Money in the Bank Review
So Did Anyone Hear That The First Women's Money in the Bank Was Won by a Guy?
So at this point I assume everybody already knows 100% where they stand on the finish. Either you hate it, like what seems to be majority, or you're cool with it. Honestly, I'll fully admit that it's kinda shitty that a landmark for the women in WWE is forever going to be defined by the actions of a man. But to be honest, I like the finish. Partially because I always wanted to see a finish like this for Money in the Bank. I'm not saying a would've booked it that way, I think there were plenty of other ways to do it that would've been better but I'm not super bothered by it. To be honest, what happened to Bayley at Extreme Rules is far more of a shot against the Women's Revolution than Ellsworth winning for Carmella. Because Extreme Rules was character assassination match that barely got a sneeze of time. Conversely, this was the third longest match on the card, everyone got time to shine, and the scumbag finish is being presented on every level as a scumbag finish.
Like, I heard people compare this to Santino's run as Santina and no, that was far worse. Because when Santina won, it was presented as a punchline. And Santina just became a running gag. Ellsworth winning, was presented as a screwed up moment that everyone was treating seriously. 2/3rds of the referee's were calling bullshit on the finish, 2/3rds of the commentary team were calling bullshit on the finish, just about everyone one on twitter not James Ellsworth or Carmella were calling bullshit on the finish. This is the story, the controversy and heat from this finish, that was the point. That was their intention. And it feels like a big deal. It feels like a bigger deal than if say Becky won because Becky's pretty great. It's the topic of conversation leaving MITB, and I don't think that would've happened otherwise.
But that being said, I am NOT saying that anyone's anger is invalid and that you should just tip your hat to WWE for trolling you hard. You're suppose to want to watch the next show from PPV's. If this decision made you mad enough that you're not going to watch, then yeah, WWE went too far with and it was a bad decision. And your feelings aren't invalidated by WWE's intentions, so while I may not feel the same way, it definitely runs the risk of pissing people off in the wrong way. I do kinda like the WWE are doing risks. And personally, if I was booking, I would've used this as a false finish and re-started the match with Ellsworth ejected. Honestly I don't think lingering on the ref's arguments for so long was a good idea if they weren't going that route. Made the finish seem sloppy.
Ignoring the finish though, what about the actual match? Well, it was good! Surprisingly, they manage to tell a mostly cohesive story, you know for a five competitor ladder match, and everyone got their moment. I really liked the start of the match, focusing on Tamina cleaning house after the other four women ditched the ring for the ladders. Nice use of the numbers they have and it got Tamina's spotlight out of the way (that Samoan Drop she did to Carmella, I think, looked terrible). The "Let Go of Ladder" spot lasted way too long though. Charlotte and Carmella were actually the highlights for me. Charlotte's moonsault was a thing of beauty and Carmella had some pretty fun spots. Like her using the support hinges to switch sides of the ladder or her struggle to pick up the ladder was pretty funny. Though in hindsight that kinda makes the finish worse. Anyway, it was good. A little upset that there was no dive off a ladder or anything but I'm glad that they utilized the gimmick and it was an interesting bout with a controversial finish. I'm fine with it right now.
Match Rating: 7/10
Tag Team Excellence
Going into Money in the Bank, I had a sneaking suspicion that this match might actually steal the show. It didn't of course but it was definitely the second best bout of the night. Just a lot of solid tag team wrestling. The Usos had a lot of great tag team moves, especially those targeting the leg of Kofi Kingston. And New Day had a lot of great moments in the match, Big E's apron spear and suplex dominance, Kofi's trust fall and weird super-kick counter. It was great really entertaining and once again, I liked the finish. Of course it's a bit of blue balls but I thought the match effectively built the match to the point where the countout victory felt earned in a way. Like after that Big Ending break up, the pull-away then walk away just made sense. And as much as I still like the New Day, I really didn't want to see The Usos dropping the titles so quickly so yeah, good story progression here and I'm really looking forward to the rematch.
