411 PPV Roundtable Preview – WWE Money in the Bank 2013

Introduction

This Sunday, a new wrinkle will once again be added into the mix in WWE, potentially changing the face of the main event forever. As has become an annual tradition, two briefcases, one representing the WWE Title and the other the World Title, will be raised above the ring in two separate matches, with the winner earning for themselves a guaranteed title shot any time (and we do mean any time) they choose to cash it in over the next year. In many ways, a briefcase is the ultimate prize in WWE, as nearly everyone who has won one has succeeded at the goal every Superstar gets into WWE to fulfill: becoming a WWE or World Champion.

Those cases will be in the back of the minds of four other Superstars during the show as well, as Alberto Del Rio faces Dolph Ziggler for the World Title and John Cena takes on Mark Henry for the WWE Title, with all these men knowing that victory on this night could turn to defeat within seconds, thanks to the x-factor that is Money in the Bank.

In addition, the Intercontinental, Divas, and Tag Team titles will all be defending on Sunday night, and Chris Jericho takes on the increasingly confusing monster known as Ryback. Here’s the 411 Staff to give you their thoughts on the show!

The Staff

Stephen Randle, The Wrestling News Experience

Matt O’Connell, 411 newbie

Jesse Nguyen, The Ten Count

Rory James, That Was Then

Michael Weyer, Shining A Spotlight

Justin Watry, Ask 411 Wrestling

James Wright, The Heel Repot

Jack Bramma, Ring Crew Reviews

The Shield © vs The Usos
WWE Tag Team Championships
Pre-Show Kickoff Match

Stephen Randle: People complain about “how far The Shield has fallen”, but for the first time in a while, this is a PPV where their match would be easily overshadowed. Also, they’re not losing to The Usos, and everyone knows that, so best to get it out of the way quietly and move on.

Winner: The Shield

Matt O’Connell: The Usos have not been on television, seemingly, since the time they danced with Rikishi on an old school Raw a few years back, and now they’re going to unseat the most dominant stable in the last 20 years that has not included Triple H? Personally, I think they have no earthly idea who is finally going to beat the Shield, and so the Usos drew the short straw and got this feud while the writers try to come up with challengers that won’t be a disappointment.

Winner: The Shield

Jesse Nguyen: I’m disappointed to see The Shield being dropped down to pre-show, when this match should be on the PPV instead of Miz/Axel or Ryback/Jericho. I understand The Usos are not the biggest drawing stars, but they can have a great match. Anyway, I’m fairly certain that The Shield will retain here, unless the E has different plans for The Shield involving a new rivalry. The Usos have been on television quite a bit since winning the number one contendership, but I don’t think they are ready to take the belts from one of the most dominate stables in recent history.

Winner: The Shield

Rory James: It was inevitable that the momentum of The Shield would slow eventually. This is a testing time for them. After so long on top, it remains to be seen whether they can rough out some time lower down the card. I have every faith that they will. Anyway, I’m pretty sure of the outcome here.

Winner: The Shield

Michael Weyer: Wow, the Usos are still with the company? A bit annoying to see the tag titles dropped to the pre-show but par for the course lately with belts at PPVs. I don’t see a title change yet, the Shield still has potential but need a real program, this is just filler for them but at least should be a decent way to open the show.

Winners and STILL Tag Team Champions: The Shield

Justin Watry: The only reason the Uso brothers are getting a push is because of the upcoming Divas show on the E! Network. That’s it! I refuse to believe they have a chance here. In a few months, the team will be back to Main Event on Wednesday nights. Chalk up another win for the champs!

Winners and STILL Tag Team Champions: The Shield

James Wright: This one is pretty much a given, we were all wondering which of the Shield would break out on their own first and if the placing on this card is anything to go by than the question has already been answered. I can’t see Rollins and Reigns losing to the Usos, then again a loss here could be the start of a disintegration of the group so that Ambrose can go it alone, although I would strongly disagree with that decision at this point since the group could do so much more before they split.

Winner: Rollins & Reigns

Jack Bramma: It would be funny that the Shield have gotten dark match status if it wasn’t so discouraging. I get that in the WWE-verse there can be only one heel stable with heat, focus, and strong booking at a time, so with the Wyatts coming in, The Shield had to take a backseat for at least a month. I’m not quite in line with the Cassandrean doomsayers positing the downfall of The Shield, as I only see this as a temporary demotion. What I find more interesting is looking forward to the next few months for the Shield. If booked correctly, a face turn could be in the works and then they will be pitted against the Wyatts, though it is telling that the Wyatts got a face pop on Monday (before the Husky Harris chants) so who knows. Either way, I see The Shield easily dispatching The Usos in quick fashion; hopefully, this isn’t stretched into a two months.

