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WWE Money In The Bank 2019 Preview/Predictions
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
The poster of this event is a microcosm of the problems that plague the main roster – the illusion that two’s better than one.
In a panicked reaction to low ratings, Vince McMahon introduced (in a half-assed manner, mind you) the “Wild Card Rule,” where four superstars from Raw could appear on SmackDown and vice versa. McMahon messed up the promo to explain it and then managed to break his own made-up rule as five superstars from SmackDown appeared on that very Raw.
Since its forgettable introduction, it has actually made Raw and SmackDown feel like the same show, with Elias, Roman Reigns, Shane McMahon, The Miz and The Usos being most of the “Wild Cards.”
We’ll get into the bigger problems later, but Money In The Bank comes at a time when the main roster needs unpredictability and luckily, the briefcase holders can contribute a bit of that to their respective Title pictures.
WWE Money In The Bank 2016 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
When the words “Money In The Bank” are uttered within earshot of a wrestling fan, few things will come to mind.
Edge’s opportunistic cash-ins, the chaos itself of the MITB ladder match, past winners and probably the easiest tie to the phrase – 2011 – when CM Punk shocked the world and “left” the company with the WWE Championship after a money match with John Cena.
MITB has become a tradition itself and what does one do with tradition? They carry it on with new generations.
What happens when “The New Era” (wink, wink) collides with this concept?
Thanks to a tightly packed uppercard with three WrestleMania-worthy matches and a crazy ending, it was easily high on the list for Pay-Per-View of the Year.
Calling it the “Greatest MITB in history” before the show even streamed live was a bold statement, but one that could be hard to argue.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown! 6/16/16: Pardon The Interruption
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 6/16/16)
Pardon The Interruption
– The opening “Highlight Reel” segment with Chris Jericho, Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Alberto Del Rio, Cesaro and Sami Zayn had obvious Money In The Bank hype implications with a keen mix of light-hearted spilled coffee comedy via Ambrose and over-the-top fashion sense from Jericho (who bragged about his new Jeri-Tron 6500 and $20,000 carpet made out of one-hundred percent serengeti yak hair) while also keeping the tensions high between Cesaro/Zayn and Owens/Del Rio. Jericho reminded us how much he hated Ambrose with thumbtacks and lite-brite jackets coming to mind. It was expected that Ambrose would spill the coffee onto the set and Jericho’s crazed reaction was priceless. The physicality to end it made sense, as we knew headed in there’d be a six-man tag with the MITB competitors. Decent segment to fill time (a common SmackDown! problem) but this was all things we already knew.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 6/13/16: Same Ring, Same Time
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 6/13/16)
Same Ring, Same Time
– Obviously, it made sense to open with the appropriate moment of silence for the Orlando shooting victims, just like Slammiversary did.
Notes In Observance – WWE SmackDown 6/9/16: Momentum In The Bank
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at then bottom of the post.
