Curt Hennig – A “GOAT” show, as Perfect as possible
Watch It All – A consistently good show worth watching in its entirety
Watch It…With Remote in Hand – 3 or more above-average ratings
High Risk Maneuver – Mostly filler, inessential, but 1-2 good matches
DUDleyville – Zero redeeming qualities, chore to watch
Money In The Bank 2014 - July 2014
Boston, Massachusetts
CHAMPIONSHIP BACKGROUNDS: Heading into tonight’s show, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship is held by – no one. The last champ, Daniel Bryan, was forced to vacate the title so a new champion will be crowned on this very show. The WWE Tag Team Champions are the Uso Brothers, while an injured Wade Barrett is still technically the Intercontinental Champion and Sheamus has the United States title. The Divas Champion, for 80+ days, is Paige.
COMMENTATORS: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and JBL
During the kick-off show, Daniel Bryan returns to the WWE Universe and some healthy cheers, though, noticeably not as loud as the ones he routinely got in the spring. He says he is disappointed to have to vacate his title and is unsure when he will return to action. The segment is then interrupted by the arrival of Bo Dallas. From here, things get much more interesting and entertaining, with Bryan doing more comedy than he’s done in months. Dallas, to his credit, gets good heel heat and a nice rub from being in the ring with the former champ. With Bryan’s injury you can’t do anything physical with him and we’ve seen enough segments between him and Stephanie McMahon for now, so, in terms of giving us something fresh, I thought this delivered the goods. (3.5/5)
Our first match is for the WWE Tag Team Championships, with The Usos defending the straps against Erick Rowan & Luke Harper of the Wyatt Family. This match is what a WWE Tag Team Title match should be – a nice, long face-in-peril stretch, followed by several near falls that don’t rely on an overuse of finishing maneuvers, and both teams demonstrating a little bit of innovation-in-desperation in order to retain/capture the titles. Some viewers might find my score to be a little high, but to that I’d ask – what else could these competitors have done? Can you point to any moment here that didn’t keep the audience engaged or progress the story of match? While this may not be an all-time classic, in terms of hot openers, it set the bar high and started the show on the right foot. Dave Meltzer gave it a respectable 3-and-3/4s stars in the Observer. (4/5)
The next bout was Naomi vs. Paige for Paige’s Divas Championship. Like last month, there was a bit of speculation about a possible title change here, this time due to the Cameron/Naomi split storyline and popularity of the Total Divas reality show. Even if this match did not necessarily further the Naomi/Cameron storyline as much as it might have or should have, I liked the subtlety and was specifically impressed with the multiple pinfall-counter-pinfall sequences. To me, it still seems obvious that until someone else can carry the title in passable matches consistently with any challenger the way Paige has, she should be used as the division's ace talent. My only real problem with Paige is her incessant moaning, which gets pretty grating. Other critics are calling this the best Divas title defense of 2014 if not the decade as both women displayed a wider arsenal of moves than most fans expected. I’m not sure I disagree - this one was a step-up from the considerably strong Paige defenses at Extreme Rules and Payback. (3.5/5)
Damien Sandow made his way to the ring next, dressed up as Paul Revere, for his match against Adam Rose, accompanied by the Exotic Express. The Boston crowd tried getting a chant going for Rose’s theme early, but it petered out quickly – kinda like excitement for Rose in general. Sandow did most of the heavy lifting here, managing the delicate balancing act of increased aggression with several comedy spots. It is hard to believe that at last year’s event Sandow became Mr. Money In The Bank. This was a Superstars match parading as PPV filler. (2/5)
The Money In The Bank Briefcase Match was next, featuring Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, and Rob Van Dam. As expected, we saw lots of great spots, though the focus of the match was clearly on the Rollins/Ambrose feud. It was nice to see Kingston and Ziggler get some spotlight moments too. As much as these two (and Swagger) were treated as underdogs going in, there were genuine times when it seemed like they may have actually left with the briefcase, which is quite a feat considering how little momentum they’ve had over the past few months. Unfortunately, this match is going to be remembered most for its disappointing finish – a rather shady piece of business that gave the briefcase to the right man, but seemed a tad overbooked and, as it involved Kane, included an unwelcome guest throwing the fatal curveball after an otherwise riveting match. I know some won’t agree but this one could have just as easily ended cleanly without hurting Ambrose, who was essentially “made” after the first 4-5 minutes here. Any fan disappointment over him not besting his ex-partner was a “gimme” regardless of the Authority’s interference. Arguably the Match of the Night. (4/5)
Rybaxel vs. Stardust & Goldust was next and was, according to the Internet Wrestling Database, the 5th time these teams have met since WrestleMania on TV or PPV. While this match was good and it's obvious that their series has provided them an invaluable opportunity to craft engaging sequences and develop timing, you can only have a hot fudge sundae so many times before you get a hankering for a banana split. And talking about splits, while I’m not sure Rybaxel is ready for one, add me to the list of fans who’d like to see some sort of Stardust/Goldust rivalry happen. As much as I am impressed by Cody’s work in this new role, thinking long-term, his time in the sun will come under his own name, not as Stardust. This was essentially a filler match designed to further highlight the stark differences between Stardust and Cody Rhodes, and while it got the job done, it didn’t transcend that relatively low-aiming goal. (3/5)