Match Rating: 8/10
I Mean it Was Competent
To be honest, my title kinda expresses my sentiment exactly. This bout wasn't really entertaining but it worked well enough as a showcase for what Lana can do while keeping Naomi strong in defending her belt. For Lana, I liked those suplexes into the ropes, especially the first one she did since Naomi's under knee area hit the ropes directly, looked pretty cool. I also liked that, ass on rope then kick swipe move Lana did. The match will be docked a point though for the superfluous briefcase flaunting of Carmella. Like, it didn't really cost Lana the match from my memory, it just, killed up time. Fun fact, I watched this after work and all my friend told me was that it was really weird, like above No Mercy 2007 weird (and no, it wasn't even close to that, I doubt that'll be topped for a good while) so when Carmella came out I briefly thought she was actually going to do a Rollins. Once I got over that, I knew she wasn't going to cash-in. I was steadfast going into the PPV that the Women's MITB winner wouldn't cash-in quickly because WWE's going to want to milk it but I thought, hey if there's a chance she might be stripped of the briefcase, why not cash in now and avoid that possibility. But alas it didn't happen.
Also, what the fuck Naomi!? That entrance was just . . . and you gave some guy your ass rag.
Match Rating: 4/10
Here She Comes Again, Like Good Medicine
I loved this. I loved everything about this. I love that they weren't using WWE mics, making them seem more like teleprompters [of love]. Like if they're weren't going to show me the power of love, they'd at least show me a good deal on coffee makers. I love that both are going by Kanellis. Because their love is clearly the focus of their gimmick so having them share last names highlights that nicely. I loved that it's Kanellis too. It's probably because she's the one that's spent years in WE but also hopefully it indicates that they'll be focusing more on her than him. I hope both do good mind you, I just haven't seen Bennett's work. & considering she did most of the mic work, I am assuming Maria's going to be a focus. Love that Maria doesn't age because I mean fuck it didn't even seem like she wrinkled or anything. She looked exactly the same from when she left, minus like maybe a tattoo I think is new, and the dress is new. & the guy on her lips is new. And I loved the song. It compliments the gimmick so well and those cheesy semi rock ballads (as in semi rock, cause it's the type of song a rock band would put out to seem sensitive) are great. Totally fine with losing Legs Like That which I didn't think I was going to be able to say. This won't count towards the final rating but I just have to throw this out here because I have my own personal bias involved here.
Promo Rating: 10/10
Was Ric Flair Only Out There For Orton's Match? Bad Father
They gave them twenty minutes. That was way too long for this match. I liked the match better than their Backlash match but I can't really say much more than it was competent. I liked the idea behind the match with Orton dominating until he lands badly and then Jinder takes over. I don't really remember how that transitioned into Orton regaining control because twenty minutes was too long and my interest waned fast. The finish was really stupid. Like, point off for it just being a blatant repeat of Backlash but why was the ref's natural inclination to DQ the Singh Siblings rather than eject them? Like if they attacked Orton I'd get it, like when Dean had to beg the ref on Maryse but all the did was move Jinder's foot on the rope. I don't get what Orton had to make a case to not get DQ'd. Of course Orton fucked that up and the Singh's didn't even listen to the ref in the slightest. Cool that the crowd was into it, and basically the whole show, I guess though.
Match Rating: 3/10
Fashion Police Keep You Warm at Night & Makes You Feel Nice
For starters, I still hope/believe American Alpha are the true culprits and this Ascension thing was a bait & switch. For seconds, Fashion Vice was awesome. My three favorite jokes were, III. The Southpaw reference, II. "Is it Coliseum?", I. They couldn't afford the rights to U2, so they just plastered the lyrics on the screen. But this isn't being graded by Fashion Vice, which also be like 9 or 10, but instead by the match. I was more entertained by the commentary than the match itself.
Match Rating: 4/10
If You're Not in The Ring When The Bell Rings, You're Not in The Match. This is a Minor Nitpick And of Course Gauntlet Style Matches Are Excluded Here But Shinsuke Should Not of Legally Been Allowed to Enter The Match, He Was No Longer Participating in it. For an Inverse Example, When Hornswoggle Won The Cruiserweight Championship And My Soul Died a Little, Pun Intended, he Wasn't Even Scheduled in The Match he Won it in. He Just Ran Through the Ring When The Bell Rung, Which Made Him Officially a Part of The Match, Allowing Him The Sneak Win. They Also Have to Be Standing in The Ring While The Bell Rings, Hence Why Bryan Had to Forfeit One of His Money in the Bank Cash-in's Because Henry Was on His Knees When it Happened. Anyway, I'm Bringing This up Here Because Clearly Nobody Except me Cares & I'm Aware it's Not a Big Deal in The Grand Scheme of Things But it Bothered me so I'm Acknowledging it. Also Titles Are Hard.
