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

BEST MATCH – MONEY IN THE BANK CONTRACT LADDER MATCH

Just an awesome example of WWE-style wrestling. This had a ton of spots (kept relatively safe), and an underlying storyline of Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins as the focal point of the match. I thought that Ambrose was really good in particular, and I'm looking forward to what should be a stellar series of matches between the two as we move into the second half of 2014. I've heard people that were infuriated by the ending of Kane helping Rollins win the briefcase, but I disagree. They're heels. You're supposed to be infuriated.

I believe the booking of all three members of The Shield following their break-up has been very good. Ambrose seemed to falter at first, but has found his groove as a singles star, Rollins is walking a perfect line of smug hell and fear of Ambrose, and Roman Reigns (more on him later) is going to main-event WrestleMania at some point. That aside, this ladder match was one of my favorite matches of the year thus far.

WORST MATCH – LAYLA VS. SUMMER RAE

I get it. There is A LOT of television time to fill up in a given week. But what purpose does this storyline serve? Who cared about this match? Aren't they all heels? Does anybody, at all, care about who ends up happy? I have no idea what this is.

BIGGEST SURPRISE – CENA WINS!

Regular readers of my humble column know that I am a John Cena fan, so this didn't bother me at all. Having said that, after the release of the Summerslam poster (by the WWE themselves, no less) that featured Cena vs. Lesnar in the main event, it felt like a foregone conclusion that Cena would win the title. So much so, that I assumed it was a red herring. Not so, as Cena scaled the ladder to win his 15th(!) World title. This was good ladder match, not great like the first one of the night, and the crowd actually seemed into Cena's win (for one night, anyways). The first Cena vs. Lesnar match is one of my favorite matches of the last decade, so I have high hopes for a re-match in August with the title on the line (providing Battleground doesn't throw a wrench in the works).

BEST MOVE – INSANE ROLLINS BUMP

Rollins took a fall from one ladder to another via backdrop, which caused him to then bounce off and hit his head. Apparently he was fine (relatively), but a great visual in a terrific match.

BEST MATCH FINISH – LADDER MATCH FOR THE WWE TITLE

Sometimes the "obvious" path is the way to go. Cena should have won here, as my hope is he loses the title to Brock at Summerslam, leading to a WrestleMania main event of Roman Reigns vs. Lesnar for the title. We'll see.....

OTHER THOUGHTS

- Rob Van Dam looked great in the contract ladder match; he was as motivated as I've seen since his latest return.

- The Usos and The Wyatts had a very, very good tag match to open the show. If not for the contract ladder match, this would have been the match of the night for me. Seek it out.

- Paige vs. Naomi. It was okay. The general storytelling in this division continues to be an afterthought. Perhaps with A.J. Lee returning the next night, something bigger is planned for the rest of the summer.

- Adam Rose vs. Damien Sandow. Total filler. I'm done with the Rose gimmick. Sure, he's giving it his all, but I have no idea what the point of it is.

- Big E. and Rusev had a good TV match. It seems that the company has big plans for Rusev. This most likely means more Lana, so thumbs up here.

- Goldust/Stardust vs. Rybaxel. Again, there's a lot of TV time to fill. But I'm not sure The Dust Brothers are going to become much more than they are now, and as for Rybaxel? Well, a history lesson: On the night Curtis Axel "debuted," he was the new "Paul Heyman Guy" and started a feud with TRIPLE H, culminating in a main event where Triple H could not continue. Also, Ryback was once in the main event of Hell in a Cell against C.M. Punk in a match where most thought he would become the champion. Imagine those two scenarios now.

WHAT IT'LL BE REMEMBERED FOR

The third wrestling pay-per-view in a great June for wrestling fans. Slammiversary was a welcome return to form for TNA after a disastrous start to the year, ROH presented a highly entertaining "Best In The World" live cable PPV debut, then WWE capped it off with a very good Money in the Bank show. It seems to be a set up for a big Summerslam (at this point at least, Battleground seems like it's just in the way), but with feuds like Cena-Lesnar, Wyatt-Jericho, Reigns-Hunter, and Ambrose-Rollins to look forward to, this is a fun time to follow WWE's product. I recommend the show.

UPDATED 2014 PPV EVALUATION RANKINGS

1 - WWE WRESTLEMANIA XXX (2014-04-06)
2 - WWE PAYBACK (2014-01-06)
3 - ROH BEST IN THE WORLD (2014-06-22)
4 - WWE MONEY IN THE BANK (2014-06-29)
5 - WWE EXTREME RULES (2014-05-04)
6 - TNA SLAMMIVERSARY (2014-06-15)
7 - WWE ELIMINATION CHAMBER (2014-02-23)
8 - WWE ROYAL RUMBLE (2014-01-26)
9 - TNA LOCKDOWN (2014-03-09)
10 - TNA SACRIFICE (2014-04-27)

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