TJR WWE MITB Match Review #7 and #8: Money in the Bank 2010 – Won by Kane (SD) and The Miz (Raw)
The WWE Money in the Bank match countdown continues with the 7th and 8th Money in the Bank ladder matches. Check out the Money in the Bank archive here.
What I’m going to do for the Money in the Bank PPV matches is put together the ones that took place on the same show. Since 2010 was the first year for the Money in the Bank PPV, I’ll look at those two matches now.
Money in the Bank 2010 – Smackdown
Who: Big Show, Christian, Cody Rhodes, Kane Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston and Matt Hardy
When: July 18, 2010
Where: Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri
Thoughts Before The Match
I’ll go back to my Money in the Bank 2010 preview to show you how off I was in predicting this one:
“I think most guys have a decent shot except Kane and Big Show. Cody’s probably a year away. That leaves five. Will Christian or Matt get a push despite being perpetual midcarders? I don’t know. Will Ziggler leap over the IC title level to get the briefcase? Could happen. I guess I like McIntyre and Kingston as the best picks. I’m predicting a heel win on the Raw side (we’ll get there after this), so I think Smackdown should have a babyface winner. I guess I’m going with Kingston although if I was betting I’d hold onto my money because it can go so many different ways. Good luck figuring this one out!”
That first sentence showed that I was off on my prediction right away! I just thought of the history of Money in the Bank being about pushing a younger guy and using MITB to establish them as a top guy. Instead, they went in a completely different direction. To be fair, I doubt many people picked Kane as the winner of this match.
Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Big Show, Christian, Cody Rhodes, Kane Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston and Matt Hardy
This is was the first match on the PPV and they were competing for the blue Smackdown Money in the Bank briefcase.
Here are the order of entrants for this match: Kofi Kingston was up first as the Intercontinental Champion, Dolph Ziggler was next and Christian made his entrance for his fourth MITB match. Cody Rhodes entered to his cheesy “Smoke & Mirrors” song. Matt Hardy was in his fourth MITB match just like Christian as the ladder match veterans. Drew McIntyre was the youngest guy that was called the Chosen One as a Vince McMahon favorite. Kane entered for his fourth MITB ladder match. Big Show was up last and he was in babyface mode making his first appearance in a MITB match.
Here’s the match with Michael Cole, Matt Striker and Jerry Lawler on commentary.
There was a brawl to start the match, which led to Cody grabbing the ladder and trying to climb until Show and Kane knocked him down. Show with a shoulder tackle on Kane to knock him down. Show stepped on the ladder, the step broke and Show was frustrated by it. Show cleaned house with punches and a headbutt while also tossing a ladder at Kane. Show left the ring, went under the ring and tried to get the bigger ladder, but the other wrestlers worked over Show with punches. Show was shoved knee first into the steel steps. McIntyre did a catapult that sent Christian face first into a ladder that was positioned against the ring apron. Hardy hit McIntyre in the back with a ladder to prevent a climb. Hardy climbed up, but Christian stopped him and brought him down. Christian went up leading to Matt bringing him down. Cody went climbing, but Kingston stopped him. Ziggler sent Kingston face first into the ladder a few times, Ziggler reached up, but Christian stopped him and Christian slammed Ziggler off the ladder. Hardy and Christian got involved again with Hardy hitting a Twist of Fate on Rhodes and Christian with a reverse DDT on Kingston. Double DDT by Christian and Hardy on Kane. Hardy and Christian hit Kane with ladders. Christian slammed Hardy onto a ladder. Christian climbed a ladder again, but Rhodes shoved him down with Christian landing onto Show on the floor. Rhodes with a springboard kick on Kane, Kingston with a Trouble in Paradise on Kane and Hardy with a Twist of Fate on Kane. McIntyre shoved a ladder over to knock Hardy and Rhodes down. McIntyre whipped both guys into the ring post. Ziggler back in, he stopped Drew and Drew whipped Ziggler into the ring post. Kane brought McIntyre out of the ring and cleared off the monitors from both announce tables. Kane with a boot to the face of Drew. Kane brought a ladder into the ring and Kingston hit a dropkick into the ladder. Kingston worked over Drew with punches followed by a Trouble in Paradise kick. Kingston climbed a ladder and hit a Boom Drop that put McIntyre through the table. That was a huge spot with McIntyre landing hard through the broke table right by the announcers.
