Quick Sound Off on WWE Money in the Bank 2016 (Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins, AJ Styles vs. John Cena)

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Wow, I haven’t been writing much because, quite frankly, I haven’t been watching the WWE.  After Wrestlemania, I skipped most Raws until the following “PPV”, and realized I didn’t miss a thing.  So since Wrestlemania I have watched Payback and Extreme Rules, and bits and pieces of one or two Raws.  I actually had to google the name of the “PPV” events.  (BTW, Do people still order WWE PPVs?)  Just wondering.

My quick thoughts on MITB 2016.  Money in the Bank has been turning into a major event over the past 5 years.  Bigger matches and more significant events actually happen at MITB than at Survivor Series theses days. To me,  Survivor Series hasn’t been a big 4 event in a long time.  MITB produces the MITB winner and that leads to fun all year long, well except for last year, since nobody has wanted Sheamus anywhere near the WWE title…..ever!

Last night had some decent to great matches.

Preshow…..LOL.  Comic relief which isn’t even funny with R Truth and Goldust vs Tyler Breeze and Fandango.  WWE decisions make me wonder sometimes.  They misuse Breeze like this and they let guys like Sandow and others leave.  The expiration date on Goldust and that gimmick expired a long time ago.  R-Truth is nearly as old, but could be used a lot better than what he is.  The less said about Fandango the better. Why hasn’t their been a lawsuit between the WWE and Fandango the movie ticket site?  Oh wait, it’s not pronounced the same way.

The Dudleyz and the Lucha Dragons…..two teams going nowhere.  The Dudleyz are over the hill enhancement talent at this point and the Lucha Dragons were broken up for a bit to allow Kalisto to have a failed singles run.

The New Day defending the titles in a fourway tag match vs Enzo and Cass, the Vaudevillains, and the Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson was a fun match.  It is nice to have real teams, with real names, with matching outfits, and distinguishing personalities.  It’s a throwback to the days of the LOD, the Steiner Brothers, the Nasty Boys, Demolition, the Hart Foundation, and the Rockers or even more recently the Hardy Boyz, the Dudleyz and Edge and Christian.  The New Day is hot.  They are over and riding one of the longest title reigns ever.  When they lose it, it will be huge for whomever beats them.  This match was just fun and not overbooked.

Dolph Ziggler vs Baron Corbin…why is this a feud and why won’t it end.  This has to be the first time I have ever heard boring chanted during a Ziggler match.  Ziggler is going nowhere fast, so the big bad Baron Corbin beating him doesn’t really help him at all.  This has been going on forever, and I still don’t care.

Becky Lynch and Natalya vs Charlotte and Kaitlyn 2.0….Dana Brooke…Why oh why?  This match as a tag match had no point.  Nothing is on the line, Natalya isn’t hot on the heels of Charlotte’s title.  In fact, Charlotte has dispatched of Natalya in all of their matches.  Charlotte’s heat was clearly all due to Ric Flair, and that is the WWE’s fault.  Becky is the most over person in this match. Charlotte got the win to no reaction.  Natalya turned heel on Becky, but not sure how that helps her beat Charlotte or even if that is where this is going. Becky vs Natalya is a solid feud, but the champion is left with nothing.  Or Natalya and a new mean streak would work, if Natalya’s character didn’t come off like someone’s lost, naive aunt in interviews and on Total Divas, so I’ve heard.  Where is Sasha?  Where is Paige?

Apollo Crews vs Sheamus had potential.  Except the fluke nature of the win doesn’t help Crews.  With his killer arsenal of moves, having him win on basically a rollup off of arrogant Sheamus pin attempt doesn’t make him look strong.  I love to see Crews in the ring, but he is nonexistent on the mic and is too happy go lucky to be a main eventer right now.

AJ Styles vs John Cena lived up to its hype.  AJ is like Shawn Michaels, put him in with anyone and you will get a decent if not great match.  Big Match John shows he steps up when in the ring with great wrestlers. It reminds me of the Rock in 2000, being the top guy, but still showing he can expand on the WWE Main Event Style with great workers like Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle and others.  Some people probably didn’t like the finish with Gallows and Anderson running in basically giving AJ the victory, but it fits the story.  AJ clearly turned heel and isn’t playing going head up with John Cena alone like Kevin Owens did.  He is part of a heel faction, and playing the role of opportunist.

MITB Ladder match was a typical spotfest.  Fans eat this sort of thing up and the crowd reaction proved that throughout. Ambrose winning was obvious, but the right choice.  Unlike last year when Sheamus was NOBODY’s choice.  MITB is easy to book, who is the guy you want to have a moment within the next year?  It can be either heel or face, but it works regardless.

Rusev vs Titus O’Neil was decent for what it was.  It got Titus back on TV in a high level feud after that ridiculous suspension.  Rusev is being built back up as a monster after a bad couple of years.  A few more wins like this, then a solid challenger to really elevate him and someone else too.

Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins….excellent match!  Rollins looks to be back in top form, though a few of his moves make you cringe thinking about him blowing out a knee again.  All of the Reigns hate is pretty unwarranted.  He has shown over the last 2 years that he can work with anyone.  Solid matches with Daniel Bryan, Brock Lesnar, Triple H, Seth Rollins, and AJ Styles.  He holds his own when he needs to, can implement new moves, and can sell (probably too much) He is not very good on the mic, ok neither is AJ Styles.  Everytime AJ opens his mouth….backwood hick comes shooting out.  But in the ring is what matters and Reigns can hang with anybody.  This match had tons of nearfalls.  It was nice to see Reigns working the match heel, thus having to carry the bulk of it between Rollins comeback attempts.  The pedigree counter of the spear SHOULD have been the finish.  I am still confused as to why the WWE insists on pushing Reigns as a face and Rollins as a heel even though Rollins is booked as the returning champion, overcoming major injury to reclaim the title that he never lost.

Rollins wins……..Ambrose cashes in MITB.  Nice moment as the fans popped huge for Rollins beating Reigns and then came unglued when Ambrose cashed in.  All 3 members of Shield were the WWE Champion last night at some point.  This has plenty of options going forward and can be stretched out until Wrestlemania if booked right.

 

Basically this was a 3 match show with a 4th match being pretty good.  The main events lived up to their hype.  Reigns vs Rollins, Cena vs Styles, and the MITB ladder match carried the show.  The New Day tag team title defense was a solid opener to an overall solid show.   The WWE main roster is overcoming subpar writing and booking by delivering some solid matches  when it counts.

 

Darek Foreman has been a fan of pro wrestling since 1989. I have been commenting and chatting about it since the mid 90s in AOL chat rooms. Tired of leaving all my awesome thoughts on message boards and on twitter, I decided to create my own wrestling and entertainment blog in 2015. For all my awesome and electrifying thoughts that aren't posted at Inside Pulse Zone, you can find the rest @SoundOff316 on twitter or https://darek316.wordpress.com/