WWE Money In The Bank 2011

Image Source: Sports Keeda

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: July 17 2011
Location: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Attendance: 14,815

For this week's retro event review, the focus turns to a more recent classic: Money In The Bank 2011. On this night, there were two great MITB Ladder matches, a very good World Title bout and a tremendous main event which had a brilliant build-up, a red-hot crowd and positioned CM Punk as a permanent main eventer.

The card kicked off with the SmackDown Money In The Bank match which involved Wade Barrett, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, Daniel Bryan, Sheamus, Kane, Sin Cara and Cody Rhodes. There was no real favourite but plenty of viable contenders and, with a good blend of talent and styles, there were plenty of big moments, the most notable being a Sheamus powerbomb through a horizontal ladder to Cara, who left the match afterwards (this was the cover story for a suspension), and a very risky 450 Splash by Gabriel off a horizontal ladder. In the end, Daniel Bryan emerged as something of an unexpected winner, which went down a treat with the hardcore Chicago fans. The show had kicked off with a bang.

Kelly Kelly vs. Brie Bella wasn't very notable to be honest, with Kelly winning in the usual Divas time allocation (i.e. not much time) to retain her Divas Title. Big Show vs. Mark Henry was a slow but watchable affair; Henry won by a clean pinfall after two World's Strongest Slams and, in the aftermath, he crushed Show's ankle to seemingly put him on the shelf too. Meanwhile, Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis were having no luck in getting CM Punk to sign a new WWE contract prior to the main event; more on that later.

The card went into high gear again with the Raw MITB match, which involved Alberto Del Rio, The Miz, Rey Mysterio, Alex Riley, R-Truth, Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger and Kofi Kingston. This was very exciting, albeit a shade lower than the SmackDown bout, although it did feature the stunt of the night: a death-defying Air Bourne off a ringside ladder onto the participants. Miz appeared to be the third injury casualty of the night after a nasty fall but he valiantly returned to big cheers (why did a heel do this?). Actually, another awkward fall prevented Del Rio (who was definitely the favourite in this one) from winning after he unmasked Mysterio; an unexpected ladder collision saw ADR drop hazardously. Still, he rebounded by climbing right back up and securing the Raw briefcase to a positive reaction. Del Rio would successfully cash in just a month later at SummerSlam, whereas his blue brand counterpart Bryan, after hinting that he would wait until WrestleMania XXVIII to cash in, would end up doing it at TLC in December.

The penultimate match saw the continuation of a classic in-ring rivalry between Randy Orton and Christian. The action was as good as ever between these two here, although the bout was built not around the wrestling action, but on the stipulation that if Orton was disqualified, he would lose the World Heavyweight Championship. That he did, for that very reason, as Christian spat at Orton and the Viper, in retaliation, pummelled Christian to the point that the referee was waylaid and had to punish the champ. Christian was the new titleholder, although his celebration didn't last long: Orton continued destroying Captain Charisma, and the beating culminated in two RKO's by an animated Orton on the announcer's table. Incidentally, the crowd initially booed Orton here, but were on his side by the end for acting like an enraged lunatic rather than a goody two-shoes. Either way, another great entry in the best rivalry of 2011.

Then came the main event between CM Punk and John Cena for the WWE Championship. What a back-story this had: Punk's contract was expiring, for real, and Punk planned to leave WWE, for real. In the meantime, Punk earned a WWE Title shot at MITB, which was not only in his hometown of Chicago, but would be held the day that his contract expired. Even at this point, though, it was only a slightly intriguing boost to the top-liner.

But then on June 27, Punk cut his infamous "Pipe Bomb" promo which cut through most people that he referenced, and positioned him as a rebel who craved the idea of leaving WWE in a mess by walking out with the title. Storyline developments saw Vince suspend Punk, only to reinstate him at Cena's request, leading Vince to put John's job at stake too. The pre-MITB Raw saw a very engaging, realistic "contract negotiation" between Punk and McMahon, which Cena would eventually end by decking CM with a punch, and the segment closed with Punk tearing up the revised contract. That Punk was genuinely leaving and that the build-up intertwined with reality so much created a great deal of anticipation for this match, and the promised atmosphere only elevated it even more. But people wondered: would Punk really win and potentially leave WWE as the Champ?

Punk was greeted with an almighty roar and booming chants of "CM Punk!" by his hometown crowd. Cena received thunderous boos, although he did have some fans in attendance (including a Cena impersonator humorously sat on the front row). The Chicago crowd is often cited as one of the best, and this all-time great match atmosphere was a perfect reason why.

The match started slowly with lock-ups and chain wrestling, but it soon accelerated. There were plenty of big moves: a tope by Punk, a brutal knee to the jaw (which did connect) by the challenger and even a top rope hurricanrana from Punk. Cena retaliated with a very close call via the STF, and not one or even two Attitude Adjustments could polish Punk off. Meanwhile, the commentators reminded viewers of the gravity of the stipulation, and how damaging it could potentially be if Punk won and left with the title. All before a white-hot crowd and with over 30 minutes in duration, this was becoming an exceptional main event.

Following an admittedly weak GTS by CM to John, McMahon and Laurinaitis came out with the intention of screwing Punk Montreal-style if the opportunity provided itself. When Cena locked Punk back in the STF, Vince ordered "Big Johnny" to do just that, only for Cena to release the hold and thump Laurinaitis in the face, giving him a black eye in the process, as he told Vince that the match wouldn't end like that. Unfortunately for him, he re-entered the ring to receive another GTS by Punk, who pinned Cena to win the WWE Title to a huge ovation! Post-match, Vince ordered Del Rio to cash in MITB on CM, but Punk repelled the attempt with a kick and left through the crowd with the title in hand, sarcastically blowing a kiss to a stunned Vince as he seemingly left WWE as the Champ.

The next week in WWE was rather eventful: Vince announced a tournament to crown a new Champ and his intentions to fire Cena, only for a returning Triple H to unveil himself as COO and announce that Vince was "relieved of his duties" (which would later be quietly forgotten). Meanwhile, Punk crashed Comic Con with the title in his possession, and on Raw the following Monday, Rey Mysterio became the new Champ, but would later lose it to Cena, only for Punk to then return with the crown. I'll look at this situation when reviewing SummerSlam 2011, the following PPV, in the near future.

As for MITB 2011, though, that match was an unforgettable end to an incredible night of action. The two Ladder matches were both great, the World Title bout was gripping and the main event was outstanding for several reasons, and though some won't admit it, this was not a one-man show by Punk as Cena also delivered a strong performance. The wider storyline surrounding the main event and rabid crowd elevated the show as a whole into all-time great category. In hindsight, it didn't have the historical impact that some hoped as the groundbreaking Punk storyline quickly and disappointingly fizzled out, but as a one-off show in the context of the time period it was held in, Money In The Bank 2011 will always be remembered as one of the best WWE Pay-Per-View events of this decade.

Overall Rating: 9.5/10 - Classic