Winner: The Shield

Chris Jericho vs Ryback

Stephen Randle: Jericho exists to put people over at this point, and since Ryback badly needs a PPV win right now, who better than Y2J to eat a clean pin and go off to tour with Fozzy? I’m not sure adding Vickie Guerrero to his entourage is a good plan for Ryback, but at least it’s a plan.

Winner: Ryback

Matt O’Connell: Ryback has lost so much momentum since his heel turn. Now, I’m fine with this, because I think he’s pretty awful to begin with, but between now and the time they give up on him he’ll be winning less and less impressively against more and more minor opponents. The established JTTS Jericho fills that role nicely.

Winner: The Ryback

Jesse Nguyen: I’m not sure what is worse. The fact that Ryback quit against The Miz, or that Jericho has to have a match against Ryback on a PPV. Ryback hasn’t had a victory in quite a while, and Jericho can usually make someone look good. That being said he has quite an uphill road in front of him in this match. I’m assuming that is what they are going for, since this feud has almost no story behind it.

Winner: Ryback

Rory James: Ryback needs to get a win. If he doesn’t, I think he will be too far gone to be rebuilt in any way. Jericho seems happy to lose to new guys these days. Writes itself really.

Winner: Chris Jericho

Michael Weyer: A big point for Ryback as WWE needs to decide if they have further faith in him or drop him down further. Jericho is a good choice to face him as he should be able to carry Ryback to a good match up and if he loses, Ryback gets a major rub. So if WWE wants to keep some momentum in Ryback after all this build, this is the best way to do it as a loss will drop him even more.

Winner: Ryback

Justin Watry: No doubter. Ryback is the star of the future here, not Chris Jericho. I expect Y2J to do what he does best – put up a good effort but lose to the younger talent. After this, I suppose Jericho can work Summerslam before taking another few months off. Ryback can head for the World Title picture.

Winner: Ryback

James Wright: There is very little appeal here for me as Jericho at this point has very little impact on the state of the WWE and Ryback seems to have completely missed the boat. This will most likely be a win for Ryback but I am not sure that it will actually help him all that much, in fact it probably won’t be long until we see him competing for the US or IC title and becoming one of the many mid-card heels that just can’t seem to get past that second year hurdle.

Winner: Ryback

Jack Bramma: Ryback has had quite the odd couple of weeks. He went from going toe-to-toe to Cena to squashing Khali to quitting against the Miz to consoling Vickie Guerrero, all the while somehow drawing Jericho’s ire because he couldn’t handle the Miz. Since coming back a few months ago, Jericho has done business putting over Fandango, The Shield, Curtis Axel, and Punk. He’s gotten a few wins back, but he’s hardly getting ego booked like some other names would be in his shoes. In a nice callback to HBK doing the same thing to Jericho back in the spring of 2008, Ryback feigns an injury only to lull Jericho into lowering his guard and getting Shell-Shocked into next week.

Winner: Ryback

AJ Lee © vs Kaitlyn
WWE Divas Championship

Stephen Randle: I care more about the NXT Divas title than this one, but hey, at least they continue to let the Bellas do horrible, shoddy, derogatory commentary over matches for some reason. Neither AJ nor Kaitlyn is on Total Divas, so I’m shocked either has the belt. One would imagine not much will change here, anyway, even though there’s literally nobody for AJ to feud with.

Winner: AJ

Matt O’Connell: AJ is without a doubt the most over woman on the roster, and Kaitlyn doesn’t do anything we haven’t seen Natalya Neidhart do.

Winner: AJ Lee

Jesse Nguyen: You know…I used to use the Divas match as my regulated bathroom break/snack getting time, but I’m going to save that for another match. The fact we have a storyline between these two makes it quite interesting. They also had a pretty good match last month, so hopefully they can do it again. Although I will say, the idea of our babyface, Kaitlyn, crying because she is being bullied still makes me sigh. It seems that they will be using that to give Kaitlyn a reason to go primal in this match, which may lead to AJ Lee retaining by DQ.

