411 PPV Roundtable Preview – WWE Money in the Bank 2012

Kofi Kingston and R-Truth © vs Hunico and Camacho
WWE Tag Team Championship
YouTube Pre-Show Match

Stephen Randle: Prime Time Who?

Winners: Truth and Kingston

Greg DeMarco: In what has the potential to be the best YouTube preview match so far, the tag straps will be on the line Sunday evening. Hunico and Camacho have no reason to leave with the belts, especially since AW’s Prime Time Players are the #1 Contenders and seemed primed (pun slightly intended) to get a good run. I suspect we’ll see an appearance by the PTPers before this one is over, likely factoring into the finish

Winner: BoomTruth retain by disqualification after the PTPers interfere

John Downey: Like they are really going to have a title change on the pre-show. I’m sure the match will be serviceable, but there’s no way Hunico and Camacho are going over here.

Winner: Kofi Kingston and R-Truth

TJ Hawke: Should be a fun and energetic match. The crowd is usually hot for the start of a WWE PPV, so I expect this match to get over. Can’t say I really care who wins, especially since I pretty much forgot who the champs were.

Winner: Kingston & Truth

Michael Weyer: Wow, another PPV of the tag titles defended? Careful, WWE, you might actually make these belts mean something again. Seriously, the feud is so-so but Kofi and Truth are hot with the fans as a team so makes no sense to take the belts off them just yet. Let them keep as champs so they can help build the division a bit more again and get the show off to a good start.

Winners and STILL WWE Tag Team Champions: Kofi and Truth

Jack Bramma: An injured R-Truth and Kofi are still more over and recognizable to the fans than Hunico and Camacho.

Winner: Ghana Get Got

James Wright: This is a filler match from out of nowhere. I’m not really sure why the WWE didn’t just pull the trigger on the Kingston & Truth vs. The Prime Time Players for the titles and put it on the actual PPV. After all when you look at the card it isn’t exactly stacked is it? Although as per usual they will probably pump in the usual filler; a last minute Divas match, some kind of misc. singles encounter and of course the obligatory Ryback match. While all these things aren’t the worst thing to add to a PPV at the last minute if you have to, it does boggle the mind as to why the WWE would purposely leave the card open to such things, as if it’s what the paying fans actually want to see. This match will be of little consequence.

Winner: Kofi & Truth

Dimitri Dorlis: So wait, why do Hunico and Camacho get a Tag Title match before the Prime Time Players? Not like it matters, though.

Winner: Kofi and R-Truth

World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Participants: Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, Tensai, Tyson Kidd, Christian, Damien Sandow, Santino Marella, Sin Cara

Stephen Randle: This was looking like quite the sad little MITB field until the addition of Ziggler and Rhodes, two talents who I actually would buy as World champions and thus, the only two guys with a real chance to win. I have to give the edge to Ziggler, though it may be out of wishful thinking more than anything else.

Winner: Dolph Ziggler

Greg DeMarco: This match is really the more intriguing of the two MITB ladder matches, and it’s also likely to open the show. The Money in the Bank concept is long assumed to be designed to elevate someone into the world championship history, since the cash-in has never failed. Here’s to hoping that trend continues—at least with this match. The field is interesting, as you have “the sure things” in Cody Rhodes and Dolph Ziggler—performers that all of us presume have solid world championship runs in their future regardless of the outcome of this match. You also have Christian, a former world champion would always be a crowd pleasing victor. You follow that with Tensai, a guy who if he wins would cause many of us to throw our televisions out the window. Then you have Damien Sandow, a man who has shown that he has the ability to take this character all the way to the top—but not yet. And then you have Tyson Kidd, Santino Marella and Sin Cara. If they win, we might finally have someone cash in and lose. Realistically, anyone outside of the final three listed have a shot at winning—regardless of whether we like them as an option. I’ll go with Ziggler here.