Ziggler climbed a ladder in the ring, he got his hand on the hook and Show came back in the ring with a Chokeslam for Ziggler. Kane back in with a choke, Show punched him in the ribs and gave him a headbutt. Show with a running back splash onto Kane against a ladder by the turnbuckle. Christian and Hardy attacked Show with a ladder, but Show shoved them down. Show hit a splash onto the ladder to crush Christian and Hardy, but then Show sold a rib injury. Show brought the reinforced specially designed gold ladder with Striker noting it weighed 350 pounds with Cole noting it can hold about one tonne of weight. The fans chanted for Big Show as the big man slowly brought it into the ring. The other wrestlers were all on the floor chilling while this was going on. Show set the giant ladder up under the ring. Cody hit Show in the ankle with a step ladder. Ziggler took down Cody with an Electric Chair Drop slam. Kingston climbed up the giant ladder, Show went after him and Kingston dropped show with a DDT. Kingston climbed up again leading to Cody hitting a missile dropkick that knocked Kofi down. Cody hit the Cross Rhodes on Kofi a ladder that was in the ring. Cody climbed up, Ziggler punched him down and whipped the back of Rhodes into the ladder with Ziggler delivering the move like the Zig Zag finisher.
Big Show got back up with headbutts for Rhodes and Ziggler while Show hobbled on his injured left ankle. Show did a very slow climb up the giant ladder. Kane managed to push the ladder over, so Show landed over the top to the top to the floor. The other wrestlers piled several ladders onto Show. There were about seven ladders on top of Show on the floor. Hardy and Rhodes were on top of the ladder, Kane gave Christian a Chokeslam. Kane gave Hardy a Chokeslam. Rhodes had his hands on the briefcase, but Kane pulled him down and hit an uppercut. Kane went up the ladder, Ziggler climbed over Kane to get to the top and got his hands on the ladder, but Kane fought him. Ziggler with a sleeper, Kane sent Ziggler’s head into the ladder repeatedly. Kane put Ziggler on the apron and slammed him onto the ladders that were on top of Show on the floor. Kane left the ring and gave Kingston a Chokeslam on a ladder that was covering Show. Kane went after Cody up the ramp and Kane sent Cody face first into the armored Money in the Bank truck that was by the stage. Hardy tried to climb, but Kane pulled him down. Kane knocked Christian down. Hardy and Christian gave Kane a double Powerbomb off the ladder. Hardy and Christian did a slow climb on opposite sides of the ladder. Hardy and Christian each had their hands on the briefcase. Matt was close to unlocking it, but Christian punched him. They were both on top of the ladder and then they hit eachother leading to huge bumps down to the mat. McIntyre did a slow crawl back into the ring, he climbed up the ladder and Kane showed up to give McIntyre a Chokeslam to the mat. Kane reached up and grabbed the briefcase to win the match at 26:18. The fans cheered because Kane was a face at this point.
Winner: Kane
Analysis: ****1/4 That was excellent. It was really well booked from start to finish. They did a great job of booking this with smaller (or regular sized) wrestlers working together to try to take out the big guys Kane and Show. Once Show really got going with some offense and that huge ladder, the intensity of the match picked up even more. I think most fans don’t want to see bigger wrestlers in a match like this, but the presence of Show and Kane made it better because of the interesting story that was told with the smaller guys trying to go after Show and Kane, but ultimately they failed. I liked the way Show was taken out. Kane was the best performer in the match too. I wouldn’t have predicted that before it started.
It was the longest Money in the Bank ladder match ever at that point. It was two minutes longer than WrestleMania 23 ladder match won by Ken Kennedy. I think going almost double the length of time of the MITB match at WrestleMania earlier in the year was smart move. It led to more time and a better story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxcDZCtSyvI
The Cash-In Moment
Kane had a very short run holding the briefcase. He only held the Smackdown Money in the Bank contract for 49 minutes. It remains the shortest time ever for somebody holding the briefcase.