Winner: AJ Lee

Rory James: It would make no sense to switch back to Kaitlyn, as AJ is the most over diva on the roster by a wide margin. I just hope they can match or exceed the quality of their match at Payback, which I absolutely loved.

Winner: AJ Lee

Michael Weyer: An actual build to this makes this more interesting than the usual Divas battles. Tempting to say Katilyn as she’s pretty over but think WWE will hold off on a switch yet, try to push this more toward SummerSlam. AJ is actually winning me over a bit as the champ, decent promos and work and if they get enough time, they may put on a surprisingly good match that makes the ultimate switch more meaningful.

Winner and STILL Divas Champion: AJ Lee

Justin Watry: Good stuff. It is nice to see the girls get some shine on WWE television. The title change was expected last month. This time? Not so much. AJ Lee retains. Nattie is next in line to challenge for the belt.

Winner and STILL Divas Champion: AJ Lee

James Wright: This feud continues and honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if it continued on to Summerslam since the WWE doesn’t have much else to do with the Divas division besides pitting AJ/Kaitlyn/both against the Bellas. I really hope the NXT women’s title acts much like the main NXT title and is an indication that a champion will be called up soon as the Divas division sorely needs Paige, and it would mean that Summer Rae might see some actual competition on the main shows as well. I am going to pick Kaitlyn here, putting AJ in the position to chase the title going into Summerslam.

Winner: Kaitlyn

Jack Bramma: Chase isn’t over yet for Kaitlyn, if it’ll ever end since she is in the doghouse for interrupting Steph allegedly.

Winner: AJ Lee

Curtis Axel © vs The Miz
WWE Intercontinental Championship

Stephen Randle: Hopefully this is a chance for Axel to get a clean win over someone with semi-legitimacy, and not just a way of continuing a feud (that has barely existed, since Axel has been busy with Punk) into another PPV.

Winner: Curtis Axel

Matt O’Connell: I cannot express to you, gentle reader, just how much I do not care about this match. The Miz’ face run has been a spectacular failure, and Axel continues to prove that he is utterly unable to measure up to his legacy (I think he is haunted at night by the spirit of David Flair). This match will be boring and Axel will win it.

Winner: Curtis Axel

Jesse Nguyen: This is my bathroom break match. The Miz will always be someone that I don’t care for, unless he starts having a lot of fantastic matches. Curtis Axel has been middle of the road at best since debuting. That being said, I say Axel retains just to keep him relevant. Although The Miz seems to be a magnet for the mid-card titles, so who knows? The bigger question is who cares? I know that sounds incredibly mean, but look inside yourself and you know I’m right.

Winner: Curtis Axel

Rory James: I really, really want to get into Curtis Axel’s character, but it just isn’t clicking for me. I’ve not given up on him like some people, but I do feel that he needs to up his game quickly in order to justify the air time he gets. On the plus side, I dug the triple threat last month. Let’s hope these guys can have an equally solid match without Barrett.

Winner: Curtis Axel

Michael Weyer: WWE is intent on pushing Axel but he’s not quite clicked as well as he should yet. He has the ingredients and giving him the IC belt is a step in the right direction but still needs more to take off. A win over Miz is a good move toward that and if the match is decent enough, it can make Axel more of a real star in his own right which is something WWE can use right now.

Winner and STILL Intercontinental Champion: Curtis Axel

Justin Watry: As predicted from day one, this whole ‘New Paul Heyman Guy’ thing would run thin after a while. I have no problem with Curtis Axel as IC Champion, but you can already see the cracks beginning to show. I never bought into him as a ‘future WrestleMania main eventer’ and sorry folks – but just being paired up with Paul Heyamn does not mean instant success. Outside of calling himself Mr. Perfect’s son, there is not much else there, especially heading into his mid-30’s. He will retain, but The Miz could use a reboot…

Winner and STILL Intercontinental Champion: Curtis Axel

James Wright: Man, the WWE really need some new blood in the IC title picture, what with the Miz having been in most title matches for the past few months. Sometimes a turn in the wrong direction can make a character completely obsolete, it has happened to Ryback, and it has happened to the Miz, I just hope Ziggler doesn’t head down the same road. Replace this match with the tag titles on the pre-show and it would make more sense since I see no interesting developments coming from this match-up.