Winner: Dolph Ziggler (cashes in during the typical late fall/winter timeframe to win the title)

John Downey: I’m going to take a beating for this, and it is possible that I’ve thought about this for way too long, but hear me out. First off, there’s no way Tensai or Sandow are winning here—Tensai got no reaction from beating Cena, and Sandow hasn’t gotten over in any measurable fashion. Christian doesn’t need the briefcase to get over, and he can be put in a world title bout without anyone blinking an eye. Sin Cara and Tyson Kidd have followings, but both need to rebuild their characters if they are going to be seen as world champions. This leaves Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, and Santino Marella, and while I think Ziggler is going to hold one of the major belts by this time next year, I get the feeling that his ascension will involve a face turn and a clean victory. Rhodes, then, is the obvious choice…but I’m going with Santino. Why? Well, he has proven that he can get folks behind his character, who is immensely popular despite changing little in the past five years, and it would be absurd for them to not capitalize on this in some way. Besides, it’s not as though Santino hasn’t been put in an important role before—he almost won the 2011 Royal Rumble, and he came close to taking the World Heavyweight Championship from Daniel Bryan at Elimination Chamber, and folks were behind him both times. His character, though over, needs to be changed up, and giving him the MITB briefcase could do the trick. Also, he has a rivalry with Cody Rhodes that begs to be revisited at some point in the near future, and this is as good a way to get there as any (in fact, I think that might be Rhodes’s path to becoming a world champion). Call me crazy, but for me, this makes the most sense.

Winner: Santino Marella

TJ Hawke: Depending on how much AJ plays a role in the WWE Title match, this could end up being the Match of the Night. I expect it to go about 20 minutes, with everybody getting a chance to shine. I assume Cody or Dolph will win this match, but I can honestly see anybody (even Santino) winning the match.

Winner: Cody Rhodes

Michael Weyer: To me, the better of the two MITB matches with a good mix of talent. Let’s leave out Kidd, Sandow, Tensai and Cara. Ziggler seems a good fit for it, already a secondary champ and they’ve been building him for a main event run for a while but not sure just yet. Santino might be interesting but as popular as he is, WWE is smart enough to know he can’t be in the main spotlight. Christian is a good choice but already done this so I think it’ll be Cody as he’s rising a bit more and would get the right push from the win. Come on, sooner or later, someone cashing in has to come up short, might be him after all.

Winner: Cody Rhodes

Jack Bramma: Every year it seems there are plenty of potential winners for this match — guys the WWE could/should seriously get behind and elevate. If that’s the case, why do I look at this list of names and have a hard time getting excited about the match? I’m sure it’ll be an entertaining spotfest as always but the intrigue and the drama of who will win is what makes the match exciting. If none of the potential winners are compelling, then the match has lost half of its appeal. Dolph and Cody both lost their secondary titles and the WWE still resists putting them over anyone. Tensai has come crashing back to Earth after an undefeated streak. Christian and Santino are the “aw shucks, just happy to be here” secondary champs. Sin Cara is going nowhere. Sandow is the wild card but it seems too soon for him. I’m left to flip a coin and come up with Dolph and hope the WWE uses the chants he was getting against Sheamus at No Way Out as a sign to push him and not punish him.

Winner: Dolph Ziggler

James Wright: I am looking forward to this one and if somehow the WWE has decided that all the matches on the card deserve half and hour (very damn unlikely) then we could get some real exposure for some of the WWE’s best young talent. I would have liked to see Tensai and Santino replaced by guys like Gabriel and Kingston, and possibly Christian replaced by Truth since while he will be an asset to the match he could just as easily have defended his title on this PPV. Still this should be a great showing and I’ll be interested to see how a guy like Sandow operates in this environment. For me it has to be Rhodes all the way for the win, Christian doesn’t need it and everyone besides Ziggler isn’t really ready for a title shot/run just yet, and with Ziggler having just been through a short-lived and very one-sided feud with Sheamus I highly doubt he will be the guy the WWE pick to win the case. (Having said that the fantasy booker in me would love for Ziggler to win the case, pull a Miz and start to look much stronger than he does now, challenge Sheamus again in a few months to a straight match, win the title and start the face turn that he has been begging for – but this will never happen)

Winner: Cody Rhodes

Dimitri Dorlis: This one probably boils down to one of three people, in Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, and Tyson Kidd. Kidd probably has the best underdog story going in to the match, which means he isn’t winning. Then out of the other two, I’ll go with

Winner: Cody Rhodes

WWE Championship Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Participants: John Cena, Kane, Big Show, Chris Jericho

Stephen Randle: Please, this writes itself. If they were planning anything besides Cena-Punk at SummerSlam, they wouldn’t be blowing off Punk-Bryan-AJ here. Cena wins if only because no one else in this match should, and then does the honourable/stupid thing by announcing that he’ll cash against Punk for a match at SummerSlam. Where he’ll win the title. Because he’s John Cena.

