WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Money in the Bank 2013 Review

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today we take a look at WWE Money in the Bank 2013. Was the PPV a success or a bust? Let's find out and start the review. 

Rhodes Scholars no more

We open up the show with the WHC MITB match. I just realized something with Zeb Colter. He isn't angry at the immigrants, he's angry at Mexican food. If you lay off the beans, you might be able to solve that problem… Just saying. This was a great way to kick off the action. Not sure how well this ranks with other MITB matches, but it was definitely entertaining to watch. After a long battle, it seems Cody Rhodes is close to winning the MITB. He takes out everyone and the fans are definitely pulling for him. It's time! It's his time! He's gonna do it! He's gonna win the big one! He's finally gonna---get screwed over by his best friend and end up losing the contract… 

Yeah, so Damien Sandow took out his own tag partner in order to steal the MITB contract. I did mention in the Raw review that somebody like Sandow could win the MITB contract if they did some proper development moving forward. Well, it seems they got something good going on here for both Cody and Damien if they play their cards right. What we have here is Sandow's betrayal of Cody and the crowd really pulling for Cody as the match progressed. They can have Cody turn face while going to war with his old friend. After their rivalry is over, it's possible for both to come out of it better than before, thus starting their build for the next stage of their careers. Unfortunately, I can also see WWE using the tag separation to only build Damien while Cody continues to do what he's done for almost the past year. I'll admit if that's the plan, I would be disappointed since I think both guys can be useful. There's plenty here for the WWE to use to benefit both guys. Only time will tell what the WWE's plan is for Damien and/or Cody after tonight, but I love the set up after tonight. 

IC title match

Brad Maddox talks about being the GM and showing a mockumentary video for Vickie. I know that Maddox's character is supposed to be annoying, but the man is about as funny as a punch to your nutsack… Or ovaries if you have those. Brad said something along the lines of Vickie working under him, similar to their Bricky dilemma, thus the person who got fired already has a new job. Funny how the person who always gets fired manages to keep finding work with this company. She's the George Jetson of this show. Now that I'm on the pre-show panel, Big Show has pretty much become the biggest hypocrite out there. He has an 'iron-clad' contract and what does he do? He wears a bad suit and offers his analysis. The truth for Show's change of character is because he ate a Snickers. Geeze, they could've solved Show's attitude problems if they just offered him candy? It's actually kind of a sad story. More people need to be aware of Snickers awareness! So many lives are lost due to this! Anyway, The next match is Curtis Axel vs Miz. During the match, Miz does an 'almost' Eddie Guerrero trick by convincing the referee that Paul Heyman punched him, thus sending him to the back. That's the most easily lead referee ever. Hey ref, that guy called me a name and if you don't do anything about it, I'm gonna tell my mommy! Anyway, Curtis Axel's cunning allows him to get the victory by hitting the most non-convincing finisher ever. Seriously, did anyone else think that finisher looked ugly? Despite that minor hiccup, the match wasn't too bad and it continues the progression of Curtis Axel. They might be able to keep the Miz/Curtis rivalry going and I kinda hope they do, but I wouldn't be surprised to see this feud end after tonight. I think there's still a lot more the two can pull off with this rivalry, but we shall see later in the week. 

Undercard central

The AJ/Kaitlyn match wasn't as captivating as the first encounter, but it was still a welcome edition to the series. Kaitlyn hit the Spear, but wasn't able to make the cover due to her injured shoulder. AJ gets Kaitlyn to tap out to the Black Widow. Meanwhile, Ryback finally wins a match on PPV. This might've been the weakest match of the night in a performance/storyline perspective. Hell, I think the Shield/Usos match deserved more recognition than what it got. Seriously, that match was awesome and it's almost sad it got reduced to the pre-show. I know you have to push things back due to time constraints, but it probably would've been better to put the AJ/Kaitlyn or Miz/Axel match in the pre-show. That's a minor complaint at the end of the day, but I will suggest for people to check the pre-show. I think that may have been the first time I've ever said that. Anyway, back to Ryback/Jericho. The storyline was put together at the last moment, while the match was… Just that, a simple match. You get nothing… You lose… Good day, sir! I guess they can use this 'slight' elevation to continue Ryback's pursuit with Vickie Guerrero, but that's about it. Let's be honest here, Ryback heeling out is on the saddest, yet funniest things to watch. He sounds so much like a bully from a 80s/90s Disney film that while hilarious, is a bit sad considering the massive size of this guy. Slapping Vickie on Ryback to do the talking for him may not be that bad of an idea. It could make for something even more ridiculous and funny, but might also get the guy back on track. At this point, why the hell not? Ryback is already down on the pecking order so I think this move could actually save whatever stock he still has. Feed me Vickie… That's just wrong. 

You gotta hate crazy chicks…

The Alberto Del Rio/Dolph Ziggler match was probably the best match on this PPV that didn't involve a ladder. The two have worked well in their new personas and I love the wrestling they can register. These two definitely need a rematch down the road. Just as Dolph has things under control, AJ comes out since she hasn't chewed enough scenery today. Dolph tells her to leave, but she wants to stay and help. Without even thinking, she interferes in the match, thus Del Rio gets the DQ victory. The segment ends with the two arguing. It was only a matter of time they would tease the breakup between Dolph and AJ, but it's funny how it's happening now considering that AJ has screwed up countless times in Dolph's matches. I think she's cost him more matches than helped, but wrestling logic would like to say otherwise. Getting back on track, look for the separation to happen and see Big E getting in the middle of this. Makes me wonder if Big E will be able to break off a piece if she does this for AJ, but she probably has 20 potential boyfriends already lined up. I love the audience's chant 'You screwed Ziggler'. Based in the context of the storyline, she really did screw Ziggler. She has screwed Ziggler so much that she's become a professional at it. Nobody screws around like AJ… Are we still talking about the same thing? 