Winner: Curtis Axel

Jack Bramma: It seems like the entire undercard is full of guys who work better as heels and are awful as faces – Miz, Del Rio, Ziggler, etc. Part of it is the way that WWE neuters a guy after a face turn by taking away all of the things that made him cool and likeable as a heel and instead turning him into Cena-lite. Since turning back last fall, Miz has done a whole heaping of nothing and has even less to show for it. Curtis, on the other hand, has Paul Heyman, a belt, and one of the most devastating finishers in recent history, the countout victory.

Winner: Curtis Axel

Damien Sandow vs Cody Rhodes vs Fandango vs Jack Swagger
vs Antonio Cesaro vs Wade Barrett vs Dean Ambrose
World Heavyweight Championship MITB Match

Stephen Randle: Up until literally typing this, I was sure I was going to pick Antonio Cesaro. But now that I think about it, for no real reason whatsoever other than a firm conviction that WWE must see something in him worth keeping around and pushing, because they keep doing it, I think the briefcase just might be going home with Wade Barrett.

Winner: Wade Barrett

Matt O’Connell: Even if doing so continues the devaluation of the World Heavyweight Championship, I like the contrast between hungry up-and-comers in this match and the established stars in the other. This way, at least one new star has a main event chance. Anyway: As much as I love Cody Rhodes and Antonio Cesaro, their recent booking does not inspire confidence. Fandango is still too new, I think, and Barrett seems irrevocably trapped in midcard Hell. That leaves Sandow, who’s looked like a star in recent months against top-shelf opponents, and Ambrose, whose reign of terror has only recently crossed into singles territory (albeit successfully). All told, I think Sandow has more of a chance, at least this year.

Winner: Damien Sandow, who will discard the garish briefcase for a lovely Corinthian leather valise

Jesse Nguyen: Now this is a challenge. I’ll cut out Swagger because of his recent personal actions. Sandow and Rhodes haven’t had the best of luck in matches, and it seems they are heading towards a feud and breakup. Just the idea of Barrett winning this match makes me a little ill, plus he seems to be forever stuck in mid-card hell. I don’t see Ambrose winning as he has just crossed into singles territory, and I believe they still want The Shield to stick together as equals. That leaves Cesaro and Fandango. Fandango just seems to new, and I believe the WWE fans know just how wrong it would be to let him win, since he hasn’t been too impressive lately. You may be asking yourself what has Cesaro done recently? Well he’s picked himself up a manager, has had great performances on house shows, including a 24 minute battle with Sheamus. He was also praised by Chris Jericho on social media and had a great match against Dolph Ziggler on Main Event. He may be the dark horse, but my money is on the Swiss Superman.

Winner: Antonio Cesaro

Rory James: This match is wide open in my eyes. Picking a winner is difficult. My process of elimination: I see Cesaro and Swagger continuing to tag, Fandango is back from a recent concussion and will probably be the guy ‘taken out’ during the match, Barrett has little momentum, same for Sandow, same for Rhodes, that leaves….

Winner: Dean Ambrose

Michael Weyer: I’m already dying to see Fandango use the ladder for some dance moves. This one is really tricky as lots of chances for guys here, Rhodes deserving of a bigger push, Swagger having proven himself before and Cesaro as well. I’ll go with Sandow, who’s been rising well lately and getting the briefcase can be the next major step for him, allow a new star to rise at any point and remind us how important the MITB stip is.

Winner: Damien Sandow

Justin Watry: Honestly, you could make a case for any of the guys. If you REALLY tried, any of the participants would make a good choice. To me, I can keep coming back to Antonio Cesaro and Damien Sandow. Dean Ambrose would work as well down the line. Each are paired up with somebody, but that does not mean anything when the briefcase is good for a full year. A lot can happen in 12 months! I will pick Cesaro but would not be surprised to see ANYBODY win this thing on Sunday…very unpredictable match.

Winner: Antonio Cesaro

James Wright: I have to say that I love that the WWE have gotten together seven mid-card heels, all of which could be great world champions with a little effort and a couple of good feuds, and are letting them battle it out without the need for any of this good vs. evil crap. This really is anyone’s match, apart from perhaps Jack Swagger, and with a year to build to a cash-in you could argue for anyone to be a viable winner. Personally though I am going to go for Cody Rhodes, sure recently he has been little more than a jobber with a comedy mustache, but he also has a great pedigree and has delivered in the ring and in feuds before and I believe could be a highly credible champion, although I will also point out that since the taboo has been broken the winner of this match could easily fail when they choose to cash in, so all the speculation over who would be a good champion could be moot.

