Preview: Survivor Series 19 November 2017

I'm not sure if you're aware, but Survivor Series is the only time that Raw and Smackdown go head to head. Did they mention that on TV at all?

I’ve not had time to watch the weekly shows recently, having to read online recaps to keep up to date with what has been happening. This will almost certainly affect the quality of my predictions, although based on how many I usually get right, I might get more correct by almost guessing randomly. Unfortunately I likely won't have time to preview NXT Wargames.

Cruiserweight championship:

Enzo Amore (c) v Kalisto

This is the match that I am least excited about on the card. The only match which doesn’t feature Red vs Blue doesn’t seem to have anywhere near as much star power. I know they’ve pushed Kalisto before but Enzo is the guy running the division at the moment and I can’t see that changing here. I’ve not been able to watch 205 live regularly, but in my opinion they seem to be mismanaging the division. Austin Aries left after being pushed to the top but never getting the belt as they were perhaps overly hot on Neville, who was then discarded instantly as soon as they decided to bring Enzo in as the new big name. I might just be bitter that they’ve turned Jack Gallagher heel. He was my favourite. Anyway, I guess Enzo retains here. I probably won’t even watch the pre-show.

Prediction: Enzo Amore

Intercontinental Champion v US Champion:

The Miz v Baron Corbin

Baron Corbin has been crapped over a bit this year with the way they made him drop the briefcase, but these two guys are actually two of my favourite heels. The Miz has been exceptionally good the last couple of years and Corbin’s two signature moves are bad ass and his lack of care about anyone else works well for his character. Having said that, I’m expecting him to be crapped over again here because the Miz should really be picking up the victory. He will be able to use it more to boast in future promos, and boast about how he held up his part for team Raw which should give him more prestige and possibly more opportunities.

Prediction: The Miz

Tag Team Champions v Tag Team Champions:

Cesaro & Sheamus v The Usos

The recently crowned Bar are in this match primarily because Ambrose and Rollins had to drop the tag titles so the Shield could be in a match against the New Day. The Usos have had the tag team division/Smackdown live on lock. I’d be rather surprised if they didn’t take the spoils here as the more established and more dominant tag team.

Prediction: The Usos

The Shield v The New Day

So, The Shield have to win here. They’re the guys on the rise having recently reformed with massive amounts of momentum and hype, and also a nice, slowly teased storyline. The only reason for the New Day to take the victory would be if this is a long running feud. They’re on different shows, so it won’t be. It should be a good match though, as both these teams have excellent performers. The Shield definitely go over as otherwise it pees all over the momentum they’ve got, especially as they dropped the tag titles recently.

Prediction: The Shield

Women’s Champion v Women’s Champion:

Alexa Bliss v Charlotte Flair

Charlotte won the Smackdown Women’s Championship from Natalya and was surprised by Ric Flair congratulating her in what sounds like possibly the most emotional scene on WWE TV this year. That means that probably the two best women of the last year will be facing each other in this match and it should be a good one. These two competitors have both been Raw and Smackdown Women’s champions and haven’t faced each other due to switching brands at the same time. It could be the match that steals the show. Charlotte’s emotional victory should spur her on to win here, with Bliss tapping out to the figure 8. I wouldn’t be surprised if Carmella comes out and attempts to pick the bones and cashes in her MITB contact, though. It would be a good stage for her to do so.

Prediction: Flair

Universal Champion v WWE Champion:

Brock Lesnar v AJ Styles

Apparently Daniel Bryan hit a great promo on this week’s Smackdown as AJ Styles’ advocate making it seem like he has a chance against Brock Lesnar. That is the problem with Brock Lesnar fights; often you don’t think his opponent has a chance. The most believable challengers recently have all fallen by the wayside.  Randy Orton, Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman have all failed to beat the Beast and AJ Styles is much less of a powerhouse than all of these guys. However, he is an exceptional wrestler and if he can get the match to play to his strengths then he could stand a chance. My main issue with Brock Lesnar fights is that they’re generally not interesting because they’re not competitive. This is a chance for them to make Lesnar eat a pinfall without dropping the belt. I think they should take it. They probably won’t but I’ll really be rooting for AJ here.

Prediction: AJ Styles

Team Raw (Alicia Fox, Nia Jax, Asuka, Sasha Banks & Bayley) v Team Smackdown (Becky Lynch, Carmella, Naomi, Tamina & TBC)

A spot appeared on Team Blue when Charlotte picked up the women’s title this week. The obvious candidate to fill the spot is Natalya who dropped the belt but a much more exciting option is that the rumoured returning Paige fills the spot. This is a difficult one to call. Alicia Fox is a much less likely winning captain than Becky Lynch. However for Smackdown to win, they’ll need to find some way to take Asuka out. Asuka who hasn’t been pinned or submitted since she joined NXT.  They could get around this by having her counted out or disqualified but that seems like a cop out. She should definitely survive and be on the winning team here, especially as her teammates (aside from Fox) are all strong competitors.

Prediction: Team Raw

Team Raw (Kurt Angle, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe & Triple H) v Team Smackdown (Shane McMahon, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura & John Cena)

I like that they’re picked a few stars who are hot and on the rise for the signature match. Strowman, Balor, Joe, Roode and Nakamura should all be given a chance to shine here. I can imagine this match might last a while as Angle, Trips, Orton and Cena are all unlikely to go down without a fight. Shane is clearly the weak link here, especially if Owens and Zayn decide to sabotage Team Blue to take him out. I really can’t see past a Raw victory here. The talent and strength on their side is just too much for Shane’s crew.

Predicted final score:

Raw 4, Smackdown 3.

ECW Hardcore Heaven: 1995

It's been ages since I watched any ECW. This is partly due to getting distracted by all the current WWE content, partly due to getting a new job which means I am travelling more and partly due to getting married and spending a lot of time planning a wedding.

It turns out that since I'd last watched any ECW, the WWE Network had added some more ECW content, so I decided to go back to the oldest PPV available, which is Hardcore Heaven 1995, two years before the last content I watched. I'm pleased to note that the Network automatically displays a warning about what you are going to see not being appropriate for all viewers. It gives me hope that this might be classic Eee Cee Dub.

Hardcore Heaven
July 1st 1995

This event has minimal build up, promo packages or anything of the like. Mostly, it just cuts straight from one match to another which gives it a bit of a jolty feel.

The Dudley Brothers v The Pitbulls

The crowd chant "boring" during this match and you can't really blame them. As a show opener, it doesn't really liven the crowd. The Pitballs are accompanied by the new tag team champions - Raven and Stevie Richards who provide the most exciting moment of the match when Raven takes Richards and his girlfriend out to the back after Stevie kisses a woman in the crowd. This distracts one of the Pitbulls as he thinks his partner is getting the pinfall, however the ref is also distracted, allowing a Dudley to break it up and roll his partner onto the prone Pitbull for the victory. This doesn't feature any of who I know as the classic Dudleys (D-Von, Bubba Ray, Spike) and doesn't really feature any excitement, either. At least not until after the fight when the Pitbulls vow to get Richards and Raven.

Rating: 2/10

Don E Allen & Dino Sendoff v Chad Austin & The Broad Street Bully

Some big dude called 911 marches into the ring shortly into this match and just starts beating up absolutely everyone in the ring. The crowd love this, and he is accompanied by Paul E. which doesn't make a lot of sense as to why the owner of the company would just interrupt a match to allow someone to beat up everyone else. The match seems to end in a no contest. The commentator had been saying how bad the match was before the interruption. I'm a little confused all in all. It was still better than the opening match though, mainly due to Paul E. just grabbing a mic and screaming "Welcome to E C Fucking W, Austin"

Rating: 3/10

Big Val Pucchio v Hack Meyers

This match takes a while to get underway. There is a suggestion from Big Val that Meyers should attempt to body slam the 510 pounds Pucchio. The crowd really get into this and the atmosphere seems awesome. This is the first match that seems to have got the event really going. The wrestling itself isn't great, with some of the punches and kicks clearly not connecting but this doesn't seem to bother the fans and there isn't a moment of silence throughout the whole match. This is a very one sided match, with Pucchio completely in control, however he missed an elbow drop when Meyers rolls out of the way, Meyers arm rolls back onto Pucchio and the ref counts what seems to be a very quick 3 count to give Meyers a comical victory.

Rating: 4/10

Taz v 2 Cold Scorpio

This is the first match to feature some decent wrestling and is a reasonably well structured match. Both of these guys are decent wrestlers and hit some good moves in a fairly even contest. Scorpio hits a tombstone piledriver and then a double knee moonsault on Taz - two moves that would basically be finishers in the WWF at the time - but Taz jumps straight up after this, hits a suplex and pins Scorpio. The believability of the product is leaving a little bit to be desired with this finish.

Bill Alfonso gets up and says that the match should be restarted as Scorpio's leg was on the ropes (which the referee didn't see). Paul E gets upset but promises that no wrestler will touch Alfonso before pointing out that he isn't a wrestler and that he's going to kick Alfonso's "fucking ass". The crowd starts to get excited but Scorpio with a chair and Alfonso with a cheap shot knock out Taz and Heyman before Alfonso does a 3 count as Scorpio pins Taz. I'm not sure who officially won this match.

Rating: 6/10

Shane Douglas comes out to do a promo but I'm not entirely sure what he's getting at.The mich is a bit distorted. He says he's off to WWF, and it appears he went there shortly after. I'm not sure why ECW would give him this much time to announce his departure, as this promo seems to last maybe 20 minutes. It doesn't seem to really serve much purpose until Sandman comes in to break it up when it looks like Douglas is going to attack Woman (the future Nancy Benoit) and then Douglas says that he will fight Sandman later in the PPV. This really dragged on for far too long.

ECW Tag Team Championship:
Raven & Stevie Richards (c) v Tommy Dreamer & Luna

A substantial portion of the early part of this matchup involves Luna using a testicular claw on Stevie Richards. She does hit a few good wrestling moves on him whilst Dreamer takes care of Raven outside the ring using various weaponry. Luna is about to win but then another woman comes and throws flour in her eyes which allows Richards to get the victory. The match is the best yet, content wise but it also doesn't flow too well as a story due to the fact that two fights are going on all the time, and one of them is almost out of view.

Rating: 6/10

Taipei Death Match: 
Ian Rotten v Axl Rotten

Next up, Bill Alfonso is called out to the ring by the commissioner and told that as he's the guy who wants to enforce all the rules, he is being allowed to referee a match with no rules, the Taipei Death Match that is coming up. The commentator is keen that "a stray punch might catch Alfonso right in the mush." He seems to be a rules stickler and this has been used for storyline purposes previously.

The two brothers come out for their match, basically dressed alike and with weaponry attached to their fists. At no point is he format of the match explained, other than that there are no rules. Ian gets slightly cut open from the first punch and Alfonso checks him out and attempts to stop the match due to a lack of vision.