John Cena = Mr. Anti-Climatic 

I like how Cena had trouble lifting up Henry, but manages to finally get him over later in the match. I guess Cena had a bowl of Fruity Pebbles under the ring or the cereal company created a Fruity Pebble Shot for emergency situations. The match was fine for the most part, but I really didn't like the ending to this match. I had no problem with all the extra shenanigans, but something about Cena pulling Henry back to the middle of the ring and Henry tapping out seconds afterwords just bothers me for some reason. It just seems like an anti-climatic finish. In fact, I notice this happens a lot in Cena's matches. Haven't you noticed it too? They start off well, have a good middle, but something about the ending just seems lazy. It's like the writers gave up and finished it up as fast as they could. I'm not surprised Cena won, but I really wanted to see Henry come out of this match with the belt. He set up this rivalry perfectly and I think has been the man to carry this entire thing since Cena seems to resort to cliches faster and faster these days. It's possible this whole thing was only done to give Cena an opponent for this month, but I think they can do a whole lot more with this rivalry. I'm sure these two will have some type of 'rematch' in the next PPV, but the interest is kinda gone after tonight's bout. 

All-Star MITB ladder match

I should note that the only mention of the Wyatt family was a quick recap of their attack on Kane. It's because of this attack that Kane didn't compete in this match. Here to replace Kane from the MITB ladder match is the ever-popular, Invisible Man. I love that guy! Even though I haven't been that hyped up for RVD's return, I'll admit that it's great seeing him come out to 'One of a Kind', or better yet, actual music. Then again, anything's better than, 'Dadadadada… Rob Van Dam'! 'Dadadadada… Shut the hell up'!!! RVD got a massive pop from the audience. It was clear they were excited to see the man return to the WWE. All the competitors for the All-Star MITB match are ready to go and they immediately attack RVD. Why do I get the feeling as they were attacking him, they were saying, 'This is for going to TNA!'? I don't know, it was just a funny image I pictured as I saw the attack. I think a lot of people will be split between which MITB match was better than the other. Both were pretty amazing and enjoyable, so it's kinda hard to choose which one was better. The show ends with Invisible Man winning the MITB. John Cena runs out there and offers him a piece of toast, but then Invisible Man takes him out and we have a new WWE Champion. Truly an upset that nobody saw coming. This was a segment for the ages and truly the greatest thing to happen in professional wrestling… I rank the segment a 0 out of 10. The review is now over…

Okay, none of that actually happened, but you have to admit that would be one hell of a twist. Just as Daniel Bryan is about to win the MITB, Curtis Axel shows up to take him out. Why? Well, there's a reason for that. Once Punk takes out Curtis, Paul Heyman arrives and cheers on his 'best friend'. Just as Punk is about to win the match, Heyman reveals his true colors and screws over Punk by sandwiching him between two ladders…

I love that clip. I can see why Curtis attacked Bryan. Think about it? Heyman wants to get revenge on Punk, so he suckers him in by still being that CM Punk supporter. Heyman could've easily had Curtis take out Punk, but that wouldn't be good enough in his eyes since HE wanted the credit of costing Punk the match. I think Heyman doing the attack makes him more sinister since he normally doesn't get his hands dirty with this 'grunt work', so it makes it better than having Curtis or Brock Lesnar doing the attack. That's at least how I see it. The match ends with Randy hitting the RKO on RVD, thus being the lone survivor left. He claims his prize and Randy has won the contract. I know a lot of people aren't gonna be happy with the choice since things were pointing towards Bryan winning this thing, but here's two reasons why I don't have a problem with this. One: Bryan can still get the WWE title at a later date. There's no exact time table for cashing in the MITB contract, so Bryan can either become WWE Champion before or after Randy's cash-in. Besides, I think Bryan winning the WWE title the legit way is better for his character since he wants to prove he's for real and not doing things the cheap way. Bryan didn't need to win the briefcase, but I think you can make that argument for everyone involved in this match. Two: Randy can use his cash-in as setting up the means for his long, overdue, heel turn. Other than Cena, Randy is the most overdue person for a heel turn and he desperate needs it, so I think the MITB will help him make that transition. That's what I'm hoping for since it will be disappointing to see Randy remain 'face' after he becomes world champion. Randy has also been overdue for a world title and it's time for him to be the king of the hill…

Overall Impression:

I thought it was gonna be difficult to top Payback, but Money in the Bank may have surpassed Payback. While I can't go all out and say MITB was better, there was a lot of things that tonight's PPV did that helps elevate things towards SummerSlam. Randy's victory sets up a heel turn he needs (hopefully), while Damien's victory allows progression for two of the WWE's young guns. The WHC match was fun to watch and the WWE title match wasn't too shabby either. I may not like how the match ended, but it was at least entertaining to sit through. The undercard for this PPV wasn't as great as Payback, but they were far from terrible. I'll admit that Payback's undercard was more interesting than MITB, but MITB had the bigger main event matches. Does that make any sense? If I had to give WWE Money in the Bank 2013 a score between 1-10 and 5 considered average, I have to give this PPV an 8 out of 10. This is the same score I gave Payback and since I can't determine which one I like more, I think this score makes the most sense. I don't think it really matters since I think both PPVs are fun, intriguing, and worth taking a look. That does it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. Tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I also apologize for the lack of updates the last couple of weeks. I've been very busy the last couple of weekends by being out of town. That's why this review is delayed a bit. Things should be getting back to a normal schedule this week… I hope. I will see you guys and girls in the next one. 

WrestlingNerd's score for WWE Money in the Bank 2013: 8 out of 10