Later that same night at Money in the Bank 2010, Rey Mysterio defended the World Heavyweight Title against the former champion Jack Swagger, who won Money in the Bank earlier in the year. Mysterio beat Swagger with a hurricanrana into a pin in a match where Swagger worked on Mysterio’s left foot a lot and even took off Rey’s boot during the match.
While Mysterio was celebrating his World Title win and limping around the ring, Swagger went back into the ring. Swagger put the Ankle Lock on Mysterio’s left foot. That led to Kane running down to the ring to beat up Swagger. At the time, Kane was going after everybody on Smackdown claiming they had attacked The Undertaker even though it was really him…we would find that out later. Rey’s celebration continued until Kane’s music hit.
Kane walked out with the Money in the Bank briefcase in his hands and he had referee Charles Robinson with him. Kane went into the ring handed Robinson the briefcase and the cash-in was official.
Kane went for an attack, Mysterio got away, but Kane slammed Mysterio’s knee into the mat. Kane picked up Mysterio and hit a Chokeslam. Kane picked up Mysterio again and hit a Tombstone. Kane covered Mysterio for the pinfall win to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. The match went 54 seconds.
It was the seventh Money in the Bank match and the seventh time there was a successful cash-in to crown a new champion.
Analysis: It was the first time they ever did the cash in for a title on the same night that a guy won a briefcase, so it was cool. That was always a big thing that fans talked about happening and when they did it, the crowd reacted to it in a big way. The interesting thing is that Kane was a babyface at the time while Mysterio was also a face, so it came off as a smart strategic move by a veteran wrestler Kane rather than something that a heel would do to get heat.
Title Reign Reflections
This was Kane’s second time as a World Champion in WWE and this reign lasted a lot longer than his first title run, which lasted just one day.
Kane turned heel as the World Champion by continuing a rivalry with Mysterio after Kane claimed that Mysterio put The Undertaker in a “vegetative state.” It was later revealed that it was Kane that attacked The Undertaker, which led to several World Title matches between them. This was the first time where Kane won a feud with his “brother” The Undertaker although it was not clean, but at least Kane got the wins.
Kane’s title reign lasted 154 days until TLC 2011 when he lost the World Title to Edge in a Fatal 4-Way TLC Match that also involved Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio. I thought the Kane/Edge feud was terrible with the babyface Edge “kidnapping” Paul Bearer for weeks to get inside Kane’s head and the whole thing was lame.
I enjoyed Kane’s heel run during this period although the feud with Edge was really lame. That’s nothing against either guy because I like both, but it was a weak way to book a World Title feud. Kane delivered some great promos and did some awesome heel work during his feud with The Undertaker.
Final Thoughts on This MITB Booking
I will always remember this Kane cash-in because it was the first time we ever saw a guy become the champion on the same night that he won the briefcase.
Looking back on it now, that’s smart of WWE to do that in the first year they did a Money in the Bank PPV because it set things up well for the future years. It let fans know that Money in the Bank was going to be an important PPV we needed to pay close attention to every year and that certainly has held true in the years that followed.
This was probably one of the best nights in the legendary career of Kane too. He was a big part of an awesome MITB match and then had the historical moment with the cash-in that same night. Well done by him as well as the creative team.
Money in the Bank Ladder Match Rankings so far
- WrestleMania 21 (2005) won by Edge – ****1/2
- Money in the Bank 2010 (Smackdown) won by Kane – ****1/4
- WrestleMania 23 (2007) won Mr. (Ken) Kennedy – ****
- WrestleMania 24 (2008) won by CM Punk – ***3/4
- WrestleMania 22 (2006) won by Rob Van Dam – ***3/4
- WrestleMania 26 (2010) won by Jack Swagger – ***1/2
- WrestleMania 25 (2009) won by CM Punk – ***1/2
Money in the Bank 2010 – Raw
Who: Chris Jericho, Edge, The Miz, Evan Bourne, John Morrison, Mark Henry, Randy Orton and Ted Dibiase
When: July 18, 2010
Where: Money in the Bank @ Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri
Thoughts Before The Match
Let’s go back to my Money in the Bank 2010 preview for this one too:
“I think Miz, Orton or Edge are the real contenders here. It’s too soon for Bourne and I don’t think they like Dibiase enough to do it. I’m going with Miz. I hope it happens. Has come a long way from the annoying midcard heel to a bonafide star. This is the star making match. As far as the match quality goes, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of high spot Bourne does. Will he do the Air Bourne off a ladder onto a group of people on the floor? Could happen. It should make for a very good match in terms of quality.”