At this point Gangsters and Public Enemy come into the arena fighting each other but security stop them from fighting. I'm not sure why as ECW seems to be so chaotic that they don't care who fights whom. Alfonso demands they are ejected from the building, and he also leaves as well.

The Commissioner, noting that Alfonso has left the building, gets on the mic and restarts the match.

Despite the fact that someone in the crowd has "Axl vs Ian Feud of the year" on a sign, the match isn't much of a spectacle. A lot of it consists of one brother towering above the other, punching them in the face or attempting to cut open their face with their gloves.  It picks up a little bit when they start to use a few more moves and thumbtacks are brought into the ring, the crowd chant "Thumbtacks!" Ian is body dropped onto them before Axl hits a leg drop and gets the pinfall.

Both of the Rottens are covered in blood, which would be cool except that the way they were cut open was quite dull.

Rating: 4/10

The feed then inexplicably cuts back to Raven and Richards fighting Dreamer and Luna again. I have no idea what has happened to get us here. The Pitbulls then run in and Richards wants a superbomb. I have no idea where in the continuity of the PPV this actually sits. The Pitbulls attack Richards and Raven as they had promised earlier. The Dudleys then run in and attack the Pitbulls. This seems like a reason for a bit of chaotic violence but doesn't fit the flow of the event.

ECW Championship:
Sandman (c) v Cactus Jack

The levels of confusion have risen again, as Shane Douglas said he was going to fight Sandman tonight so I was expecting him to come out after Sandman had entered. However, I was excited to watch Foley in an ECW match. He comes to the ring with barbed wire wrapped around his wrist and forearm, and Sandman comes in with two Singapore canes. You know that this match is going to be violent before it even starts.

Sandman leaping over the top rope to attack Cactus on the floor with the cane is pretty impressive. The Sandman also wraps barbed wire around his belly in order to hurt Cactus when he attacks him. It's slightly silly as they're both wearing t-shirts and surely it will hurt them both as much but nevermind, this is ECW. Whilst I've been complaining about the product not making sense, it's fine for the characters to be crazy and not rational.

The Franchise shows up and drops an elbow on the prone referee before hitting a piledriver on Sandman. He grabs the mic and taunts Sandman before also attacking Cactus Jack before throwing the prone Sandman onto the prone Jack which gets him the victory.

Douglas says "ECW kiss my ass goodbye," before the commissioner reverses the decision and gets into a war of words with Douglas who tells him he'll stay if the commissioner gets on his knees and asks him to stay. He commissioner looks like he's going to do so before telling Douglas he is "fucking fired." Douglas takes his anger out on the commissioner and any referees or wrestlers that happen to get in the way until 911 gets in the ring and chokeslams Douglas.

Rating: 6/10

Public Enemy v The Gangsters

Public Enemy get on the mic and give a warning that anyone who doesn't like blood and guts should leave the building. They don't disappoint. There is a somersault from the commentary area through a table as well as several other uses of tables, use of a large number of unconventional weapons, a whole tonne of blood... and also a decent amount of actual wrestling. This was easily the best match of the night.

Public Enemy get the win and celebrate in the ring with the crowd waving their hands in the air for a good while, with a whole bunch of fans getting into the ring to celebrate with them.

Rating: 8/10

Overall

As an event, it didn't really flow and it didn't always make sense. Perhaps it would have meant more to me if I'd be watching ECW TV, although I would still like to think that a product should be easy enough to follow on an intermittent basis. If you watch the current WWE output, pretty much every feud is explained before bouts on PPVs. The action was reasonable in most of the matches, although the quality improved substantially as the event went on.

Preview: No Mercy 24 September 2017

Again, life has taken over and so I've not been paying too much attention to everything that's been going on but I have just watched this week's Raw, so hopefully I won't be too far off the mark.

I'm going to have much less time in the future, so if anyone wants to help with writing predictions or articles, feel free to send me a message.

Finn Balor v Bray Wyatt

The stipulation that Balor cannot bring out the Demon King is intended to give Wyatt the advantage here. As the demon, Balor managed to get a victory over Wyatt at Summerslam. This could therefore go one of two ways. Balor gets the victory and proves that he is more than a bit of make up; or Wyatt gets his revenge and Balor starts to question whether he is able to win without the Demon. The second is the more interesting story and it's for that reason that I think Wyatt will go over here.

Prediction: Bray Wyatt

Cruiserweight Championship:
Neville (c) v Enzo Amore

Enzo has been thrust into the Cruiserweight title picture despite only having been in the division for five minutes. The direction that they have been going in is rather confusing. It looks like they've started to turn Enzo heel a little, with him gaining a couple of victories by cheating. It's a crazy way to go with his character because he is so over, and whilst as a heel he'd definitely be a cheat because his in ring skills are nowhere near as good as his mic skills, it's the most illogical turn ever.

These two bring a bit of star power to the division, though, and Enzo has paid his dues but if I was another cruiserweight I'd be rather annoyed that Enzo has come into the division and taken a title shot away from someone who has been holding 205 together.

Anyway, I think Neville should hold onto the belt. It'd be a mistake to give Enzo some gold so quickly but I can't help the feeling that they're going to give it to him to attempt to elevate the division.

Prediction: Enzo Amore

Tag Team Championship:
The Shield (c) v The Bar

The only reason to get the Shield to drop the belts so quickly would be to have one of them turn. An Ambrose heel turn has been rumoured for over a year. It is far too soon for that to happen. You'd need to get the fans a lot more invested in the team before that should happen. They were playing the long game with Ambrose and Rollins getting back together as a team, and they should play the long game with the split too. Therefore, they will retain here.

Prediction: The Shield

Intercontinental Championship:
The Miz (c) v Jason Jordan

They are persisting with Jordan's push despite the fact that he doesn't seem to be getting over, and the fans have been chanting for his former tag team partner, Chad Gable. Jordan won a 6-pack challenge to get here, which gives him a bit more credibility. I guess they're going to give him the belt. It seems like where they're going. If they don't then the whole story kind of seems a bit pointless, unless they're going to have Kurt properly mentor his "son". I guess he gets his hands on the gold here.

Prediction: Jason Jordan

Raw Women's Championship:
Alexa Bliss (c) v Sasha Banks v Bayley v Nia Jax v Emma

A multi-woman match means that Nia can be competing for the title but without them feeling like they need to give it to her. I think both Nia and Emma aren't likely winners. Bliss is probably the best all-round performer out of the others at the moment, but Bayley has just returned from an injury and the feel good factor of her coming back, forcing her way into this match and then winning is a trick that the WWE probably won't want to miss. I think they might not go down this route, though. Setting Alexa Bliss up to face her former friend Nia Jax one on one would be the best way to give Nia her first title reign. I think Bliss wins this, possibly taking advantage of Nia in some way to pin her for the victory.

Prediction: Alexa Bliss

John Cena v Roman Reigns

The Battle of Who The Fans Hate Less keeps being billed as a Wrestlemania worthy match. Remember who these guys faced this Wrestlemania? Reigns defeated the Undertaker. Cena was in a mixed tag match which seemed to have only been booked to frame his proposal to Nikki Bella.

Cena is surely on a trajectory to get his 17th title. Reigns has got many years left in his career. I think that Cena goes over here to justify pushing him into the Universal title picture sometime in the next year or so. Reigns will always be the guy that retired The Undertaker. Also, if they take him out of the main event picture, we could be looking at a full Shield reunion. Cena is probably going to be the fans favourite here, and he's also my favourite for the match.

Prediction: John Cena

WWE Universal Championship:
Brock Lesnar (c) v Braun Strowman

In a second match with no clear fans favourite, the Beast takes on the Monster. I really want Strowman to win but I always want Lesnar to lose. I think therefore he probably won't. He'll win. I'll get upset. That's how it works.

Prediction: Brock Lesnar

Preview: NXT Takeover Brooklyn III: 19 August 2017

It's been a while since the last NXT Takeover although to me, it seems perhaps that not as much has moved on as one may have expected.

Alexander Black v Hideo Itami

Itami recently failed to take the title from Bobby Roode. Black is on his way to the top. This should really be a no-brainer, but should also be a good match.

Prediction: Black

Johnny Gargano v Andrade Cien Almas

Gargano split with his former tag team partner at the last NXT Takeover and they had just a short lived feud. Almas has been putting over pretty much everyone in town. As Gargano seems to be the member of #DIY picked to have the singles career, I expect him to take the victory here.

Prediction: Johnny Wrestling

NXT Tag Team Championship:

Authors of Pain (c) v Sanity

AoP have been completely dominant in the tag team division. Sanity use the numbers game, so Paul Ellering will need to be on crowd duties to stop Eric Young and possibly Nikki Cross from interfering. Sanity haven't yet held any gold, but have been completely dominant. I think perhaps they are the ones to put an end to AoP's undefeated streak. It makes sense as if they are going to get called up en bloc to the main roster at some point, which I think would be a great idea, it would be useful for them to have a title to add a bit of legitimacy to their threat.

Prediction: Sanity.

NXT Women's Championship:

Asuka (c) v Ember Moon

I keep thinking that Asuka's title reign has to come to an end but it never seems to. I'm going to call it here, again, though. This is on the basis that there is a rumoured superstar shakeup coming after Summerslam. If this is so, it's the perfect time to call up Asuka to the main roster. Ember Moon has, to my knowledge, only lost once in NXT which was to Asuka in a previous title match where she was slightly underhanded. She is best placed to take over the NXT Women's division from Asuka.

Prediction: Ember Moon

NXT Championship:

Bobby Roode (c) v Drew McIntyre

Bobby Roode seems to be fighting on two fronts. McIntyre on one hand and Roderick Strong on the other. He's beaten Strong so I think he takes McIntyre here and possibly sets up a triple threat for the Takeover prior to Survivor Series in November. I think he's probably just a better figurehead for the brand at this stage, and I've also predicted a ludicrous number of title changes for the weekend, so I think he retains.

Prediction: Bobby Roode

Preview: Summerslam 20 August 2017

Unfortunately real life has taken over a bit and I've not been able to watch all of the weekly shows so I might be a bit out of the loop if it weren't for recap websites. There is surprisingly no Intercontinental Championship match booked, at least at this stage. It looks like Jason Jordan will be the contender when The Miz next defends the belt. The Hardy Boys are among other notable absentees.

Finn Balor v Bray Wyatt

Finally we're going to see the Demon King on the main roster. And the Demon King v The God should make an awesome feud. It'd suck for Balor to bring out his demon and lose, and he deserves a measure of revenge on Wyatt from Raw, so he gets the victory. This should hopefully be an awesome and creepy match. I've been looking forward to it for a month or so now.

Prediction: Balor

John Cena v Baron Corbin

Man, they have ruined the excellent build that they have given Corbin over the last 2 years by having him throw away the Money in the Bank briefcase. It was ridiculous. They might not have thought he was worthy to be champion, but they could have at least made him lose in a less embarrassing way. If they don't book it as Corbin is super angry and tears Cena to shreds here, then I will lose all faith in WWE Creative.