Winner: John Cena

Greg DeMarco: “The Money in the Bank concept is long assumed to be designed to elevate someone into the world championship history, since the cash-in has never failed.” That is what I said earlier in this preview. Many seem to share the perspective that this match is a bad thing because none of the four names listed need to win the briefcase to be a challenger. But each also makes a great holder of the case as well, provided we shed our preconception about the point of the match. Nowhere is it written that MITB has to elevate someone. It, just like championships, managers and special guest referees, is a storyline device first—just so happens that card elevation has been its primary storyline function in nearly all of its cash-ins. But I think this is a great use of the match. The Money in the Bank pay-per-view should be main evented by a Money in the Bank Ladder Match, and unless the WWE plans to have the winner cash in on the same night, this one should go on last. Expectations for this match are low, which is why I think it will do just fine. It’ll exceed expectations, even if that isn’t saying much. The field is small, but that lends itself to a different flow than what we’re used to. This will be more of a traditional WWE main event that happens to involve ladders—hopefully including the Big Show’s mega-ginormous variety. I‘ve seen some speculation than we could expect the addition of Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio or The Miz, but I’d wager returns like that are being held back for the 1000th RAW. This one belongs to Superman himself, John Cena.

Winner: John Cena (announces his intentions on RAW to face the WWE champion at SummerSlam)

John Downey: John Cena guaranteed victory on Raw. Either this is the beginning of a heel push in which everything Cena guarantees ends up not happening…or not. I’m guessing not.

Winner: John Cena

TJ Hawke: All four guys are veterans who try hard on PPV, so I am expecting an entertaining match. I just have no interest in watching it. Cena vs. Punk at Summerslam makes a lot of sense, so I will guess that Cena picks up the briefcase here to make that match an easier point to get too. I’m hoping someone else gets inserted into the match somehow.

Winner: John Cena

Michael Weyer: Leaving aside how ridiculous Show in a ladder match is, not too bad a mix of star power. It’s easy to say Cena and all but Jericho has been out of the title scene a bit too long and winning here can give him a great push again. So I’ll buck the trend and give it to him as Cena has shown he doesn’t need to be in the title scene and losing might help him out with a heel turn if they finally go through with it.

Winner: Chris Jericho

Jack Bramma: The smart money is on John Cena winning this and then cashing in down the road and being the first to lose in the process. Is it too efed, fantasy booking to suggest that Brock Lesnar somehow uses Heyman’s lawyerly skills and Brock’s credentials as a former WWE champ to get him into this match and he wins it? As unlikely as the whole thing sounds, I’m just going to predict it in the hopes that something interesting comes of the match.

Winner: Brock Lesnar

James Wright: I like many others would have liked to have seen this match with a couple of other names added to the mix for variety. That being said this match is interesting in that it is contrary to any other MitB match that has gone before it. Now whether that will actually end up being a good thing or not remains to be seen, but at least it is a good way to vary the two matches on the same card since I could see having two 8-man cluster f**ks becoming a problem, the risk of injuries alone is something to make a booker think twice about doing such a thing. I’m putting my faith in the rumour mill here and leaning towards John Cena as I don’t think the WWE can resist putting on Punk vs. Cena again at Summerslam and it would make sense for Cena to win the case and use it to challenge Punk at the next PPV, probably on Raw’s 1000th episode for the big ‘shock’ factor.

Winner: John Cena

Dimitri Dorlis: Ok, now this one is harder to predict. First, I almost expect Miz to show up and announce himself in the match, just to provide a bit of intrigue. Anyway, I really can’t see Big Show winning this, and as for the other thing, Kane winning and cashing in later in the night makes sense in the AJ love triangle thing, and Jericho/Cena can win and survive losing their cash-in attempt. But I think Cena takes it here to set up a Cena/CM Punk match at Summerslam, possibly with Daniel Bryan involved.

