WWE Money in the Bank PPV Evaluation 7/14
By Nathan Kyght, PWTorch PPV specialist

BEST MATCH – RAW LADDER MATCH

This was an excellent match, although definitely brutal. Sheamus's fall through the ladder was particularly hard to watch (and the evidence he posted on Twitter of an obscenely swollen leg proved it), and adding in the factor of a returning RVD, I'm glad this went on last. Randy Orton winning was a surprise (unless you're a certain Reddit writer, apparently). I also liked Paul Heyman finally turning on C.M. Punk to set up the match with Brock Lesnar at Summerslam. And, regardless of whether you think Heyman smashing Punk's head in the ladder was accidental, or Punk threw himself in the way, the blood was a dramatic image to start the feud. Well done, all around.

WORST MATCH – A.J. LEE VS. KAITLYN

They had a terrific first match, but this one felt like a struggle. The crowd wasn't much into it either (maybe like myself, they can't tell if Kaitlyn is a babyface or not). This one was just there.

BIGGEST SURPRISE – SANDOWN & ORTON

I thought going in that maybe Dean Ambrose, who has been great, would get the World Title MITB victory. And Daniel Bryan all but seemed a lock. Perhaps that's why they went this route, though. And now that Daniel Bryan is main-eventing Summerslam, I guess it doesn't much matter anyway. Two great ladder matches to book-end the show, regardless.

BIGGEST LETDOWN – BRAD MADDOX SEGMENT

OOF. This would have cringe-worthy on Raw, and yet here we are paying for it. These "comedy" segments are excruciating.

BEST QUOTE – PAUL HEYMAN

I get why they had Heyman ejected from Curtis Axel's corner in Philly, and yeah, it was a bit of a short-change at the time, but you have to love the indignancy as Heyman stated his case: "I'm Paul Heyman!" Yeah, you are.

BEST MOVE – SHEAMUS

I guess it wasn't so much a move, as just gravity being cruel, but Sheamus's fall looked incredibly painful. I stepped down wrong off a ladder once and turned an ankle and lost my mind.

BEST MATCH FINISH – SMACKDOWN MITB

Cody Rhodes! Cody Rhodes! Co-....oh. Sandow taking out his "best friend" set up a fun summer feud, and was a nice surprise to kick things off.

OTHER THOUGHTS

- The Shield had a great match on the pre-show with the Usos, which I'm sure you can find on YouTube. For the past few months, these matches have actually been very well done.

- Having the contestants for the Smackdown ladder match begin to enter the ring before the pay-per-view started was an easy, yet effective hook for any last-minute buys.

- Chris Jericho still looked great, but the match with Ryback wasn't up to much. They tried, though.

- John Cena and Mark Henry had a much better match than I expected, although the finish was never in doubt. I'm glad it didn't go on last, though.

WHAT IT’LL BE REMEMBERED FOR

Two very good ladder matches, and the start of Punk vs. Heyman's Guys. This was a fun show.

UPDATED 2013 PPV EVALUATION RANKINGS

1 - WWE PAYBACK (2013-06-16)
2 - WWE WRESTLEMANIA XXIX (2013-04-07)
3 – TNA SLAMMIVERSARY (2013-06-02)
4 - WWE MONEY IN THE BANK (2013-07-14)
4 - WWE ROYAL RUMBLE (2013-01-27)
5 - TNA LOCKDOWN (2013-03-10)
6 - WWE EXTREME RULES (2013-05-19)
7 - WWE ELIMINATION CHAMBER (2013-02-17)
8 – TNA GENESIS (2013-01-13)

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