Winner: Cody Rhodes

Jack Bramma: This is probably the toughest match to call on the card, just because all of the guys are booked like losers other than Ambrose and maybe Fandango. There’s roughly nothing in the weeks leading up to this that would logically point to any of these guys. Ambrose has struggled putting away Kofi of all people; Rhodes Scholars keeps breaking up and getting back together but recently showing increased friction; Swagger and Cesaro haven’t been together long enough to make much of an impression and Cesaro has lost more this year than anyone else on the roster; Wade wasn’t even booked as competent enough to keep the IC title; Fandango, while an entertaining wildcard, has had his push and juice with the crowd stalled since the concussion. It’s all just a matter of who the WWE wants to give the next bump up. Cody should have gotten the bump up two years ago, but has probably forever been relegated to JTTS status. I’d say it’s down to Sandow, Cesaro, or Ambrose, with the Shield being the hottest commodity of all, so Ambrose takes it.

Winner: Dean Ambrose

CM Punk vs Christian vs Sheamus
vs Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan vs RVD
WWE Championship MITB Match

NOTE: Kane was not officially removed from the match when the column went to press

Stephen Randle: If you’re not picking Daniel Bryan, you’re letting your paranoia get the best of you. Which, hey, I don’t blame you, WWE makes you paranoid. But this time, they almost have to see the writing on the wall, right?

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Matt O’Connell: I’m glad Christian is in this match because a) it seems he finally fits someone besides the IWC’s definition of “All-Star” and b) he’s a reliable hand in multi-man ladder matches. Still, though a Captain Charisma victory would bring a tear to the eyes of many a peep, Daniel Bryan is the clear winner here. He’s been on a huge roll for months, and WWE’s confidence in him has clearly grown since the last time he was in this situation. The only wild card is RVD; why bring him back specifically for this match if he won’t win?

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Jesse Nguyen: Ah, the “All Star” MitB. This should be an entertaining match to say the least. I really don’t see anyone but Bryan winning with the way they have been pushing him. Why bring in RVD for this as his return match though? Maybe the WWE have an idea of their own to surprise all of us. Also, Kane seems to be out of the match. Does that mean a surprise late entrant? Anyway, my pick for this match is Daniel Bryan, who has been on a crazy tear as of late. All that buildup for him to lose would be quite disappointing.

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Rory James: The popular opinion is that Daniel Bryan will win this match. That makes a lot of sense. Bryan has been on fire in the build to this match, with big wins over Sheamus and Randy Orton. Logic dictates he is the clear choice. However, I think he has got enough momentum to face Cena in the rumoured SummerSlam title match without the win here. I actually think that it is more likely the returning Rob Van Dam will get the win. As popular as Van Dam is, I feel there is a strong chance that he will fizzle out and slide down the card once the nostalgia for his return subsides. Giving him the contract keeps him interesting. Nobody would look bad coming up short in a ladder match against a returning RVD.

Winner: Rob Van Dam

Michael Weyer: Many are looking for RVD to win in his big comeback but doubt that, they’d want to wait a bit to give him a big shot (let’s not forget what happened the last time they gave RVD the big belt). Christian, Orton and Punk are all obvious choices but with word of a push for Bryan coming up to SummerSlam, I’ll go with him taking it but we should be in for a damn great spotfest battle, maybe one of the best MITBs yet and should get the crowd fired up well.

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Justin Watry: Kane won’t win. Christian won’t win. CM Punk has other things on his plate – he won’t win. Randy Orton already teased cashing in Sunday night should he win…which means he won’t win. Sheamus is an intriguing choice and very well could shock the world in winning. Rob Van Dam returning is fine and dandy, but on a limited schedule, is he really going to be in the hunt for a future WWE Championship match? I don’t know. My pick is Daniel Bryan, even though he does not really NEED a briefcase to advance his career. The Yes Man already went through that journey back in 2011. This ladder match is not as unpredictable as the other but will be better in quality.

Winner: Daniel Bryan

James Wright: In the last few weeks Daniel Bryan has beaten both Randy Orton and Sheamus clean, if they are not building him up to win this match then what the hell are the WWE doing? Whether or not the cash-in will indeed come at Summerslam is another matter but I really can’t see anyone but Bryan taking the case home at the end of this match, while also putting on a show-stealing performance in the process.

