I wrote this live at thejohnreport.net tonight. I am NOT doing play by play of the matches. I am doing updates. I'll hit the key stuff as best I can as well as provide analysis, star ratings, final thoughts and the three stars of the night.

WWE Money in the Bank
Kansas City, Missouri
July 18, 2010

It's so weird not hearing Jim Ross in the WWE opening video package. Instead we get Michael Cole telling us it's electric. What a thrill. Like usual the video package promoting the PPV is epic. It's probably the best thing WWE does.

The announcers are Cole, Lawler & Striker. Looks like Smackdown's Money in the Bank match coming up first.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match for Smackdown: Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Christian, Cody Rhodes, Matt Hardy, Drew McIntyre, Kane & Big Show
The winner gets a title shot at the World Champion on Smackdown any time they want over the course of one year. My pick's Kofi Kingston although I'm not sure about that one. On the polls I set up in the preview after over 1,500 votes (you can only vote once) the results were Christian with 36%, McIntyre with 27% and Kingston with 12% in third. Michael Cole's pick is Christian because it's his fourth one. I want Christian to win, but that's code for saying it's not happening. The worst theme music in the match? Cody Rhodes. You're second worst now, Dolph.

The match started with seven guys attacking Big Show. He cleared house. By the way, the ring posts are green because that's the color of the briefcase. Show went to get his ladder and everybody went after him on the floor, injuring him. Nice slingshot by Drew on Christian that sent him into a ladder. They had a great match on Smackdown this past week, by the way. Crowd is popping pretty huge for Matt Hardy, who is working with a shirt on like his usual of late. Ziggler and Christian got their hands on it while fighting at the top of the ladder. They're putting over the Christian/Hardy rivalry pretty well. Nice sandwich by Matt & Christian using ladders on Kane. Six minutes in they've had Matt & Christian carry the match, which likely means neither one is winning. Ha. Big Show was getting up and Cody threw Christian off the ladder right into him. Good way to book Big Show without having him do anything. We're at 7 minutes now.

It was time for McIntyre to take over, so he cleared everybody out. He was ready to climb when Kane pulled him out. Kane cleared off the monitors on both announce table. Remember the days of the "Spanish Table" chant? Good times. No tables were broken yet. Kingston came out, knocked out McIntyre on the Spanish Table and climbed a ladder high up. What did he do? The Boom Drop double legdrop on McIntyre through the announce table!! Wow! Ouch, man. Great spot though. That makes it unlikely that either of those guys is going to win. Ziggler went to climb and Big Show stopped him with a chokeslam. Christian and Hardy teamed up on Show, but the big guy countered them with a splash onto a ladder while they were underneath it. That looks painful. Big Show pulled out his giant ladder from under the ring.

The ladder is huge and he's having trouble bringing it in. The crowd was cheering him on. He pulled it through the middle of the ropes. The ladder, if you didn't see it, is black and gold. It's double wide to hold more weight. They say it can hold up to a ton of humanity. Show set it up. Cody snuck in and hit him in the ankle with a ladder, which is a nice move because Show hurt his ankle against Swagger a few weeks back. Cody went to climb, but Ziggler put him down with the Electric Chair. Show chopped Ziggler down. He sold the ankle fairly well. Hey, Kofi's up now. He did a springboard onto the side of the ladder. Show went after him, so Kofi dropped him with a lovely DDT. Cody gave him a dropkick off the top rope that was awesome looking. Then he delivered a Cross Rhodes on a ladder. Ziggler gave Rhodes a Zig Zag into a ladder. Cody has taken a lot of bumps on the back of the head in this match. We're at the 20 minute mark now. Big Show's the only one standing in the ring again.

Big Show was near the top of the ladder. Kane showed up, tipped it over and Show went over the top to the floor. That was so awkward looking. Then to top it off they literally threw ladders onto show. There were six ladders on Show by the end of it. There was a chase between Cody, Kofi, Christian, Matt Hardy and Kane. Kane took them all out. Dolph showed up and climbed over the back of Kane. Sleeper, but Kane countered. Kane threw Dolph out and Dolph's legs got caught in the ropes, so Kane chucked him off the top and went into the ladders that Show were burying Show. Ouch. Painful looking bump. On the floor, Kane chokeslammed Kingston onto the ladders that were covering Show. Cody tried to ran away from Kane. Kane chased him and threw him head first into the armored Money in the Bank truck. Now it's Kane, Hardy and Christian. Matt and Christian did a double powerbomb off the ladder onto Kane. Matt and Christian are climbing the big ladder. They are both on the top of the ladder. And they both go down.

