Money in the Bank - World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs. Christian

[Peep]

After Christian captured his first World Championship in his 17-year career at Extreme Rules – then lost it to Randy Orton just days later – he has been on a relentless quest to regain the title. But the results have been the same each time. At Capitol Punishment and Over the Limit, Christian failed to beat World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton.

Will the third time be the charm? Maybe, but at Money in the Bank he is counting on more than just luck.

To bolster his chances, Christian had his legal team include a special clause in the match contract. If Orton is disqualified, or if there is a bad referee call, Christian immediately becomes the new champion.

The clause stems from Christian’s continual claims that he has been “screwed” out of the title. At Extreme Rules, he claims that his leg was clearly under the ropes when Orton was declared the winner. Then just when he thought he thought he earned a World Title opportunity in a tag team victory on SmackDown, General Manager Theodore Long said not so fast. It wasn't until Christian & Mark Henry beat Orton & Kane in a tag match that Christian finally earned his match with Orton.

But even after solidifying his No. 1 contender spot, Christian’s quest hit another road block. On the July 1 edition of SmackDown, Sheamus crashed the World Title contract signing, brutalized both Christian and Orton, and tore up their match contract. With no contract and doubts about whether the World Title Match would even take place, Christian revealed the next week that a newly signed contract did indeed exist – including the special clause.

With the clause in his corner, can Christian finally regain the coveted title he held for just days? Or, will The Viper finally crush Christian’s dream for good? To find out, tune in to WWE Money in the Bank, July 17, only on pay-per-view.

And there you have it. Christian has lost three straight World Heavyweight Championship matches to Randy Orton, the first ending his short lived time as champion. Captain Charisma now get's his third rematch against the Viper and has reversed the "champion's advantage" on Orton. With motivation and legal bindings in his corner, will Christian become a two time World Heavyweight Champion or will Randy Orton have his fourth straight successful title defense?

 

[#SAWFT]

I could see Christian making up an excuse to win the title back.
OR
I could see Orton retaining, then Sheamus (winner of the money in the bank) taking the title away.

 

[Peep]

I suppose I should give my own answer as well. Honestly, this match is harder to predict than the previous ones. I didn't expect the Christian and Orton feud to last this long - at least not without the title going back and forth.

Regardless of the competitors, it seems odd to me to have two different guys have three straight singles matches at PPVs and have the same guy win each time. That's a pretty boring and predictable product, if you ask me.

Perhaps there lies Christian's hope. With the advantage of winning the title should Orton be disqualified, Christian has multiple ways to pull off the upset and do so in a very heel-ish fashion.

On the other hand, you have to respect who Randy Orton is. Orton is the face of WWE's blue brand, no doubt about it. Are they ready to take the championship off of him after holding it for two and a half months? When you put it like that, it seems unlikely. For such a big star, it would seem a long, healthy reign should be in order. Perhaps it'll take much more to get the title away from the Viper.

Finally, you have to give a mention to Sheamus, who will be competing in SmackDown's Money in the Bank ladder match. Sheamus specifically said he plans on winning Money in the Bank and then cashing it later that night, presumably on Orton according to him. It remains to be seen if Sheamus truly will become SmackDown's Mr. Money in the Bank, however, there is still the distinct possibility that neither Randy Orton nor Christian will walk out of Chicago, Illinois as the World Champion.

Prediction: Call me bias, but I do believe Christian will win the match versus Orton and will do so by disqualification. I wouldn't even be surprised to see another superstar align himself with Christian at Money in the Bank and "attack" Christian just so that Christian gains the championship by DQ.

How long he holds the title after that remains to be seen. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see Christian's second World Heavyweight Championship reign outdo his first by only lasting three minutes this time (thanks to a MITB cash-in).

However, even if that doesn't happen, I still feel there's a good chance he'd lose the title before SummerSlam.

Hopefully the real outcome is entertaining, regardless of who is World Heavyweight Champion at the end of the night. Worst case scenario: Orton and Christian have a carbon copy of their last three matches, Orton wins via RKO again, there is no controversy and no attempted Money in the Bank cash-in afterword. The end. That would be rather uneventful.

 

[KettleFace]

I think at this stage a Sheamus MITB victory would be too obvious. I've got a feeling that Sheamus will lose the MITB match, and then in a fit of rage will attack both Orton and Christian and the match will end in a DQ. Could possibly see a triple threat for the title at SummerSlam, or maybe even as soon as on SmackDown, in which I can see Christian winning the title back.

But honestly, the only way I can see Christian winning the title back any time soon would be in a triple threat match.