Winner: John Cena

Sheamus © vs Alberto Del Rio
World Heavyweight Championship

Stephen Randle: Well, Del Rio finally got his one-on-one match, just in time for no one to give a shit. Not that anyone cared the last two times he was supposed to get this match and plans changed. Hopefully WWE isn’t braindead, and we finally move on from Del Rio’s near-perpetual hovering around the main event despite being the Most Boring Man In The World.

Winner: Sheamus

Will The MITB Winner Cash In?: Yes, I think Ziggler cashes and takes the belt, setting up a much more interesting feud.

Greg DeMarco: I’ve heard and read many an opinion that the build for this match hasn’t been the best—and while I tend to think they could have done a little more, it’s not been as bad as many think. The biggest problem with this match is the treatment of Sheamus and the World Heavyweight Championship in general. It got off to a horrible start at WrestleMania 28, and hasn’t fared much better since. What Sheamus needs is a big pay-per-view closing victory—one that I can pretty much guarantee he won’t get here. While I think Alberto Del Rio works better with smaller opponents (which makes sense, he came up facing luchadors), I think he and Sheamus can work a good match together on this card. I do expect to see this feud continue through SummerSlam, and see Sheamus retaining here.

Winner: Sheamus retains

Will The MITB Winner Cash In?: Don’t they always, eventually? In all seriousness, I don’t see it happening. Although if I had to pick one title for it to happen to on this card, it’s the WHC.

John Downey: The ADR experiment of 2011 didn’t quite go as planned, and WWE have since backed off on pushing the guy. As such, I think this match is more of an opportunity at improving Del Rio’s character with a great showing than anything else. I’m sure he’ll do fine, but Sheamus is on a roll and I don’t see him dropping the belt on a “minor” PPV.

Winner: Sheamus

Will The MITB Winner Cash In?: I think Santino might walk down the ramp, only to stop in his tracks when he sees Sheamus standing on his own power, at which point Santino celebrates with Sheamus, starting a long angle in which Santino and Sheamus begin an uneasy-but-humorous friendship, with Santino threatening to take the belt off of Sheamus and Sheamus repeatedly laughing him off because of who is making these threats. Yep, I’ve put way too much thought into this.

TJ Hawke: I feel like this could be a really good, possibly great match. If the crowd thinks Sheamus can lose this, we may get something special. If they think the result is inevitable, the match will probably be pretty pedestrian. The Sheamus title reign is not setting the world on fire, but I don’t think the time is right for Del Rio to take it.

Winner: Sheamus

Will The MITB Winner Cash In?: No

Michael Weyer: These two are good together and this might end up being better than expected. A big win would be great for Sheamus, give him more of a push as champ and Del Rio might still come off okay after a loss. His time as champ didn’t work out and Sheamus still is hot with the crowds so he’ll retain to set up whoever wins the MITB down the road.

Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion: Sheamus

Will The MITB Winner Cash In?: No

Jack Bramma: I’m confident these two can have a good match because both are good hands and Del Rio is in a bit of a groove just armbarring dudes to death on his way to a title shot; I just wish there was a story I could get behind. Sheamus is just dead to me as a face and Del Rio is so much more awesome than him at everything, but I digress. If through some miracle of destiny, Del Rio comes away with another world title I’ll be happy but I’m not holding my breath.

Winner: Sheamus

Will The MITB Winner Cash In?: No.

James Wright: Part of me is still not sure why this match is actually happening, but it’s most likely down to roster depth since that is the go-to excuse these days. The match itself shouldn’t be too bad and the WWE have done an okay job at building Del Rio up to be a legitimate contender for the title, or at least more so than they did Ziggler, who only managed to steal a pin on Sheamus only once before the event after being decimated by him before, after and at the event itself. Still I just can’t see the Celtic Warrior surrendering the title to the Mexican Aristocrat, although I would be interested to know who the WWE has planned for Sheamus to feud with going into Summerslam, a returning Wade Barrett perhaps?

