WWE Money in the Bank 2015: Full Breakdown, Predictions for Entire Card
This Sunday at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, WWE presents the annual Money in the Bank 2015 pay-per-view.
Every year, the Money in the Bank event is one of the most important shows, as it essentially determines who could end up becoming world champion over the next few months.
It is the most important event to set up SummerSlam, which in turn is normally the show that sets up the months leading up to Survivor Series—and we all know that how that factors into plans for WrestleMania.
For this year's event, several championships are on the line, and so is pride in Kevin Owens' bout with John Cena. Everyone has something to prove and will be fighting hard to come out on top.
So what exactly does WWE have in store for the big event? Who is going to walk away with the honors, and who might not be able to walk on their own two legs by the end of the night?
Let's take a look at the card in front of us and try to predict what is going to happen.
Kickoff Pre-Show Match: R-Truth vs. King Barrett
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Despite the fact that R-Truth and King Barrett competed for the Intercontinental Championship and the King of the Ring over the past few months, both have been left out of the Money in the Bank ladder match.
Thankfully, though, they aren't going to be skipping out on the card entirely, as they will be wrestling each other on the pre-show. It's better than nothing, right?
Overall, this doesn't mean all that much. Nothing is on the line at the moment, so there are no real stakes. Either man could defeat the other, and it won't change a single thing going on in the company right now.
However, if WWE wanted to change that up and to make this worth something, there is an easy option to give the winner a spot in the Money in the Bank match.
After all, being King of the Ring should be a good enough justification for Barrett to be considered, and WWE teased R-Truth's participation in the match during Raw this week, now that he's gotten over his fear of ladders.
Even if this stipulation isn't added, the match should at least be decent filler to warm up the crowd.
Prediction: R-Truth defeats King Barrett via pinfall
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Ryback vs. Big Show
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Ryback isn't going to have time to rest after winning the Intercontinental Championship at Elimination Chamber, as he's immediately been tossed into a feud with one of the most intimidating Superstars in WWE history.
Big Show has beaten everybody and done practically everything there is to do in the business, including winning the Intercontinental Championship, so he would be no stranger to having that belt around his waist once more.
Fans of The Big Guy shouldn't worry, though: Ryback will retain the title at Money in the Bank.
It's far too soon for Ryback to drop the title without looking like a complete joke. Sometimes, people can bounce back from a loss such as that, but Ryback has had far too many stop-start pushes to be able to withstand something like that.
After an undefeated streak in 2012, Ryback continually lost every important match that he had for several months straight and wasn't able to get back on track until recently. WWE seems to want to correct that mistake with this title win, so he simply has to retain.
With The Miz also involved in this feud, there's a possibility that he'll interfere and render the match a no-contest, but that wouldn't be as honorable a victory for the babyface champion as just simply defeating Big Show.
A Triple Threat involving those three could very well be in the works for Battleground. If that does happen, it makes more sense for Ryback to go into it as the champion than to play hot potato with the belt.
Ryback has picked Big Show up for the Shell Shocked, so there's no question that he can do it again on Sunday. Although he might not win with that exactly, it's tough to imagine that The World's Largest Athlete will leave with the title, as he has nothing to gain and Ryback has everything to lose.
Prediction: Ryback defeats Big Show via pinfall
WWE Tag Team Championship: The New Day vs. The Prime Time Players
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The New Day is easily one of the hottest acts in the company right now, considering the reaction the stable regularly gets from the crowd.
In comparison, The Prime Time Players just aren't hitting it off with the audience as much as they and WWE would like. Their promos fall flat, and the backstage vignettes have ranged from mildly amusing to flat-out annoying.
Still, someone needs to challenge the champions, so it makes sense for Darren Young and Titus O'Neil to be in that position after they were the runners-up at Elimination Chamber.
Sadly for them, they will fall short of taking the titles yet again, as this is a match that is New Day's to lose.
Nothing has been stated yet about whether or not Kofi Kingston will be ringside for this contest, seeing as how he's set to be in the Money in the Bank ladder match, but it can be assumed that he will accompany Xavier Woods and Big E.
