MITB Ladder matches- the good and the awful.

[AegonTargaryen]

I was watching MITB 2014 the other day to serve as amusement during my meal(I don't have a TV and the only things I can watch are downloaded stuff or wrestling promos on youtube).

I watched the MITB match for the contract first, obviously because that match preceded the main event MITB ladder match for the vacant WWE WHC.
I haven't really watched MITB matches from 2013, or many others in the past, simply on account of my decreased interest in wrestling and the lack of "specialty" because every other Joe had seemed to be thrown into those matches. (The Miz, for instance).

The match consisted of Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, Rob Van Dam, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins (I hope I haven't forgotten anyone else) and was amazingly choreographed and executed from start to end. I think Rob Van Dam was the best showman of the match in offence and Seth Rollins the best showman when it came to taking the most amount of falls on ladders and beatings. The match was coherent and told a story- Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. The only anticlimactic aspect was Kane's direct involvement in Seth's ascension to the ladder and withdrawal of the briefcase. Excellent match nonetheless.

Then I watched the second MITB match . With 8 huge stars and 5 former champions, it felt like the match should've had only 6 candidates and I really felt like Sheamus wasn't needed in it, nor Alberto Del Rio. It's awful how indifferent the audience was during Sheamus' entrance but then what has that fella done that would make one want to cheer or boo him! ? To sum it up, the match was everything that is Anti-Ladder match and Un-entertaining, unless you liked the Roman Reigns grimaces and John Cena's usual lousily done 5-knuckle shuffle. I understand that all these guys are super heavyweights and not really showmans such as Rob Van Dam and Kofi Kingston. But even then, the match lacked coherence and choreography. It seemed like a bunch of kids played that match on their XBOX or something. Whereas Dolph Ziggler , RVD, Rollins and others gave so much , which is what a MITB match should be, here we had John Cena with his usual 5-knuckle shuffle !!! But what else do you expect from John Cena? The very fact that John Cena decides to participate in a MITB match should be warning enough about its low quality. And then you had Kane who's not exactly as agile as he was in 2005.

The conclusion is that whenever a MITB is entirely comprised by heavyweights, and lousy and semi-athletic wrestlers like Bray Wyatt, John Cena, and Roman Reigns, the match is going to be below mediocre. I do think that combat between Sheamus and Cesaro providing something mildly exciting in that match , but it was simply no match for the previous MITB match.

To what extent do you agree? How did you find this match? What other MITB matches in the past do you think were very awful and why?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Generally speaking, I agree that MITB matches comprised entirely of the 250+ pound club are less entertaining. I wouldn't go so far as to call them "below mediocre", but the level of energy on display during the matches usually can't follow the quicker pace of an MITB match that's a mix of bigger and smaller guys. Which, to be fair, there's always been one MITB match that's been superior to the other since the concept was moved to its own ppv just as we've seen with Elimination Chamber.

The WWE World Heavyweight Championship MITB match had another disadvantage going for it. Aside from it being comprised entirely of guys who work a generally slower, more methodical pace, the outcome of John Cena winning the title for the 15th time was pretty much written in the stars. Considering the circumstances, namely that the newer talent wasn't ready for the spot, it was probably the right thing to do, but that does nothing to make the match more exciting. If anything, it probably detracted from the match in some ways. If was probably the better idea for the sake of business but, even if it wasn't, we all know that Vince McMahon gets extremely nervous when it comes to Cena not winning. Vince protects Cena to such an absurd degree that it comes off as a neurosis much of the time.

As far as other MITB matches that weren't all that spectacular:

World Heavyweight Championship MITB match 2010 - Kane vs. Christian vs. Matt Hardy vs. Big Show vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Cody Rhodes - Just seemed like a lackluster match due in large part to it being packed with guys that you knew had absolutely zero chance of winning. I had no real problem with Kane winning, I thought he actually did a good job as WHC and it was nice to see him get a significant title run.

