WWE: Money in the Bank
July 17, 2011
Chicago, IL
Allstate Arena

The current WWE champs were as follows:
WWE Champion: John Cena (5/1/2011)
WWE U.S. Champion: Dolph Ziggler (6/19/2011)
World Heavyweight Champion: Randy Orton (5/6/2011)
WWE Intercontinental Champion: Ezekiel Jackson (6/19/2011)
WWE Tag Team Champions: David Otunga & Michael McGillicutty (5/23/2011)
WWE Divas Champion: Kelly Kelly (6/20/2011)

Your hosts are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and Booker T.

• Kane vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Heath Slater vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Sheamus vs. Justin Gabriel vs. Wade Barrett vs. Sin Cara – Smackdown Money in the Bank Ladder Match
  

Kane cleans house on EVERYBODY to start. Daniel Bryan dropkicks a ladder into Kane and stops Gabriel from intercepting the briefcase with a missile dropkick. Cody runs Bryan into the ladder and makes a run up the ladder, but Sheamus tries to bring him down with the HIGH CROSS. Rhodes slips away and knocks Slater away with the Beautiful Disaster. Once again, Kane clears the ring and throws a ladder onto Rhodes and Sheamus. Kane looks for the Flying Clothesline after the Side Slam on Slater, but Sin Cara comes out of nowhere and kicks him down to the floor. Bryan looks like he was shot out of a cannon with a tope suicida on Barrett. Meanwhile, there’s a beautiful somersault plancha from Gabriel that takes down Kane! Now Gabriel busts out a corkscrew pescado on Rhodes! WWE is getting LUCHA~! Just to show off, Sin Cara finishes with a running top-rope dive onto Sheamus. He makes it look so effortless. Sin Cara continues to own the ring as he takes out Gabriel and Slater before stopping Bryan up top for the SPANISH FLY! It’s time to go for the ladder, but Barrett boots him away. Barrett sets up a scaffold with the ladder between the ring apron and the announce table. Sin Cara avoids a clothesline up against the ringpost, but doesn’t see Sheamus and eats the BROGUE KICK. That makes Sin Cara easy pickings for a powerbomb off the apron onto the ladder scaffold which snaps in half. Holy crap. That’ll do it for Sin Cara as he eventually gets carried out on a stretcher. Kane rules the ring until the recently disbanded Corre work together to keep him off the ladder. Cody tries to retrieve the briefcase behind their backs, but he gets grabbed and beaten. Same thing happens to Daniel Bryan. Barrett thinks he’s convinced Slater and Gabriel to let him win, but of course they turn on him.

Once he’s beaten down and dumped out, Slater and Gabriel ascend the ladder. Rhodes turns the ladder over and then delivers CROSS RHODES to Slater. Barrett pulls Cody off the ladder, but he takes the CROSS RHODES as well. He can’t handle Sheamus though, as he pulls Cody down for the Irish Curse. Bryan tries to climb over Sheamus to get to the briefcase, but Sheamus takes him off the ladder onto his shoulders for a DOOMSDAY DEVICE thanks to Kane. Sheamus turns on Kane immediately and sets up another ladder scaffold. He wants to give Kane the Irish Curse onto the scaffold, but Kane boots him away. CHOKESLAM to Rhodes! CHOKESLAM to Gabriel! Now Bryan thinks he’s going to stop Kane on the ladder. Kane goozles him, but Bryan counters by wrapping his leg around Kane’s arm to hyperextend the elbow. Bryan gets caught as he flies off the ladder, but turns things around with a DDT. Slater starts to climb and everyone starts booing. Bryan makes the save, but he’s taken to the mat with a neckbreaker. Slater tries to win again, but Barrett and Sheamus are there. Together, they use a ladder to fling Slater off the top turnbuckle down onto Kane. Crazy! Sheamus BROGUE KICKS Barrett and takes care of Gabriel. Sheamus reaches the top of the ladder, but Kane is there to CHOKESLAM Sheamus down onto his own scaffold. Rhodes hits Kane with the Beautiful Disaster, Barrett delivers WASTELAND, and Gabriel gives him the 450 SPLASH off a closed ladder sitting on the top turnbuckle. That could have gone so wrong there. Barrett throws Gabriel to the floor on top of Slater with another WASTELAND. Bryan and Rhodes battle on the ladder leading to Rhodes taking a GUILLOTINE CHOKE at the very top. Barrett tries to sneak in and grab the briefcase, but Bryan is there with elbows. We could see the WASTELAND off the ladder, but Bryan UNLOADS with the elbows and knocks Barrett loopy. As Barrett staggers on the scaffold, Bryan kicks his head off and retrieves the briefcase! (24:28) Great car crash ladder match as they didn’t go over the top with it and yet made it exciting for everybody. ****¼

Earlier Tonight: Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, and a geeky-looking attorney showed up to hopefully get CM Punk to renew his contract.