The Miz definitely fit the prototype (hey John Cena) of the younger wrestler that was ready to receive that bigger push. I would rank him ahead of Bourne, Morrison and Dibiase in terms of the one that seemed the most obvious for a push. Henry had never been a World Champion up to this point, but I just thought he wasn’t a real contender. Henry replaced R-Truth in the match.
The trio of Edge, Jericho and Orton were established main event wrestlers that were there to add more credibility to the match. All of them were threats to win.
Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Chris Jericho, Edge, The Miz, Evan Bourne, John Morrison, Mark Henry, Randy Orton and Ted Dibiase
This match was for the red Money in the Bank briefcase representing Raw. Randy Orton was up first and he got a big pop because he was in babyface mode here although he didn’t play to the crowd much at all. The Miz was next as the United States Champion with Michael Cole saying he was his pick. Mark Henry was next in his red Kool-Aid style attire (I liked to call him the Kool-Aid Man in this era) as the biggest man in the match. Henry was the replacement in the match. Ted Dibiase was up next with Maryse, who was dating The Miz by this point and obviously we know she married Miz. They put her with Dibiase because he had a bland personality. John Morrison was up next as a face. Chris Jericho entered as a heel that was the man that helped invent Money in the Bank. Evan Bourne got a good pop as an exciting young babyface wrestler. Edge was up last as a face. He had my favorite entrance song in wrestling history. It’s such a great track that fit him perfectly.
Here’s the match with Michael Cole, Matt Striker and Jerry Lawler on commentary.
Mark Henry started the match by punching everybody as they tried to take him down. Miz hit a corner clothesline on Henry, Bourne hit a knee strike to knock Miz out of the ring and a running attack on Henry. Edge set up a ladder for the first climb, Orton went after him and sent Edge into the ladder. Morrison kicked Dibiase in the back to avoid a ladder shot. Dibiase hit a clothesline that sent Morrison back first on a ladder. Dibiase hit Orton wit ha ladder to knock him down. Bourne with a dropkick on Dibiase. Miz dumped Bourne out of the ring. Miz worked over Jericho with punches and Henry tossed a ladder at both of them to knock them down. Henry hit a running splash to the back of Miz against the ropes. Jericho followed by with a ladder shot to the head of Henry and he tossed a ladder on Henry. Bourne with a kick to the back of Jericho to send him into a ladder. Bourne set the ladder up, he climbed, but Edge pulled him down only for Bourne to hit a hurricanrana on him. Orton stomped on Bourne and hit a DDT off the ladder. Morrison hit a springboard kick off the ropes to knock Orton out of the ring. Miz and Dibiase stomped away on Morrison. Morrison sent Miz and Dibiase face first into a ladder that was against the turnbuckle. Morrison set up the ladder, Edge went after him, Jericho set up another ladder that was shorter and Orton also went up that ladder with Jericho. Henry went into the ring and shoved down both ladders leading to Orton, Morrison, Edge and Jericho bumping into the ropes. Bourne with a springboard kick on Henry to knock him down. Maryse realized everybody was down, so she went into the ring in her short red dress. Maryse set up a ladder, she did a slow climb, she didn’t really come close to it and Morrison got in the ring. Morrison slowly brought her down by putting her on his shoulders. Morrison told her to get out of there. Dibiase climbed up, but Morison stopped him as Maryse went back to her chair at ringside. Dibiase charged at Morrison with a ladder, but Morrison moved and Morrison shoved Dibiase into the barricade. Miz sent Morrison in the barricade followed by a catapult into a ladder. Morrison kicked Miz down and used a ladder in the ring to go onto a ladder in the ring with Edge. Edge tripped up Morrison between a ladder and Edge and Miz hit Morrison wit the ladder. Edge also hit Miz with the ladder to turn on him. Edge shoved the ladder over leading to Morrison hitting the mat hard.
