Punk, Cena, Ziggler shine at Money in the Bank

It’s one of WWE’s annual pilgrimages to the crazy days of old with Money in the Bank. Two briefcases are on the line and two championships are as well on a show that delivers on the crazy antics of the past with the best of the action coming in the WWE Championship match between CM Punk and Daniel Bryan.

Even though the WWE Championship was on the line in a highly-anticipated match between CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, it was the Raw Money in the Bank Ladder Match that went on last, as Kane, Chris Jericho, John Cena, The Big Show and the returning Miz battled to become the next Mr. Money in the Bank.

Big Show runs wild early before everyone hits a big move on him to send him out of the ring. That’s where Cena is and he puts Show through the Spanish announce table with the Attitude Adjustment. Then everyone in the match tosses every available ladder on Show.

In the ring, Jericho puts Miz in the Walls of Jericho, but has to give it up when Kane tries to intervene. Jericho shoves Miz into the butt of a ladder. Jericho climbs the ladder but Cena cuts him off. Miz makes a comeback and climbs and gets his hands on the case but Kane throws a ladder at him and knocks him down.

Now Kane climbs but Jericho stops him. Then Miz and Jericho combine to suplex Kane onto a ladder. Now Cena’s back and he gives the AA to Miz and then AA’s Kane onto Miz. Jericho in and he throws a ladder at Cena.

Jericho gets a ladder going and Big Show emerges from under the ladders. He slaps the supports out from the ladder and breaks it in half. Show in control now. He goes under the ring and grabs his reinforced ladder from the 2010 match. He sets it up in the ring and climbs but Kane climbs up and they slug it out. They grab each other by the throats. Show shoves Kane off but here comes Cena. Show punches him off. Jericho in and he hits Show with a chair. And again. The third one gets him completely off the ladder, then he adds one more for good measure.

Now Cena and Jericho climb and Cena loads Jericho up for the AA, but Jericho slips down and locks in a sleeper. Cena slowly dismounts the ladder while being choked out only to super Cena up and start climbing back up. He gets to the top and starts fading again. Miz climbs and Jericho lets it go to punch him. Jericho puts the sleeper back on. Jericho shoves the lifeless Cena off the ladder and gets to the top. He grabs the briefcase but Miz and Jericho fight over it. Both have their hands on it. Miz with punches but Jericho responds. Miz with a headlock and Show is stirring.

Show starts to climb next to Miz and stares Jericho right in the face and gives him and Miz the KO punch. Now Cena comes and grabs the briefcase. Show goes to punch him but Cena gets the briefcase in the way, denting it. Cena hits Show with the briefcase and then the briefcase’s handle breaks off in Cena’s hands as Show starts going down. That’ll do it.

The next WWE pay-per-view is SummerSlam on Aug. 19.

Following a video package, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Booker T welcome us to tonight’s show, a seven-match affair from US Airways Center in Phoenix.

Match #1 – Smackdown Money in the Bank Ladder Match – Dolph Ziggler (Hollywood, Fla.) vs. Santino Marella (Calabria, Italy) vs. Cody Rhodes (Marietta, Ga.) vs. Damien Sandow (Palo Alto, Calif.) vs. Tyson Kidd (Calgary, Alberta) vs. Sin Cara (Mexico City, Mexico) vs. Tensai (Japan) vs. Christian (Toronto, Ontario)

The World championship contract in the Money in the Bank briefcase belongs to Dolph Ziggler.

Spot-fest early. Cara and Ziggler horribly botch a spot off the top rope and then Christian misses a Frog Splash and eats ladder. Ouch. Sandow starts to climb but is cut off by Sin Cara and then again by Christian. Christian climbs above him but Sandow pulls him down. Christian tries to climb back up but gets cut off, but then he spears Sandow through a ladder. He goes to climb but Ziggler and Rhodes combine to pull him off.

Now Ziggler and Rhodes both climb the ladder but Tensai comes in and throws them off. He starts to climb but Kidd springboards to the ladder but Tensai dispatches of him, then Santino, then Sin Cara. Christian finally gets Tensai down by hitting him with the ladder. Now Santino and Ziggler go at it and Santino pulls out the Cobra and strikes Ziggler with it. Santino rises up the ladder but is scared of the heights. Sandow climbs up but gets the Cobra. But before he can do anything else, Rhodes dropkicks him off the ladder.