Prediction: Corbin

Randy Orton v Rusev

I feel sorry for Orton. They just seem to pull him in when they need a stop gap champion and give him a push so that he can then do a job for an upcoming star.  Orton will always be a legitimate opponent for any competitor, but has had a meandering storyline since the Wyatt angle finished. He'll probably have a min-rivalry with Rusev which will allow him to attain the main event status that his former tag team partner, Jinder Mahal has accomplished.

Prediction: Rusev

Big Show v Big Cass (with Enzo Amore in a Shark Cage)

Big Cass seems to have got some allies in The Club now. There's no reason for the Big Show to take the victory here. He's at the end of his career and Cass is on the rise, so it makes sense to continue getting him over. I'm confused as to why Enzo is in a shark cage. Usually it's done to stop a heel interfering. I guess they've got something planned. There's no way that Cass isn't getting either a victory or disqualified. Cass and the Club would probably be a great move for both of them.

Prediction: Big Cass

Cruiserweight Championship:
Akira Tozawa (c) v Neville

A slightly confusing title change on Raw - I'd have expected them to wait for the big PPV - has thrown me off my guard. The last time something similar happened, I thought it was so that the rematch could be on the PPV and then the champion could move on to defending and feuding against someone else. I was wrong. I think this again now, though. Neville has had the spotlight of the Cruiserweight division for quite some time with the now departed Austin Aries being his main contender. They need to elevate a couple of other competitors, even if Tozawa defeats them easily. They need a few more cruiserweight stars. So therefore Tozawa wins and goes on to defend against the likes of TJP and Tony Nese.

Prediction: Tozawa

Raw Tag Team Championship:
Cesaro and Sheamus (c) v Ambrose and Rollins

I'm a bit disappointed I missed this week's Raw. The build up to the Ambrose and Rollins tag team partnership has been quite a well worked story over the last month. Predictable, at times, but well worked. It doesn't feel like a rush job. It feels smooth and it feels like the right time. Both of these guys have been sort of ambling around the midcard for a while without any direction. This will give them a focus. Usually a tag team wouldn't get the belts or even a victory in their first match together, but as they have history and should already have chemistry then I can see them getting the win here, potentially. There's also the possibility that Sheamus and Cesaro could screw them in some way which would allow them to continue to build on the storyline but my gut says that this will be the first match on and that the former Shield brothers will get the win to set the night off with a big pop.

Prediction: Ambrose and Rollins.

Smackdown Tag Team Championship:
The New Day (c) v The Usos

After the Usos beat Woods and Kingston on Smackdown, I assume that the New Day draft in Big E for this match and retain. It seems like odd booking, though. Unless this is going to lead to whichever member of the team that lost on Tuesday to start to feel like the weak link and attempt to prove themselves. I assume that the New Day retain here, in what will likely be a good match. But the storyline is confusing.

Prediction: The New Day

US Championship:
AJ Styles (c) v Kevin Owens with Shane McMahon as Special Guest Referee

These guys are three of my favourite performers and out of the whole card, I'm most excited about this match. I can only see two reasons for Shane-O-Mac to be the guest referee. The first is that Owens thinks he screws him and they get into a feud, potentially leading to a match at Survivor Series. The second is that Shane turns heel. I think this is probably more likely. All the GM/commissioners on TV at the moment are face, so it might make an interesting change to have a heel in charge again. It would certainly mix things up a bit and it wouldn't be out of character for Shane as ref to screw someone, as has been pointed out in recent weeks.

Prediction: Owens

Smackdown Women's Title:
Naomi (c) v Natalya

I'm not really sure it matters who wins here, as Ellsworth has teased that Carmella is going to cash in her money in the bank contract. It seems that they want to get both out of the way in the space of a week so they don't need to worry about how to book with them hanging in the background. It seems like a silly thing to do, really, especially as Corbin's shot was completely wasted. I can't imagine they'll have another unsuccessful cash in, so Carmella will likely be the champion coming out of the event. I think that would be the right call. She has been the better entertainer out of the three of these competitors, and will make the title more interesting. I obviously need to pick a winner, so I think maybe it will be Naomi. This is mainly based on the fact that if Natalya loses, she has an incentive to continue beating down Naomi with Carmella to give the Queen of Staten Island an easy victory.

Prediction: Naomi, with Carmella successfully cashing in MITB after.

Raw Women's Title:
Alexa Bliss (c) v Sasha Banks

With Bayley being injured, Sasha has stepped up to be the top face on Raw. There are really no other faces at her level, or even in the same ballpark so she's going to be holding the division together for a while. It makes sense for her to get the belt here, as the division can run on a Banks/Bliss/Jax feud for a while until Bayley returns or someone else gets elevated.

Prediction; Banks

WWE Championship:
Jinder Mahal (c) v Shinsuke Nakamura

Whoever wins here is safe from a Corbin cash in. I have enjoyed Mahal as a champion. I've felt sorry for him really, as his heat has been based on xenophobia when he is really just a proud Indian. The exact same character played by an American would be a huge face. Sometimes the WWE does uncomfortable booking. Whilst I like Mahal as champ, I know that many others haven't. And those that haven't would definitely like Nakamura as champion. Despite coming to the WWE earlier than AJ Styles, Nakamura has lagged behind him in terms of accomplishments. I think he gets the rub here. I hope he does. I love the guy. However, it is important that Mahal doesn't just disappear as it would entirely devalue his title reign.

Prediction: Nakamura

WWE Universal Championship:
Brock Lesnar (c) v Roman Reigns v Braun Strowman v Samoa Joe

I think that this has been booked as a fatal 4-way to make it easier and/or more believable that Lesnar drops the belt. There's rumours that he's going to be back for a one-off fight in UFC at some point and this would be a good way for him to drop the belt to another contender and still appear strong as he doesn't need to eat a pinfall. He has a built in get out clause in that Heyman has said that they are both leaving WWE if he doesn't retain the belt. It's all set up for a title switch. That could be the perfect reason for them not to do it. Apparently Brock's contract lasts through to around Wrestlemania next year. Maybe he is sticking around. Either way, I'm bored of Brock as champ, so I'm saying he drops it. Joe is a bit too new to the main roster to get the belt, I think, and no-one wants it on Reigns. If Strowman doesn't get it in the next year or so then his build will start to stall, so I think he takes it here.

Prediction: Strowman

Preview: Battleground, 23 July 2017

Smackdown definitely seems to build to it's pay per views more efficiently. All the title matches have been built well, and the flag match between Cena and Rusev has had a reasonable build as well, with the two guys having history together on top of their recent rivalry. Even without the storytelling, there are a few matches that are exciting match-ups. This could be a surprisingly good pay per view.

Pre-show: Tye Dillinger v Aiden English

Poor Aiden English. According to Internet Wrestling Database, aside from a DQ victory against Randy Orton, he has not won a match since February. That was part of an twelve man tag team match. Before that, his previous victory was in June 2016 when the Vaudevillains beat Enzo & Big Cass (again by disqualification).

He is currently embodying the definition of jobber. This is a man who was an NXT tag team champion. They obviously like English at they kept him around when his partner, Simon Gotch left the company a few months ago.

Dillinger beat him at Backlash, and I don't think he'd be elevated too much by beating English again. Something in me thinks that this might be part of a little push for English, so I have to go for him here.

Prediction: Aiden English

Shinsuke Nakamura v Baron Corbin

Both of these guys have a claim to be looking at a title shot in the near future. Nakamura has come in as a 2-time NXT champion, and Corbin has been on the rise since winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at Wrestlemania last year.

Corbin has been attacking Nakamura before matches recently; he did this before the tag team match on Smackdown and the Money in the Bank match. I can see him potentially trying to do the same here. Nakamura deserves a degree of payback which he should do by getting the rub here, especially as Corbin is Mr Money in the Bank.

Prediction: Shinsuke Nakamura


5-Way Elimination Match for the Smackdown Women's Championship #1 Contender:
Natalya Neidhart v Charlotte Flair v Becky Lynch v Tamina Snuka v Lana

I love elimination matches. They make multi-competitor matches seem a lot more credible in my mind. They also allow you to give competitors a minor push by allowing them to gain an elimination.

I have a feeling that they will get Lana to eliminate one of the other competitors, as whilst she had a few matches against women's champion, Naomi, she didn't look very credible in them. The last one lasted under a minute. I think they will give her a shock elimination over either Becky or Charlotte to set up a mini-feud.

They will likely want a heel to face Naomi, so I think that Natalya is the most likely challenger as Tamina has no real momentum.

Prediction: Natalya to win.
Predicted order of eliminations: Tamina (by Charlotte), Charlotte (by Lana), Lana (by Becky), Becky (by Natalya)

Flag Match: 
Rusev v John Cena

The flag match is not a common match, and essentially works like a wrestling version of capture the flag. It can be used as a tool for getting a crowd onside using patriotism. I imagine this is the tactic they will use here, which is smart as Cena is a divisive character and it might help to get more of the crowd onside.

Rusev does seem to be quite liked by fans. When he came in initially, there was a long running angle about him being unbeatable, with lots of Americans attempting to do so. They should go back to this as it made him look like a beast, and I think that will mean he takes the victory here.

Prediction: Rusev

US Championship:
AJ Styles (c) v Kevin Owens

I imagine that they want one or other of these guys to move onto a new feud. That seems like the most logical reason for them to hand the belt to Styles at a house show, leaving this as Owens rematch. If they'd waited for Styles to take the belt here, then there would have to be a rematch at some point in the future. Which of these guys it is, and who they will feud with is not obvious at this stage. They should put on a good show but the result shouldn't be in doubt.

Prediction: AJ Styles

Tag Team Championships:
The Usos (c) v The New Day

I think this is when they will pull the trigger on the New Day becoming champs. They've paid some dues on Smackdown and will be rewarded with the belts. This rivalry will continue though, as it's been pretty enjoyable. Especially now that American Alpha have split, it leaves Breezango and The Hype Bros as the only other credible challengers for the belts.

Prediction: The New Day

Punjabi Prison Match for the WWE Championship:
Jinder Mahal (c) v Randy Orton

We took a look at the history of the Punjabi Prison Match earlier. It won't take much for Mahal and Orton to produce the best of the three matches. In both previous matches, there was an obvious favourite, and the face won. I don't think there's an obvious favourite here. 6 months ago, you would have picked Orton without a second thought. Jinder's rise has been meteoric, and it would destroy everything they've done to not give him a reasonable length title reign. It's for this reason that I don't see him dropping the belt to Orton here, although don't discount the possibility of it being a controversial victory involving the Singh brothers interfering in some way to help Jinder to the victory.

Prediction: Jinder Mahal

The Punjabi Prison

Before this coming weekend, there have only be two previous Punjabi Prison matches. The match was designed by The Great Khali and named after his home state. Involving two cages, an inner one 16 feet tall with spikes on the top, and an outer, six sided cage, which is 20 feet tall.