Edge set up a ladder in the ring. Dibiase hit him in the ribs with a ladder two times. Dibiase used a ladder to clear the ring. Dibiase reached the top, but Henry stopped him with a punch to the knee. Dibiase jumped on Henry with Henry hitting a World’s Strongest Slam on Dibiase. Henry knocked Jericho down and slammed Miz onto Jericho, who was holding a step ladder. Henry did a slow climb, Bourne jumped on his back to go up the ladder and he was knocked down by Edge and Orton. Edge and Orton tossed Bourne onto Henry on the floor, who slammed Bourne into the mat. Morrison with a kick on Henry on the floor, Jericho with a Codebreaker on Henry and Edge with a Spear on Henry, so three moves were used to take out Henry. There were several guys climbing a ladder to bring the briefcase down. Dibiase brought in another ladder to set up a bridge and he sent Miz face first into a ladder. Orton and Edge sent Dibiase off the ladder bridge onto the floor. Orton followed up with a RKO on Edge for a huge pop. Jericho kicked Orton out of the ring. Morrison worked over Jericho with punches leading to Jericho getting his lag caught in the ladder. Orton hit a RKO on Morrison and Bourne hit the Air Bourne SSP on Orton. Nice spot. Bourne with a slow climb on the opposite side of the ladder from Jericho, who was caught. Bourne reached for the ladder, had his hand on it for a few seconds, he couldn’t unhook it (since he was waiting for Jericho) and Jericho hit Bourne in the ribs. Bourne got close to winning again, but Jericho stopped him. Jericho hit Bourne in the head to knock him down. Edge went up after Jericho on the ladder, Edge sent Jericho into the ladder and Jericho dropped off the ladder right into a RKO by Orton. Orton pulled Edge off a ladder to send him crashing into two other ladders that were in the ring. Orton went up the ladder as the crowd cheered loudly for him. Orton got his hands on the briefcase, but Miz shoved the ladder over to send Orton into the ropes. Miz did the fastest ladder climb of the match to reach up, grab the briefcase and win the match. The fans booed loudly as Miz got a hold of the briefcase at 20:26. Michael Cole was really happy about Miz winning.
Winner: The Miz
Analysis: **** There was a lot of action in this match and different moments where they teased several finishes. The crowd really wanted Orton to win based on the reactions, especially during his final failed climb attempt. Evan Bourne had a lot of crowd support too and nearly won as he waited on the ladder for Jericho to knock him down. John Morrison should have been booked stronger because there wasn’t a moment in the match where I thought he was going to win. They should have made him look like more of a contender. The Miz didn’t do that much in terms of standing out in the match, but he capitalized at the end of the match and was put over big as the Money in the Bank winner. The standout performers in the match were Bourne, Edge and Jericho in my opinion.
Post match, The Miz did a promo saying we are all living in his moment. He said that him winning this Money in the Bank contract means “I made it!” He said it again. Miz said he made believers out of all the cynics, skeptics and critics. Miz told us to take a good, hard look at the man with the briefcase because he is Mr. Money in the Bank because he is a future WWE Champion: “Me! Me!” He ended it saying: “Because I’m the Miz and I’m awesome. Awesome!”
Analysis: He was right about being a future WWE Champion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwVC1Q4bztA
The Cash-In Moment
The Miz held the Money in the Bank contract for 127 days, which his just over four months. He waited for the perfect time on Raw and he cashed in on a guy that was in the same MITB match as him, Randy Orton.
On a personal note, this is only one of two episodes of Raw that I didn’t write a review for in the last ten years. That’s because I was at my best friend’s wedding in Mexico and when I came back home, it was time for the next Raw, so I never got around to writing a review about this.
Raw – November 22, 2010
Randy Orton was scheduled for a WWE Championship defense against Wade Barrett of The Nexus. When Orton made his entrance, he was attacked by The Nexus group and Orton was selling a right leg injury. After a break, they had the match.