Rhodes tries to climb now but Vickie Guerrero starts climbing the ladder and gives Rhodes the business, only to have Ziggler come in and give Rhodes the Zig Zag off the ladder. Ziggler starts to climb but he’s cut off at the last moment by Christian. Kidd kills Ziggler with a spiral power bomb off the ladder face-first to the mat. Christian drills Sandow with a ladder and wipes him out over the top. He goes with him.

Outside, Tensai bridges a ladder and power bombs Sin Cara through it. Ziggler gets thrown over the announce table by Tensai. Kidd, Rhodes, Santino and Christian are near the ladder. Rhodes takes care of Kidd and then Christian spears Rhodes off the ladder.

Santino and Christian climbing now. Christian hits Santino down and has his hands on the briefcase but Ziggler makes his way back and knocks Christian off the ladder. Ziggler climbs the ladder and grabs the briefcase.

Winner: Dolph Ziggler

Match Rating: 8/10

The Miz is out. He alerts us he was out filming a movie the last two months, somewhere he was treated with the respect he deserves. He says he is here tonight because he was won MITB before. He says he’s sick and tired of being overlooked. He wants to make a sudden impact. He declares that he is now participating in the Raw Money in the Bank match.

Match #2 – World Heavyweight Championship – (c) Sheamus (Dublin, Ireland) vs. Alberto Del Rio (San Luis Potosi, Mexico)

Del Rio working on the left arm of Sheamus, the same one he bashed into the car a few weeks back on Smackdown. Sheamus tries to get going but Del Rio keeps cutting him off. Sheamus wants to hit the slingshot battering ram but Del Rio catches the arm extends it.

Sheamus, though, finally gets going as he hits a big running knee lift and a power slam for two. Sheamus with the clubbing blows. He backs off and goes to follow up but Del Rio snaps his arm on the rope. Del Rio comes running back in the ring only to run into the Celtic Cross backbreaker. Sheamus goes for the Brogue Kick but Del Rio ducks and Sheamus gets hung up in the ropes. Del Rio hits a backcracker and lines Sheamus up. He goes for a kick but Sheamus ducks and hits White Noise.

Sheamus wants the Brogue Kick and he hits it. Buh bye.

Winner via pinfall and STILL World Heavyweight Champion: Sheamus

Match Rating: 6/10

After the match, Ricardo Rodriguez hops on Sheamus’s back and Alberto Del Rio kicks him in the head. Del Rio and Rodriguez put the boots to Sheamus and beat him down. Then, Dolph Ziggler’s music hits. Ziggler comes out and Del Rio isn’t liking this. He scuffles with Ziggler but Ziggler hits him in the arm with the briefcase. Ziggler hands the briefcase to the referee, but as Ziggler turns around, Sheamus hits him with the Brogue Kick. Bell never rang.

Match #3 – Titus O’Neil (Tampa, Fla.) & Darren Young (Miami, Fla.) vs. Primo & Epico (San Juan, Puerto Rico)

Primo and Epico running wild early, using their high-flying action to stifle the power offense. Epico comes flying in and hits a big flip dive onto all three other men. But back in the ring, O’Neil hits Epico with a big clubbing blow and then tosses him out of the ring. O’Neil follows up and slams Primo into the post.

Now O’Neil stretches Epico around the ring post. O’Neil with a big fallaway slam and then he whips Epico into the corner. Epico gets going but the camera misses it because they had it on Rosa Mendes. Primo in against Young now and Primo gets rolling. Primo dropkicks Young into the ropes and slides over top of him. Primo goes to springboard in but he gets caught by the gutbuster. Young, though, doesn’t follow up and drags Primo into the corner, but Primo rolls him up and gets the fall.

Winners via pinfall: Primo & Epico

Match Rating: 6/10

CM Punk reluctantly hands over the WWE title to special referee A.J. for his title defense against Daniel Bryan.

Match #4 – No Disqualification Match for the WWE Championship – (c) CM Punk (Chicago, Ill.) vs. Daniel Bryan (Aberdeen, Wash.)

Of course, AJ is your special guest referee.

