WWE Money in the Bank Review - June 19, 2016

AJ Styles and John Cena go one-on-one.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

​The Golden Truth def. Breezango (Kickoff Match)

Was there really a reason why Breezango had sunburn? I guess it provided them with an out for losing, but it's not as if they're the most credible tandem in the division, so it wouldn't have mattered either way. If nothing else, it was relegated to the Kickoff show as it should have been and kept relatively short and sweet, so I can't complain. My only hope at this point is that with the babyface duo finally going over on the heels, this feud can reach its painful end and we move on from this awful angle. By the way, I don't even want to comment on the video package that aired beforehand recapping the rivalry. It was uncomfortable to watch more than anything else.


The Lucha Dragons def. The Dudley Boyz (Kickoff Match)

This was a significant improvement over the mess of a match they had on Raw a couple of months ago, but still nothing noteworthy. That said, I didn't expect too much from the bout considering it was added to the event for no apparent reason other than to kill time. It was fine for what it was, but it was hard to care about who won since there was no storyline support. It wouldn't surprise me to see either of these teams get split up in the upcoming Draft.

---

Seth Rollins takes the fight to Roman Reigns.

WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day def. The Vaudevillians, Enzo Amore & Big Cass, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson in a Fatal 4-Way Match

As a Fatal 4-Way, this match ran into the issues I thought it would have with the timing being off at times and several spots seemingly botched. Kofi Kingston's attempted Trouble in Paradise on Enzo came off awkwardly, and it looked like something went wrong with the finishing sequence. Even determining who the legal man was in the final few minutes was confusing. All in all, though, a fun match and I'm glad New Day retained. They deserve to break the record for longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions in history and if they can hold onto the gold for another month (before Battleground, I believe), they will do just that. For anyone disappointed Gallows and Anderson didn't win here, I'm sure they will be champions before the conclusion of 2016.


Baron Corbin def. Dolph Ziggler

Good for these guys for getting moved to the main card, but this feud has been dead in the water almost since it started. Thus, I wasn't at all surprised the crowd was quiet for this contest. On the bright side, I applaud them for giving it a solid effort and I liked how they turned Ziggler's stumbling into the steel steps into a positive. It was a better match than I thought it'd be and the best bout they've had in this feud. Corbin going over was obviously the right move and now it's time for him to start building momentum again.


WWE Women's Champion Charlotte and Dana Brooke def. Natalya and Becky Lynch

All four women tried hard and the in-ring work was all right, but without anything at stake, the outcome of this match was virtually meaningless. In other words, the bout belonged on Raw or SmackDown, not on pay-per-view. I guess the tension teased between Charlotte and Brooke last week was meant to be a red herring? While the match itself was whatever, the Natalya heel turn that occurred afterward was certainly interesting. The various losses to Charlotte finally causing her to snap is a logical story to tell and spices up a stagnant women's division until Sasha Banks eventually returns.


Apollo Crews def. Sheamus

It's such a shame this feud has hardly been furthered on WWE TV over the past month because I think the crowd would have been more engaged in the action otherwise. Once they picked up the pace down the stretch, they bought into the nearfalls and reacted favorably to Crews' victory. I was happy the commentators treated the win for Crews as big of a deal as they did. Now here's hoping they can continue to build up Crews going forward and give him some real direction.


AJ Styles def. John Cena

Needless to say, this was a match 15 years in the making, and it was well worth the wait. Holy hell! The storytelling was stellar, the action was exceptional and the drama was, pardon the pun, phenomenal. The crowd came to life for this matchup and ate up everything these two did. Despite never having worked together before, Cena and Styles created fantastic chemistry together. Sure, I would have loved to have seen Styles win clean, but the interference was a total heel move and it set up the need for a rematch. More importantly, Styles won! He needed that victory and I was pleased WWE fought the urge to give Cena a win in his first match back. Sensational stuff to say the least.


Dean Ambrose def. Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn, Cesaro and Alberto Del Rio in a Money in the Bank Ladder Match

As expected, the styles of all six Superstars gelled perfectly and it made for an extremely exciting Ladder match. Each of them took an insane amount of bumps and had their time to shine. I would have been satisfied with anyone but Del Rio winning, and although Ambrose was the predictable victor, it makes perfect sense from a storyline standpoint. Furthermore, he has deserved to be Mr. Money in the Bank for two years now and it added even more intrigue heading into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship main event between Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.


United States Champion Rusev def. Titus O'Neil

Rusev and O'Neil had the tough task of following two hot matches, so I give them credit for having the best bout they could. Ultimately, it was nothing special yet serviceable considering the time they were allotted. I was slightly shocked Rusev went over as decisively as he did just because I thought the feud would continue past this point, and it still might, but it was odd for O'Neil to look so weak after being booked as a threat in recent weeks.


Seth Rollins def. Roman Reigns to Win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship; Dean Ambrose Cashed In His Money in the Bank Contract on Rollins to Win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Was it just me or did Rollins come off as much more sympathetic throughout the bout than Reigns did? It was shades of the double turn with Del Rio and Ziggler from Payback 2013 and although I thought we'd see something similar here, it wasn't officially executed. Rollins could be a babyface before long, though, given he won the title clean (which was huge) and then got cashed in on immediately after. But before that, he and Reigns had a hell of a match that surely lived up to the hype. The entire match was well crafted and the nearfalls were very suspenseful. I did not at all see things playing out the way they did, and what a strong serve it was. All three members of The Shield were world champion mere minutes apart. That's absolutely amazing. The long awaited Shield Triple Threat match appears to be in the works, and I selfishly hope they hold off on doing it until SummerSlam since I will be in attendance for it.


Overall Show

Was this the greatest installment in Money in the Bank history? It's difficult to say since we don't know what the historical significance of it will be down the line, but either way, it was a stacked show with the top three matches delivering in a big way. The two title changes made it a newsworthy night and certainly set the stage for not only Monday's Raw but what should be an unpredictable road to SummerSlam. The undercard didn't blow me away, but all the right people won in my book. On the whole, this event gets two thumbs up from yours truly and I would not argue with anyone who said it was WWE's best pay-per-view outing of the year thus far.

---