WWE Money in the Back 2011: The Aftermath

[KNPKH2ster]

I don't know what is going to happen now, but what we know is that WWE Money in the Bank 2011 is now in the history books. Everyone from the wrestling industry (past and present) were talking about this PPV last night. Even guys like Rock, Austin, and Trish said on Twitter that Punk winning the title was an amazing moment (and that's a huge compliment which is something you dont hear a lot from past WWE superstars). With the additional comment, Trish said that Raw is "must see TV" tonight which I definitely agree. I look forward to buying this from the PlayStation Store (just the good matches).

 

[itssoeasy123]

This whole PPV was fantastic. Probably one of the best PPV's I've seen in a long while, not just in WWE, but in wrestling. Everything was top notch tonight, we saw things we never though we would see, the crowd was into it all night, and the atmosphere was great.

Daniel Bryan is now the SD MITB holder, which I was shocked about. It makes sense now seeing as though Smackdown doesn't have alot of top faces besides Orton. I think he'll be the guy to announce his cash-in before hand, and fight for it on a PPV.

The Diva's match was what it was, a diva's match. Nothing really to talk about here.

Mark Henry and Big Show was fantastic. Two big behemeth's fighting it off to see who's the better man. Henry has a really good strategy in that match and that was to take out the knee of the Big Show, which proved successful. Now, after Henry crushed Show's ankle, he'll prboably be out of a while. Mark Henry I think is in for not only a main event run, but I feel he would be a great World Champion.

The RAW MITB was not as good as the Smackdown MITB, IMO. But, the winner, Del Rio, is not in line to be a future WWE Champion. Match was good, with the AirBourne on all seven men, the spot when they all went for the briefcase on top of the ladder, alot of things were great in that match.

The World Heavyweight Championship was a great. Orton and Christian have very good chemistry together, and they always put on great matches together. Well, Christian is finally World Champion again, after all the whining and complain, but he got it with a price. That being RKO'd two times be a noticablly deranged Randy Orton.

Now, the main event. CM Punk comes out to a sea of cheer's, and fans are on their feet to see their favorite hometown WWE superstar. Then, Cena comes out to the complete opposite, boo's, and more boo's. The match was fantastic, top notch perfomance's from both men. Back and forth, counter after counter, the fans were immensly into it, I seriously think Punk and Cena have some of the best chemistry in professional wrestling today. That match is what wrestling is all about.

Vince comes out, tries to screw Punk, but Cena punches out Johnny Ace! After that, Cena falls right into a GTS, after taking his eye off of Punk, and then the 1..2..3! CM Punk is the WWE Champion. Vince than call's Del Rio out, Punk kick's Del Rio in the head, runs over to the barrier kisses Vince goodbye, and runs off and holds up the WWE Championship in the sea of fans in the All State arena.

Now, we have one answer, but even more question's. What happens to John Cena, will he be fired? What happens to the WWE Championship? Whats CM Punk going to do? Where is Punk going to go? Did he resign with WWE? What is Vince McMahon going to do? What will come of the WWE Championship belt, will we see a new one? So many questions need answering, and just like Money in the Bank, tonight's RAW is a must see.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I thouht this was a very well done PPV event. WWE managed to pull a couple of surprising moves. Daniel Bryan is holding the blue briefcase. Christian is World Champion (hope it lasts longer than a couple of days this time) and CM Punk defeated Cena. My only complaints are that Del Rio didn't need to win the red briefcase and six matches is a little small. They could have thrown together a US or tag team title match. Someone like McIntyre should have been in Raw's MITB match in Del Rio's place the moment he got number one contender. Those things aside, I give it an A- because I only had a few minor issues and still enjoyed the whole show. The surprises made up for what was wrong with it.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Money In The Bank - Smackdown
I go back and forth on which MITB match I liked more, but it doesn't really matter. Both matches were great. Great spots, few botches, decent storytelling (which is tough to do in this kind of match), etc. I think I enjoyed this one more, by an inch, because Danielson won. Killer way to kick off the show.

Diva's Match
I won't bother with names, because no one cared. Actually, I'll mention Kelly Kelly, because she looked fine as hell out there The match? Who cares.