• WWE Divas Champion Kelly Kelly (w/Eve) vs. Brie Bella (w/Nikki Bella)
  

KK looks like she’s at least trying to be taken seriously. Brie turns over a handstand on the apron to cause KK to go SPLAT. That gets two. Body scissors works the ribs. Is Brie actually using psychology here?! AWESOME! Wonderful ab stretch on the mat, but KK fights out with a jawbreaker. KK gets FIRED UP now and drops Brie with a reverse neckbreaker for two. Here comes the ROCKER DROPPER, but Brie counters a backslide. That gets countered to a face slam. Brie tries to stop her from trying that again by giving KK’s foot a DDT, but KK delivers the ROCKER DROPPER anyway for the 1-2-3. (4:49) Never thought I would say that one of the Bella twins was actually the most talented person in the ring. ½*

• The Big Show vs. Mark Henry
  

I love it! Mark Henry is finally being the monster heel that I thought he should have always been. They go to the floor where Big Show just absolutely dominates. Henry dropkicks the steps into Show’s knee to take control. CONTINUITY~! He works a half crab, but Show makes the ropes. Henry avalanches Show, but then charges into a boot and takes a flying shoulder tackle. CHOKESLAM, but then Henry stops that by kicking at the knee. WORLD’S STRONGEST SLAM! Cover, 1-2-NO! Henry psyches himself up for a second one and delivers! He follows up with a not one, but TWO splashes off the ropes for the 1-2-3. (6:00) Afterwards, Henry goes crazy and PILLMANIZES Show’s leg. Man, he is not happy at all about that. He’s either legit injured or he just wants some time off. Maybe one of you internet know-it-alls can explain. Not a classic, but they interjected some fun psychology into this one. They have to cart Big Show out on a golf cart while the crowd chants for CM Punk. **

In the back, Josh Mathews interrupts Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis. Did Vince resign CM Punk? No, he did not. So if CM Punk leaves Chicago with the WWE title, may God have mercy on John Cena’s soul.

• Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz vs. Alex Riley vs. R-Truth vs. Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Alberto Del Rio – Raw Money in the Bank Ladder Match
  

Everyone is armed with a ladder to start and they all go after ADR. After Swagger runs Del Rio over on the floor, everyone take turns throwing ladders on top of him. People start clearing out and it comes down to Truth and Miz. They have a dueling ladder test of strength until Swagger runs them both over. The future tag champs Kingston and Bourne balance and brawl on a closed ladder that is standing up! Why isn’t the crowd popping more for that? Kingston and Bourne clothesline people over with the ladder. In comes Rey as he springs off the ladder onto Swagger and takes him out to the floor with a headscissors. Truth gets rid of Bourne and Kingston, then Riley comes in and atomic drops Truth on the ladder. Riley uses a six footer to try to retrieve the briefcase. What a moron! Miz stops him, but gets knocked out to the floor. Riley delivers a plancha out onto Swagger and Miz. Truth follows him out with a somersault plancha. STEREO DIVES FROM KINGSTON AND REY! Evan Bourne can top that. He finds a 12-foot ladder and hits the whole pile with AIR BOURNE from the top of the ladder. Well, everyone except Del Rio. He turns the ladder over on Miz and Bourne. Looks like Miz might be injured. He gets taken out by the trainers. Truth stops ADR, but then Bourne and Rey stop those two with STEREO HEADSCISSORS to send them out to the floor. Swagger takes over, but Kofi SPRINGBOARDS over Swagger onto the ladder before he can even start to climb. Awesome! Now Swagger brings Kingston off the ladder with the ANKLELOCK. Meanwhile, Riley makes a run for it up the ladder. Swagger goes to stop him when Truth turns over the ladder. Truth sets up a ladder onto the middle rope in the corner. Rey gets sandwiched in between the ladder and the corner. Kingston delivers a Boom Drop as he jumps off the top rope and then springs off the ladder on the middle rope onto Truth. Kofi avoids Del Rio and Riley, but Rey swings around the ladder for the 6-1-9. Swagger tries to bring a huge ladder into the ring, but Truth see saws the ladder back in his face. Rey hits Truth with the 6-1-9 and sets the ladder up himself. A couple more ladders are set up and all seven guys in the ring start climbing. Eventually, everyone falls to the mat except Kingston! Just as he goes to pull it down, Swagger makes a last ditch effort and the ladder turns over sending both of them crashing to the mat in a very nasty spill. Everybody’s down! Here comes the Miz hobbling down to the ring. He almost makes it to the top of a ladder when Rey intercepts with a sunset flip powerbomb. The people are booing! Rey reaches the briefcase, but ADR is at his feet. Rey smashes the briefcase in his face. With Rey’s hands on the prize and completely wide open, Del Rio goes the cheap route and PULLS REY’S MASK OFF! More worried about showing his identity, Del Rio shoves Rey off onto another ladder. The one he’s standing on falls over, so he sets the ladder up again and retrieves the briefcase for the win. (15:54) Loved the Miz tease there at the end considering the only real serious picks to win were him and ADR. Good match with LOADS of cool action and a semblance of a story here, but this wasn’t on par compared to the Smackdown match. ***¾

Backstage, Josh Mathews asks Alberto Del Rio how it feels to win MITB. This wasn’t part of his destiny, just a formality. His destiny is to be the new WWE champion.