Orton and Barrett had a match where Barrett worked on the right leg of Orton throughout the match. Barrett even connected with his Wasteland finishing move, but John Cena pulled referee Mike Chioda out of the ring. Cena was “fired” from WWE at the time, but in typical WWE fashion, a WWE superstar found a way. Cena was chased through the crowd by The Nexus guys. When the wrestlers got back up, Orton hit a RKO on Barrett and referee Chioda counted the pin.
There could have been a DQ finish there due to Cena’s interference, but there was not. Anyway, Orton was announced as the winner of the match.
The Miz ran down to the ring with the Money in the Bank briefcase with his buddy Alex Riley joining him at ringside. Miz cashed in Money in the Bank on Orton. The bell rang to start the match. CM Punk was on commentary saying this looked familiar to him because he also cashed in MITB on Raw.
The Miz worked over the right knee of Orton by ramming it into the steel ring post. Back in the ring, Orton hit a clothesline. Miz punched Orton in the knee, but Orton came back with a powerslam. Orton went for a RKO, Miz slipped out of it and Miz hit the Skull Crushing Finale for the pinfall win. The match went about three minutes.
After Miz was handed the title, we got the infamous shot of “Miz girl” in the crowd looking angry about what happened.
Analysis: It was well done and it was more of a match than most of the Money in the Bank cash-ins were because it took three minutes instead of 30 seconds. It perfectly fit The Miz character to cash in at a moment like that since he’s a heel that was capitalizing on the injured babyface champion.
Title Reign Reflections
I remember The Miz as WWE Champion well because I was covering Raw full time by this point. It wasn’t that interesting at all. Jerry Lawler was one of his first challengers because WWE did such a poor job of building challengers. Miz ended up beating Orton a couple of times although it was never that clean and they went back to Miz vs. Lawler at the Elimination Chamber PPV before WrestleMania. I know nobody expected Lawler to win, but they could have had a better rivalry for Miz.
The WrestleMania 27 main event is one of the worst WrestleMania main events ever. Sorry to The Miz for saying that, but I was there and I was extremely bored by it. Miz had a 20 minute snoozefest with John Cena that ended because The Rock got involved and screwed over Cena even though he was a face just like Cena. Miz capitalized for the cheap win. I remember re-watching it a few years ago and hated it even more than I did when I saw it live.
At Extreme Rules in May 2011, Miz predictably lost the WWE Title to Cena because that should have been what they did at WrestleMania, but they wanted to get The Rock involved. This time with no Rock around, Miz lost the title. John Morrison was also involved in this Triple Threat Steel Cage Match, but everybody knew he had no chance. This was just another match to put the WWE Title on Cena.
I like The Miz and I wish his only WWE Title reign was better than this. His title reign lasted 160 days, which is just over five months, but it was one of the most boring WWE Title reigns I’ve ever seen. I hope he gets another chance to hold that title one day.
Final Thoughts on This MITB Booking
I thought the timing was right for The Miz to become the WWE Champion. He was a guy that went through the midcard, he impressed a lot of people along the way to the top of the mountain and it was a very good MITB match. The cash-in on the night after Survivor Series 2011 was booked well too. The five months that followed were pretty boring, though, so I can’t say it was a memorable run for him as WWE Champion. To his credit, he bragged a lot about main eventing WrestleMania during his heel run over the last decade, so at least that’s something to be proud of.
Money in the Bank Ladder Match Rankings so far
- WrestleMania 21 (2005) won by Edge – ****1/2
- Money in the Bank 2010 (Smackdown) won by Kane – ****1/4
- WrestleMania 23 (2007) won Mr. (Ken) Kennedy – ****
- Money in the Bank 2010 (Raw) won by The Miz – ****
- WrestleMania 24 (2008) won by CM Punk – ***3/4
- WrestleMania 22 (2006) won by Rob Van Dam – ***3/4
- WrestleMania 26 (2010) won by Jack Swagger – ***1/2
- WrestleMania 25 (2009) won by CM Punk – ***1/2
In addition to that, I wrote a ranking of the Money in the Bank cash-in moments over at The Comeback in 2016. I don’t write there anymore. It doesn’t include the last two years, but it’s comprehensive.
====
Thanks for reading. My contact info is below.
John Canton
Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter @johnreport