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Jack Bramma: Different than the other MITB match, this one has a clear favorite in the person of Daniel Bryan. Still, either the sheets or the WWE have been working the smarts lately with teases of a Bryan/Cena program seemingly getting switched to Henry/Cena and maybe even Henry/Cena/Ryback for Summerslam, so there are no guarantees. Beyond Dragon, the picture is murky with Punk appearing above the match and treading water, until the inevitable showdown with Lesnar in Los Angeles. Sheamus and Orton are virtual mirror images in terms of WWE hierarchy with the former being comfortably over enough and the latter being comfortably numb enough to both be secure in not needing the briefcase. While a solid hand and a company man, Kane had his MITB crowning achievement 3 years ago winning and cashing in on Mysterio. That leaves Christian and RVD. Christian has been booked inconsistently since returning helping to hand The Shield their second-ever six man loss but then losing to Orton and Kane sending him crashing back to Middle-card Earth. RVD has had one of the biggest pushes for a returning star, since TNA moved Heaven and Earth to put over Chavo Guerrero almost a year ago as the second coming of Lou Thesz. All that being said, if Daniel Bryan doesn’t win it, I’d put RVD as an odd second favorite, but still miles behind DB.

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Alberto Del Rio © vs Dolph Ziggler
World Heavyweight Championship

Stephen Randle: I was intrigued by the double turn, but it seems like WWE made it happen without any real plans, and all that actually happened was Dolph and Del Rio switched roles, and thus both are once again floundering because the entire feud is being forgotten by the writing team. Somehow, I suspect this feud continues to SummerSlam.

Winner: Alberto Del Rio

Matt O’Connell: Why did it take a concussion and a WHC loss for WWE to start booking Dolph Ziggler like a hyper-competent show-off? I has been his gimmick, allegedly, for years now. In any case, even if he has been looking like a world-beater, my guess is Alberto retains here via an AJ turn to set up a SummerSlam rematch.

Winner: Albertoooooooooooooooo Del Riiiiiiiiioooooooooooo

Jesse Nguyen: Sadly, I’ve somewhat lost interest in the feud, but I still think they can pull off a good match. I see Del Rio going over as it would be better for Ziggler to win the title back at Summerslam, which is the bigger show. That is if Ziggler is still being pushed after Money in the Bank. Maybe he will finally complete his face turn by getting rid of AJ Lee and Big E. Langston during this match.

Winner: Alberto Del Rio

Rory James: I found the way in which Ziggler lost the title to Del Rio to be a superb piece of storytelling. Ziggler has the crowd behind him in this feud, but I think it is too early for his big win to take place. I would have gone with Ricardo to cause the DQ, but he is a bit busy over the next month or so. Either way, Del Rio retains and Ziggler gets his moment at SummerSlam

Winner: Alberto Del Rio

Michael Weyer: The feud has been surprisingly good with the title switches and Del Rio seems more fired up after regaining the belt. Ziggler has the crowd behind him but up in the air if he gets it here. Personally, I see them putting it off until SummerSlam, although the distinct possibility of whoever wins immediately loses when someone cashes in the briefcase. But figure Del Rio getting over to set up a rematch and continue a good program.

Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion: Alberto Del Rio

Justin Watry: Last week, I was on board with Dolph Ziggler getting the World Title back. The only reason he lost it in the first place was to facilitate the double turn. Now that that is over with, why is ADR even champ again? I keep going back and forth on this match. All along, I’ve thought Ziggler would get his belt back…but am now second guessing myself. That is something I RARELY do. Thus, let’s go to the oldest trick in the book – a coin flip! Okay, the results are in…

Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion: Alberto Del Rio

James Wright: Most people see Del Rio winning here but I would like to think that the WWE actually want Ziggler as champion. He caught a bad break with his concussion during his first proper title run but this face turn could be just the thing he needs to take him to the next level, although I’m not sure he needed to actually lose the title to Del Rio to have made the turn. Maybe Ziggler winning at Summerslam would be a bigger moment, but honestly I would rather he was facing someone different at the event entirely, maybe Cody Rhodes? The most likely scenario though is that Ziggler wins by DQ, either thanks to interference from AJ, or the lack thereof, further feeding into their breakup and facilitating the need for a rematch and his real big win.