Whenever all three members of The New Day are present, there's a chance for interference, cheating, distracting the referee and somehow pulling out a victory and retaining the titles. There's no reason why that shouldn't happen here once more.
O'Neil has been showing off his strength lately but will be matched by Big E. Young has yet to really show his true potential in the ring, but the same can be said about Woods. It's a very even match in more ways than one, though Kingston's involvement can make all the difference.
On top of this, there is always the fallback of the champion's advantage, where The New Day can retain the titles by disqualification or being counted out. Looking at the track record of The Prime Time Players, it doesn't appear as though a pinfall or a submission is in the cards.
Prediction: The New Day retains by defeating The Prime Time Players via pinfall
WWE Divas Championship: Nikki Bella vs. Paige
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If there is one title that has the biggest chance to change hands at Money in the Bank, it is definitely the Divas Championship.
Nikki Bella has held the belt for many months longer than most title reigns last, meaning that WWE could be antsy for something new. Never question how much appeal the idea of a new champion has for a bored WWE Creative.
Still, Paige as champion is not exactly the freshest concept. There's a good chance those responsible for booking this match are just as tired as many fans are of seeing the same handful of women competing for the title and see no reason to have a meaningless title change.
Some new blood from NXT would be the best course of action here, but there have been absolutely no hints that someone will be called up to the main roster.
As such, if you are expecting Charlotte, Bayley, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks or any of the other Divas from developmental to make an impact at this pay-per-view, you may very well be disappointed.
It almost goes without being said for every match, but it needs to be stressed here that the outcome of this fight depends solely on what WWE is planning to do for the future.
If The Bella Twins are going to be the priority heading into SummerSlam, Nikki will retain. If someone like Charlotte comes up to the main roster, the scales tip more in Paige's favor to be the champion come August.
This could go either way, but since things have been rather bland for the past few months, a storm could be brewing for some change.
Prediction: Paige defeats Nikki Bella to win the Divas Championship via pinfall
John Cena vs. Kevin Owens
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One of the golden rules of professional wrestling is that a program has more legs to it if the competitors are evenly matched. If one side continually defeats the other, fans have no reason to tune in. The same thing would just keep happening, and nobody would care after a while.
As such, it's imperative that Kevin Owens loses to John Cena in this match.
First off, this opens up the possibility for a third match between the two to take place at Battleground. Owens has one victory, Cena would have one to his name, and it would take the rubber match to settle the score and determine who is truly better.
Also, there is a tricky booking problem WWE tends to run into time and time again when it comes to unstoppable monster characters such as Owens. If they are given too long of an undefeated streak, they lose all momentum when they have been bested.
For the most recent example of things turning sour, just look at Rusev. For months, nobody could put him down, no matter what they tried. Cena eventually came along and beat him multiple times in a row, and in result The Bulgarian Brute has now been massively demoted.
To avoid the same thing happening to Owens, he needs to lose sooner than later so it won't sting as much. If WWE plays its cards right, the current NXT champion can take a pinfall loss at Money in the Bank, defeat Cena at Battleground and not lose any momentum.
Neither title is on the line—again—so the belts don't get in the way of booking either man to win or lose. However, if Owens were to lose at Money in the Bank and then up the ante by challenging Cena for his United States Championship at Battleground, that would be a great means to take the negative hit and turn it around into a positive.
Their match at Elimination Chamber was great, so as far as the quality of this segment goes, it has potential to be the best of the night. Win, lose or draw, both men are likely to be proud of what comes out of it.
Prediction: John Cena defeats Kevin Owens via pinfall
2015 WWE Money in the Bank Ladder Match
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When looking at the field for the 2015 Money in the Bank ladder match, one person stands out among the rest not just in the promotional material but in terms of logic.
That man, who will end up winning the match, is Roman Reigns.
Every person involved has some sort of reason to be there, but only one of them can win, so if you start to dissect each wrestler's value, the answer becomes clear.
Neville and Kofi Kingston are involved in the match to provide various entertaining spots and do crazy things with the ladders, not to win. It's impressive for Neville to be fighting for such an honor so quickly into his main-roster tenure, but his lack of experience is exactly what will hold him back from winning.