Rusev & Lana made their way to the ring next. For a bit of history, Rusev’s Payback match against Big E earned a 2.5, so these two certainly had something to build on here. I criticized that match for not setting up Big E as a credible threat to Rusev’s streak and for not exploiting the fact that these two could be seen as mirror monsters of each other. Like their last match, the best spot of this contest was a nasty spear to the outside by Big E, but instead of just being a repeat of the same sequence from Payback, they built up to it nicely by having Rusev counter it early in the match. I also like how Big E came off as having Rusev’s number momentarily and fighting more valiantly to escape his submission finish. This was a definite improvement of their previous match and, from what I’ve seen, Rusev’s best match to date, one that didn’t last very long, but did allow him to showcase some vulnerability. Strong character-defining match for the Bulgarian Brute. (3.5/5)
Our next contest was the “War for a Man-Whore,” Summer Rae vs. Layla with their love interest, Fandango, as guest referee. It is worth mentioning that before the Rusev match got started we had an argument backstage full of sexual innuendos straight out of the Attitude Era that was a bit distasteful for a company so eager to market itself as PG. As expected, the crowd chanted “Boring” and “CM Punk” from the opening bell, while the commentators ridiculed both girls’ work, even as Layla showed she’s actually not too shabby in the ring. After the match, Fandango made out with the winner and the loser bawled her eyes out. I’m going to use some dancing puns to describe this one – no twists, no turns, just a dip. (1/5)
The main event was next – an 8-man Money In The Bank Ladder World Title Match. Prior to the start of the festivities, Triple H and Stephanie arrived (though, they’d play no role in anything that happened thereafter), before we got entrances for the competitors: Sheamus, Bray Wyatt, hometown half-hero John Cena, Randy Orton, Kane, Roman Reigns, Cesaro, and Alberto Del Rio. While the evening’s first ladder match started off with plenty of big spots to capture the fans’ attention, this one began with a much slower pace and never sped up to the tempo set by the earlier MITB match. Despite most competitors getting to show off their most popular moves, very few of them added ladders to the mix, which kept the crowd cool and made it even less believable that wrestlers were “taken out” for minutes on end. Now, that’s not to say there weren’t a handful of excellent moments – Sheamus and Cesaro dangling from precarious positions twice during the match, Roman Reigns decimating 6 men in under 60 seconds before trading blows with “Da Champ,” Orton connecting with an RKO on the King of Swing by pulling him from the brink of victory…but the playing field was a bit too crowded, the action a little too “centered” on just two guys in the ring (compared to the previous Briefcase match’s use of 3-4 man combo moves), and the finish was a little too "easy." Like any Royal Rumble or Elimination Chamber match, the stipulation itself makes these matches easy to enjoy and a guaranteed good time, but this particular edition is hardly one for the history books. (3.5/5)
With an average match/segment rating of 3.11-out-of-5, numerically this show was an improvement from Payback’s 2.95 average score, while not as high as Extreme Rules’ 3.3. In that context, the score makes sense to me. Extreme Rules is looking more and more like a “PPV of the Year” contender, though some fans will surely regard the inherent “landmark-ness” of WrestleMania XXX as enough to make that the hands down winner.
This show started off hot with my favorite Bo Dallas segment yet, a really good Tag Team Title Match, Paige’s title defense, and what I would consider the match of the night – the Money In The Bank Briefcase Ladder Match. From there, though, the show began to dip into low points that it only momentarily came up from. The Rybaxel/Goldust & Stardust match was good – but nothing more. Rusev and Big E maximized their minutes and improved on their Payback match a good deal, but lets be honest, how many fans are going to rewatch that contest a week from now, let alone a year from now? The Summer Rae/Layla match had a decent set-up with plenty of TV time spent developing their rivalry, and while one could blame the crowd’s disinterest for hurting the overall presentation, I’d just as soon point to the commentary as having too mocking of a tone. Equally to blame was the road agent that designed the match to feature Fandango as a guest referee but didn’t bother to actually have him play any role in the proceedings. Finally, we came to the main event – a match that, had it lived up to the high stakes on the line, could’ve been a match of the year contender. Unfortunately, extended periods of the match felt slow and Del Rio, Kane, and, most surprisingly, Cesaro, came off as bodies just to be tossed around more than actual threats (compare that to how well Kofi and Ziggler came off earlier in the night). I understand the performers in the main event can’t perform the same “spotfest” as the “B-team” did, but if you’re going to make this match more storyline-driven, why not actually have Triple H or Paul Heyman play a role? Most fans would agree, we’ve seen much better ladder matches than that.
FINAL RATING – Watch It…With Remote in Hand
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