Winner: Dolph Ziggler (Possibly by DQ)

Jack Bramma: Dolph had the world on a string the night after Wrestlemania getting arguably the biggest pop of the year in winning the world title. Since then, he’s sputtered to a halt losing nontitle matches, getting a concussion, and then turning face but hotshotting the belt back to Del Rio in the process in an underrated MOTYC at Payback. Face Dolph is just as drab and uninteresting as Face Del Rio was two months ago. As far as I can tell, Dolph has dumped the badass spiked vest and lost 2/3 of his crew with AJ and Big E splitting off for a tryst angle with Dolph getting in their place, the duplicitous face run-in and the xenophobia, bully streak. It seems the ship has sailed on Dolph as world champion for the time being. He’s getting the exact Christian push-turn from 2009 against Orton but with the roles reversed – win the title in a great moment, lose the title in disappointing fashion, turn to get your heat back, etc. The end of Christian’s saga was to win the title back for a fleeting month only to drop it back to Orton, ultimately going 1-5000 in the series including his most recent loss last week on Smackdown. Hopefully Ziggler doesn’t suffer the same ultimate fate.

Winner: Alberto Del Rio

John Cena © vs Mark Henry
WWE Championship

Stephen Randle: Mark Henry deserves this belt, just like he deserved to be Cena’s first post-Mania feud. But with Daniel Bryan essentially set in stone for SummerSlam, Henry’s chances of walking away with the title here pretty much read “not bloody likely”.

Winner: John Cena

Matt O’Connell: It’s really a shame that Mark Henry won’t win here, because he’s been a much more compelling character than John Cena for a long time. His character is a Godzilla-like force of nature, a being of destruction seemingly by default. Mark Henry destroys people. That’s just what he does. Unfortunately, what John Cena does is win against tremendous odds, which don’t seem quite so tremendous when he does it every single week.

Winner: John Cena

Jesse Nguyen: I want to see Henry win the title, I really do, but I just don’t think it is going to happen. Henry has been a lot more interesting in this feud as opposed to Cena, who is employing his ‘against all odds’ promoing….which is what he does all the time. I just wish the WWE could see that Cena doesn’t need the championship belt to be the huge draw that he is with his fans.

Winner: John Cena

Rory James: As my comments on the WWE Title MITB match may have indicated, I expect Cena to win here. It seems it is a popular opinion online at the moment that Henry should win the gold. I believe that Mark Henry has come along leaps and bounds in the last few years, and is a entertaining, believable character. That doesn’t mean he should be WWE Champion. Henry as champion does little to benefit anyone long term. He is in the twilight of his career. Whether people like it or not, beating John Cena for the WWE Championship is a big deal. Whoever does it should be someone that will be around long enough for the company to benefit in the long term. Mark Henry is not that guy.

Winner: John Cena

Michael Weyer: The Henry “retirement” turned heel turn was one of the most brilliantly done segments WWE has pulled in years. It’s given this Cena main event more drama and depth and promises a good match. I’d like to see Henry win, really would to pay off on it all and a nice capper to the career. But I just doubt it as Cena is the top guy and no doubt facing off against someone else at SummerSlam. But it should be a good enough match after the great build to top the show.

Winner and STILL WWE Champion: John Cena

Justin Watry: The obvious answer is John Cena retains the title. Nobody is giving Mark Henry much of a shot here, except the clowns who pick against Cena every month. It is the same group who pick against Floyd Mayweather each fight. Be different to be different, yet always be wrong? In this case, it may pay off. Cena has never promised victory during the whole entire build up. Usually, he does that to signal a win. When top faces say something, they do it more often than not. Remember, good guys do not lie to their fans. There are a few exceptions, but the rule applies 99.9999% of the time. Cena never said he’d defeat Henry. He just keeping talking about honor, prestige, and earning the gold. I don’t know; that hints towards him losing on Sunday night. Add on top of Henry doing some great work, and you have an interesting choice. In the end, I will pick Cena but ONLY because Summerslam is next month. Henry as champ or Cena as champ at your second (or third) biggest event? Easy selection. If this were any other month, I would see a title change.

Winner and STILL WWE Champion: John Cena

James Wright: Never has a seemingly throw away contender done more to make us question whether or not Super Cena will be walking away with the title. Unfortunately despite Henry’s masterful performance this main event further devalues the standing of the PPV after Punk and Cena’s epic match in 2011. Cena will most likely triumph, but hopefully Henry will give Cena a run for his money before going down. Ideally if we are indeed positioning Daniel Bryan to be the number one guy (strange I know but possible) then I would have Henry beat Cena down after the match, Bryan come out with the briefcase, and then cut a promo on how he could cash in now and beat Cena, but he wants to wait for Summerslam, then going on to win the belt at the PPV. Now that would put Bryan over as a major face star and the WWE would finally have a main event scene with several face stars to rival the big ‘C’.