WWE Championship MITB match 2011 - Alberto Del Rio vs. The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Alex Riley vs. Evan Bourne vs. R-Truth - The match itself was fun but, again, it was packed with guys that had absolutely zero chance of winning. WWE was really high on Del Rio at the time, Mysterio's injuries were piling up, Miz was either in the doghouse or on his way, so Del Rio was the only real choice.

WWE Championship MITB match 2012 - John Cena vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Miz vs. Kane vs. Big Show - This bout was composed of former WWE Champions and may have been the, overall, most lackluster of the MITB matches. Jericho was a part timer, hence he had no chance, Miz was fully in the doghouse by then so he had no chance and nobody even remotely was interested in Kane or Show as champion. The action wasn't all that great and, again, the outcome was so obvious that interest was really on the low side for me.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

The WWE World Heavyweight Championship MITB match had another disadvantage going for it. Aside from it being comprised entirely of guys who work a generally slower, more methodical pace, the outcome of John Cena winning the title for the 15th time was pretty much written in the stars. Considering the circumstances, namely that the newer talent wasn't ready for the spot, it was probably the right thing to do, but that does nothing to make the match more exciting. If anything, it probably detracted from the match in some ways. If was probably the better idea for the sake of business but, even if it wasn't, we all know that Vince McMahon gets extremely nervous when it comes to Cena not winning. Vince protects Cena to such an absurd degree that it comes off as a neurosis much of the time.

Agreed about it. John Cena being the only logical and guaranteed candidate to win the match made it far less exciting, not to mention that John Cena is hardly entertaining to watch in an ordinary match, and it doesn't make it any better in a MITB match because we only get to see him do the 5-knuckle shuffle and the back suplex AKA 5-moves-of-doom(or of boredom). I had this vague thought while watching MITB that they could've easily made this PPV better by having just one MITB match and have the WWE WHC title up for grabs into a tournament or just a series of matches between 4 guys (Cena, Orton, Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns/Cesaro). I think the finals could've either been Cena vs Wyatt/Cesaro , and that could've meant Cena winning and yet the loser of the match having his "test" as a potential main-event candidate, ironically, just as the match Cena had with Brock at Backlash '03 for the WWE title. It's no secret that Kane was an extraneous element, and Sheamus and Del Rio could've battled for the US title or something.

That leads us to another point about the fact that in recent years, speciality matches have been given just because it's the HIAC ppv, or Elimination Chamber or MITB, which has resulted in a long list of awful and pathetic matches such as the HIAC between Sheamus and Orton, and Punk vs Ryback and so many more. The only exception is the TLC ppv which seems to have maintained its quality.

 

[Bagpipes]

The contrast between those 2 matches at MITB was huge. The briefcase match was so much more exciting and really one of the better MITB matches I can ever recall. The second match had little to no meaning and thus had little to no excitement.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

The problem is watching them back-to-back. The contract match (the actual Money in the Bank ladder match) was excellent, perhaps the best since the highly enjoyable Wrestlemania 24 match, and third only behind that and the very first MITB match in my book. The WWE Title match doesn't hold a candle to the MITB match, but it is still a decent match in it's own right.

 

[ShatteredDreamsProduction]

MITB in 2012 for the WHC will always be one of the best for me, Tyson Kidd put in a hell of a performance in that match, and I really thought he did enough to make his stock grow enough to become a regular on T.V.
dolph winning was a great moment. And his cash in was even better
The match was full of great spots, great wrestlers and unfortunately a couple of injuries (see sin cara).
But overall stuck in my mind as a good mix of speed and power.

The Wwe title one on the same night contrasts completely. 5 participants, only 1 who even looked like winning, yes we are talking about Cenas Ill fated victory.

It was just a slow, boring main event, Y2J and the rest did their best to get something going, but the crowd was just disinterested because everyone knew what the result was gonna be.
Whereas the WHC match could have been any one of 5 participants. Especially since at this time, Everyone thought Sheamus was gonna get pushed to the moon again as HHH began taking more control.