Who is left? Drew McIntyre. Remember he was taken out by Kofi Kingston about ten minutes ago. And here's Kane too. Kane throws him off. He grabs the briefcase. Kane wins in 26 minutes.
Winner: Kane

Analysis: **** I'm pretty sure it's the longest Money in the Bank match. It was slow at times, but it was generally well booked. I'm not thrilled with the decision of Kane going over because they could have used this chance to give a push to somebody new. Instead, it's a character that's been in the company for 13 years. They really did a good job of making him look strong through the match because he was destroying people. I just wish somebody else got the win. What does Kane do next? Have some vegetables. BTW, percent of people that voted for Kane to win in my MITB polls? Only 3%.

Backstage, Sheamus basically admitted that The Nexus was a threat to everybody including himself. He says he didn't want Cena to have excuses tonight, which is why he helped him last week. He has zero respect for Cena because he hasn't had accolades for beating Cena. He says Cena likes to make fun of him and that the people probably like it, but their opinion doesn't matter to him. He says he'll give Cena a beating worse than anything The Nexus could do.

Divas Title: Alicia Fox vs. Eve
Eve comes out first. Crowd isn't very loud here. Lawler: "China, here we come!" He meant the country, not the wrestler. Promise. Eve went to the middle rope for something and Alicia pulled her off by her feet. I like Alicia. I'm not a huge fan of Eve. She's just…boring. I dunno how else to say it. Forearms to the back by Alicia. Nice tilt a whirl backbreaker by Alicia. And she goes to a second submission/rest hold. Eve countered with a monkey flip that didn't look too good. Dropkicks by Eve that weren't as bad as her usual. Eve gets a boot to the face and a moonsault for two. The crowd is dead for this match. Seriously quiet. Eve does a flip off the middle rope, but Alicia gets her feet up. Axe kick for Alicia. Can you dig it sucka? That's all after 6 minutes.
Winner: Alicia Fox

Analysis: * The push of Alicia continues. The story told was Alicia worked on her back, Eve came back, missed her opportunity to win and it ultimately cost her the match. At least it's nice to have a little psychology even in a match so short. The crowd didn't care too much, though.

We got a video package from last week's SD when Kane went after Jack's dad and Jack didn't help.

Jack's on the phone talking to his mom apparently. Tells her to shut up. I love when they film people having phone convos. He says he didn't help his dad because he knows his dad would react the same way as him by not helping.

Unified Tag Titles: The Hart Dynasty vs. The Usos
I'm going with THD to retain. Their run has been good so far, but it needs to continue as they continue to develop tag teams. DH Smith started the match, Tyson came in with a blind tag and hit an awesome hurricanrana. The heels worked on DH early, which is surprising because usually Tyson's the one that gets beat on. That was a nice whip into the corner by the Usos in a Umaga like splash in the corner. Cole said it's like Rikishi. Nope, it's the Umaga move. RIP Umaga. Three minutes in, hot tag time already. Natalya's doing a good job of keeping the crowd interested. That's why you have people at ringside, WWE. It helps the flow of matches. Nice belly to belly throw by DH Smith to get the hot tag.

Tyson Kidd comes in. He's one of my favorites because he's so quick and his offense is so crisp all the time. Blind tag by the Usos, back drop into the Samoan Drop…love that spot. They are calling it the "Ally Oos" apparently. Superfly splash is blocked. Tag to DH Smith, who goes for the Sharpshooter. Tamina on the ropes, Natalya with a nice bodyslam on the floor. DH with the Sharpshooter on Jimmy, Tyson takes out Jey and Jimmy taps out clean. The match went about 6 minutes.
Winners: The Hart Dynasty

Analysis: ** It was very good for the six minutes they got. I wish they got more time because their chemistry is really good. The announcers really put over the win, which makes me think they'll be getting a bigger push going forward. I'm not sure what team they will feud with next.

Long video package to set up Swagger vs. Mysterio, which highlights the ankle injury that Rey is suffering from.

