WWE Money in the Bank Countdown: Breaking Down the Build-Up (Part 3 of 8)

It's time for another Raw Roulette! Which means anything goes in an assortment of random matches that usually don't mean much.

Will we learn about our Money in the Bank ladder match competitors? What other rivalries will brew? And what about our main event match where John Cena defends his title against CM Punk? Let's get the wheel spinning!

I'm going to wait to talk about John Cena and CM Punk at the end because it's a lot to say. If you saw Raw, you know why. If you didn't see Raw, go find it now. The first 15 minutes and the last 5-10 made the night worth it by themselves. Back to the break-down.

Our eight ladder match competitors were shown to us via promo picture. The eight competing for the briefcase will be none other than: Rey Mysterio, Alberto del Rio, Kofi Kingston, Alex Riley, R-Truth, The Miz, Evan Bourne and Jack Swagger.

Regarding these eight men, Rey Mysterio was involved in a tornado match with Alex Riley against the Miz and Jack Swagger, which Mysterio and Riley won. Alberto del Rio had a cage match against Big Show which won thanks to the interference of Mark Henry. Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler had a match which Kofi won. Sin Cara defeated Evan Bourne, and R-Truth beat John Cena with help from CM Punk.

My Take: WWE has a good lineup of people in the MITB match, and a lot of rivalries heading into it. Evan Bourne and Jack Swagger have been pecking at each other, the Miz and Alex Riley are still feuding, we've seen Rey Mysterio and Alberto del Rio scrap it out. The only outcasts are Kofi Kingston and R-Truth, but Kofi belongs here, and R-Truth belongs anywhere right now.

Based on the results of past weeks, look for Kofi, Rey and del Rio to look good going into MITB. Evan Bourne's been getting a lot of attention, but few wins are coming to him. Alex Riley is looking good, but he hasn't been in many high-profile matches like this one. Swagger and Miz have been on a losing streak, and it will be interesting to see what happens with R-Truth.

Next week we should be having some more confrontations between these competitors, and I see them pairing off to promote the ladder match. I will say now that I am avoiding the spoilers for next week as it was taped right after, so I'm unaware of what is happening or going to happen.

As mentioned before, Mark Henry interfered in the match between Alberto Del Rio and Big Show by tearing off the door to the cage, ramming Big Show with it, and breaking down the cage wall. He shouted over the body of the Big Show before exiting the ring area.

My Take: They're actually doing a good job of putting Mark Henry over on this one, and it's getting me excited to see these two in the ring. The problem with two big guys is that the match could be really slow and plodding, but one can only hope for another ring-exploding moment.

I see more words being said next week and a possible match in the coming weeks. I don't see them squaring off more than once before the pay-per-view if this turns appears on the card. Look for more run-ins in the coming weeks.

CM Punk had a match against Kane and lost due to a count-out.

My Take: This match was a "punishment" for CM Punk for being in the ring with HBK and challenging him to a match. There was really nothing to it. Punk's time came at the end of Raw.

As stated earlier, John Cena had a tables match against R-Truth and lost due to interference by CM Punk.

My Take: Another match that just had to happen. It wasn't for anything but to move plot along.

Miscellaneous: Kelly Kelly beat Nikki Bella in a submission match. It was announced that she would be fighting Brie Bella at MITB in a rematch for the Diva's Championship,

After John Cena's match, CM Punk gave a scathing shoot promo at WWE and Vince McMahon that left many people wondering if it was a promo, or Punk letting go of all frustrations he had against the company he's leaving in two weeks' time. You can see the whole promo here, but I'm just going to skim it over.

He called John Cena, as well as Hulk Hogan and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, an ass-kisser of Vince's. He talked about how he is the best wrestler, not sports entertainer. He talked about how he isn't promoted. He said he isn't on cups, programs, or "crappy USA shows" as he put it. He said the company would be better if Vince was dead.

He then went on about Stephanie McMahon and HHH, talking about how they would ruin the company if Vince was dead. The microphone then cut out on him before he was about to tell "a personal story" about Vince. He started to shout at the camera before it cut to black without the usual WWE logo.

Was it a work? I like to think it wasn't. I'm sure Punk was given a shoot promo, but I think he started to overstep bounds in the heat of the moment, and it caused Vince to step in. Of course, that's me being me. I want to believe in wrestling again, and this was one of those moments that let me.

I'm going to become 11 again and pretend like every word of this is real, not scripted, and soak it all in. I recommend that the rest of the IWC does as well, as moments like these don't come by very often.

If it is a work, then the WWE creative team did well on it. The name-dropping, the cut-away, all made it look legit, and it makes me want to forgive them for the past three weeks. Again though, I don't know the spoilers for next week, so I'm in the dark to as what happens next Monday.

Final Thoughts: All in all, the build-up for Money in the Bank was weak. We saw the competitors on a slide, but there was no speaking of the ladder match when we saw these competitors in action. Mark Henry and Big Show's feud is coming along though, and CM Punk vs. John Cena just got a shot in the arm.

I'm really hoping SmackDown does a better job building the ladder matches, as well as another feud or two. Or Sheamus, at the least. There's five matches on the card, and one possible match with Mark Henry and Big Show.

I think there's room for a tag-team match or a secondary title defense, don't you agree?

T-Minus five and counting...

Follow me on Twitter (@mrdavidconrad)

Join the WWEHQ Community

Blog Coming Soon!