In Kingston's case, he's a veteran of these matches, but having wrestled in a bunch of them doesn't mean he's more likely to win. Even people like Kane, Dolph Ziggler and Randy Orton—all of whom have won the briefcase and successfully cashed in their title shots in the past—don't stand much of a chance.
Kane will be there to represent The Authority, while Orton and Ziggler have many accolades to their names and will help put over the winner by being among the losers. Defeating former world champions to win the contract means much more than if Reigns were booked to fight people like Heath Slater, Zack Ryder and Los Matadores.
The landscape of WWE right now does not have room for Sheamus to be the person fight for the championship in the next few months. Seth Rollins is the dominant factor in the main event, and both he and The Celtic Warrior are heels who show no signs whatsoever that WWE would be interested in doing a rare heel vs. heel match between the two.
It's the obvious, simple answer to have Reigns win and cash in on Rollins at SummerSlam, particularly if Rollins has to fight Brock Lesnar. That would be a means for things to come full circle and have some closure based on what happened at WrestleMania.
Perhaps more importantly than the irony of the situation is the reality that it would give Reigns the title run that WWE was grooming him for earlier in the year. His push was stalled, but he's been gaining the support of the fans ever since coming up short, and soon enough it will be time to reap the benefits of waiting.
Something will be there for everyone to ensure that they all look strong in some fashion, but when the dust settles, Reigns will be standing tall.
Prediction: Roman Reigns wins the Money in the Bank contract
WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose
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Seth Rollins is in as bad a position as he's ever been as WWE world heavyweight champion.
Dean Ambrose has stolen his title, both somewhat legitimately and underhandedly. J&J Security no longer has his back. Kane is as frustrated with him as ever. Even Triple H and Stephanie McMahon seem to be turning a blind eye to him.
Nobody is willing to help him out, and since he's made a career out of receiving assistance over the past few months, it appears as though his time as champion is about to run out this Sunday.
That is exactly why Rollins is going to retain the title at Money in the Bank.
The general rule of thumb is to predict the opposite of what WWE is setting up. It's not a guaranteed success every time but pays off more often than not.
Fans got a taste of Ambrose as champion at Elimination Chamber, but that was just meant to whet their appetites more than allude to events that would be coming to fruition soon.
Lest we forget, Ambrose was not even originally scheduled for the Payback title match that led to his current positioning to begin with. Without that, he wouldn't be here, so there clearly weren't plans in motion for Ambrose to be champion around SummerSlam.
Of course, things can always change, and WWE may have altered the previous ideas to make room for a title reign for Ambrose, but it's a much more likely option that Rollins is just going to keep the title around his waist nonetheless.
It's easy to set up a heel victory in ladder matches by just having someone interfere and prevent the babyface from climbing. Triple H would be the best candidate, as he appears to be the person who can tolerate Rollins the most.
At Battleground, Rollins could end up facing Kane to settle their issues or could be in a Triple Threat that involved Ambrose as well. There's even a chance that he could wrestle a fourth pay-per-view match in a row against The Lunatic Fringe, but WWE would be better off avoiding repetition.
Having someone like Triple H influence the outcome of the match could set up a match between The Game and the future Mr. Money in the Bank, Roman Reigns. Alternatively, WWE can kill some time by having no title match and instead doing a tag team match with Rollins and Triple H facing Ambrose and Reigns.
There are plenty of different outcomes that can be either fantastic or underwhelming when building up to SummerSlam, but it's hard to imagine that WWE has any scenarios in mind that involve Ambrose as the champion.
Brock Lesnar is going to be making his return soon, and nothing has been set up to appear as though he would go for a fight against anybody but Rollins, as he should naturally want to win his WWE World Heavyweight Championship back.
Ambrose as champion facing Lesnar makes no sense, so unless the roster is going to be shifting around quite a bit, the safe bet is on the title staying exactly where it is now.
Prediction: Seth Rollins retains the title through some sort of cheating, either receiving help from outside interference or bending the rules in some way
What do you think is going to happen at Money in the Bank? Do you agree with these predictions, or are you hoping for something else to go down?
Tell us your thoughts, booking ideas, predictions and anything else you have on your mind in the comments below!
Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
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