32 Things I Learned From WWE Money in the Bank: Live From Vegas! by Brandon Lasher

Welcome to my second analysis column of a WWE PPV. I really need to write about main roster shows more often. Last night was “Money in the Bank” and a lot of interesting developments came out of the show for sure. What was the best part of the night? I was actually in Las Vegas to see it. I think spending a week in Las Vegas is always a good idea if you can do it. Even it is over a 110 degrees some days.

Here are the thirty-two things I learned from the Money in the Bank PPV. It includes some live thoughts from my experience as well. I hope you will bear with me. The three pay per views I have seen in person are No Mercy 2008 (Jericho/Michaels Ladder Match), WrestleMania 31 and now Money in the Bank 2016. Maybe I should quit while I am ahead.

Thirty-Two Things I Learned From WWE Money in the Bank: Live from Vegas Edition

1. You know what is boring? Watching the pre-show live and having nothing to actually look at. Can’t we hear the panel and see the pre-show videos? It was a good thing I have a new arena, the amazing T-Mobile Arena, to explore.

2. Was this what six months of build where for? Seeing Golden Truth defeat a pair of comedic sunburned wrestlers.

3. I miss Tyler Breeze in NXT.

4. Why do people pay for alcohol drinks at a sporting event? Eleven dollars for a domestic, thirteen for an imported and nearly twenty for a fancy mixed drink. I am glad I don’t drink sometimes.

5. The Dudley Boyz really came back for no reason other than to put over younger talent didn’t they? I can’t remember the last time they won anything meaningful.

6. Every arena should have fancy lounges that are actually affordable like T-Mobile Arena. It was too bad the one I had access to was named after Bud Light and had its name over the entire place.

7. If you haven’t heard Michael Cole’s entrance music live you are missing out on one of the dumbest songs in the WWE.

8. Enzo and Big Cass are really over. I am happy to see the recent NXT graduates become successful so quickly.

9. Xavier Woods referred to Enzo/Cass as Han Solo and Chewbacca. We get it Xavier. You are a nerd like the rest of us.

10. That was a fun tag match that got over with the loud Vegas crowd. It can be hard to make a four team match work successfully but they kept the pace going throughout the match. The tag team division is strong, I wonder what will happen with the brand split?

11. A live crowd can quickly turn on you. They turned on Ziggler-Corbin. It doesn’t help that we have already seen this match multiple times. The crowd entertained itself around me with Bayley, CM Punk and Perfect Ten chants. Sometimes you have to entertain yourself.

12. Natalya turned heel? I didn’t see that coming but it made the heel team victory make more sense. My crowd really enjoyed Becky Lynch so that might be the right call to push an actual secondary Women’s feud.

13. Charlotte will finally move onto an new opponent right? Does Vince know Sasha Banks still exists?

14. If you come to a wrestling event and watch your kids on nanny cam the entire time maybe you should have left your kids with a babysitter in the first place. I don’t like to rag on the person in front of me for being on their cell phone but it was quite distracting at times. Just like her husband was watching Game 7 the whole time. Stupid Lebron.

15. Apollo wins with the Roll-up of Death! He didn’t sell that top rope move really well.

16. I won’t forget that first couple minutes of the AJ Styles-John Cena match. It was very much a split crowd that wad deafening at times.

17. The match was, as expected, an impressive first encounter between AJ Styles and John Cena. We love to rag on John but he almost always delivers. I am glad AJ got the win but I would loved to have seen him get a clean victory. He really needs it. However it will lead to more matches so I can survive.

18. Is it just me or does the Styles Clash scare you every time like it scares me?

19. If you are waiting in line for a t-shirt for ten minutes you might want to know what shirt you want before getting up to the stand and slowing down the entire line.

20. Alberto Del Rio was the hidden gem in that Money in the Bank Ladder Match. I would say him and Cesaro spent a lot of time inventing really creative spots in the ladder match.

21. Why does Jericho, a respected veteran, put himself through this sort of this level of pain? The Cesaro swing into the ladder looked painful.

22. If Kevin Owens goes through that match uninjured he proves he is one tough man. That driver he took from Zayn hurt me to watch. Wow.

23. Alberto Del Rio had to be helped to the back. His fall over the ladder looked really bad.

24. Dean wins! That was the perfect ending to a wonderful ladder match. All six competitors punished their bodies for our entertainment. Great work by all involved.

25. You know an arena is fancy when our private concession area had a craving station, sushi and fries cooked in duck fat. Oh Vegas, you are crazy.

26. Nothing against Titus and Rusev but the entire arena wasn’t paying attention. We were checking our phones for updates on the end of Game 7. If you heard a random cheer it was because of the Cavs fans. As a life long Warriors fan, I am still sad.

27. Wishing Titus’ family a Happy Father’s Day. Classic jerk move.

28. During the video package, we saw a lot of ring crew come out to the ring to drop off Dean. I cannot believe he was under the ring for nearly half an hour. I hope he had something to read.

29. Is Roman Reigns a heel? The crowd completely hated him and he acted like a heel during the match.

30. If I was worried Sean Rollins would have ring rust, those fears were quickly eliminated in this match. He remains the best wrestler on the roster.

31. Roman Reigns lost clean? I must admit I didn’t see that coming. It was a fun reaction for Seth Rollins. The crowd wants him to be a face.

32. Dean Ambrose wins the title. I will admit I celebrated that live and lost my voice. Dean Ambrose has been a star for years and I hope it is the beginning of a lengthy reign. Dean milked it for the live crowd for a long time after the pay per view ended. He deserved it.

Final Thoughts

This was a better show then WrestleMania. Granted I am really biased by being there, but you had four really strong matches to carry the show. If the WWE takes away the long promos and meaningless celebrity promos they can put on some amazing wrestling matches with their very talented roster. I am excited to see what Dean Ambrose can do as champion. Don’t mess it up.

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Feel free to contact me at lasher@pacificu.edu. Additionally, I have my Twitter account @WWEBNRL as well. I would love to hear your thoughts on Money in the Bank.