 

[Blue Chipper]

They're having another match, eh? Well, I'm not complaining, these two guys do work good together. I'm sure this will be an entertaining match, hopefully it'll top their MOTY-worthy match at Over The Limit.

I'd guess Randy will retain. I don't really know anything about this pay-per-view, though, it seems to be fairly unpredictable.

 

[Good Golly It's Ollie]

Ah good, someone finally made this thread!

I'm calling a Fully Loaded 2000 redo here. Benoit won the title via disqualification, which was a similar stipulation to the one we have here. Benoit and Shane spent the whole time cheating, til the ref bump scenario happened and Rocky decided to try and use the chair. He never actually used it, but if I recall correctly, the ref got up and saw Benoit on the mat and Rocky with a chair in his hand, and DQ'd Rock there and then. Benoit was awared the title as per the stipulation. Then Foley came out and reversed the decision (because he was commissioner, he could reverse the ref's call) and made the Rock champ again.

I think we could be in for a similar result, with Teddy Long coming out to hand the title back to Orton. This gives Christian even more ammo as a heel, the belt stays with the top guy, and whoop-de-doo, Cole can now repeated argue that Christian was a sorta-kinda-two-time-champ. I just don't see Christian walking away with the belt here. The odds are stacked more in the heel's favour so ironically it's more likely that the face will win.

I reckon we could be in for a blow-off that leads right into Christian's next feud here. This has been going on for about three months now which is standard fare for ME feuds. Christian can start a feud directly with Teddy and some face midcarder comes to T-Lo's aid in an elevation feud against Christian.

Alternatively, the Money in the Bank winner could cash in and win the belt straight afterwards, regardless of who wins - this way things get refreshed, and either Christian or Orton can feud with the winner (pending face/heel alignment of the winner). If it's Sheamus or Barrett, who are the only guys I see doing same-night-cash-ins, they could feud with Orton. If a face wins (but I don't think they will) they can feud with Christian.
I think Sheamus could very well do it here.

 

[LegendKiller716]

I see Christian winning the belt here. I think Sheamus or Mark Henry gets involved somehow, giving Christian the DQ win. I think they should go with a heel champ because the lack of main event faces on Smackdown. Having a heel champ will make mid card guys step up.

I could see the MITB winner coming down, hitting Christian with the case(giving him the title win), and then pinning him right there. It would be a crazy finish, but it could be good.

OT: Am I the only one that thinks turning Christian heel was a bad move? Especially considering him and Orton were the only top faces on the show? Well here's to hoping Daniel Bryan and Ted Jr. step up soon.

 

[pepentorresHHH]

I honestly dont know whos gonna WALK OUT with the title!
we have reached the breaking point of this fued because of 2 reasons:
1 all their matches have been regular 1 on 1 matches
2 christian has lost ALL his matches......

so my question is what is different about this time that makes someone think that christian will finally win the title back?
on the other side, christian finally "lawyered up" and has stacked up the odds against Orton and if Christian is ever gonna do it, then this is the time to do it....
we also have to consider the wildcards on this night..... we have the mitb winner who could be anyone (as of now it is hinted that its gonna be sheamus.... it remains to be seen) and who could cash in on the winner, either if it is christian or randy orton.
also mark henry has been on a path of destruction and christian could get attacked by him and automatically win the title
on top of that orton has his whole "anger" and voices issues which could prove to be his achilles heel and cause him to lose control and get himself dq therefore giving the title to christian
AND FINALLY.....this is the wwe...........and that means that unfortunately that NO ONE goes over super cena and super orton ..................
SO MY PICK IS RANDY ORTON!

 

[tytherock]

I could see Christian pulling out a questionable win and immediately dropping the belt to whomever wins money in the bank to maintain his victim character...

That OR Cena drops to Punk and the MITB is used to keep the belt "in the WWE," by the Raw winner.

 

[Raito]

1 Thing will not happen. Christian will not hit the unprettier(killswitch).

I have never seen someone fued so long with someone without hitting thier finishing move.

Obviously Orton refuses to take it. Last time Orton took one was in 2005 when he was with stacy kiebler. (please correct me if im wrong). Anyone else think this is a strange?

 

[H33LTurn]

1 Thing will not happen. Christian will not hit the unprettier(killswitch).

I have never seen someone fued so long with someone without hitting thier finishing move.

Obviously Orton refuses to take it. Last time Orton took one was in 2005 when he was with stacy kiebler. (please correct me if im wrong). Anyone else think this is a strange?

That could just be a coincidence, although a guy with as many head injuries as Orton probably would be safer avoiding moves like that.
-----------------------------

I can see Orton winning the match. They arent likely to give Christian the WHC ever again since they went through such a ridiculous effort to take it away from him (1 week long title reign). The only way I could see Christian winning is if Sheamus cashes in the MITB right after. That would work out nice, giving Christian another excuse for not walking into SD as teh champ.