The inner cell has four doors with a referee attending each. A door will be opened at the request of a competitor and will be opened once only, for 60 seconds, before being locked shut.

The inner cage has straps which can be reached and used as weapons, and between the cages there lies an assortment of other weaponry. The winner of the match is the first competitor to escape the outer cage.

The match, on paper, is an interesting twist on the standard cage match. In practice, both previous matches have failed to set the world on fire.

One issue is that, as Undertaker and Batista have both shown, it isn't too difficult to get from the top of the inner cage to the top of the outer cage. The most efficient way to escape, is to climb the 16 feet of the inner cage and then jump to the outer cage and climb down.

Another issue is perhaps that in both the previous matches, the winner seemed obvious. Undertaker is always the favourite in any match he competes in, and Batista seemed unlikely to drop the belt he had recently gained from Khali.

Neither of the matches seemed really innovative. What I've heard about Randy Orton suggests that his studiousness will lead to a really well planned out match, and I'm hopeful that this will give us the best punjabi prison match yet at Battleground this Sunday.

Undertaker v Big Show
Great American Bash 2006
Duration: 21:35
Winner: Undertaker
Rating: 6/10

The match's inventor, The Great Khali, was due to compete in this match but was removed as elevated liver enzymes left him medically unable to compete. In storyline, this left Teddy Long to make a decision to replace Khali with the Big Show for no other reason than they'd been bullying the Undertaker together.

The Big Show plays his part really well at looking upset and distraught about the situation he is placed in. It's difficult for a 7 foot man to look convincingly worried or intimidated but he does a good job of it.

The Show is also currently the ECW champion; I'm not sure what his persona was at this time other than that he was somehow teamed with Khali and Divari to beat up the dead man. Whilst I've always liked the Big Show and I appreciate how hard a worker he is, sometimes his size makes him look a bit messy, especially when selling moves.

The match starts in the inner cell, with 'Taker deciding to attempt to climb out. It looked like he was trying to get a strap from the top of the cage to use as a weapon but that didn't materialise. Show later manages to get a strap which he uses as weapon just as one door was locked on the Undertaker.

Shortly after this, a second door was shut on the Big Show and he insults the referee for doing his job. Show starts to take out his anger by cutting the Phenom open on an exposed turnbuckle and headbutting him to inflict further damage.

Despite there being two doors left to open, the Big Show starts to climb out of the inner cell. He his stopped by Undertaker with a low blow and then a superplex which shakes the ring slightly and elicits half-hearted "holy shit" chants from the crowd. This allows 'Taker to get out of the third door. The dead man tries to kick through the cage and realising it's impossible, he starts to climb. This all allows Show to easily make his way out of the fourth and final door,  where he stops 'Taker climbing and starts to use the weaponry before throwing him back inside the inner structure.

At this point, Show just needs to escape the outer structure; not easy for a man of his size. Both men are climbing their respective structure at the same time. Taker managers to reach the top first, and bridge from the inner to the outer to prevent Show's escape. Despite 'Taker selling like hell, he manages to perform a leg drop on a standing Show to put him through a table which busts him open.

Undertaker seems to have control of the match at this point and he starts to climb the inner cage as Khali and Divari start making their way to the ring and climbing the exterior structure. The dead man performs a cross body on the Big Show which knocks them both through the outer structure, with 'Taker's whole getting outside first, giving him the victory. Show is left on his knees bloody and crying, perhaps overacting a bit too much at this stage, though.

World Championship: Great Khali v Batista (c)
No Mercy 2007
Duration: 14:47
Winner: Batista
Rating: 6/10

Khali is finally able to compete in the match that he designed. He quickly requests a door to be opened, but is struggling to get underneath it due to his height which means Batista is easily able to get up and prevent him escaping the inner cage.

Batista requests a second door to be opened shortly after but Khali overpowers him and forces him up against the edge of the cage until the time the door is open before using a rope to choke out Batista, and then getting a thick leather strap to whip the champion. Whilst doing so, he requests the third door to be opened but the Animal is on him straight away and hits a spinebuster to prevent Khali getting out. He attempts to crawl out past Khali who holds onto him to prevent him exciting.

Batista with the strap starts to whip Khali and decides to attempt to climb over the inner structure rather than using the door.  Khali stoops him and manages to get the vice grip on Batista. The commentators talk up how it has taken down a large number of top wrestlers and that no-one has ever escaped from it. As Khali asks for the last door to be opened, Batista somehow manages a low blow and starts to crawl over of the door. Khali closes the door, using it as a weapon to attack the champion as he's escaping. Khali was disappointed that the final door was locked shut and takes it out on a referee, but realises that he needs to start climbing.

After pulling Batista from the cage, making him suffer a 10-foot fall, Khali manages to get out of the first structure. As he's scaling the outer structure, Batista quickly scales the inner structure and he leaps to the outer cage. The two men race to climb down the outer cage with Batista narrowly gaining the victory.

Preview: Great Balls of Fire 9 July 2017

With five titles on the line, the first ever Great Balls of Fire pay per view promises a lot. Raw PPVs have generally been less unpredictable than Smackdown's, throwing up fewer surprises. Hopefully they might have learnt from this and will be able to make it one to remember.

Ambulance Match:
Roman Reigns v Braun Strowman

I struggle to care about any match with Reigns in at the moment, which is mainly because I just assume they are going to push him so hard that he will win. Strowman is improving all the time and is almost the face in this match. I doubt they want to push him as a face, though but the fans will be behind him.

Strowman got the victory last time these guys faced off, and Reigns has declared himself the number one contender to the Universal Championship after this PPV. I'm not sure how that works. Can I declare myself to be the next number one contender please? Anyway, as Reigns is going up against the champ, they'll want him to be on a roll so I'm sure he'll end up putting Strowman in the ambulance here.

Prediction: Roman Reigns

Seth Rollins v Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt has not really benefitted from the superstar shakeup as yet. After his brief title reign, he appears to have been largely forgotten about. Seth Rollins is the face of WWE 2k18 and so will be pushed, and should be challenging for a title (possibly the Intercontinental title) soon as part of the promotional push, I'd imagine.

Prediction: Seth Rollins

Enzo Amore v Big Cass

I was really not expecting these guys to be split up. Their chemistry and popularity as a tag team didn't look like fading and so it didn't seem sensible to end that what felt like prematurely.

Sure, when Enzo was injured a while ago, Cass had a short run as a singles competitor in which he held his own in the ring against main eventers, but his mic skills aren't up to putting him at the top of the card just yet. That's why Enzo was a great foil for him. He's dynamite on the mic and Cass is the muscle. They worked amazingly together.

You would hope that WWE creative had sensed that they'd reached their peak and have called time on their partnership became stale. You would hope that they picked the perfect time to break up the team. I do feel there was still some good storytelling to be had, especially as had they managed to take the tag titles it would have been a very special moment. They had however been pushed farther to the back of the line when the Hardys showed up at Wrestlemania to take the belts.

Anything other than a Cass victory here would be odd. He's been the aggressor and for Enzo to one up him straight away would pretty much kill off their new rivalry. Enzo will do better chasing revenge over the next couple of months, ripping it up on the mic and eventually getting his revenge.

Prediction: Big Cass

Cruiserweight Championship:
Neville (c) v Akira Tozawa

Neville has been ridiculously dominant as the King of the Cruiserweights, and has held the title now for longer than all other champions combined. Tozawa is now part of Titus Worldwide, whatever that may be. These guys are picking up a bit of momentum but I really think what's best for business is Neville retaining here.

Prediction: Neville

Raw Women's Championship:
Alexa Bliss (c) v Sasha Banks

Sasha somehow managed to win in what was effectively a 2 on 1 handicap match on Monday Night Raw. She has been shown to be strong and we know she's a great competitor having torn up the rulebook for the women's division over the last couple of years along with Charlotte Flair.

That makes her a great challenger for Bliss to beat to increase her credibility. She's held both the Raw and Smackdown women's championships - the only woman to have done so - and she's been a title holder for pretty much all of the last 8 months. I can see her keeping her momentum here, despite the fact that Sasha is probably the favourite.

Prediction: Alexa Bliss

Intercontinental Championship:
The Miz (c) v Dean Ambrose

The Miz only won the championship back last month and there doesn't seem much of an argument for him to drop it again so soon. Ambrose is popular enough without a title and should be looking to get back into the main event picture at some point soon.

The Miz has been outstanding over the last year. He's probably the best heel on the roster right now and with the Miztourage in his corner, he has a definite advantage. His arrogance whilst holding the title makes for compelling viewing and I can see him holding it for a while. Miz v Ambrose has been done to death and I can see Miz retaining but then feuding with another big name for whom there isn't space in the main event scene at the moment. Rollins or Balor would be the obvious picks.

Prediction: The Miz

WWE Raw Tag Team Championship, Iron Man Match:
Sheamus & Cesaro (c) v The Hardy Boyz

Having predicted 3 successful title defences, I'd expect one of the last two to change hands. I can't see it being this one. Sheamus and Cesaro as a team still have a long distance to run. There are so many things that WWE could do with the Hardy Boyz that I feel they would be wasted continuing in the tag team division. As an Iron Man match, this will probably end up going 2-1 and I'd guess the champions would get the final fall close to the end of the time limit and then perhaps run off so that the Hardys couldn't tie it up.

Prediction: Sheamus & Cesaro

WWE Universal Championship:
Brock Lesnar (c) v Samoa Joe

So that leaves the Universal Championship as the one to change hands. I really feel it should do. It should really be on television every week, regardless of how big a draw Lesnar is when he is on PPV. Joe would be a great champ and as a believable opponent for Brock, he could legitimately take the belt from him. I thought it was too soon for him to be in the main event picture but he's certainly got the talent to do so.

I'm not sure how the crowd will react to this with both guys leaning towards heel, but with the blurred lines between faces and heels these days, and the fans respecting both of these guys, Joe especially, there should hopefully be a good atmosphere. Others deserve the title more than Joe, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't deserve it.

Prediction:  Samoa Joe

Preview: Money In The Bank 18 June 2017

Pay Per Views come around really quite quickly these days. This is due to the brand split and most months having both a Raw and Smackdown pay per view. It doesn't seem like we've had time to breathe from when Jinder shockingly won the WWE Championship from Randy Orton at Backlash. So here we go with how we think the Smackdown exclusive Money in the Bank Pay Per View will play out. With two multi competitor matches on the card, this is very difficult to call, but we'll give it a go!

Smackdown Tag Team Championship:

The Usos (c) v The New Day

This rivalry was obviously one of the reasons the New Day got switched over to Smackdown during the brand split. The Usos are the dominant heel tag team on either brand at the moment, and the New Day are the longest reigning tag team champions of all time, so it makes sense that this should be a rivalry that will light up the division for a while The downside to this is that great teams such Breezango, The Ascension and the Hype Bros now that Zack Ryder has returned, will get ignored for a while. I expect this feud to go on for a few PPVs and that would probably require the Usos to retain here meaning that the New Day will chase the belts for a bit.