Mark Henry vs. The Big Show
I didn't like these two matches (Diva's before) going on back-to-back. These weren't as important as the other matches, and I figured they'd be placed in between some of the bigger matches. Oh well. I loved this match. This is the first time in a long while where a Monster vs. Monster match has been more than decent. It told a great story, and made Mark Henry look like a legitimate threat to anyone and everyone in the WWE. Big Show sold everything perfectly, and deserves credit for that. Great, great Big Man vs. Big Man match. Best in years.

Money In The Bank Match - Raw
Another great match, see everything I said for Smackdown's version. Relying on the spots no longer works, we've had too many of these. The story going into this type of match has to work. I don't care for Del Rio winning, because I think he's the equivalent of a sleeping pill. However, the match worked, and kept me on the edge of my seat.

Christian vs. Randy Orton - World Heavyweight Championship
Are these two capable of putting on a bad match? I don't think they are. Great stuff here. I'll spare you my thoughts on each second of the wrestling, because we've seen it before. The storytelling was fucking outstanding. Christian won the title in perfect fashion. Heels cheat. That's what they do. To complain about Christian looking weak is idiotic. Christian should draw more heat than ever now, and Orton (once again) looks like a total maniac. Can't explain how much I loved this match, and even more so, its finish.

John Cena vs. CM Punk - WWE Championship
The crowd took this from a ***1/2 match to a **** match. I'm not going to lose my mind, and call it the greatest match in years, because it wasn't. However, it didn't disappoint. It lived up to the hype, and both men busted ass out there. Almost 35 minutes? That's a big deal. A bit sloppy, and that took it down about 1/2* for me, but great, great stuff. Storytelling isn't prominent today, but this did the job.

OVERALL - A.
This was an amazing show. Why? Nothing sucked. Period. Well, the Diva's match stunk, but once you realize they're not on the card to be praised, you understand that doesn't matter. Great storytelling in each match, a great (smarky) crowd, amazing hype going in.... no real weaknesses. Best PPV of the year, in my opinion.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

WWE Money In The Bank 2011​

Daniel Bryan VS Sheamus VS Cody Rhodes VS Sin Cara VS Heath Slater VS Wade Barrett VS Kane VS Justin Gabriel- Smackdown MITB Ladder Match

Excellent match here. The Smackdown MITB ladder match featured plenty of excitement, this match had a nice fast pace, and there was tons of brutality here. Sheamus’ power bomb that sent Sin Cara through the ladder looked unreal, and this was a jaw dropping moment. I also couldn’t believe Bryan won the briefcase here. I thought Sheamus was a lock, because he had been riding a nice wave of momentum, and he’s already seen time in the main event, so I thought a win for him would be a sure thing. Still, I’m glad Bryan won, and I’m sure he’ll have a nice run with the title, when his time comes, because he is capable of delivering some outstanding matches. This match was full of action, Bryan’s win was truly shocking, and this was a great way to kick off the show. Match Rating: 9/10

Brie Bella/With Niki Bella VS Kelly Kelly/With Eve- Divas Championship

Well this was pretty underwhelming. This just felt like your standard Divas match that you could watch on Raw or Smackdown. It just felt like Brie and Kelly were going through the motions most of the time, but I am happy Kelly retained here. She’s pretty over with the fans, and she has improved in the ring, so I wouldn’t mind if she had a lengthy run with the title. The Bellas are hot twins, but I don’t think they bring anything else to the table. Match Rating: 3/10

Mark Henry VS The Big Show

Wow. I can’t believe it. I actually enjoyed this. This match had a nice steady pace, and this battle of the big men managed to entertain me. I liked how Henry targeted the knee here. He had to find a way to cripple the giant, and taking out one of his legs was a smart strategy, because being over seven feet tall won’t mean much if you’re off your feet. This one was pretty physical, and both men dished out their fair share of punishment. Also, Show’s flying shoulder block from the second rope was pretty impressive. I also enjoyed the attack on Show’s leg after this match. It made Henry look like more of a cold-blooded monster, and I’m sure Show will miss some time, because the “injury” will surely put him on the shelf. Mark Henry has been riding a huge momentum swing lately, and this win will only help his hot streak. Henry looked dominant here, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he found his way into the World Heavyweight Championship picture, because he has done a fantastic job with this heel character so far. Match Rating: 6/10