(Aired 6/9/16)
Momentum In The Bank
– The opening in-ring segment with The Club and Enzo Amore/Big Cass solidly hyped for the fatal four-way Tag Title match at Money In The Bank, which would involve Luke Gallows/Karl Anderson, Enzo/Cass, The Vaudevillains and WWE World Tag Team Champions The New Day. We also had AJ Styles talk up his big match with John Cena and sold it as “bigger than WrestleMania” to an extent. He also threw in some good heel logic when he mentioned that it was time for a change and the “New Era” didn’t truly start until he took out Cena, which was his plan all along. Enzo/Cass delivered their lines nicely for the most part, even if they spun their wheels a bit on the material. Did like how Gallows/Anderson sold their global credibility, while Enzo/Cass had “Mr. Clean Dream Team” as a retort. Gallows may have even threw a rhyme down there. Overall, a decent interaction that set up the match to follow.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 6/6/16: Holla, Holla, Holla
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 6/6/16)
Holla, Holla, Holla
– The opening in-ring segment with Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, Teddy Long, Stephanie McMahon and Alberto Del Rio was an obvious ploy to hype the Money In The Bank ladder match. On one hand, it worked as an entertaining comedic segment with unique banter from all involved. On the other, the visuals were silly. Why would they open the show with everyone standing on a ladder so vulnerable? How did they get to that point? It would’ve made more sense had Steph forced them to do so, rather than have it organically come off that way. They just looked downright silly. We liked that everyone’s lines stayed true to their characters. Owens name-dropped Nation Of Domination and Waylon Mercy as challengers he’d take on as WWE World Heavyweight Champion. This made our heart flutter. The back-and-forth between Zayn and Jericho on Jericho’s claim to have won the first or sixth MITB match was funny, even though Jericho looked like a dope for how he stood on the ladder and let Ambrose climb it and punch him in the face. Long’s appeal lasted about two minutes, since he was made to look like an incompetent old man. We got this was likely the first of many authority figure teases for the live SmackDown, while we seen Steph show her true self with Shane “on vacation.” With her announcement of the Zayn-Del Rio, Ambrose-Owens and Jericho-Cesaro matches, we had something to easily look forward to throughout the night.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 5/30/16: A Day To Remember
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 5/30/16)
A Day To Remember
– It seemed like Creative went into the first segment with no idea what to do, so they threw out Shane, Stephanie McMahon and WWE World Tag Team Champions The New Day to kill time and address SmackDown’s move to Tuesdays on Jul. 19 when it’ll go live via a “brand extension.” The thing about this was that it merely glossed over what many fans already knew when the show started. We got hints of Shane’s desire to run things himself and Stephanie’s attempts to steal the spotlight. New Day was over with the crowd, but even their material didn’t gather life here. They’re the World Tag Team Champions, why would they get split up if they’re active Champions? Was it also a good idea to establish that Shane/Steph hadn’t “made decisions” that regarded the brands yet? No worries, because a silly dance contest would fill up the rest of the time, because a Shane twerk was definitely on our bucket list. Luckily, The Vaudevillains came out before Steph could bust her move and it was back to business. What a dud that was.
Notes In Observance – WWE Raw 5/23/16: Professional Separation
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 5/23/16)
Professional Separation
– Fresh off Extreme Rules, the main event scene was about to transition from “The Club vs. The Bloodline” to what WWE originally had planned for Survivor Series – WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns against Seth Rollins. The story has surprise now, with Rollins in a return role from injury, out to get the belt he never lost. Of course, Reigns was now “the guy” instead of the “good guy” he was back in November. That said, it’d be key to see the follow-up from the end of Extreme Rules, where Reigns feigned off a fiery AJ Styles to retain the gold when Rollins dropped him with a friendly Pedigree.
Cesaro – The Real “Money In The Bank”
Courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Anthony Zevoteck
The six-foot-five, 232-pound Cesaro debuted on WWE television in April 2012. For those of us who knew of him in his time in the indies with companies like Ring Of Honor. Chikara Pro and Combat Zone Wrestling, we knew we were getting an exciting main event-level superstar.
When he successfully won the United States Championship that August from Santino Marella, we rejoiced in a fairly talented newcomer holding a then-dying Championship.
After having the belt for an impressive 239 days, Cesaro lost it to Kofi Kingston and once that happened, everything seemed to slow down.
Three years, an inaugural Andre The Giant Battle Royale Trophy, a failed Paul Heyman endorsement and a Tag Team Championship reign later, Cesaro seems to have improved one-hundred percent… at least in the fans’ point of view.
WWE Money In The Bank 2015 Reaction
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
* Graphic by Emmanuel Gonzalez *
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Don’t take this old adage the wrong way.
As far as this show is concerned, WWE Creative took some daring steps to shake things up in certain areas, while coming up short in others.
Needless to say, if you’re not leaving this show amazed at the Kevin Owens-John Cena rematch or the main event ladder match, what kind of fan are you?
Let’s get into things, shall we?
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