Prediction: The Usos

Smackdown Women's Championship:

Naomi (c) v Lana

Lana has been catapulted into a title match, despite not having wrestler on television in longer than I can remember. She demonstrated her new finisher on this week's Smackdown and it was really rather impressive. The fans were looking forward to seeing her in ring  and have been chanting for her although she turned heel with her attack on Naomi. She is definitely on the rise, and has won all of her recent matches on the NXT Live tours, including against Ruby Riot and Liv Morgan. It would be a shock to give her the belt and they already have one unlikely champion on the brand in Jinder Mahal. Whilst Naomi hasn't been lighting up the division with her glow perhaps as much as she would have liked, she was unfairly stripped of the belt the first time she held it (due to the 30-day rule which doesn't seem to apply to Brock Lesnar) and I think she'll hold on for a bit longer yet.

Prediction: Naomi

WWE Championship:

Jinder Mahal (c) v Randy Orton

Jinder has to hold on to this here. If he doesn't, it will appear very tokenistic. Whether that is through a legitimate victory or holding on due to the champion's advantage, remains to be seen. One rumour is that Rusev will be returning to set his sights on Mahal. I'm not sure how this would work. Rusev is admired by the fans and if he attacks Jinder, he is clearly being positioned as a face but Lana is set up as a heel. It might be a bit odd if one was face and the other heel. Still, it may happen. The lines between faces and heels are blurred these days. Orton doesn't need the belt back. It won't help him in any way but every passing week that Jinder's got the belt gives him greater legitimacy.

Prediction: Jinder to retain.

Women's Money in the Bank Match:

Becky Lynch v Charlotte Flair v Carmella v Natalya Neidhart v Tamina Snuka

Three of these women are at least second generation superstars and three of them have held a title before, so this should hopefully be a good match. It is a continuation of the fact that the women are getting equal status and equal opportunities within the WWE, so if it is poor it might set the women's revolution back slightly.

Because of the above facts, it is difficult to call. The division is also quite small and so you have competitors in this match who aren't really looking to jump from the mid-card to the main event so much as from the lower card to the main-event. I class Carmella in this category, and Tamina is maybe only a little higher. Although realistically, any of them could win the briefcase. There's a much different dynamic here to the men's match.

Charlotte along with Sasha has been making firsts in the WWE for the last year and she would be the obvious choice to be the first woman climb down from the ladder with the contract. Others would benefit more but when you look at them on paper, one competitor is head and shoulders above the others.

Prediction: Charlotte

Men's Money in the Bank Match:

Kevin Owens v Shinsuke Nakamura v Dolph Ziggler v AJ Styles v Sami Zayn v Baron Corbin

The talent in this match is insane. All of these guys have their own style and have been performing at the top level recently. None of them would be out of place holding the briefcase, and so it's really difficult to call a winner here. You'd think that it might be too soon for Nakamura but then Samoa Joe is the number 1 contender on Raw and they've both only recently come up from NXT. He'd also have a large portion of the next year to continue developing before he cashes in. The new era has all been about opportunity and so it wouldn't be unexpected for him to do so.

However, Nakamura's star is clearly already on the rise and he will get to the top regardless of whether he gets his hands on the briefcase or not. There are two guys in this match who could do with the boost from a victory here. Sami Zayn has been ambling around the midcard. Whilst he is a fan favourite, he needs something like this to catapult him to the main event and give him a bit more credibility. Baron Cobin has been the only Andre the Giant winner to really kick on after the victory, has been talked of as a future world champion for months and whilst he has the in ring skills and a couple of bad ass moves, he would benefit from the fans seeing him as a legitimate champion. I think I'm going to have to go for Corbin here, but it's close.

Prediction: Corbin

Preview: Extreme Rules 4 June 2017

It seems too soon for another PPV. However, the Universal Champion is missing, breaking the WWE's rules about title defences within 30 days. He obviously gets special treatment because of being Brock Lesnar. However, it makes it less interesting for the fans without the top prize on display. Overall the card looks pretty weak. With four title matches, we think there will be a couple of title changes, however the main event is pretty hard to call.

Mixed Tag Team Match:
Rich Swann & Sasha Banks v Noam Dar and Alicia Fox

I'm struggling to care about this match. It seems hastily arranged and mainly on the card just to attempt to get Alicia Fox over as a wrestler rather than a valet. So her team will probably get the victory. Banks has been crapped on a bit since she dropped the belt to Charlotte, and really needs to be elevated a bit to keep her relevant.

Prediction: Dar/Fox

Intercontinental Championship:
Dean Ambrose (c) v The Miz

I'm not sure why there is the stipulation that Ambrose loses the belt if he gets disqualified. This is Extreme Rules. Just make it a No-DQ match. As that rule is there, I expect Ambrose to get disqualified, probably because The Miz does something to get Ambrose disqualified, for example Maryse slaps Miz. He's such a trickster.

Prediction: The Miz

Raw Tag Team Championship Cage Match:
The Hardy Boyz (c) v Sheamus and Cesaro

The Hardy Boyz have been great champions since returning at Wrestlemania. They don't need the belts, though. They've got to be the most popular team on the roster at the moment. Sheamus and Cesaro have recently turned heel and taking the belts from the Hardys will help them to progress their characters and their story. Expect Jeff to be on the verge of escaping for the victory only to decide to do a swanton from the top of the cage which will either miss or leave him too hurt to escape from the cage for some other reason.

Prediction: Sheamus and Cesaro

Raw Women's Championship Kendo Stick on a Pole Match:
Alexa Bliss (c) v Bayley

These sorts of matches are usually about the face getting revenge on the heel and being allowed to use the weapon that the heel has been punishing them with. Therefore, it suggests Bayley will get her belt back. Bliss would have just had a short reign with the belt, but she doesn't need it as she has been an excellent performer and is very over regardless of whether she is the champ or not.

Prediction: Bayley

WWE Cruiserweight Championship Submission Match:
Neville (c) v Austin Aries

It is definitely time for Austin Aries to topple Neville and take the belt. He's failed a few times already, and he is due a victory.  Hopefully it will be another decent match. It will allow Neville to develop his character a bit further and become even more of a heel if he is chasing his belt again.

Prediction: Austin Aries

Universal Championship #1 Contender Match:
Seth Rollins v Roman Reigns v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe v Bray Wyatt

For this, you need to look at who would be a realistic challenger to Brock Lesnar. I think Joe would definitely be the most legitimate contender. Despite having a wide range of experience throughout the world, he has been on the main roster for less time than the others. Whether he'd get the push over the others is questionable.

Bray Wyatt relies on mind tricks and I think Lesnar would laugh them off, so I'm ruling him out here.

Reigns v Lesnar at Wrestlemania was an ok match previously, with Rollins coming in and turning it into a triple threat with his Money in the Bank briefcase. Both of these guys are very established and their experience would mean that they would be able to stand up to the beast. Fans would love to see Lesnar rip Reigns apart.

Finn Balor is Paul Heyman's choice and probably the fan favourite. He also never lost the Universal Championship, having to vacate it the day after winning the first tournament.

I think this might also depend on whether they plan to keep the belt on Lesnar long term. What's best for business is having a champion who is on TV every week rather than one who only appears for pay per views. Therefore, they need someone who will defeat Lesnar.

Unfortunately I think this someone is going to be the Big Dog. It's not the best choice but I think it's the one they will make.

Prediction: Roman Reigns

Preview: Backlash 21 May 2017

After the superstar shakeup, we're left with a few interesting matches on the first Smackdown Pay Per View since 'Mania. As well as some that seem so obvious that they probably don't even need to be on the card.

Tye Dillinger v Aiden English

Aiden English is trying to establish himself as a singles wrestler now that Simon Gotch has left and the Vaudevillains are no more. However, he's just been jobbing and Tye Dillinger has recently been elevated to the big leagues. Dillinger will get a second victory over English here. There's no reason to have him losing so soon.

Prediction: Tye Dillinger

Naomi, Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch v The Welcoming Committee (Natalya, Carmella & Tamina Snuka)

Where you've got the current women's champion, the first Smackdown women's champion and Charlotte, the 5-time champion on your side, the odds of losing seem slim. The Welcoming Committee need a boost and this feud needs to be establishing these guys as legitimate heels as the Smackdown women's division has lost Alexa Bliss in exchange for Charlotte who seems to have/be turning face. They've got victories over the good guys recently, but they won't be getting one on the big stage.

Prediction: Naomi, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch

Shinsuke Nakamura v Dolph Ziggler

Shinsuke is in the same situation as Tye Dillinger, in fact they were both called up on the same day. This will be Shinsuke's first match on the main roster, and there's no way he's losing it. Dolph has been picked as his opponent as he is one of the hardest workers in the game and will hopefully make Nakamura's first match on Smackdown as good as Sami Zayn helped make his first NXT match a match of the year contender.

Prediction: Shinsuke Nakamura

Sami Zayn v Baron Corbin

I must have lost the build up to this almost entirely. Baron Corbin has been on the ascent over the last year whereas Sami Zayn has been middling. I think there will come a point when Sami Zayn gets a big victory or two to catapult him into the main event. I don't think this is that point.

Prediction: Baron Cobin

Luke Harper v Eric Rowan

Luke Harper will win and needs to move on from the Wyatt family feud and truly establish himself as a singles competitor.

Prediction: Luke Harper

Smackdown Tag Team Championship:
The Usos (c) v Breezango

I really want Breezango to win this. Both of these guys have been underused since their debuts. Prince Pretty was so over in NXT despite never winning a championship and got squashed when he was called up to the main roster. Fandango was so over, the fans love singing his music along. These guys have got a great fun gimmick. The only question is whether they will be serious enough to legitimately threaten the Usos who are deadly serious at the moment. The obvious choice for the Usos opponents was American Alpha but Breezango took the opportunity offered to them to step up. The Usos are just smashing through the tag team division at the moment. I have to go with my brain and not my heart and say that the Usos will retain here. The money match is surely The New Day v The Usos. Breezango are therefore probably just stop gap opponents.

Prediction: The Usos

United States Championship:
Kevin Owens (c) v AJ Styles

At Survivor Series last year, these guys were the champions of their respective brands leading their team into the Raw v Smackdown headline match. We weren't given a full on confrontation between the two of them. Now they've been relegated to fighting for this lesser title but we get to see that confrontation. Both these guys have been excellent, but Kevin Owens I think is slightly better and as a prize fighter needs the legitimacy of a prize to be a truly great heel right now, especially after his loss in seconds to Goldberg. This should be an excellent match, though with Styles coming close.

