Money In The Bank Hits and Misses:
The Usos vs. The Shield: Surprise number one of the night, not for the result, but for the length and the quality of the match. The crowd was red-hot both in Philly and at the sports bar I was watching at for this match, and while the 60 second ad placements were annoying, this was easily the best pre-show match WWE has put on. It's a shame the Usos haven't been taken seriously for so long, or else the already convincing nearfalls down the stretch would have been even more-so convincing. The spear works as a finisher for Reigns due to his size and the genuine impact he hits it with, and the last five minutes of this were outstanding.
***
World Heavyweight Championship MITB match: Want a way to make two stars and pull out a genuine surprise? Look no further. The surprise is Sandow winning, although there has been some foreshadowing, I suppose, with the talk on TV of there being tension in the Rhodes Scholars. Cody was the other star, both countering finishers into multiple CrossRhodes, but the visual of him climbing, with his face bloody, showing the impact of the match. Everyone in this match was impressive, and while I'm surprised they went away from Ambrose winning with Shield help, and Sandow is a riskier proposition. But Rhodes vs Sandow could be a good feud, and if built well, I believe Sandow has the goods to be a World Champion. Exciting match, well-executed by all involved.
***3/4.
AJ Lee vs. Kaitlyn: I still don't understand the other Divas reportedly not wanting to work with AJ, as she can make seemingly anyone look good in the ring. Further, a heel champion retains their title clean, and the smaller of the pairing at that. No fluke, no mistake by Kaitlyn, AJ simply outwrestled her, smartly worked the arm, and won with a submission move. Kaitlyn looks strong for holding on as long as she did, but AJ looked absolutely maniacal in applying it. Not as strong as their Payback match, but still a good effort that built well after a slow beginning.
**
Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio: Another match that picked up as it went along, and showed that you don't need a finishing maneuver to get a strong, believable near-fall. The ending of the match was absolutely terrible, and perhaps AJ can clear that up with a promo tonight. But prior to that, the ring-work between the two men was outstanding, with both men clicking in their new roles. Ziggler isn't the 'slapping hands' babyface, thank goodness, and Del Rio is a solid heel who can wrestle. He just can't win cleanly, once again. Ziggler kicking out of the same superkick that beat him last month was great, in particular, and this match could have gone another 5-10 minutes without overstaying its welcome, but perhaps it didn't because of the bad finish. Hopefully, this isn't the end of the feud, as the better course would have been to give Del Rio a clean win if they wanted to move on.
***1/4.
Mark Henry vs. John Cena:Cena continues to improve his arsenal, this time, using a tilt-a-whirl DDT on Mark Henry. Anyways, as he has strongly been hinting at, if this was Mark Henry's swan song, it was a great way to go. He looked like a monster by rag-dolling Cena around, and it was only Cena taking advantage of his speed rather then overpowering Henry that allowed him to pick up the win. Again, strong near-falls from both men, and another match that could have gone longer and still been well-received. I disliked Henry tapping so quickly when Cena re-applied the STF, but that's only a minor complaint here. Both championship matches delivered, with this being the better of the two.
***3/4.
WWE Championship MITB ladder match: I'm fine with Orton winning, because Cena stilll needs a challenger for Summerslam, and with the way he's been beating people cleanly, Daniel Bryan is the logical choice, contract or no. My only hope is that he isn't dropped into a feud with Curtis Axel for interfering, and if so, it's for Bryan to beat him on Raw and move on.
The storytelling in this match was stronger then the one in the first MITB match, while the pacing was slower. It was a little ridiculous for the match to break down for many parts into one-on-one contests, but the last ten minutes were outstanding. Heyman turning on Punk, however predictable, was the right move, and RVD got an insane pop and hit a big spot with the splash onto Christian. The two moves that lead to the ending, Sheamus going through the ladder, and Orton RKO'ing RVD, were outstanding, and this opens some great possibilities for the Randy Orton character should he hold the briefcase for some time. Just a step below the WHC ladder match, but a satisfying main event.
***1/2.
Overall Show: With two strong ladder matches, two mostly strong World Title matches and nothing truly awful, other then the Maddox/Vickie segment, this was a good PPV. Sandow is a curious choice to win the MITB briefcase, but I'll take a 'wait and see' approach. Cody Rhodes was an absolute star in the match itself. Randy Orton isn't the wrong call to win the WWE Championship ladder match, as he's put plenty of people over and this could revamp his character. Further, they haven't done Cena/Orton since 2009, so if they go that way, it won't be stale. Ziggler and Del Rio, outside of the ending and being slightly too short, was very good, while Henry and Cena had an outstanding WWE Championship match. It's a great way to go out if that's the direction he chooses. The pre-show match was a very good tag match, and AJ/Kaitlyn had another strong effort. Neither Ryback/Jericho or Axel/Miz were terrible, per se, but there was nothing that good about them either. Overall, a good show.
B.
Money In The Bank Misses:
Brad Maddox segment: Save it for Raw. Seriously, who thought this was a good idea for PPV, especially for over ten minutes? That time couldn't have been better used adding to the Cena/Henry or Ziggler/Del Rio matches? Worse, it's embarrassing Vickie Guerrero once again, which while I'm sure she's a good sport about and agrees with, it's simply wrong. And I like and think the Brad Maddox character is a good one.
The Miz vs. Curtis Axel: I suppose having Heyman kicked out early was the right move, as the crowd was behind him, and therefore, Axel, but the match was nothing outside of that. Miz looked heelish in having Heyman kicked for doing nothing, and while it was nice to see Axel win clean w the faceplant neckbreaker, it was a boring match.
*1/2.
Chris Jericho vs. Ryback:Some may have liked the match, but it wasn't for me. Part of it is I've been conditioned so much to not care about Ryback, and the other is in how he won the match. He's a monster, yet he wins with a roll-up? It's a bad finish to a match where I'm sure Jericho would have put him over far stronger had he been booked to. Good in spots, bad in spots, and a bad finish equal a miss.
**1/4. 
