WWE Money in the Bank 2013 Review

WWE Money in the Bank
Philadelphia, PA
14th July 2013

Money In The Bank Match for the World Heavyweight Title Contract - Damien Sandow, Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett, Dean Ambrose, Fandango, Jack Swagger, Antonio Cesaro

This was a good match and the perfect start to a ppv that promised to really deliver. The story was that Cody was going to win and had several chances but could never quite fully seize any of them. Cody was awesome here and really showed that he could be catapulted into the main event card without any problems. He should probably turn babyface fully now and go up against Sandow at SummerSlam for the briefcase.

Everyone was good in this match and it was a match that afforded everyone the chance to matter and seem relevant. Dean Ambrose had a lot of ladder time and came off as a real danger in a match that was full of mid-carders who perhaps, in the eyes of fans, had no real chance. Fandango also didn't look out of his depth here by any means - his springboard leg drop onto Cody as he lay on the ladder was a highlight. What was fresh about this match was the tag teams that were able to work together. The undoubted spot for the highlight reel was Swagger putting Cesaro on his shoulders and walking him to the briefcase so that he could reach it. Ambrose skinning the cat on the ladder that was held up by Swagger and Cesaro was at once ridiculous yet also awesome.

The finish with Sandow atop the ladder with the briefcase made me realise that Sandow and the briefcase in my head didn't match up to Sandow with the briefcase in reality. I really hope he gets over with this - I love the gimmick but can he carry this off?

Curtis Axel (c) v The Miz for the IC Title

This was a nothing match and one that made more sense when you realise that Axel was to have a bigger part to play later in the night. Miz is not the opponent to be giving Axel to help in get over in this company under his new gimmick, nor is he the opponent to be giving Axel in Philadelphia. The best spot in the match was Miz fooling the ref that Paul Heyman had hit him whilst he was outside the ring. I suppose they had to get Heyman ejected so that Miz had a chance at not being booed. It didn't work. I wonder what is next for Miz. Axel needs to get into a meaningful programme with someone like Jericho or Christian.

AJ Lee (c) v Kaitlynn for the Divas Title

If they are splitting AJ and Dolph it makes sense to keep the title on AJ. The clean finish would suggest that they are ready to put AJ into a programme with Layla. This really wasn't the match from Payback which was one of the best Divas matches in recent memory. Kaitlynn really doesn't sell all that well and the match never built to much. The submission finish was good but I don't know what this means for Kaitlynn.

Ryback v Chris Jericho
This had a surprise finish, not in who won it but in how it ended.  Jericho went for the lionsault,  Ryback moved and Jericho landed on his feet.  Ryback then schoolboyed him for the pin.  The whole match felt like a struggle. I think Jericho felt that he would be able to have a good match with Ryback and tried his best to make that happen but, ultimately, Ryback just isn't very good unless there are gimmicks or smoke and mirrors involved. Jericho used a Code Breaker when he was in the ring and Ryback was on the apron, and he fell to the floor. They teased a count out and the crowd got into the latter part of the match.

Dolph Ziggler v  Alberto Del Rio (c) for the World Heavyweight Title

They were having the match of the night with near falls and then Ziggler caught the foot of a superkick by Del Rio when A.J. nailed Del Rio with a belt shot for no reason for the DQ. Ziggler had told her to leave ringside when she came out and distracted saying he had the match won. She stayed out for the last several minutes and a few times subtly distracted him. Ziggler had a great match and   until the finish it was the best thing on the show. The idea was she was trying to help him but she didn't know what she was doing and he got mad at her for costing him the match. Ziggler left A.J. in the ring to a loud "You screwed Ziggler." chant. Even with the bad finish, this was a very good match. I think programme now for SummerSlam will be Ziggler and Big E. Del Rio will probably work with Ryback under Vickie or may be RVD.

John Cena (c) v Mark Henry for the WWE Title

This was a basic, well laid out, good match that was better than it looked on paper. Henry of course dominated with power moves and Cena kept collapsing trying to lift Henry into the AA as he has been doing at house shows this week. He finally hit the Attitude Adjustment, but Henry kicked out and so Cena's histrionics were as though he couldn't figure out what to do when his big move didn't work. For the third ppv in a row, Cena did a crossbody plancha off the top rope, Henry caught him and gave him the world's strongest slam, but Cena kicked out. They used a needless ref bump and Henry gave him a low blow, but Cena still kicked out.  Henry undid two turnbuckles.  He went to whip Cena into the buckle but Cena reversed and put Henry in the STF.  Henry got to the ropes the first time.  Henry tried another world's strongest slam but Cena got behind him, put him in the STF a second time. Henry teased getting to the ropes, but Cena pulled him back in the middle and Henry tapped out.

The fact that there was nothing after the match leads me to assume that they're still going with Bryan and Cena at SummerSlam. Makes a lot of sense. Bryan is so over right now.

Money in the Bank Match for the WWE Title Contract - RVD, Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, CM Punk and Christian.

This was an excellent and wholly worthy main event. The pop for RVD was really big and you would expect it to be in this town. I really don't see it lasting, though. I really don't see how he will get over without this sort of gimmick match every month. He's average on the mic and he's beat up and old. I am prepared to eat my words on this but I just see him as another guy after this ppv. His being in this match just felt like a Royal Rumble spot where the old legend comes back for 2 minutes of running wild. His frog splash from the top of the ladder was shaky. Christian has a similar deal - I no longer buy him in main events there are too many better and more interesting options now.

Daniel Bryan was so over here, he is so hot no its untrue. Its a pleasure to watch him come alive and his heat segment in this match was tremendous. His conditioning is really good - it was like watching Flair or Steamboat from their NWA days. When the ring had cleared out and we had Punk and Bryan in the ring, it really showed how badly the company need to build now around them, Orton and Ziggler. Feuds with a combination of any of those 4 will be awesome.

I'm glad Orton won. I know that trust is a big issue with him given his wellness policy violations but I think he will draw well with the briefcase and I hope he keeps hold of it for a while and that we get a nice, slow full heel turn. He is so smooth in the ring. The RKO he gave RVD at the end was nothing short of outstanding - the move is so perfect for him and he continues to find new ways to catch people with it.

As for the match, Sheamus nearly killed himself on several occasions but there were some great spots throughout. There was a perfect highlight reel and photo opportunity in the middle of the match where all 5 guys were at the top of the ladders - they will use that in promotional stuff for this match for years to come. Heyman was awesome again. He works so well in this role and Punk and Axel have nothing to do but fill in the gaps, he's a real safe pair of hands.

A good ppv in all. Payback was better top to bottom but was a different type of ppv. I make that a streak of 4 in a row now for WWE - WrestleMania, Extreme Rules, Payback and Money in the Bank - which leads nicely into SummerSlam and Punk v Brock!