Some very good professional wrestling to start. Punk dropkicks Bryan outside the ring and follows up with a suicide dive. They stay on the floor and Punk drops Bryan onto the guardrail. All three try to get back in the ring and Bryan shoves Punk into the ropes and he wipes AJ out.

Bryan throws Punk into the steps and then goes to check on AJ. She is escorted to the back. Bryan lays kicks into Punk and then delivers a knee off the apron. They head over near the timekeeper’s area and Punk backdrops Bryan into that area. He sets Bryan up on the wall and clotheslines him off it. Both men down and it’s Bryan who gets the edge. He grabs a kendo stick and hits Punk with it. Punk tries to springboard in but Bryan hits him right in the gut with it.

Now Bryan loads up and hits Punk multiple times with it. Bryan unloading with Yes Kicks in the corner and hits a snap suplex. Bryan goes to the top but misses the flying headbutt. Both men to the their feet and they trade kicks and elbows. Punk gets the better of it and hits a series of moves and then a neckbreaker for two. He hits the high knee, bulldog and a slam for two. Punk to his feet and wants GTS.

Punk goes for it but Bryan turns it into a ‘rana and gets a near fall. Bryan goes for a surfboard and gets it. Punk escapes, though, and unloads on Bryan with the kendo stick. Punk goes to the top but gets cut off and Bryan hits a superplex. Both men down and here comes AJ.

She tells the new ref to get lost and then prances around the ring. She exits the ring, goes under the table and gets a chair. She comes back in the ring and stands in the middle with Punk and Bryan on each side of her. She drops it in the middle and both men go for it. They meet but Bryan puts it in Punk’s gut and then hits him about five times with it. He covers but Punk kicks out at two.

Bryan goes up to AJ but gets rolled up but kicks out at two. Bryan lays in more kicks in the corner. Many more kicks. AJ not looking happy about this. Bryan backs off and charges but Punk leaps out with a clothesline. Now Punk grabs the chair and wallops Bryan with it three times. He props it up in the corner but AJ stands in front of it. Punk can’t believe it. He goes over to her and Bryan dropkicks him. Dueling chants for both men now.

Bryan goes to pick up the kendo stick but AJ is stepping on it. Bryan argues with AJ and turns into a high kick. Punk uses the chair and slams Bryan on it and goes for the big elbow, but Bryan moves and Punk’s elbow eats the chair. Bryan wants the Yes Lock and gets it in using the kendo stick over Punk’s face for the leverage. AJ gets in close and Punk bites his way out. He slingshots Bryan into the ring post and then hits GTS but he’s slow to cover and Bryan kicks out at two.

Punk goes to the outside and grabs a table. He puts Bryan on the table and clubs him a few times. He goes to the top but Bryan slides off and crotches Punk. Bryan goes up with him but Punk crotches him and back suplexes him through the table. That does it.

Winner via pinfall and STILL WWE Champion: CM Punk

Match Rating: 10/10

Absolutely fantastic professional wrestling.

Match #5 – Handicap Match – Curt Hawkins (Queens, NY) & Tyler Reks (Parts Unknown) vs. Ryback (Sin City)

Hawkins and Reks get some offense in but Ryback shuts them down and finishes it.

Winner via pinfall: Ryback

Match Rating: NR

Match #6 – Layla (Miami, Fla.), Kaitlyn (Houston, Texas) & Tamina Snuka (The Pacific Islands) vs. Beth Phoenix (Buffalo, NY), Natalya (Calgary, Alberta) & Eve (Denver, Colo.)

Layla runs wild but misses a kick and Phoenix presses her and it breaks down. Catfight, etc. in the scramble, Snuka hits Phoenix with a superkick and Layla finishes her off with a neckbreaker.

Winners via pinfall: Layla, Kaitlyn & Tamina Snuka

Match Rating: NR

Match #7 – Raw Money in the Bank Ladder Match – Kane (Hell, Fire & Brimstone) vs. Chris Jericho (Winnipeg, Manitoba) vs. The Miz (Cleveland, Ohio) vs. The Big Show (Tampa, Fla.) vs. John Cena (West Newbury, Mass.)

Winner: John Cena

Match Rating: 8/10

Event Rating: 7/10

Matt Bishop can be reached at bishop20@msu.edu. Please include your name and hometown. Click here to follow Matt on Twitter. Should be a good one!.