I promise I'm going to stop with the super long titles eventually. Anyway, for the first while of this match I wasn't really feeling it, and was even thinking that I'd end up preferring the Women's. It just felt like an cluttered mess of spots, there wasn't much in terms of progression or story to it. There were some cool spots, I liked the Dolph running up the ladder to stop the Forearm, and the Deep Six was awesome just for how Baron Corbin almost knocked Dolph straight into the camera. But for a good while I was just kinda bored while it seemed like they were going through the motions. The only moment I thought was bad though was Dolph instructing Corbin on how to use the ladder and then patting him on the back like Dolph somehow doesn't understand big meanie beanie Corbin's character yet. JBL's there talking up Dolph's experience factor and yet he makes the dumbest mistake in the match. But in terms of complaints, they all end here.
The match began turn around for me when AJ, Dolph, and Sami (I believe) were all trying to get the briefcase, with AJ using the support hinges to stand on there. But it didn't truly kick off until Sami's fantastic outing basically eliminating everyone. I became really invested and actually thought Sami might win here, despite logic dictating that Shinsuke still had to come out. And before I get to that, I just want to talk about a splatter of great spots outside of Shinsuke. Sami's suplex (I can't think of the name, it wasn't a tiger suplex but that's all that's coming to mind) on Kevin was fantastic and then EVERYTHING AJ STYLES DID. The AA was awesome but of course the best was his incredible hang and drop. That was absolutely sick and even though he needs the briefcase the least of everyone, in that moment I wanted him to win.
But anyway, Shinsuke comes out and then we get some of the best camera work in WWE's entire history. They did an unbelievably good job here though I do have some criticisms in that regard. But anyway, Shinsuke comes out and clobbers everyone, he then goes to grab the ladder but somebody else grabs it and the reveal, unless I'm just remembering wrong, was done through face close-up. Even if that's not how they revealed it was AJ, the close-ups spoke volumes and the two moving the ladder to the side with the fans erupting, it was beautiful. AJ's Forearm was my favorite part of their exchange. But I also, absolutely loved the slow sweep shot of AJ & Shinsuke battling on the ladder with backdrop being all the fans on their feet. That was such a fantastic shot, I can't believe WWE kept changing the angles up. None of the angles match the impact of that shot. I'm expecting Shinsuke/AJ at SummerSlam. And it seems apparent now that Corbin taking out Shinsuke wasn't to give Corbin some heat but it was to keep Shinsuke and AJ apart as much as possible until their singles match. Separated for almost the entirety of the match, tease at the end, big one on one at SummerSlam. It's fantastic.
Corbin winning was safe and predictable but I also thought he was the best choice. It was either going to be him or Sami, I don't think anybody else would've truly benefited from it like those two would've. Having another announced cash-in, which is how I think it would've went with Sami would've been great but Corbin needed the win more (especially with Sami trouncing him). He now has an attached purpose along with him and they can use this, to build him up to the point where a cash-in will feel more credible. Not that credibility matters much when Jinder can just win it but still. Awesome match.
Match Rating: 9/10
Show Rating: 5.8/10
Rankings
PPV's
I. Payback ~ 6.4/10
II. WrestleMania 33 ~ 6.1/10
III. Money in the Bank ~ 5.8/10
IV. Backlash ~ 5.1/10
Matches
I. WWE Title, John Cena vs. AJ Styles (c): Royal Rumble ~ 10/10
II. WWE Title, Bray Wyatt vs. AJ Styles vs. The Miz vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Baron Corbin vs. John Cena (c), Elimination Chamber: Elimination Chamber ~ 9/10
III. Money in the Bank, AJ Styles vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin vs. Sami Zayn: Money in the Bank ~ 9/10
IV. Raw Tag Team Titles, Sheamus & Cesaro vs. The Hardy Boyz (c): Payback ~ 8/10
V. CW Title, Austin Aries vs. Neville (c): Payback ~ 8/10
VI. Raw Women's Title, Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley (c): Payback ~ 8/10
VII. Raw Women's Title, Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax vs. Bayley (c): WrestleMania 33 ~ 8/10
VIII. Universal Title, Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg (c): WrestleMania 33 ~ 8/10
IX. AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon: WrestleMania 33 ~ 8/10
X. CW Title, Jack Gallagher vs. Neville (c): Fastlane ~ 8/10
I still haven't seen that Takeover event yet, and I skipped Extreme Rules entirely. So yeah. Also, remainder that there's no weight to my score, a twenty minute match impacts the PPV Rating the same as a one minute match.