World Heavyweight Championship: Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger
They put over Rey having a "grade two tear of his left tibia" which means a sprained ankle basically. "He is the World Champion, Rey Mysterio." They can't say heavyweight champion with Rey. Swagger went for the ankle lock early. Rey got out. Nice seated senton splash by Rey off the top onto the floor. He's grabbing his knee, which is a chronic injury he has. He's had many surgeries on that knee. Rey went up top again. Swagger countered with a top rope belly to belly. That's another Kurt Angle move. Rest hold on the knee. I need a bathroom break. Sorry fellas. I tried to time it for the divas match. I disappoint myself.

I missed about four minutes. Swagger was still in control. Top rope powerslam by Swagger…countered into a swinging DDT for Rey for a great nearfall as we hit the 9 minute match. That was a great spot. Rey hits 619. Springboard into the hurricanrana is countered into ankle lock on the left ankle. Rey gets the ropes. Vader Bomb x2 for Jack. Wow, speaking of Kurt Angle they stole a spot from Angle/Guerrero at WM20. Jack had him in the ankle lock, Rey's boot comes off and he wins with a hurricanrana. The match gets 11 minutes.
Winner: Rey Mysterio

Analysis: **1/4 This was the obvious winner. Rey just got the belt, so you knew he'd be retaining here. It was a decent match that should have got about 15-18 minutes. World title matches should get more time. I wish they gave a shit about Smackdown.

Post match, Jack attacked him with the ankle lock. Rey's tapping. Here's Kane. No briefcase, though. He beats Swagger up the aisle. And now Kane comes out with the MITB briefcase.

World Championship: Rey Mysterio vs. Kane
Kane hits a chokeslam 30 seconds in. No cover. Tombstone. And now he pins him. That's it.
Winner: Kane

Analysis: No rating because it was so short. Seven times the briefcase has been cashed in and seven times there's been a new champion. Striker put over Kane's genius for doing it while Lawler said it wasn't fair. The crowd did pop for it pretty well. Rey's title reign was officially worse this time than the last time. Who knew that would be possible. Big night for Kane, though. This veggie angle has revived his career. His first World Title reign since June 1998, when he held it for a day.

It's Edge and Jericho talking backstage. I'm having a Canadagasm. The usual from them. They're both heels, but they're not buddies.

Women's Title: Layla vs. Kelly Kelly
I guess they want to get all the Smackdown matches out of the way before the two big Raw ones. Tiffany's out with Kelly while Michelle is with Layla. I'm not expecting this to get more than 5 minutes. Kelly was walking the apron, so Layla pulled the ring apron out and Kelly sold a leg injury. That's a Finlay spot. He's the guy that helps the divas formulate their matches, in case you didn't know. Layla dropkicked Kelly out of the ring and she went face first into McCool. Insert Undertaker joke here? Nah. Let's move on. Kelly took care of McCool and got control back in the ring. At least the crowd is more awake for this one. Kelly hit the K2, the rocker dropper, without setting it up very well. Michelle put Layla's foot on the ropes. Double clothesline on Michelle. Kelly jumps onto Layla off the ropes and Layla counters with a pinfall for the win at 5 minutes.
Winner: Layla

Analysis: * It was fine for what it was. There weren't too many holds and Michelle was so involved that it almost felt like a tag match. Layla retains because the divas roster on Smackdown is so thin. What else are they gonna do? "Now I know why I watch Smackdown with the sound muted," says Lawler. That was his response to Striker's UK accent towards Layla. I doubt he watches SD.

They did a recap of the Smackdown MITB as a preview for the Raw one.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match for Raw: Randy Orton, The Miz, Mark Henry, Ted Dibiase, John Morrison, Chris Jericho, Evan Bourne & Edge
The voting results for this one in my poll was The Miz with 47%, Orton with 15% and then Bourne at 9%. Mark Henry got 1.6% of the vote! If Mark wins I will sign my columns as Joanna for the next week. Maryse is looking lovely in a short red dress. Fine looking woman! They put over how Jericho came up with the match concept and that Edge has the most experience. He also has the most injuries probably because of matchups like this. Twice he cashed in the briefcase, but he didn't win the match twice. He just beat Kennedy for it once. And here we go starting at 9:47pmET