Winner: Sheamus

Will The MITB Winner Cash In?: No

Dimitri Dorlis: Yeah, sorry, Alberto isn’t winning here. As much as I would like to believe that Del Rio can pull it off, at this point, Sheamus is holding the belt until he gets cashed-in on, mainly because he’s been built as such a strong champion.

Winner: Sheamus

Will The MITB Winner Cash In?: Nope. Rhodes will run out, but will think twice about it and leave.

CM Punk © vs Daniel Bryan
WWE Championship
Special Referee – AJ

Stephen Randle: I never thought I’d say this about a CM Punk-Daniel Bryan feud, but for the love of God, let this end. Punk retains, AJ ends up with nobody, and maybe Punk and Bryan form a “Bros Before Hos” tag team over the whole thing.

Winner: CM Punk

Will the MITB Winner Cash In?: No, I told you what’s going to happen with that earlier.

Greg DeMarco: This story is the best thing going in the WWE today. Seriously, it’s damn near impossible to predict what will happen next. AJ’s character has been the focus of successive editions of RAW, and it’s been established that she’s either batshit crazy or has everyone right where she wants them. She’s just crazy enough to call this one down the middle right until the very end. That will allow both men to have a great match before the finish, which will undoubtedly be of the storyline variety. What will that be? Outside of her counting the 1-2-3, I have no clue.

Winner: CM Punk retains

Will The MITB Winner Cash In?: Nope. John Cena uses the briefcase to make Punk-Cena official for SummerSlam.

John Downey: Both men have an out here with AJ as the referee, and I don’t see how these guys won’t face each other again at Summerslam, so it is almost pointless to guess a winner here. Since I have to, though, I’ll go with the guy who has history with one of my previous picks—and yes, that’s my entire reasoning for who wins this one.

Winner: CM Punk

Will The MITB Winner Cash In?: No. Bryan will convincingly argue for a rematch at Summerslam, and Cena will interject and make it a three-way via the MITB briefcase.

TJ Hawke: If AJ only affects the finish, then this will almost definitely be a great match. If she is involved every step of the way, then this will feel like a TV main event. I wouldn’t be surprised to finally see Bryan get the belt here. Him and AJ as an aligned heel duo may have some potential as far as entertaining TV goes, which may be a motivation.

Winner: CM Punk

Will The MITB Winner Cash In?: No

Michael Weyer: Even with the annoying AJ storyline, these two are brilliant in the ring together and should give us another great battle. I still WWE wanting to hold back the pay-off for SummerSlam so Punk will manage to retain although the real tension will be AJ playing off both guys to sell her conniving character so I figure it’s a double-DQ of some sort to set up the big match next month.

Winner: Double DQ, Punk retains.

Will The MITB Winner Cash In?: No

Jack Bramma: I just hope these two are given enough time to have yet another MOTYC before the storyline kicks in. While I appreciate the increased screen time all are getting and think AJ is hella entertaining in her role, I’m just not feeling the love triangle. It’s mildly amusing to see Dragon still trying to con his ex back into a relationship but Punk has lost a ton of buzz since this same PPV a year ago and this isn’t helping. Of course, if my Brock prediction comes true, then all of this becomes moot for the post-match activity.

Winner: CM Punk

Will The MITB Winner Cash In?: If Lesnar wins, yes. If Cena wins, no.

James Wright: In a way it is a shame that this feud might end with this match since it is hardly the most grueling of blow off matches. If the WWE hadn’t used it so recently with Bryan I would have loved to have seen this one contested in a 2-out-of-3 falls match, or failing that an Iron Man match, which again would explain the lack of matches on the card and be an amazing spectacle. Of course the rumour mills might be wrong and instead of Cena-Punk at Summerslam we will get the aforementioned Iron Man match for the title to end the feud, although I’m very skeptical about the WWE giving that much time to the two guys on their second biggest PPV of the year, effectively leaving Cena out in the cold at the same time. AJ shenanigans aside I see Punk retaining here, but I also see AJ going back to her bearded lover boy in the process, not that it really matters.