Prediction: Kevin Owens

WWE Championship Match:
Randy Orton (c) v Jinder Mahal

So, Jinder's ascent has been attributed to the fact that WWE are attempting to expand into India. He's got himself some backup in the form of the former Bollywood Boys and is getting pushed hard. Putting the belt on him is only something that would happen on Smackdown. Orton has not needed a title in ages to be a legitimate threat in such a long time it's ridiculous. Putting the belt on Mahal with some assistance from the Bollywood Boys is exactly what I think they would do in this situation. It might not be pretty, the fans might not like it but in the land of opportunity, these things happen.

Prediction: Jinder Mahal

Preview: NXT Takeover Chicago 20 May 2017

NXT Takeovers seem to be getting a bit more frequent this year, and this is no bad thing. There are storylines which have been lending themselves to marquee match payoffs. This is a slightly early preview so the card may change slightly based on this week's NXT. There are only title matches on the card at the moment and a few of NXT's bigger stars such as Roderick Strong or Eric Young might sneak onto the card.

WWE United Kingdom Championship:
Tyler Bate (c) v Pete Dunne

This is the first time the title has been defended on PPV. They haven't announced yet when the weekly UK show will start, but I think a change of title here might help to increase the anticipation for it. Dunne was possibly the favourite for January's UK Championship and one of the biggest names. I expect the bruiserweight to come off on top here and claim the title.

Prediction: Pete Dunne

NXT Women's Championship: 
Asuka (c) v Ruby Riot v Nikki Cross

The last time Asuka was in a multi-superstar match, I predicted that she would drop the title as she could do so without being pinned and therefore without looking too weak. It didn't happen, but the logic still holds. With Ember Moon, the likely heir to Asuka's title being injured, Nikki Cross is the obvious choice as the more experienced of her opponents. However, I think they might hold back on that to let Ember Moon be the one to take the belt from Asuka when she returns from her injury, as she was so close to victory at the last takeover.

Prediction: Asuka

NXT Tag Team Championship:
Authors of Pain (c) v #DIY

I don't see any reason for AOP to drop the titles here. The dudes are machines and running over #DIY again will just help to cement them as the monsters at the top of the division. I thought the three way with these guys and The Revival was great but that was partly due to the fact that DIY and The Revival have great chemistry. The two of them together couldn't beat AOP so I don't expect DIY to do it on their own.

Prediction: Authors of Pain

NXT Championship:
Bobby Roode (c) v Hideo Itami 

Hideo Itami has got the credentials to be an NXT champion. Most of the recent champions have made it big elsewhere before coming to NXT and rising to the top. Roode hasn't had a long reign yet and dropping the title so soon would be a great shock. Which is why I think it will probably happen. An upset Roode out for revenge will make an interesting storyline.

Prediction: Itami

Here comes the money...

As Money in the Bank is coming up, I thought I'd take a look through all the previous MITB matches in preparation.

The Money in the Bank match was conceived by Chris Jericho although this hasn't helped him as despite appearing in 5 matches, he has yet to grab the briefcase. Only Christian and Kofi Kingston have appeared in the match more times (6 each) without winning it.

To win the match, a competitor must ascend a ladder and grab the briefcase which is hanging down from the top of the arena. Inside the briefcase is a contract for a championship match which can be cashed in at any time within the next year. Most often this has happened when the champion has just taken a beating in a long title defence or been otherwise ambushed, giving the holder of the briefcase a distinct advantage.

On a couple of rare occasions, the holder will announce in advance the time and location that they wish to cash in the briefcase. Rob Van Dam did this when he won the second ever MITB match in 2006. He challenged John Cena to a match at the ECW One Night Stand event which gave him a distinct advantage as it made him the unanimous crowd favourite. This was my favourite ever cash in.

Another instance of the match being announced in advance was when Cena himself cashed in against CM Punk in 2012. He looked like he was going to cash in on Monday Night Raw before he announced he would be doing so on the 1000th episode. Having no advantage, it was a fair fight and Cena became the first man to unsuccessfully cash in the briefcase.

He didn't have to wait for someone else to join him for this dubious honour as Damian Sandow attempted to cash in against Cena himself the following year. Despite Cena being hurt from Hell in a Cell the previous night and battling with one arm, Sandow unfortunately doesn't capture the belt.

Another of my favourite cash-ins was when Seth Rollins interrupted the Roman Reigns v Brock Lesnar match at Wrestlemania to make it a triple threat match. It was one of the most innovative cash ins and made perfect storyline sense and perfectly fitted in with Rollins character at the time.

As for the match itself, it often seems to eschew the dynamics of regular matches in favour of pure action. This is the selling point of the match, although when there are a larger number of competitors, it does become a bit messy.

The matches are usually fun, although they suffer from the problem that all ladder matches suffer from, which is that there has to be some near victory moments to make it exciting. These moments are often made less exciting as the wrestler atop the ladder often has to fumble and dawdle to ensure that they are not successful while they wait for an opponent to come and stop them from gaining the prize. However as there are a large number of competitors in the MITB matches, it might be not as awkward as in 1 on 1 matches.

Intercontinental Champion and/or US champion are usually invited to the match if they are eligible, although they have never managed to win the briefcase. The winners can probably be divided into two categories - those who aren't at main event status but who use the briefcase to catapult themselves to that level and those who are already main event level but could do with being made into an effective number 1 contender. This makes the matches hard to call, assuming that they get a good combination of competitors.

Here are my thoughts on all the matches and cash ins as I watched them.

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Chris Jericho v Chris Benoit v Christian v Shelton Benjamin v Edge v Kane 

Wrestlemania 21 3 April 2005 Winner: Edge Rating: 9/10

This match is just spot after spot after spot. This is an extremely well orchestrated match, with Edge getting heat for coming in and stealing the victory from Benoit who'd just opened up the stitches on his forehead from doing a diving headbutt onto Kane from the top of the ladder. My favourite spot is when Edge and Christian do a ladder version of the conchairto. The match is full of excitement and it really makes all the competitors in the match look good.

Cash in: v John Cena
New Year's Revolution, January 8 2006
Result: Successful

Edge had fought Ric Flair for the Intercontinental Championship earlier in the evening which Flair won when Edge got disqualified for attacking him with the Money in the Bank briefcase when he got Lita in the figure-four leglock. Cena had just lasted 28 minutes in an elimination chamber match to retain his WWE Championship and had a crimson mask. Vince appeared just after the match had finished to announce that the night was not over and that Edge was cashing in. I guess as it's the first instance of this happening, there was a need for a lot of exposition. The match lasts just 1 minute 46 seconds with Cena getting no offence in as Edge attacks with punches, kicks and 2 spears to become WWE Champion for the first time.

Matt Hardy v Shelton Benjamin v Finlay v Rob Van Dam v Bobby Lashley v Ric Flair 

Wrestlemania 22 2 April 2006 Winner: Rob Van Dam Rating: 8/10

This match contains the biggest bump that I've seen the 57-year old Flair take at any point in his career when Matt Hardy suplexes him from the top of a ladder. Shelton Benjamin is the only man who competed in last year's match and you can see why they wanted him in this match for his amazing athleticism for a few great spots. RVD is clearly the fan favourite here, with several chants throughout the match and he has the biggest moment of the match when he hits a frogsplash from the top of the ladder.

Cash in: v John Cena
ECW One Night Stand, 11 June 2006
Result: Successful

Cena had a lot longer to prepare for this cash in as RVD announced in advance when he would be cashing in the match. This is an extreme rules match in an environment that is very hostile to Cena, with the crowd repeatedly chanting "Fuck you Cena" at the start of the match. WWE had decided to bring back the ECW brand full-time and the event is at the Hammersmith Ballroom where previous ECW events had been held. It works really well that RVD would chose this to be where he cashes in and Cena is definitely the heel in this match up. After two referee's are knocked out, Paul Heyman comes in to count the pinfall. This is a really enjoyable match with a nice dynamic.

Jeff Hardy v King Booker v Finlay v CM Punk v Mr Kennedy v Matt Hardy v Randy Orton v Edge

Wrestlemania 23

1 April 2007

Winner: Mr Kennedy

Rating: 7/10

It's very difficult to do storytelling when there are this many competitors in a match. They do a good job of it here though, with former tag team partners and rivals comprising over half of the competitors. The Hardys work together to take out Edge when Jeff legdrops him from a ladder in the ring through a ladder on the outside causing Edge to be taken away by medical staff on a stretcher. The spots are spread out rather than being spat out like a machine gun as they were in the first Money in the Bank match. 

This match has the cutest moment in any of the matches yet when with everyone else down except Finlay but with him unable to climb the ladder, Hornswoggle comes out and attempts to climb the ladder for Finlay.

Match for the Briefcase: v Edge

Monday Night Raw, 7 May 2007

Mr Kennedy had announced that he would be cashing in the briefcase at Wrestlemania 24. Edge goaded Mr Kennedy into defending the briefcase in a one on one match up. Edge jumps Kennedy before the match starts and launches a vicious attack. He rolls him into the ring and after a confrontation with the referee, the match actually starts when Edge hits a spear and takes the victory.

Cash in: v The Undertaker

Smackdown, 11 May 2007

Result: Successful

The Undertaker had just defended his world championship against Batista inside a steel cage in a match that lasted around 20 minutes. The match had ended in controversy when both men climbed out of the cage with their feet hitting the floor around the same time. The crowd weren't too happy with the result being announced as a draw so the Undertaker retains the title. Mark Henry then comes out and beats up a beaten and bloody 'Taker which again the crowd do not respond well to. As Henry is leaving, Edge's music hits and he cashes in the briefcase. Edge goes straight for a cover which 'Taker kicks out of. He does another with again a kick out. The Undertaker tries to sit up but falls over. The Phenom pulls himself to his feet only for Edge to hit a spear and get the victory.

In reality, what had happened was that both The Undertaker and Mr Kennedy had suffered injuries and Edge the ultimate opportunist was called in to take both the MITB briefcase and also the title within the space of a week. 

Carlito v Shelton Benjamin v Chris Jericho v MVP v John Morrison v CM Punk v Mr Kennedy

Wrestlemania 24

30 March 2008

Winner: CM Punk
Rating: 9/10

This match really benefits from the presence of Jericho, as well as the fact there are three champions in the match (Jericho - Intercontinental, MVP - US, Morrision - Tag Team). As the veteran who came up with the idea for the match in the first place, it seems that Jericho contributed to making this match a great one. There are a number of great spots, including a lion tamer on the ladder and Shelton Benjamin doing a sunset flip from one ladder which resulted in a double suplex.

The pace of the match works well, you can tell it is heading towards a finish. Whilst most of the guys in this match would never reach main event status, between them they put on a great spectacle.

MVP looks like he's won the match until Matt Hardy runs out and delivers a twist of fate from the top of the ladder.

CM Punk wins with Jericho trapped in the ladder which is excellent as all too often, a wrestler has to dilly dally at the top of the ladder while they wait for someone to come stop them claiming the briefcase. This was a nice alternative to that.

