WWE Money in the Bank 2013
WWE Money In The Bank 2013 (7/14/2013)- Philadelphia, PA
PRE-SHOW:
WWE TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Shield(c) (Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns) vs. The Usos- 7/10
FINALLY WWE gives a pre-show match an appropriate amount of time, and it was awesome. They actually had me thinking that the Usos would win the belts. Hopefully this is the start of something big for the Usos.
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH 8/10
Sandow snatching the mica away from Cody during their promo was a nice touch. Yup. These two are definitely breaking up.
This match was awesome. The crowd was completely behind Cody and they capitalized on that perfectly with the finish. Everyone played their roles perfectly in this match, especially Swagger and Cesaro, whose teamwork was the major story they told during this match (which helped to set up for the finish by creating a contrast). The only thing I would have done differently was to have more teamwork spots between Cody and Sandow too, to help set things up a bit more.
I liked the three way tag team brawl between The Shield, the Usos, and Swagger & Cesaro. Hopefully that leads to something at Summer Slam.
If you are looking for cool spots… this match had quite a few of them. Wade using that broken piece of ladder to go to town on Sandow looked absolutely vicious. And Cody hit a Muscle Buster onto a ladder! And speaking of cool spots… DEAN FREAKIN’ AMBROSE!
When Ambrose was doing the Terry Funk spinning around with the ladder thing, Cole said â€"talk about innovation!†Yeah… I’m pretty sure that spot has been used in just about every mach involving a ladder since Barely Legal. You want innovation, though, how about Ambrose skinning the cat on a ladder? (wow, that must read terribly awkwardly if you’re not a wrestling fan) That was NUTS!
BRAD MADDOX MAKES FUN OF VICKIE- pointless.
WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Curtis Axel(c) (w/Paul Heyman) vs. The Miz- 5.75/10
Solid match. They did the whole figure four spot perfectly. I was on the edge of my seat from the moment Miz locked it in until moment Axel grabbed the ropes. Great stuff from both men. The spot with Miz lying to the ref to get Heyman ejected from ringside was decent, but I thought it would have been much better if there had been some lead up to it. Some previous match where a distraction from Heyman had cost Miz the title or something like that.
WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: AJ Lee(c) (w/Big E. Langston) vs. Kaitlyn (w/Layla)- 4.25/10
TOTAL DIVAS COMMERCIAL- maybe all reality TV is like this, but from what I saw, this argument between the Funkadactyl’s seems like a total work.
CHRIS JERICHO vs. RYBACK- 6.25/10
Ryback gets the win VIA ROLL-UP?! WHAT THE F*CK?!
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Alberto Del Rio(c) vs. Dolph Ziggler- 6.5/10
As a fan, the finish was very frustrating, but it was a good storyline finish that allows for Dolph to dump AJ while still remaining a babyface and also set up for a rematch between Del Rio & Ziggler.
WWE TITLE MATCH: John Cena(c) vs. Mark Henry- 6/10
A decent story, but I thought that Henry tapped WAY too quickly.
WWE TITLE MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH- 8/10
This match already had that true â€"big match†feel going into it, and making it the main event made that show through even more. Everyone ganging up on RVD right at the beginning in Rob’s big return to the WWE made them all feel a bit heelish.
This match wasn’t as full of cool spots as the last one, but it was no less brutal. I thought Sheamus was totally knocked out after he Punk and that ladder landed on his head. As you probably would’ve guessed, the crowd was super into RVD, with Punk and Dragon trailing closely behind. This had the odd but fun effect of effectively making the other three guys heels, despite the fact that they are normally super-over babyfaces.
They had me for multiple false finishes and the swerve with Punk and Heyman was great. If I had to compare the two, I’d say that opener was better, but this was still an awesome main event.
Overall, a great show from WWE, although the two World Title matches both underdelivered.
PRE-SHOW:
WWE TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Shield(c) (Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns) vs. The Usos- 7/10
FINALLY WWE gives a pre-show match an appropriate amount of time, and it was awesome. They actually had me thinking that the Usos would win the belts. Hopefully this is the start of something big for the Usos.
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH 8/10
Sandow snatching the mica away from Cody during their promo was a nice touch. Yup. These two are definitely breaking up.
This match was awesome. The crowd was completely behind Cody and they capitalized on that perfectly with the finish. Everyone played their roles perfectly in this match, especially Swagger and Cesaro, whose teamwork was the major story they told during this match (which helped to set up for the finish by creating a contrast). The only thing I would have done differently was to have more teamwork spots between Cody and Sandow too, to help set things up a bit more.
I liked the three way tag team brawl between The Shield, the Usos, and Swagger & Cesaro. Hopefully that leads to something at Summer Slam.
If you are looking for cool spots… this match had quite a few of them. Wade using that broken piece of ladder to go to town on Sandow looked absolutely vicious. And Cody hit a Muscle Buster onto a ladder! And speaking of cool spots… DEAN FREAKIN’ AMBROSE!
When Ambrose was doing the Terry Funk spinning around with the ladder thing, Cole said â€"talk about innovation!†Yeah… I’m pretty sure that spot has been used in just about every mach involving a ladder since Barely Legal. You want innovation, though, how about Ambrose skinning the cat on a ladder? (wow, that must read terribly awkwardly if you’re not a wrestling fan) That was NUTS!
BRAD MADDOX MAKES FUN OF VICKIE- pointless.
WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Curtis Axel(c) (w/Paul Heyman) vs. The Miz- 5.75/10
Solid match. They did the whole figure four spot perfectly. I was on the edge of my seat from the moment Miz locked it in until moment Axel grabbed the ropes. Great stuff from both men. The spot with Miz lying to the ref to get Heyman ejected from ringside was decent, but I thought it would have been much better if there had been some lead up to it. Some previous match where a distraction from Heyman had cost Miz the title or something like that.
WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: AJ Lee(c) (w/Big E. Langston) vs. Kaitlyn (w/Layla)- 4.25/10
TOTAL DIVAS COMMERCIAL- maybe all reality TV is like this, but from what I saw, this argument between the Funkadactyl’s seems like a total work.
CHRIS JERICHO vs. RYBACK- 6.25/10
Ryback gets the win VIA ROLL-UP?! WHAT THE F*CK?!
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Alberto Del Rio(c) vs. Dolph Ziggler- 6.5/10
As a fan, the finish was very frustrating, but it was a good storyline finish that allows for Dolph to dump AJ while still remaining a babyface and also set up for a rematch between Del Rio & Ziggler.
WWE TITLE MATCH: John Cena(c) vs. Mark Henry- 6/10
A decent story, but I thought that Henry tapped WAY too quickly.
WWE TITLE MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH- 8/10
This match already had that true â€"big match†feel going into it, and making it the main event made that show through even more. Everyone ganging up on RVD right at the beginning in Rob’s big return to the WWE made them all feel a bit heelish.
This match wasn’t as full of cool spots as the last one, but it was no less brutal. I thought Sheamus was totally knocked out after he Punk and that ladder landed on his head. As you probably would’ve guessed, the crowd was super into RVD, with Punk and Dragon trailing closely behind. This had the odd but fun effect of effectively making the other three guys heels, despite the fact that they are normally super-over babyfaces.
They had me for multiple false finishes and the swerve with Punk and Heyman was great. If I had to compare the two, I’d say that opener was better, but this was still an awesome main event.
Overall, a great show from WWE, although the two World Title matches both underdelivered.