Winner: C.M. Punk

Will The MITB Winner Cash In?: No

Dimitri Dorlis: You know, even with AJ involved as a special referee and shenanigans basically guaranteed, this has the potential to be the best match of the night. As much as I would love for Daniel Bryan to win here, that ship sailed a month ago, and with Summerslam on the horizon, I see Punk retaining (probably via shenanigans) to set up that Punk/Cena match at Summerslam, with Daniel Bryan possibly weaseling his way into the match as well.

Winner: CM Punk

Will The MITB Winner Cash In?: Nope. Cena comes out and says he will cash in at Summerslam.

Stephen Randle: I don’t like it. Sheamus-Del Rio will probably be dull. One MITB features six guys who won’t win and two legit contenders, but might be a good match in spite of it. The other MITB has only four guys, two of whom have little business being in a ladder match, and is just a set-up for Cena to win anyway. Even the obvious MOTN, Punk-Bryan, has the specter of Crazy AJ hanging over it. This is a far cry from last year’s classic PPV, and even if that were an unreasonable standard to hold this year’s edition to, I still would give this a pass. The feuds are lackluster, the card is thin, and the matches, while they may be decent, don’t have anything that grabs my attention and says “hey, you should watch this”.

Buy/No Buy: No Buy

Greg DeMarco: This is a good card for nearly all wrestling fans. The World Heavyweight Championship MITB is likely to steal the show, and the WWE Championship MITB should exceed its low expectations. I expect few surprises in the two title matches as well. With four matches advertised, there will be additions to the card in the way of a Ryback squash and possibly a new debut/call-up. I hope they shy away from adding too much and give the advertised matches (especially Punk-Bryan) plenty of time. On paper, this is a buy for me as I think it will end up being a good show. Normally I’d have gone to this show in person as it’s emanating from my neck of the woods in Phoenix, Arizona. However, I’ll be chillin’ with Mickey Mouse on the DeMarco Family Vacation when this takes place. However, I still have to go “Buy” on this one, it’s going to be a good show.

Buy/No Buy: Buy

John Downey: The past two Money In The Bank PPVs were among the best PPVs of their respective years, and there’s little reason to think this will be an exception even if it looks to be the worst of the three. For some reason, this is the time of year that folks put their wrestling boots on, and it stands to reason that every match will deliver and then some. This PPV also marks significant changes and turns in storylines, so there really isn’t a reason to watch this unless one is allergic to WWE programming. Then again, I picked Santino to win, so what do I know?

Buy/No Buy: Buy

TJ Hawke: I have to be genuinely invested in the results and the matchups of a show to want to buy the PPV. The build to this show has not accomplished that at all, and as always, WWE PPVs are too damn expensive. It should be very entertaining though.

Buy/No Buy: No Buy

Michael Weyer: MITB is usually one of the better shows of the year for WWE and this might keep it up. The WWE title one looks rough but still potential and you can’t go wrong with a Punk/Bryan main event. So I’ll say go ahead and buy it as hopefully, the two MITB winners can give WWE a much needed kick for the summer which we fans could all use.

Buy/No Buy: Buy

Jack Bramma: Like much of the WWE lately, I think the TV show has been average at best and dreadful at worst. However, the in-ring has been polished and top notch almost all year. Wrestlemania, Extreme Rules, and Over the Limit all arguably had three **** ish matches each. Hopefully, we’re in for more of the same Sunday night.

Buy/No Buy: Chip in with friends for a buy.

James Wright: There is a lot of potential for change and surprises on this card but I think it is lacking a few vital elements and the WWE is in too much of a holding pattern before the big 1000th Raw and Summerslam to try anything too risky right now. Unlike last year where Money in the Bank looked to turn the WWE on its head (for all of a couple of weeks), I think this year’s PPV will be rather routine, although MitB matches and Punk vs. Bryan will always be worth a look so while it will most likely be a filler PPV, it will probably be a decent one.

Buy/No Buy: Buy

Dimitri Dorlis: The past two Money in the Bank PPVs have been good, with last year’s in particular being possibly the best PPV that the WWE has put on in years. I can’t see this one being dull, as there should be good stuff between the WWE Title match, both MitB matches, and whatever else gets added. I’d say buy here.

Buy/No Buy: Buy