Cash in: v Edge
Raw, 30 June 2008
Result: Successful

Raw starts with Jim Ross giving a farewell speech in his home state as he moves to Smackdown. Edge interrupts and insults him before getting his cronies to escort JR out of the ring. He continues a typical heel speech, which focuses on the fact that Raw currently has no world title. As he leaves the ring, he is attacked by Batista who leaves him beaten and as he leaves CM Punk runs to the ring with a referee and starts the match. The best bit is Punk getting upset that it is taking them so long to ring the bell and tapping on his imaginary watch. He hits the GTS and gets the pinfall to bring the title back to Raw. Punk is goaded into defending the title against JBL later in the night where he retains when JBL is distracted by the arrival of John Cena and Primetime.

Christian v MVP v Shelton Benjamin v Kane v Mark Henry v CM Punk v Kofi Kingston v Finlay
Wrestlemania 25
5 April 2009
Winner: CM Punk
Rating: 7/10

There seem to be a few guys who are stalwarts of this match, with a number of these guys having competed in it previously. You have a couple of great athletes in this match in Shelton Benjamin and Kofi Kingston and whilst they have a couple of great spots, you feel that it could have been better. The two big guys don't really seem to gel with the rest of them and whilst the match is enjoyable, it doesn't reach the heights of previous matches.

This match didn't set the world alight, it almost seemed like they were trying a bit too hard in places. You do have to feel for Shelton Benjamin who has performed consistently well in four Money in the Bank matches and has two of the best spots in this match, but yet always comes up short.

Cash in: v Jeff Hardy
Extreme Rules, 7 June 2009
Result: Successful

After a really good ladder match in which he takes the title from Edge, Jeff Hardy is about to be interviewed by JR when Punk's music hits. He hits a GTS which Hardy kicks out from, the match continues with Jeff getting a pinfall attempt but a second GTS gets the pinfall and the title for Punk. You do feel a bit sorry for Hardy whose match with Edge was really well worked, with it building and building until Edge is trapped within the ladder allowing Hardy to look him straight in the eyes as he unhooks the belt.

Kofi Kingston v MVP v Evan Bourne v Jack Swagger v Shelton Benjamin v Matt Hardy v Dolph Ziggler v Drew McIntyre v Kane v Christian 
Wrestlemania 26
28 March 2010
Winner: Jack Swagger
Rating: 5/10

There are just too many competitors in this match. Ten guys means it's just too difficult to really have a consistent narrative or any one dominant superstar. There are a couple of cool spots, most notably Kofi Kingston using a broken ladder like a pair of stilts, but there really isn't enough here to keep you interested in the match as it goes on. In order to have just a few superstars fighting in the ring at one time, you need majority of the other competitors to be "hurt" outside of the ring and this becomes less believable the more competitors there are. The ebb and flow of other MITB matches is much better than this match and it really doesn't set the ring alight.

Cash in: v Chris Jericho
Smackdown, 2 April 2010
Result: Successful

On the first Smackdown after Wrestlemania, Jericho opens the show to gloat about how he'd beaten Royal Rumble winner Edge at 'Mania. Jericho refuses a rematch and Edge takes him out. With Jericho lying on the floor, Edge is leaving but is knocked out by a briefcase wielding Swagger who then gets on the mic and demands a ref comes down to the ring so that he can cash in his contract. The ref takes a while to make it to the ring and when he does, he spends time clearing the ring and checking on Jericho before ringing the bell, although that delay doesn't allow Jericho any recovery time as Swagger hits one move for the victory.

Kofi Kingston v Dolph Ziggler v Christian v "Dashing" Cody Rhodes v Matt Hardy v Drew McIntyre v Kane v Big Show
Money in the Bank 2010
18 July 2010
Winner: Kane
Rating: 7/10

Just over 3 months after the last MITB match at Wrestlemania, the match gets it's own pay per view, with two matches for briefcases on the show. And yet they still manage to get eight competitors into each one. The ring clears at the start of the match, leaving the Big Show to attempt to climb the ladder but the rungs break underneath his weight, leaving him at a distinct disadvantage in the match. It's meant to make him look heavy but all it really does it make the ladders look flimsy. He does have his own reinforced ladder underneath the ring which weighs more than Kane. He struggles to get it into the ring and the crowd gets behind him as he eventually manages to do so.

Kofi channels the spirit of Jeff Hardy and does a leg drop on Drew McIntyre from a ladder through a table. This is the highlight although there is a lot of action towards the end of this match.

Cash in: v Rey Mysterio
Money in the Bank 2010, 18 July 2010
Result: Successful

Kane waited just 50 minutes to cash in his money in the bank contract. Rey Mysterio had defeated Jack Swagger but was attacked after the match with Swagger focussing on Mysterio's injured ankle. Kane comes out and chases Swagger off, ostensibly for being involved in an attack on the Undertaker. When they go backstage, Mysterio starts celebrating his victory again before Kane's music hits. The match involves just a chokeslam and a tombstone for Kane to get the victory.

Randy Orton v The Miz v Mark Henry v Ted DiBiase Jr v John Morrison v Chris Jericho v Edge v Evan Bourne 
Money in the Bank 2010
18 July 2010
Winner: The Miz
Rating: 5/10

A few of the spots in this match seem to be designed simply to be things that hadn't been seen before and aren't really highlights. They also seem contrived and don't fit into the flow of the match. The most unusual part of this match is when Maryse tries to climb the ladder for Ted DiBiase Jr. Other bits are just varying uses of ladders as weapons and nothing is really innovative.

The Miz, as US Champion, becomes the first reigning champion to successfully grab the briefcase.

Cash in: v Randy Orton
Raw, 22 November 2010
Result: Successful

Randy Orton appeared for a title defence against Wade Barrett and Nexus ran him from behind to leave him looking like he would be unable to compete. The match eventually began but with the Raw GM declaring that Nexus were banned from ringside. Barrett hits wasteland and is about to win when the "fired" Cena pulls the ref out and hits the AA before being chased from the arena by Nexus with Orton then getting the victory. Miz's music hits with Orton looking exhausted and he runs down to the ring with his minion. Miz attacks the knee that Nexus injured and the match isn't as quick as many of the cash-ins.


Smackdown: Sin Cara v Wade Barrett v Justin Gabriel v Sheamus v Cody Rhodes v Heath Slater v Daniel Bryan v Kane
Money in the Bank 2011
17 July 2011
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Rating: 5/10

There wasn't too much to hold my attention here. It kept drifting. The match wasn't poor quality but I found myself not caring too much. I think this is partly due to the fact that the brand split and the fact that they try to throw a large number of guys into these matches distills them too much. You don't have as much quality. Knowing where these guys are now means that for me there were only three guys that could possibly have won this and two of those were not going to be interesting winners.

There we big spots - Sheamus putting Sin Cara through a ladder who then got taken out by medical staff. Justin Gabriel doing a somersault splash from a ladder propped between the ropes but I just didn't really get into it. One of the highlights was the three former members of The Corre teaming up and then it looking like they were going to let Barrett go to the top of the ladder before they turned on him.

Daniel Bryan deserved the victory but was not being sold by the commentators as a winner and then when he got it, they didn't sell it as much of an upset as perhaps they should have done. Maybe I just wasn't really in the right mood for this. I should probably rewatch this.

Cash in: v Mark Henry

TLC, 18 December 2011
Result: Successful

Bryan had announced he would only cash in at Wrestlemania but had actually attempted to cash it in on Smackdown previously against Mark Henry although never actually did so. The Big Show had just defeated Mark Henry in a chairs match which whilst it officially lasted five and a half minutes was largely devoid of action as the start of the match involved The Big Show spending time throwing numerous chairs into the ring before Henry left the ring and tried to walk away.  Big Show wins but sells that he's damaged his hand, and Henry also attacks him after the match, leaving him lying on a bed of steel chairs. The crowd chant for Bryan and he runs down to cash in. The match was the shortest cash in match yet as it literally only involved a pin. Bryan then celebrates in Michael Cole's face as he's been naysaying for a while. Bryan celebrates outside the ring with Show looking upset inside the ring, having lost his title after winning a world championship for the first time in 9 years.

Raw: Alberto Del Rio v Kofi Kingston v Jack Swagger v Evan Bourne v R-Truth v Alex Riley v The Miz v Rey Mysterio 
Money in the Bank 2011
17 July 2011
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Rating: 7/10

Every competitor brings a ladder into the ring with them which is an interesting approach to start the bout.These are then mostly thrown at The Miz who apparently had taken out most of these guys with ladders earlier in the week. There are a few nicer spots in this match than in the Raw match, with Evan Bourne hitting air bourne from the top of a full size ladder, and lots of these guys adapting their moves neatly to involve a ladder, including a 619 from Mysterio. There was also a point when all seven competitors (the Miz had been taken out the back by medical staff after falling when he was hanging off the briefcase) were at the top of a ladder attempting to grab the swinging briefcase. Mysterio looks to win as he is attacking Del Rio with the briefcase to attempt to knock him off the ladder but Del Rio rips Mysterio's mask off as they both fall from the ladder before Del Rio climbs back up to claim the briefcase.

Cash in: v CM Punk
Summerslam, 14 August 2011
Result: Successful

Del Rio actually attempted to cash the briefcase later the same day after CM Punk beat Cena and was leaving the company as champion. Punk hit Del Rio with a kick before that could happen, leaving the company with the title.

CM Punk just defeated John Cena in controversial circumstances with special guest referee Triple H not seeing Cena's foot on the ropes. While Punk is celebrating, Kevin Nash returns to the company and takes him out for Alberto Del Rio to run in, kick Punk in the head and take the pinfall and the undisputed title.

World Heavyweight Championship: Dolph Ziggler v Santino Marella v Cody Rhodes v Damien Sandow v Tyson Kidd v Sin Cara v Tensai v Christian

Money in the Bank 2012
15 July 2015
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Rating: 7/10

There's a nice mix of wrestlers in here and it makes for an interesting match up. There are great bits with Christian and Sandow jumping over each other to climb the ladder, Vicky Guerrero climbing to distract Cody Rhodes, Santino being too scared of heights to climb the ladder quickly enough. Sin Cara got slammed into a ladder for the second year running. Poor guy. The pace of this match is well designed, with the action getting faster and more intense and dangerous as it went on.

Cash in: v Alberto Del Rio
Raw, 8 April 2013
Result: Successful

Ziggler had attempted to cash in the contract several times and had to defend the briefcase twice as well, before he was finally able to cash in against Del Rio. Alberto Del Rio was in a handicap match against Jack Swagger and Zeb Coulter  The match actually ended with a victory for Del Rio with Coulter never entering the ring, but he was struggling with an injured ankle from the patriot lock. Medical staff attend to Del Rio as Ziggler comes down to the ring accompanied by Big E and AJ Lee with the crowd going wild. Ziggler goes straight for the leg. Del Rio manages to survive a fameasser and actually manages a bit of offence but both his injured and Ziggler prove too much for him.

