WWE Money in the Bank 2015.

This event was broadcast live on the WWE Network on Sunday June 14^th, 2015.

Money in the Bank (ladder match).
Sheamus defeated Roman Reigns, Dolph Ziggler, Neville, Randy Orton, Kane and Kofi Kingston.

My partner and I make predictions before watching WWE network shows. We couldn’t look past Reigns winning this entertaining spectacle; good to see WWE can still be unpredictable. Can Sheamus as ‘Mr Money in the Bank’ produce better drama than if Reigns had won? I’m not convinced yet but future developments may make this odd result seem logical.

On the positive side, Roman Reigns looked strong in defeat. As he was about to win, the lights went off and Bray Wyatt interfered. This means Roman may be diverted from seeking championship glory for a few months. Once he’s done with Wyatt the chase can resume, possibly against a new foe.

Divas Championship.
Nikki Bella beat Paige.

This went over ten minutes and was better than Nikki Bella’s usual efforts. Towards the end, Paige reversed Nikki’s Rack Attack into the Cradle DDT and I honestly believed it was over. The action continued and after a double turnbuckle bump the Bella’s attempted a tiresome, twin magic switch.

In a refreshing moment of progression, Paige had the roll up scouted and reversed Brie for the 1-2-3. Brie admitted cheating and unstuffed her bra to show she wasn’t Nikki. At this point the ref should have disqualified Brie for interference. Instead he let the match continue and Nikki won with a cheap shot. My head hurts, that was a rough ending.

Intercontinental Championship.
Big Show won via disqualification. Ryback retains his championship.

The Miz insulted his home state fans pre-match and remained at ringside. That severely reduced the likelihood of a clean finish. Ryback showed off his strength by suplexing Big Show and also wore the giant down with a Goldberg style arm submission. Show gave Ryback a KO punch and ‘The Big Guy’ rolled to ringside. After a confrontation with Big Show, Miz attacked with a microphone causing the DQ and set up a triple threat down the road.

John Cena pinned Kevin Owens.

At Elimination Chamber, these two arguably had the match of the night. Their rematch earned that honour without dispute and was another four star war of attrition. Cena came out on top this time but Owens regained his heat immediately with a powerbomb onto the ring apron.

Without spoiling the specifics there were many memorable moments. Owens copied Cena’s signature moves. Cena appeared vulnerable and tried new things which is admirable and showcased his desire to win. With a quality similar to the first, this is once again highly recommended.

Tag Team Championship.
Prime Time Players beat New Day (Big E and Xavier Woods).

With all the heels coming out on top, a feel good moment was urgently needed. Unfortunately this wasn’t it. Muted crowd celebrations meant the change felt flat and underwhelming. It built up to Titus receiving the hot tag. He went wild with his running tackle and won with a spinebuster. I like the Prime Time Players but New Day had plenty of mileage left. For now though, the ‘Players’ can have fun belt warming.


WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Ladder match.
Seth Rollins won against Dean Ambrose to retain his championship.
HHH gave Rollins a pep talk before the match and yelled “SHOW THEM!” repeatedly. After his speech, the scene was set for a contest without interference. Rollins wanted to prove to ‘The Authority’, “I can get the job done, by myself.”
In less than five minutes, Rollins hit Ambrose on the knee with a steel chair. Rollins took advantage and worked the injury with a ring post figure four. Plucky underdog Ambrose eventually made a spirited comeback. His highlights included backdropping Rollins out of the ring through a ladder bridge and hitting Dirty Deeds on the announcers table.
Rollins eventually regained control and dished out an insane amount of punishment to Ambrose, whose selling was excellent. If they’d ended it there, nobody would have complained. Instead ‘The Lunatic Fringe’ made another comeback. After a tug of war, both men fell down with the belt in hand but Rollins held on tighter for the victory.

In conclusion, Money in the Bank was a three match show and these lived up to the hype. The undercard also offered more enjoyment than anticipated. Looking forward to Battleground (on July 19^th) we can expect a Reigns/Wyatt grudge match, more developments in the Cena/Owens feud and BROCK LESNAR versus Seth Rollins. As always, I’ll be covering it all for another instalment of philreganreviews.

See you then wrestling fans.