• World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs. Christian
  

If Orton gets DQ’ed, he loses the belt. Right off the bat, Christian hands Orton a chair and turns his back to him. HA! Orton throws away the chair and unloads with forearms. He stomps the face and hits the knee drop. Christian fights back with rights and dumps Orton to the floor. Pescado misses clear as Christian goes SPLAT on the floor. Orton whips Christian into the steps for the knees-first Undertaker bump. Back in, Christian avoids a punt and snaps Orton’s neck on the top rope. Flying European uppercut connects for two. Christian stomps and pounds Orton on the mat. Everything he’s doing seems to just serve to further piss Orton off. I love it. Bossman uppercut through the ropes gets two. Christian hits a spinebuster and appears to be a little frustrated when he can’t get the three-count. KILLSWITCH is countered and they tumble to the floor. They went for the Capitol Punishment finish, but Christian shoves it off. Missile dropkick gets caught for a Jackknife rollup from Orton for two. He delivers the Thesz Press, but Christian gets away from the draping DDT. Christian springboards and gets caught with a dropkick for two. He shoves off a superplex and hits a Swandive Headbutt (?!) for 1-2-NO! Finisher attempts are traded, but it’s the KILLSWITCH that is delivered. Cover by Christian, 1-2-NO! Orton leapfrogs the SPEAR and Christian runs into the post. Off the shoulder neckbreaker gets 1-2-NO! Christian avoids the PUNT, but gets caught with the snap powerslam. Draping DDT connects, but Christian begs off the RKO and spits a LOOGIE in Orton’s face! Hey, I guess that beats getting poo in your bag! That opens up a barrage of unrelenting right hands all across Christian’s face. Once the ref gets Orton off Christian, Orton waits for him to stand up and then field goal kicks Christian directly in the balls for the DQ. (12:18) Ladies and gents, we’ve got a NEW world champ. Christian regains the gold! Wonderful story as the DQ finish worked perfectly with the characters of both men. Orton as the uncontrollable maniac while Christian is the more resourceful than overly aggressive wrestler. Afterwards, Orton COMPLETELY FLIPS and knocks Christian out with a monitor before dropping him on the table with an RKO. That appears to be all he’s going to do, but behold – HE DOTH RETURN. Orton brings Christian back onto the table looking over the crowd with a Bushwhackers look on his face for another RKO! He continues to act psychotic until he finally makes his exit backstage. Just great stuff. ***½

• WWE Champion John Cena vs. CM Punk
  

You won’t find a hotter hometown reaction for any wrestler these days quite like the one CM Punk receives here. CM Punk interacts with the crowd like a pro and keeps them chanting his name for a solid four minutes and it’s a beautiful thing. As John Cena makes his entrance, the crowd completely changes 100% booing Cena out of the building and into another state. Meanwhile, CM Punk applauds him while standing by Colt Cabana and Ace Steele over at the barricade. Chain wrestling and its pretty good. Punk threatens to kick, but Cena knows to stay away. The crowd starts up with the “you can’t wrestle” chants. Punk questions whether they mean him or Cena. Of course, they mean Cena. Anyways, Cena gets the upper hand of the exchange even though he’s all armbars and headlocks. Punk leapfrogs to avoid some more shoulderblocks and connects with a hiptoss followed by a dropkick. Now it’s Punk holding onto a headlock as Cole reminds us of the Montreal Screwjob to reiterate how far Vince will go to keeping the WWE title here. Not really the same circumstance since there is no competition to Vince that he hates more than anything else in life, but okay then. Finishers are tried, but neither are successful. Neither man wanting to make a mistake here. Punk finally gets closed enough to kick Cena down. Cena comes back with a front headlock, but then Cena clotheslines a tooth out of Punk for two. Now to a chinlock by Cena. Back suplex counters the hold and Punk whips Cena in the corner for a weak Bret Hart chest bump for two. He comes back with the release fisherman’s suplex and tries the ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT, but Punk slips out and delivers a DDT. Punk applies a head scissors. Cena tries to stand up with Punk on his shoulders, but Punk escapes and dumps Cena on the floor in front of Cabana and Steele. Punk drapes Cena on the apron and knee drops the neck for 1-2-NO! Punk misses a corner charge and runs his shoulder into the post, but kicks away the STF and clotheslines Cena down. Cena escapes the chinlock, but runs into a boot in the corner and takes a crossbody from Punk (which lands at Cena’s knees) for two. Cena appears hurt as he rolls to the apron, but he fights off a suplex and brings Punk to the floor. Back inside, Cena gets two. Emerald Flowsion scores another nearfall. Punk wins a slugfest, but Cena turns the tide with an ab stretch. Punk goes to the eyes and hiptosses out into a double-KO. Cena fights up and begins the shoulderblocks. The Protobomb gets postponed until Punk misses the knee in the corner. As Cena bends over to tell Punk that he cannot see him, he KICKS CENA IN THE FACE! HA!