The crowd is pretty hot, chanting "RKO" very early. Nice dropkick by Bourne onto Dibiase, who was holding a ladder. My pick, The Miz, threw Bourne out of there. "There's the Thrillseeker, Chris Jericho," says Matt. That's the name of Jericho's old tag team with Lance Storm. Good job Matt. Wow, nice enziguri by Bourne to Jericho who then went face first into a ladder. That was sweet. Cole just said "Apex Predator" for Orton, who did his DDT off a ladder rung like he does off the ropes. Morrison took Orton out. Morrison sent Miz & Dibiase into ladders consecutively. Four guys were climbing on separate ladders, all of them getting close. Mark Henry shoved them all off in a cool spot. More shots of Maryse please. She goes into the ring, slips off her heels and sets up a ladder to climb because everybody else is on the floor. She didn't climb high enough to even touch it. Morrison took her down gently. Dibiase went to climb and Maryse bailed to the floor. That was funny at least. We're 9 minutes in.

There was a cool spot with Edge sliding Morrison through the ropes. He hung him there, had Miz help him slam a ladder into him and then he hit Miz in the head with a ladder! Ha. Edge is great. Sick bump by Morrison onto another ladder. At one point Dibiase hit Orton with a ladder and Randy grabbed his knee right away. Didn't look like a spot where he would grab the knee, so hopefully it's not serious. Kool-Aid Henry did some power spots, taking care of Dibiase, Jericho & Miz in succession. Henry climbed, Bourne hopped on his back and went to climb. There's Orton back up looking okay. World's Strongest Slam on Bourne on the floor, then Morrison with the flying kick, Jericho hits him with a Codebreaker and Edge spears him. See ya Mizark. Back in, a climb fest going on. They're not even under the briefcase. They set up a scaffold. Dibiase's on it, Edge & Orton slide him off and he goes all the way out to the floor by the announce table. RKO on Edge. Jericho knocks Orton out and he climbs up with Morrison. Jericho gets his leg stuck in the ladder. Orton pulls down Morrison, hits an RKO on him and Bourne hits Air Bourne right on Orton. Perfect timing. That was awesome. Bourne has the briefcase. He can't unhook it. Jericho gets out of his predicament to stop him. Briefcase to the head of Bourne. Awesome. We're 18 minutes in.

Edge climbs up to prevent Jericho from getting the case. Jericho yells "COME ON!" at the swinging briefcase. Edge knocks Jericho down, he's dropping and he drops right into a sick RKO! Damn. That was pretty. Orton is all alone in the ring. The crowd is going nuts for him. He's close. There's The Miz. Orton gets knocked off, his head hitting the top rope. Miz climbs up. Cole is cheering him on. The Miz gets it! Yes. It was a 20 minute match.
Winner: The Miz

Analysis: ***3/4 It was a good match although a notch below the Smackdown one. It was also shorter than that one. I still liked it a lot. The RKO on Jericho was the highlight of the match for me. Evan Bourne was pretty great too. I was hoping for more from Morrison, but they seem to hate him these days. I'm glad Miz won. He deserved it. He's the right guy to win. And I'm happy for the guy because he's worked his ass off to get there. Good for The Miz, I say. And good for WWE in booking him to win.

Post match, The Miz cut a promo saying we're all living in his moment. "I MADE IT!" He says. He made believers of all the critics, he says. "Get a good hard look at the man with the briefcase. I am Mr. Money in the Bank. I am a future WWE Champion. Me! Me! Cuz I'm the Miz and I'm awesome." He said it in a SERIOUS VOICE~! rather than his more enthusiastic tone.

They plugged Criss Angel's Mindfreak show twice during the PPV. Lawler of course LOVES it. Of course he does. So does Cole. Those guys should be infomercials.

We got a video showing Summerslam for next month. It's in Los Angeles.

WWE Title Steel Cage: Sheamus vs. John Cena
We got the long video package with plenty of Nexus featured in it. I don't like WWE Steel cage matches. I think they should only end via escape the cage. By having the rules be that as well as pinfall/submission you're not utilizing the reason for having the cage. The cage needs to be the selling point. By having pins/subs you're making it like other matches we see all the time. They need to change that. I would make it climbing out of the cage ONLY too. Not even the door because why wouldn't somebody just run out if they could? Escape over the top should be the only way to end it. But that's just me. I guess it should have made my 20 Ideas column because it's something I've been saying for years.