 

[ZeKa X Sk8eR]

Christian will not win, orton is the number 2 guy in wwe right now so why would they take the title off of him? Thats the whole reason why Christian lost it to randy in the first place. The way i see it is that Christian just want to win the WHC at least once before he retires.

 

[Dagger Dias]

This feud has been great, and I expect them to once again have the match of the night for the 3rd PPV in a row. They might outdo their other matches in this one now with the added stipulation that Orton will lose the title if he gets disqualified or the ref makes a bad call. It gives Orton a situation where he must completely defy the odds. I'm also interested in seeing how Sheamus will get involved. Will we see a blue briefcase cash in immediately afterward? This is Money in the Bank, after all. Assuming there is no cash in planned, I can see Orton retaining. Christian will likely somehow manage to sneak in one last match at Summerslam where he wins the belt. The odds are in Christian's favor, but my predicted victory goes to Orton because when stipulation like this one show up, the face almost always overcomes it to win/retain.

DAGGER'S PREDICTION
Randy Orton will retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

 

[#hamler]

I love everything about this feud. The build up has been nothing but anticipation. The WWE actually took their time with this feud establishing Christian as a great main eventer. Nothing but good can come from a slow build up. I mean, how often is it you have both the World and WWE Championship matches on a pay-per-view with a phenomenal build? I do believe this match is harder to predict than the last two pay-per-view matches were. It seems as if Christian will win some how. The odds are obviously stacked against Orton. We all know Orton has anger problems and whatnot but with SummerSlam just around the corner and Sheamus getting in the way of things, it seems Orton will somehow slither his way into another victory over Christian...and I'm cool with that.

Hamler's Prediction - Randy Orton will retain the World Heavyweight Championship

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Orton wins, and NOTHING is going to make me think otherwise here. Smackdown is Orton's show now, and this isn't going to change for a very long time. Christian winning at Capitol Punishment would've been his best chance to walk away with the gold in this feud, and a win at this pay per view could've made this feud more interesting. But Christian has already had chance after chance to regain his title, and it hasn't happened yet. I've enjoyed Christian's heel turn, but he isn't going to win the gold, and his VERY brief reign as WHC might be the last time we ever see him wear a World Championship in WWE. Christian shouldn't fade into obscurity, because Captain Charisma should get a chance to do something meaningful on the blue brand.

The match here should be pretty good, because these two have delivered some high quality contests this year. Orton and Christian should deliver another good match, and there's a chance Sheamus could make an appearance after this one.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Heading into Summerslam, it's hard to imagine Orton not being the WHC when this is over. He's clearly the #1 guy on Smackdown, and I don't see another contest between he and Christian on the horizon.

If Christian beats Orton tonight, that would almost certainly ensure a rematch at Summerslam. If that were to happen, I wouldn't be upset, but it has gone on for quite some time now, and I could see fans having an issue with that. That's why I doubt Christian wins, and just walks away as champion.

If Christian does win, somehow, look for the Smackdown MITB winner to cash in immediately, setting up a MITB winner/new champion vs. Orton match at Summerslam.

 

[AgeOfAwesome]

Im...actually surprised...Christian gets another belt. Not a clean victory but its Ortons fault so hes gonna gloat and its gonna be good tv.

 

[Mr. Cash Cow]

I'm so happy that Christian won, and hopefully this time the guy will actually have a decent reign and not one that will just last just 5 days. The finish to the match was perfect, it didn't make even man look weak, and now Christian can cement himself as the #1 Heel on Smackdown.

I must admit, i was waiting for a Daniel Bryan run in, but Christian was outside the ring so i thought ok, maybe DB won't cash in tonight, but it was still a fun and enjoyable match, and now Christian is your new World Heavyweight Champion.

 

[CelticCorey]

Some of you may, or may not, remember at the end of 2010 that the WWE posted a list on WWE.com for the top superstars to look out for in 2011. I myself don't remember a lot but I do remember this much:

#1 on that list was Alberto Del Rio. The man who won the 2011 Royal Rumble and also main evented Smackdown during the spring. In addition to that, he won last night's RAW Money in the Bank.

Who was #2 on that list? Cody Rhodes? Nope. Wade Barrett? Nope. It was Daniel Bryan. The man who had a kickass U.S. Title reign for the first two or three months and then was left for dead by the WWE. He then was sent to Smackdown and it feels like a resurgance a little bit.