Alberto Del Rio VS Kofi Kingston VS Jack Swagger VS Evan Bourne VS R-Truth VS Alex Riley VS The Miz VS Rey Mysterio- Raw MITB Ladder Match

I enjoyed the Smackdown MITB ladder match more, but this was still pretty entertaining. There was a good amount of brutality here, and this match had it’s fair share of exciting and thrilling moments. One prime example would be Evan Bourne’s Shooting Star Press on the outside, because this spot really was an amazing sight. The Miz’s knee injury also put an interesting spin on this match. I thought Miz was done for after the knee injury, but his return was surprising, and I thought he would find a way to sneak in and steal the briefcase, but Mysterio put a stop to that. I also enjoyed the struggle to grab the briefcase between Mysterio and Del Rio at the end of the match, because this moment did add some nice suspense to this match. I was kind of surprised to see Rey lose his mask here. I thought Rey might grab the case, but I knew it was over for him once he lost his mask, because you just know Mysterio isn’t going to show his face. As far as Del Rio winning goes, I can’t say I’m that surprised. Del Rio has received a huge push, and I think he has all the tools to become a World Champion. Match Rating: 8/10

Randy Orton VS Christian- World Heavyweight Championship

Orton and Christian delivered another fine match here. There was some excellent back and forth action throughout this entire and match, and this match did feature some nice suspense towards the end. Also, the ending to this match was very shocking for me. I thought Orton would keep his cool after Christian spat on his mouth, but The Viper snapped, and the low blow allowed Christian to become the World Heavyweight Champion. And Orton’s viscous beat down on Christian after the match was another nice touch here. Orton just lost the gold to his arch nemesis. He completely snapped, and he took out all of his frustrations on Christian, and Teddy Long’s presence at ringside added some more drama here. I didn’t think Christian had a chance in this match, and I thought he would return to the mid card after this one, but I was very wrong. Christian has been very entertaining as a heel, and I’m looking forward to his second tenure as WHC. Match Rating: 8/10

CM Punk VS John Cena- WWE Championship

Incredible. This match actually lived up to the tremendous hype, and I was hooked into this one from beginning to end. This match featured an outstanding atmosphere, because the crowd was insane here. They were firmly behind their hometown hero CM Punk, and as expected, Cena was booed very loudly. Although, Cena actually had some supporters in the Chicago crowd (the “let’s go Cena!” chants) but they couldn’t overcome Punk’s supporters. As far as the match goes, I loved every second of it. Yeah, I know Punk’s first cross body attempt was botched, but I don’t think this moment dragged this match down at all. There was some great back and forth action here, and the suspense towards the end was unreal. I couldn’t tell who would win the match, as Punk and Cena avoided numerous pinfall covers and struggled to escape each other’s submission holds. You could feel how important this match was, because both men threw everything they had at each other, and Cena and Punk were exhausted in the final stages of this one. I also enjoyed the appearances of Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis. I thought this one would be over, when McMahon ordered Laurinaitis to call for the bell. I thought they were going to the screwjob route, but Cena decked Laurinaitis on his way to the time keeper’s table, because John wanted to do things the right way. When Del Rio sprinted to the ring, I thought “Oh well. This is over. It was a cool moment, while it lasted.” But Del Rio failed, and Punk managed to escape. I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing, and all I could say was “HE’S GOING TO WALK AWAY THE BELT!!! HE’S REALLY GOING TO DO IT!!!” And Punk did such a great job of expressing some real joy after he won the title. He was emotional, but he was also happy, as he celebrated with his hometown crowd, and McMahon’s devastated reaction was priceless. This match was great, and this title win should be remembered as THE moment in Punk’s career. Match Rating: 10/10

Overall Show Rating: 10/10: MITB 2011 was spectacular, and this show has to be the front runner for best pay per view of the year. This pay per view featured a few shocking moments, and the bulk of the wrestling here was outstanding. Cena VS Punk should be the leading candidate for MOTY. The action in the ring was superb, and the story that surrounded this match was great. I seriously didn’t believe Punk would away with the gold here. I thought Del Rio would capitalize on his cash in, but Punk managed to dodge a bullet. Cena VS Punk should go down as one the most memorable world title matches ever, and this match will be burned in my memory forever.