PPV, minus the Legends at ringside and Orton’s outside assault on the Singh brothers. My big question about the match is why did the ref not bother even counting Randy Orton out while he was attacking the Singh brothers? At the time, both Mahal and Orton were outside of the ring so it should have been a double count-out. Earlier, the ref was laying down the count when Mahal was out of the ring and Mahal had to break it up, so why the double standard? It takes me out of the disbelief bubble when basic things like this are ignored or not explained.

The ending was the exact same as well. Orton got in the ring after attacking Mahal’s cronies and boom – finisher and pin. Hopefully this feud is over but we also have three weeks until Cena returns. I wouldn’t doubt if we maybe see one more rematch with a stipulation on Smackdown.

Winner: Jinder Mahal

Breezango vs. The Ascension

This was a garbage/throwaway TV match on a disappointing (to this point) PPV. If anyone took The Ascension seriously when they came out, they’re an idiot.

Winners: Breezango

Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin vs. Sami Zayn vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – Money in the Bank Ladder Match

I’m going to admit this: I was so close to just letting the PVR continue recording the show and going to bed during the Orton/Mahal match because I was that bored and disappointed with this event. Even as the men started coming to the ring for their match, I was wrestling (good pun) back and forth with the idea. It wasn’t until Shinsuke Nakamura came out and was attacked from behind by Baron Corbin where I woke up a bit.

This match was really good with Zayn taking and delivering some huge spots, just like I predicted. I was really impressed with all of the competitors in this match and it will be one I will be leaving on my PVR for the rest of the week so I can watch it again.

I thought the overall pacing of the match was well done and the majority of the spots were well timed. I hope Kevin Owens has some good pain/muscle creams to rub into his back and neck after some of the nasty bumps he took on ladders and the crazy one Zayn delivered on him on the ring apron. I swear I could hear Owen’s neck break. It looked (and probably is) very dangerous.

Close to the end of the match, Nakamura’s music hit as Corbin was in the ring.   A sore looking Nakamura proceeded to go head to head with everyone who was participating in the match until he got to AJ Styles. The crowd went nuts in anticipation for them to square off and when they did, the fans ate it up. I even sat upright from my comfortable position on my couch. Actually, I think I sat up for the first time during the match when AJ Styles was hanging from the wire, holding the briefcase high above the ring without a ladder underneath him. His fall to the ring looked brutal.

Styles and Nakamura traded blows until they finally climbed the ladder and attempting to strike the final hit to send their opponent crashing to the floor below.   Corbin tipped the ladder and sent the exhausted Styles and Nakamura to the floor, giving him the time he needed to climb the ladder to snag the briefcase. It looked like he was having more trouble than anticipated and JBL even called him out on it.

I was satisfied with the match and to tell you the truth, I would have been happy with any of the men winning the briefcase. I think it would benefit Corbin and Zayn the most so having Zayn showcase some excellence during the match instead of stupid backstage booking promos was appreciated and the win for Corbin is another attempt to take someone else to the next level.

Winner: Baron Corbin

One satisfying match does not make for a good or satisfying PPV. If I paid the $50 PPV price back in the day for this, I’d be demanding my money back (or at least half). I don’t know if WWE figures people are watching this online via their network or illegally, so it does it really matter what they do once they have people’s money? Thank goodness the last match