WWE Money in the Bank Coundown: Breaking Down the Build-Up (Part 2 of 8)

Last week, we discovered who the new No.1 Contender to John Cena's WWE Championship was: none other than CM Punk, who promptly informed the WWE Universe that his contract was to expire the night of Money in the Bank. As soon as the clock struck midnight, he was going to be gone, and he was taking the WWE Championship with him.

Friday Night SmackDown, meanwhile, is home to the bitter rivalry between Orton and Christian as well as the stomping ground of Mark Henry and Sheamus. Will either of them make an impact as we start down the road to Money in the Bank? And what new questions will be asked? And more importantly, who are the front runners going into the MITB ladder match and win a Championship opportunity? Tonight, we find out!

-----

Regarding Randy Orton and Christian, we had Teddy Long address the situation of the under-the-rope three-count and apologize to the WWE Universe for the ref making a bad call. I must say that they're doing an excellent job of keeping this rivalry alive and feeling real, and as long as these matches are good, I'm still invested.

Christian was given a match against Kane to earn a Championship opportunity with Randy Orton at MITB. The match was interrupted by Mark Henry and Christian lost by DQ, but Teddy Long gave him one more opportunity: he had to win a tag-team match with Mark Henry against Kane and Randy Orton. Mark Henry pinned Orton, giving Christian his match against Orton at MITB.

My Take: This really opens up the MITB ladder match for me (I had Christian winning the briefcase) as well as makes me wonder who will hold the belt going into the week after. Three scenarios immediately pop into mind:

1) Randy Orton wins again, and the winner of the MITB ladder match cashes in. This man will be none other than Sheamus who will immediately stick it to Christian for doing in one night what he couldn't do in four matches. This would be a heel-heel feud, which would make fan reaction interesting, but something I would like to see.

2) Christian wins, but Sheamus cashes in and takes the belt. It would be like the one above, but with Christian winning, it might appease the IWC more.

3) Mark Henry gets put into the match and makes it a Triple Threat where he could be the one that ends up with the title. I'm sure a whole mess of people will be up in arms about this, but it is a possibility.

There is also the chance that Orton or Christian will win and no one cashes in, or that Sheamus will not win the ladder match. I guess it comes down to who the front-runners are in the coming weeks. And did it seem odd that Henry was the one to pin Orton? Could it lead to something at MITB?

Speaking of Mark Henry, the Big Show had an interview with Matt Striker and spoke about Henry. After a video package of Henry, Big Show was attacked by him in the middle of the interview.

My Take: It seems that a feud between the two of them is inevitable, though if Henry is inserted into Christian and Orton's match, it would spoil the feud. My guess is that Henry stays out of the Heavyweight Championship picture. It does make me wonder, though, is who is the good guy, and who is the bad guy.

It seems that the Big Show is becoming more and more aggressive and being a little heelish. Then again, Mark Henry is even more so. I'm guessing Big Show will still be considered face while making him more serious, which I'm not against.

There was also the situation between Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson. Barrett invoked his rematch clause and lost, meaning Jackson is still your Intercontinental Champion.

My Take: Like most of the feuds coming out of Capitol Punishment, this one is dead. I'm guessing this will put Wade Barrett into the MITB ladder match and start the push of Jackson. Not sure who would challenge him next, but I could see Drew McIntyre making his comeback against him if not at the ladder match.

Miscellaneous: Sin Cara, Ted DiBiase, Daniel Bryan and Cody Rhodes had matches against each other, keeping this feud alive and giving us a possible match at MITB or putting them all into the ladder match. Personally, I'd like to see them in a tag-team match of sorts.

I'm sure they'd be great in the ladder match, and I know each of them could benefit from getting that briefcase, but I think they'd be showcased better if it was just the four of them.

Also, Daniel Bryan got to cut a little promo before his match against Cody Rhodes and talked about Dusty Rhodes being a good person and that Cody will never be able to match him. (Didn't Dusty turn heel against Rey Mysterio in a little segment?) Anyway, he was a little dry on the mic, but good overall, and I do like that they're letting him talk.

Jinder Mahal crushed Yohsi Tatsu and told the WWE Universe that he and the Great Khali were ready to dominate. Not sure how much of an impact they'll make at the PPV, but they've made Mahal and Khali a force to be reckoned with, and I'm sure they'll become a threat pretty soon. Maybe to the Intercontinental Title, perhaps?

The Usos lost a match to Slater and Gabriel after a great showing last week, and all four of them looked pretty good tonight. Gabriel and Slater did have control of most of the match, but the Usos still pulled off some impressive offense.

I could really get behind these two teams going at it, and I hope to see them at MITB. Looking at the Usos Haka entrance, it appears that WWE is ready to give them a personality, a spotlight and a push.

Final Thoughts: A pretty good SmackDown in my opinion, and it did well to build up Money in the Bank (minus the ladder match, of course). It felt like each match meant something and could lead to a potential match or feud at MITB.I am disappointed that we didn't see any Sheamus, but I'm hoping we'll see him next week and state his case for being in the ladder match.

I think that's the difference between SmackDown and Raw at this moment: SmackDown has no real gimmick shows, which means it can devote its time to angles and wrestling matches while Raw seems more interested in the entertainment aspect. At least it feels that way after last week's Raw and hearing about the upcoming Raw Roulette.

Well, the main events are set and now it's time to build the rest of the card. Hopefully we can start putting together the ladder matches and see what else comes our way. SmackDown actually impressed me this week, and now the ball is in Raw's court. What do you think? Leave your thoughts below!

T-Minus six and counting.

Follow me on Twitter
Check out the WWEHQ Community

Blog coming soon!