Granted, stuff is ALWAYS subject to change in WWE. I'm not sure if they remember this or not. Perhaps this is just one big coincidence and I am looking too much into this. Maybe WWE decided to book this way back when in December when they made that list.

But if anybody was asking: "Why Alberto Del Rio? "Why Daniel Bryan?" This is what comes to mind.

 

[VinnieSunshine]

I dont go on their website very often so I dont know what list you are talking about.

WWE does not give away their storylines or character acrs that easily like some other companies do (reference HH talking about his video game).

It might just be mere coincidence that this happened. WWE has been pushing Del Rio lately and I truely do believe he was going to get the title until they found out Edge had to retire. As for Bryan...WWE hasa habit of making guys look like they are being buried before they push them to their extent (Rhodes was in this boat after Legacy).

 

[CelticCorey]

Oh ok. Yeah I know they don't give them away and I don't go on it that often either but at the end of 2010/just before 2011, a list was posted on WWE.com for Superstars to watch in 2011. Del Rio ranked #1. Bryan ranked #2.

 

[asas96]

I've gotten pretty bored of Orton these past few months. I was in live attendance last night, and the majority of the match, the crowd was mostly pro-Christian, but right when Randy hit the low blow, everyone switched sides, including me. Last night, I saw the Randy Orton that made me interested in his character in the first place, he looked like he was fresh out of the Attitude Era. Mouthing things like "he spit in my fucking face" or "you're one lucky son of a bitch", am I the only one who was totally amped up from his acting last night? Did you guys like it or did you think it was overused/overdone?

 

[Kayoh]

The list went like this

1. Del Rio
2. Daniel Bryan
3. Ziggler
4. Cody Rhodes
5. Skip Sheffield
6. Drew McIntyre
7. David Otunga
8. Alex Riley
9. Tamina
10. Tyson Kidd
11. Big Zeke

It's pretty hit and miss, Alex Riley being on the list is surprising considering that was back when Miz was champ and Riley was just his lackey. Zeke & Rhodes both being on the list is kind of curious too since neither of them were really doing anything of note around New Years.

It took almost 7 months for the WWE to finally pull the trigger on Daniel Bryan, and they been squeezing the trigger on Del Rio since this list came out, it's just a rusty trigger that gets stuck sometimes. Could Dolph actually get a decent push over the next few months? Will McIntyre actually make TV more than once a month? Who knows, I can't really complain about the list aside from Otunga being on there.

 

[CelticCorey]

Thanks for posting the list.

Ziggler has had an ok year while Rhodes is on the rise. I think WWE was guessing Skip would be back by now but he hasn't. McIntyre and Otunga, meh. I think WWE knew they wanted to give Riley more exposure but they hadn't planned this out just yet.

Tamina and Tyson Kidd? ROFL.

And Zeke is IC champ so I guess it's not too bad.

 

[Good Golly It's Ollie]

Absolutely not, I don't think it was overdone. See, this is one of the main reasons why Orton works in the main event. He may not have the most diverse or interesting ring style but it works for his character and it works for his fans.

Get him to a certain point and he'll take the emotional intensity of a match past boiling point and into epic territory. I think last night's match - emotionally and in terms of the storytelling - was the best match of the Orton/Christian series and here's why:

1) Crowd was hot - well done Chicago, you were awesome. You helped everyone go to the next level last night. Even Mark Henry and Big Show gave me a lot more than I was expecting. As for Orton and Christian, well, I think they felt out the ebbs and flows of the crowd reactions pretty much as well as Cena and Punk did.

2) Orton and Christian work well together - They've carried this feud for quite a while now and usually it'd be fizzling out. Their characters clash well, if such a thing is possible. I feel now Christian's won the title, that this could easily go to Summerslam and I'd remain engaged.

3) Orton is good at knowing exactly when to blow - If the stories are to be believed, Orton is a bit like this in real life anyway, but you know Heyman's golden rule ... play yourself but cranked up to 11. Orton reeks of badass - he's "cooler" than Cena and WWE probably knows this. He's a very different character which is ultimately why Orton seems sometimes to get a more positive reaction than Cena does. Orton haters have only really surfaced at events since Christian's turn, at least as far as I can tell.

If I've learned anything from Cena, it's not to hate on the top face just for being the top face. Orton's not the best; nowhere near - but what he does is very, very suitable for his role. Which is effectively being both equal and opposite to Cena. Orton's character work is probably what he does best - a lot of people say "he's boring" or "he's monotonous" but really listen, next time he talks, if you think those things of him. Listen to the nuances in his delivery. Where he puts emphasis. His facial expressions. He may not be as innovative on the mic as Cena or Punk, but his character work is consistently solid and effective, and that's why Orton is at the top of Smackdown.