Macho Man high knee sends Cena to the floor as Punk follows him out with a tope suicida. Punk misses the springboard clothesline back inside as Cena hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle. ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT, but Punk flips and lands on his backside. Come on people! He’s not John Morrison! Series of kicks from Punk followed by a sweep gets two. Cena avoids the GTS with a gutwrench suplex for two. Punk shoves off the ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT and hits two NASTY knees to set up the bulldog. Springboard Clothesline connects! Cover, 1-2-NO! Punk continues with the kicks while Cena is on his knees. However, he ducks the Roundhouse Kick and applies the STF! He fights the hold as long as possible until he finally reaches the ropes. Great drama there because I thought it was over watching it live. Punk gets the Roundhouse Kick after all for 1-2-NO! Cena rolls through a flying bodypress and hoists Punk onto his shoulders for the AA. Oh, but Punk escapes again and lifts Cena up for the GTS. Cena *catches* the leg and sends Punk to the mat into the STF! Amazing! Once Punk gets too close to the ropes, Cena pulls him back to the center of the ring. When he looks like he’s going to tap, Punk breaks free and brings back the ANACONDA VICE~! Awesome! Cena gets to his feet though and manages a quick ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT! Cover, 1-2-NO!! Whoa. Now what. Punk counters the Flying Famouser into a sitout powerbomb. He doesn’t get all of it though, but still gets two. Punk signals for the GTS, but Cena escapes to the apron and snaps Punk’s neck on the top rope so he can hit the Flying Famouser for 1-2-NO! Booker T says he’s exhausted, folks! Time to wrap this match up, I guess. Cena hits another ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT and he hits it REAL good, but Punk still kicks out at two! Even Cena has to check with the ref on that one. Cena wants a SUPER ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT, but Punk unloads with elbows to the back of Cena’s head and brings him down to the mat with a headscissors. Just great stuff. Another knee from Punk is followed by the GTS, but Cena falls out to the floor through the ropes. After Punk rolls the dead weight of Cena back into the ring, we see Vince McMahon and Johnny Ace come out. Punk gets distracted and walks into the STF. Vince is calling for the bell! The timekeeper doesn’t see him, so he sends Johnny over to him. Cena intercepts Johnny Ace with a STIFF forearm! It’s okay, he’s worked for All Japan. Cena walks over to Vince and tells him that he’s going to do things his way. Apparently his way is to jump back into the ring and take the GTS like a man! Cover by Punk, 1-2-3!! (33:46) What can be said that hasn’t already been told two months after this show aired. Just an amazing match that hit on all cylinders story-wise. There were some forgivable botches here and there that people have overanalyzed. I’ve said it before in other PPV reviews, but this is just another example of a match where you know why you’re a fan. The set up to the match was brilliant and the actual execution did not disappoint. I wouldn’t go five stars with it because of the noticeable botches, but I wouldn’t think any less of someone who did because the argument can be easily made. I will say that it’s going to be hard to find a better MOTYC in 2011 than this one. ****¾

Right after Punk celebrates with the belt, Vince runs over and puts on Lawler’s headset to tell somebody in the back to send the MITB winner Alberto Del Rio immediately down to the ring. He finally comes down and jumps at Punk, but eats a kick. Punk looks over and smiles at Vince holding onto the belt. He hops onto the barricade, blows Vince a kiss, and exits through the crowd with the WWE title in hand. And there was absolutely nothing Vince McMahon could do about it.

Final Thoughts: This has become my favorite PPV in many years and the only PPV that I have purchased on DVD since 2006. A highly enjoyable and exciting show with a super molten hot crowd. Yes there are two ladder matches, but I believe that WWE has improved the ladder match gimmick by emphasizing the drama over the dangerous spots. I’m not going to make a long rant here like I did for the Capitol Punishment PPV recap, but I will say that you should GET ALL OF THIS. Huge thumbs up for Money in the Bank 2011.