Winner: John Cena

Jack Bramma: I’ll get the obvious out of the way: Cena retains. By hook or crook, he’ll walk out with the belt again most likely. There’s a small chance here that Henry could shock the world, just to set up Daniel Bryan for a Sting-Vader like challenge at Summerslam, but that’s the fantasy-booking mark in me talking. I will say, the last time Henry looked this dominant was two years ago taking out Orton to win the WHW championship. He’s punked Cena out two weeks in a row making him look like a completely ineffectual chump who has nothing for him, something neither Ryback nor Rock got in the last calendar year. Only Brock was booked that strong against Cena in the build to a blowoff, but of course, Brock lost. The only thing I’ll add is that the Fed has been weirdly eccentric simultaneously booking Mark as a heel and face – heel in retirement promo and beating up Cena after matches, but solidly face in his vignettes playing up his career highlights. I have a gut feeling/theory that this is legitimately Henry’s swan song. I think he’s been banged up for over a year nursing several injuries and tons of wear and tear on a 400 lb. Frame. After the strap match with Sheamus, he was again a little worse for the wear and realized that his career may finally be ready to come to the end. For his final chapter, he earned/wanted/was granted one more run at the top headlining with Cena. If you go back and watch that teased retirement promo, it’s not hard to feel that Henry was speaking from the heart about retirement even if completely in character and working an angle. Whether Henry’s run ends with the WWE championship is anyone’s guess, but I still think he comes up short this month.

Winner: John Cena

Overall Thoughts

Stephen Randle: Forget SummerSlam, MITB is the biggest WWE PPV of the summer, and you can tell because they booked most of the card way in advance. Some of it has been lame from a creative standpoint, but you’d be hard-pressed to turn down two multi-man ladder matches on a PPV, so anything else is just gravy.

Buy/No Buy: Buy

Matt O’Connell: Fittingly, the biggest and most interesting matches on this show are the twin Moneys in the Bank, but this year they seem to be just about the only interesting matches. With so many of the company’s best workers condensed into only two bouts, the rest of the card must fend for itself, which likely only Del Rio/Ziggler will be able to do. Proper positioning of those two matches on the card might be able to minimize dead spots on the show, but they’ll almost certainly not do that.

Buy/No Buy: No Buy

Jesse Nguyen: This year’s Money in the Bank is kind of on the ‘meh’ side. The most interesting prospect is who is going to win the World Heavyweight Championship MitB. Ziggler/Del Rio could be a good match, and I’m sure the WWE MitB will be worth watching. That being said, I would save the money, unless you have friends willing to pitch in for a party viewing.

Buy/No Buy: No Buy

Rory James: People have very high expectations of the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, due to the quality of previous events. Will this year’s live up to those expectations? The return of RVD, two stacked ladder matches, a potentially enjoyable Divas match and a well-built WWE Championship bout is enough for me to say that I think it will.

Buy/No Buy: Buy

Michael Weyer: Some of the matches may seem poor but the main event has promise and it’s always great seeing the wild battles of the MITB. Throw in the return of RVD and it should be a big card with major implications for WWE over the year and thus worth checking out.

Buy/No Buy: Buy

Justin Watry: All in all, the build has been good but not great. The RVD comeback is going to be special, especially in Philly. Plus, the quality of every match should be top notch. Will WWE be getting my money? No. I plan on watching Big Brother and drinking Sunday. Most people reading this will be hitting the illegal streams and stealing the show online. I do not commit theft and will happily keep my ‘paying customer card’ that gives me a right to voice my opinion unlike others. For those that do order the pay-per-view, enjoy!

Buy/No Buy: No Buy

James Wright: Overall this seems like a bit of a filler PPV, what with the only real excitement coming from the MitB matches themselves and considering that we get two of those a year it is hard to really say that this is a ‘must-see’ event. Still there are some decent enough contests, whether they are worth paying for is up to you, but if I had to fork out that much on my own then I probably wouldn’t.

Buy/No Buy: No Buy

Jack Bramma: Two winners in a row for the WWE. Sign me up.

Buy/No Buy: Buy

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