I'm expecting a slow paced match here. That's what these two always do. The crowd is chanting for both guys although it's not that raucous or anything. They did go nuts for a punch fest, though, so that was pretty cool. Five minutes in, lots of cover attempts. The door is padlocked by the way. Sheamus goes to climb up, Cena meets him and hits a superplex for two. If that was Barry Windham in 1989 that was the end of the match. I always think of Windham when I see superplexes. There have been a lot of nearfalls. Why not just walk out the door? Isn't that the easiest win? See, that's why I hate the stips to cage matches. You have to throw your brain out the window too much. Sleeper by Sheamus? Dolph Ziggler is pissed! Maybe. Probably not. Ha, Striker says Sheamus was talking to Ziggler earlier in the day as a way to put it over as strategy. We're at 10 minutes.

How does Cena counter the sleeper? By climbing out of the ring. Yes, it really happened. Sheamus let it go, clipped his knee and covered again. They have been going for pins a lot here. Vintage Cena offense with the shoulderblocks, the side suplex and the five knuckle shuffle. They have barely used the cage as a weapon. Somebody might bleed, ya know? Cena rammed his head into the cage and Sheamus fell back. Cena could have climbed. No. He missed a fist drop off the top. Cena's bleeding under the right eyebrow. Stop the match and call a medic! Now! I'm offended by the blood. Not really. Sheamus ties Cena up in the ropes. He punches him in the head relentlessly. Why not just WALK OUT THE DOOR? Instead, he climbs right over Cena. Right on cue SuperCena gets out. Bulldog off the top gets two. Sheamus with the Irish Curse backbreaker gives him the momentum. Pump kick gets two.

Sheamus goes to climb. Attitude Adjustment by Cena. He covers right away and Sheamus kicks out at two. I knew Cena wasn't winning, but that was surprising that he'd kick out of the AA clean. Here comes The Nexus. They have bolt cutters. The ref takes it away. They want the key. The ref tosses it into the crowd. In ring, ref gets bumped into the cage. Cena puts him into the STF. Sheamus taps. Nobody's there to see it. Cena goes to climb out. There's Justin Gabriel to fight him at the top. Cena throws him into the ring. But I thought there was no way anybody couldn't get in. Sheamus gets up, climbs the other side of the ring and gets out first. Only Slater went after him. The other guys went after Cena and Sheamus was able to win due to that distraction. Match was 22 minutes.
Winner: Sheamus

Post match, Sheamus bailed through the crowd while Cena beat the shit out of Tarver. He told them he'd take them all out. Yeah, you showed them John. This was done to send the crowd home happy even after a Cena loss.

Analysis: **1/2 The match was okay. Not great. They booked it so that it looked like Cena had the win with the STF except the ref bump prevented that from happening. This is what I had in the preview: "Cena will get to the door, he’ll try to leave and Nexus will show up to greet him. Cue a cage slamming to the head. That will allow Sheamus to escape the other side of the cage for the win. How else can they book it so that Sheamus retains while Cena doesn’t lose in a clean manner? Seems possible to me." I was wrong about the cage slamming. Ended up being the attack on the side of the cage. Same sort of thing, though. Predictable booking, yet that's what they do with Cena. He never looks weak.

At least this PPV went off 10 minutes before the top of the third hour rather than 30 minutes before the hour like the last one.

-----------

Three Stars of the Show
1. The Miz – Well deserved.
2. Kane – He really showed a lot of energy all night.
3. My rant on cage matches. Yep, I deserve it.

The two Money in the Bank matches delivered in terms of being long matches that had plenty of action. I have the SD one at four stars and the Raw one a quarter rating below that, so they are about the same to me. I'm shocked that they booked Kane to win while I'm happy that Miz got the win on Raw. That was well deserved on his part.

The Kane title win was pretty huge. I didn't see it coming. I know that despite all the ridiculous angles he's been a part of over the years there are a of Kane fans (Kanenites?) out there. It can be argued that he deserved more than one World Title run in his career. Good for him, I say. He's a loyal employee that got rewarded.

The main event was fine. They protect Cena so much that it gets annoying sometimes. This was one of those nights because you knew exactly what was coming.

6.5 out of 10 – Watch the two MITB matches, which took up about 45 minutes total. The rest is decent, but not great or anything. A solid PPV overall.

Thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow night with The Raw Deal.

John Canton - john@thejohnreport.net
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