WWE MONEY IN THE BANK

Sunday, July 17th, 2011 from Chicago, Illinois

DANIEL BRYAN vs. KANE vs. SHEAMUS vs. SIN CARA vs. JUSTIN GABRIEL vs. HEATH SLATER vs. CODY RHODES vs. WADE BARRETT "M.I.T.B. Ladder Match": Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer said that this was "one of the best PPVs the company has ever done." He was right. This opener was great, perhaps the night's best match. A lot of big spots as usual. Sin Cara was power-bombed from the edge of the ring through a ringside ladder by Sheamus (the injury forced Sin Cara to exit the match early...apparently this was because he tested positive for steroids last month). Daniel Bryan actually won the thing, which was awesome. A great opener. ***1/2 (out of ****)

KELLY KELLY vs. BRIE BELLA: Yeah...even with one of the greatest shows the WWE has ever put on, this still happened. -No Stars-

BIG SHOW vs. MARK HENRY: Slow. Bad. 1/2*

ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. REY MYSTERIO vs. THE MIZ vs. ALEX RILEY vs. KOFI KINGSTON vs. EVAN BOURNE vs. R. TRUTH vs. JACK SWAGGER "M.I.T.B. Ladder Match": A good match, though they botched the ending and a few other spots came off as sloppy. Bourne did a shooting star press off the top of the ladder which was great. Del Rio ripped off Mysterio's mask and then both fell off the ladder but Del Rio climbed back up and grabbed the briefcase. ***

RANDY ORTON vs. CHRISTIAN: A terrific match. These two, for whatever reason, really mesh well. There only less-than-great match happened last month at Capitol Punishment, and that was mainly due to Orton's concussion. Christian won the title because Orton kicked him in the balls, thus DQ'ing himself. Orton then gave Christian two RKO's on the Spanish announce table (it didn't break). Not the best finish, but a very engrossing match with a ton of near-falls. ***

CM PUNK vs. JOHN CENA: Certainly the actual match wasn't spectacular. Cena did maybe two or three moves (it went long, around thirty minutes). The crowd, though, and the energy and suspense made this epic and legendary. The crowd booed every good guy and cheered every bad guy all night long. CM Punk was on fire. He dove through the ropes and onto Cena on the floor. Punk also took a suplex over the top rope and down to the floor. They both kicked out of everything. Cena seemed to hurt his knee but eventually got back into it. Punk won with the GTS. Vince tried to ring the bell but Cena stopped him and Cena took out John Laurenitis, who is one of the WWE's higher ups. Del Rio ran out post-match to cash in his title shot but Punk knocked him down and ran off through the crowd. The intensity was so high in this match. It reminded me of Cena vs. RVD at that ECW show years ago. A good main event and a crowd for the ages. ***1/2