WWE Championship: Kane v Chris Jericho v The Miz v The Big Show v John Cena
Money in the Bank 2012

15 July 2012
Winner: John Cena
Rating: 8/10

For the first time, a Money In The Bank match headlined the show, over two title matches. and it seems obvious why. It's a much more star studded MITB match than we have seen before, with all five of these guys being former world champions and two of them having previously won a MITB match. It's also a much smaller field and they haven't padded it out with midcarders. Every clash between competitors feels big and important. Cena hits an AA on the Big Show through a table and all the competitors bury him under ladders. Other spots don't feel as big but they are all exciting and have a sense of importance due to the quality of all these wrestlers. The commentators oversell Big Show's reinforced ladder which we have seen before and to be honest, I was expecting to see, otherwise it ruled him out as a potential winner.  The ending works well, as Jericho and the Miz literally fight over the briefcase, with Jericho swinging back and forth whilst holding onto it, and Cena taking the victory when he attacks The Big Show with the briefcase and it breaks off.

Cash in: v CM Punk
Raw, 23 July 2012
Result: Unsuccessful

Cena had appeared on the previous week's Raw during the match between CM Punk and the Big Show. It looked as though Cena was going to cash in then and Big Show stood aside to let Cena do it but Cena just announced that he would be cashing in on the 1000th episode of Raw, so for the first time since RVD cashed in against Cena, we get a fully pre-planned match. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler claim that it has never happened before. They clearly don't know their history.

The match is quite enjoyable. Cena hits the AA but the ref had been knocked down previously so doesn't get count the pinfall. Big Show who apparently had been upset at Cena (despite standing aside last week) came in and hit a spear and a knock-out punch, leaving Cena on the floor for Punk looking conflicted and trying to revive the referee.

Cena kicks out of an easy pinfall and gets Punk in the STF only for Big Show to come in and attack Cena to give him a victory by disqualification leaving Punk to retain his title. Show keeps attacking Cena with Punk watching on, forcing The Rock to run in for the save. Punk gets some heat when he attacks The People's Champ to stop him hitting the People's Elbow on the Big Show before sending Rocky to sleep.

This seems to start a Punk heel turn to set up for a match against The Rock at the Royal Rumble several month's later.


World Heavyweight: Fandango v Dean Ambrose v Jack Swagger v Antonio Cesaro v Damien Sandow v Cody Rhodes v Wade Barrett
Money In The Bank 2013
14 July 2013
Winner: Damien Sandow
Rating: 8/10

Surely Swagger and Cesaro as the Real Americans or Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow as Team Rhodes Scholars would have a distinct advantage in this match as tag team partners.

Ambrose is one of the stars of this match and the only one who is really at a main event level now. At the time all of these guys are real mid-carders. There are some innovative ways that they try to reach the briefcase in this match, including Ambrose being trapped in the ladder and then climbing onto the top of it as it's held by the Real Americans and then Cesaro say on Swagger's shoulders attempting to maneuver and reach it.

With no obvious winner, this match is really quite enjoyable. Cody Rhodes looks to be about to win when The Shield run in and make the save for Ambrose before they are chased off by the Usos. Rhodes pushes Ambrose off the top of the ladder in the ring onto the Shield, The Usos and The Real Americans outside the ring, and is about to win again when Sandow pushes him off the ladder to take the briefcase.

Cash in: v John Cena
Raw, 28 October 2013
Result: Unsuccessful

John Cena cuts a slightly heelish promo and Sandow interrupts him with his custom briefcase. Cena is already hurt from Hell in a Cell and Sandow says that Cena is just fronting because he's afraid that Sandow will cash in his contract, which he teases before attacking Cena with the briefcase before launching a full out assault and then actually cashing in.

This match does go on for a reasonable length of time, and is a reasonable match as well, although I can't help but feel that Damien Sandow was shafted. This article on The Bleacher Report pretty much sums up why it was a mistake not to give Sandow the belt.

Cena has a wounded arm, went through Hell in a Cell the night before and suffered an assault before the match, yet gets the victory. This doesn't really accomplish anything other than reinforce Cena's superman image and hindering Sandow's career. Sandow has recently left WWE and - as with Mr Kennedy - had he successfully cashed in the MITB contract, you wonder if his career would have had a different trajectory and if he would still be in the WWE.

WWE Championship: RVD v Christian v Daniel Bryan v Randy Orton v Sheamus v CM Punk
Money In The Bank 2013
14 July 2013
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: 8/10

Again this match is the headline match and it shows the split between the prestige of the two titles that the WWE Championship match has a whole bunch of main eventers competing for the belt whereas the World Heavyweight match is stacked with midcarders.

The crowd love RVD and start chanting for him which just encourages the other five men to attack him straight way. This match is really full of action and it is well spaced which keeps your interest sustained throughout the match. These are some of the guys at the top of their game giving a really polished performance.

There are a couple of times when it looks like someone will win until there is interference. Bryan is about to win when Curtis Axel stops him, and then CM Punk is about to grab the briefcase before Paul Heyman turns on him. This is easily one of the better MITB matches.

Cash in: v Daniel Bryan
Summerslam 2013, 18 August 2013
Result: Successful

John Cena picked his future brother-in-law Daniel Bryan as his opponent for his title defence at Summerslam. Triple H is the special guest referee for the match. With Bryan's rising popularity, he is definitely the crowd favourite for this match with the crowd almost treating Cena as the heel. These two guys are two of the best, with a lot of experience and they put on a really well worked match. It might be one of my favourites. I'm not sure why Triple H is there, though. He doesn't do anything that a regular referee wouldn't do, other than loiter around in the ring far too long. That is until the cash in.

Bryan gets to celebrate for a good few minutes before Orton's music hits, he walks to the ring and raises his briefcase before turning around. Triple H then hits the pedigree on Bryan, Orton cashes in and the length of the match is the same as the length of the three count.

World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins v RVD v Jack Swagger v Dolph Ziggler v Kofi Kingston v Dean Ambrose
Money In The Bank 2014
29 June 2014
Winner: Seth Rollins
Rating: 9/10

When you've got RVD, Kofi & Ambrose in a match, you know that crazy stuff is going to go down. This match doesn't disappoint. Some of the best moments are when  Swagger powerbombs RVD from half way up the ladder, Ambrose suplexes Rollins from the top and Kofi back bodydrops Rollins through a ladder that he'd made into a bridge.

Ambrose has a should injury which is a work. It means he is taken to the back which makes for a massive pop when he comes back and uses the chair to seemingly take Rollins out and attempts to climb the ladder with one arm before Kane comes out to attempt to pull him off which raises the excitement until he successfully pulls Ambrose off the ladder and hits a chokeslam and a tombstone on Ambrose before holding the ladder for Rollins to climb.

This match is pretty much pure excitement throughout and easily one of the best MITB matches.

With Daniel Bryan unable to compete, the WWE Championship did not have a Money In the Bank match but instead a ladder match for the title.

Cash in: v Brock Lesnar & Roman Reigns 
Wrestlemania 31, 29 March 2015

Watching this back, it's interesting to see that the boos for Roman Reigns started earlier than I had thought. This must have been partly due to his victory at the Royal Rumble when the fans wanted Daniel Bryan to win, or at least to be in the match.

Brock hits a suplex and an F5 in the first 30 seconds and it looks like the match is over, however he doesn't go for the cover and instead opts to punish Reigns. He continues to dominate, coins the phrase "Suplex City" and hits a second and a third F5 but Reigns kicks out of both.

Reigns does start to fight back a bit, largely because Lesnar gets cut open and he hits a number of spears and Superman punches. Lesnar hits a fourth F5 when Rollins music hits and he runs down to the ring with the briefcase. The use of the briefcase to turn the match into a triple threat is a great way to get the belt from Lesnar without making him look weak or take a pinfall.

Randy Orton v Neville v Kane v Dolph Ziggler v Kofi Kingston v Sheamus v Roman Reigns 
Money In The Bank 2015
14 June 2015
Winner: Sheamus
Rating: 4/10

Randy Orton seems to hit an RKO on everybody, including one where he pulls Neville off the ladder straight into one. It's really odd seeing the New Day as heels. When Big E and Xavier Woods come in to help Kofi when everyone else is down, they get booed, with the crowd chanting "New Day Sucks" before Reigns takes them both out before powerbombing Kofi over the ropes into a crowd of men.

Michael Cole asks "Is it Roman Reigns' time?" despite the fact that he'd been pushed like anything recently. Reigns is about to take the victory before Bray Wyatt comes in to stop him grabbing the case, to which the crowd chant "Yes! Yes!" Bray later makes his infamous "Anyone but you, Roman" speech but the result of his interference is that Sheamus is able to sneak into an empty ring and grab the briefcase after fighting off Neville quickly.

This match is really quite weak in comparison to other matches.

Cash in: v Roman Reigns
Survivor Series 2015, November 22 2015

Reigns and Ambrose had beaten Alberto Del Rio and Kevin Owens respectively earlier in the night to progress to the final of a tournament for the WWE Championship which was vacated by Seth Rollins due to injury. It was interesting that Roman Reigns was getting a better reception from that fans than he had at Money In the Bank.

As these guys had both fought earlier in the evening, it wasn't a long match. It also makes sense that Sheamus would cash in the briefcase after this match as whoever the winner was, they would have fought two opponents already that evening. The Reigns v Ambrose match isn't great. Ambrose leaves the ring to Reigns to celebrate as confetti comes down and Triple H even comes out to congratulate him but Reigns refuses to shake his hand and instead spears Helmsley. He turns round into a brogue kick from Sheamus. After a second one, Sheamus gets the pinfall and the title and hugs from Triple H.

Chris Jericho v Cesaro v Sami Zayn v Alberto Del Rio v Kevin Owens v Dean Ambrose
Money In The Bank 2016
19 June 2016
Winner: Dean Ambrose

Rating: 5/10

This seems like the right number of competitors to me, rather than the massive matches that we have had previously. All the guys get to have a moment of dominance and to get in their trademark moves. 

There is a ladder contraption set up in the ring but in terms of bumps, there is not too much in this match, although Alberto Del Rio does a stomp from the top through a ladder and Sami Zayn is powerbombed through one. There's not much destruction and it actually feels quite tame compared to other matches.

Cash in: v Seth Rollins

Money In The Bank 2016
19 June 2016

Ambrose cashes in later that evening after Seth Rollins has defeated Roman Reigns for the title. There are just 57 minutes between Ambrose winning the belt and cashing in the contract.

Reigns v Rollins match is quite good. There are a few sequences with big moves and you don't know which way it's going to go. After Rollins victory, Ambrose's music hits and Seth gets ready for him coming down the ramp but Ambrose sneaks up behind him and clocks him with the briefcase.

The match is just Ambrose hitting dirty deeds and getting the pinfall. I remember being excited as this is exactly what I wanted to happen at this show.