This one starts off in comical fashion, as R-Truth defeats King Barrett in a laughable contest. Post match saw Truth play with the crowd before pelting Wade with it. Barrett must be in the dog house, if I thought he was getting the garbage treatment before, this has become ridiculous.
Before the show begins, the entire roster, including Vince McMahon stand out on the stage, for a solemn 10-bell salute to the late Dusty Rhodes.
Kicking off the pay-per-view, is the Money in the Bank contest. I felt while a good match, it was much too short, and way too spotty. Most of the wrestlers hit their finishers, Orton RKOing everone off the ladder. The big shock came as Roman Reigns had the briefcase in hand, but the lights go out, and when they come back on, Bray Wyatt is in the ring, knocking over the ladder and Reigns KO’d with the Sister Abigail. The match comes to its conclusion as Sheamus and Neville fight atop the ladder, with Sheamus knocking him off and claiming the Money in the Bank briefcase. I am really kicking myself, as I was so tempted to call Sheamus as my prediction, but I just could not find a logical reason. Sigh. This is what happens when I think too hard.
In a decent yet sadly predictable match, Nikki Bella retained the Divas Title. During the match, the Bellas pull the Twin Magic, but Paige counters and pins Brie. But wait, Brie pulls out the extra padding in her top, thus convincing the ref she wasn’t Nikki. Ref waves off the three-count, allowing Nikki to hit something which resembled the Bull Hammer, followed by the Rack Attack to retain.
So let’s think about this. When they do the Twin Magic switcheroo, and Brie pins the challenger, it’s OK. But yet when Brie gets pinned, it doesn’t count. This is messed up.
We get right to the next match, featuring The Miz. Right, he is not in the match, but he will be at ringside offering commentary for the Intercontinental Championship between Ryback and Big Show. Ryback pulls off some impressive suplexes, until Big Show decks Ryback with the KO Punch, sending the champ to the floor. Show gets Ryback back in the ring, yet for some ridiculous reason, The Miz dives in and kills the match by DQ. Seriously I could not make this up. What a lame finish.
Finally, we get some major action with Kevin Owens vs. John Cena. Crowd is huge behind Owens. Incredible match. Nice chain where Owens hits all the Cena moves, huge pop earned there. Cena broke out some crazy moves, a flipping sunset flip into a powerbomb, some nice jumping DDTs. Cena gets a lot of praise here, when he is in a bigtime scenario, he really goes all out.
John: If I had to pick between Orton and Cena, I’d pick Cena. He will put a guy over and look good doing it, Orton will sleepwalk us all to our doom.
Owens and Cena outdid themselves. Constant back and forth, Owens crushing Cena with a top rope cradle suplex driver, Cena firing back with another suplex slam. Crowd was on their feet the entire match with “This is Awesome” chants. End of the match came when Cena escaped a Pop-Up Powerbomb attempt, rocking Owens with his Springboard Stunner, followed by the Attitude Adjustment for the win. Post match, Cena offered a handshake, to which Owens kicked Cena to the floor and then powerbombed Cena on the ring apron. Damn awesome finish.
I have never been so happy to be wrong on a prediction. The Prime Time Players have defeated The New Day to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. Seriously, if you read the predictions column, you know I thought it was too soon, but damn am I happy to be wrong. The New Day dominated the early part of the match, until Titus O’Neal got the hot tag, went on a tear, and single-handedly cleaned house, pinning Xavier Woods with the Spinebuster Powerbomb for the three count.
In the main event Seth Rollins retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Dean Ambrose in what might be the greatest ladder match of this era. If you did not watch this, then shame on you. Ambrose and Rollins shattered all expectations and pulled off an unbelievable performance. I have never seen a finish like this, where both men had the title, but on the way down, Rollins wrestled the title out of Ambrose’s grip, winning the match. Ambrose is out modern-era Mick Foley. I will not back down from that statement. He ate numerous powerbombs into objects, thrown around, beaten with ladders and chairs. Rollins took a series of huge bumps himself, being turned inside out with some harsh lariats. This match is a match-of-the-year candidate.
While some of the undercard matches were a bit slow and uneventful, the marquee matches delivered. Owens/Cena was great, the WWE Championship ladder match was phenomenal, the Money in the Bank match had its share of moments, and hell, even the Tag Team Title match, while short, I thought was a solid performance. Solid PPV.
Quick recap:
R-Truth defeated King Barrett
Sheamus wins Money in the Bank
Nikki Bella retains the Divas Title
Big Show defeated Ryback by DQ, Ryback keeps championship
John Cena defeated Kevin Owens
The Prime Time Players defeated The New Day to become the new WWE Tag Team Championships
Seth Rollins defeated Dean Ambrose to retain the WWE Championship
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