WWE Money in the Bank 2011: Raw and SmackDown Reviews: 27th June-15th July

Hello folks!

Welcome to a collection of Raw and SmackDown reviews that I have not had a chance to post over the past few weeks.

With moving house and having no Internet, I had no way of keeping up with all the action from the weekly shows. With this being my first weekend off, I decided to watch the nine hours of wrestling I had missed, and give you what I said I would give you every week in a nice preview to Money in the Bank.

This slideshow covers three weeks worth of WWE programming—three Raws and three SmackDowns. These are formatted just like my reviews usually are, and you can skip to whichever one you would like to read. Here is the order they will be in;

WWE Raw Review: June 27, 2011

WWE SmackDown Review: July 01, 2011

WWE Raw Review: July 4, 2011

WWE SmackDown Review: July 8, 2011

WWE Raw Review: July 11, 2011

WWE SmackDown Review: July 15, 2011

I couldn’t stand by and let you miss out on my opinion of the past three weeks of events—especially with all that has transpired.

After this weekend, my reviews will be on time as per usual, and normality will be restored.

To those who enjoy my weekly reviews, here they all are for your enjoyment, and to those who just want a quick recap, please skip to whichever show you missed or whichever show you want to relive.

Thanks, and enjoy the read!

WWE Raw Review: June 27, 2011

Raw Roulette came to us from Las Vegas, Nevada. The concept of the Raw Roulette is supposed to be a random spin of the wheel to determine a match type for two or more competitors.

With me being the cynical old bleeder I am, I am convinced it is fixed and therefore just an unnecessary prop used to fill valuable air-time.

HBK started off the show and was greeted by a huge pop.

Punk interrupted an HBK who seemed wrapped up in nostalgia (and wouldn’t stop going on about it) to say it’s funny how the crowd cheers for the old coming back instead of the new superstars that are the future.

He makes a very good point if you ask me. 

I did wonder why Punk was accompanied by the New Nexus—I wasn’t even aware that the faction still existed—but I soon found out when HBK delivered a sweet, Sweet Chin Music to Otunga, followed swiftly by one to McGillicutty’s jaw.

The Raw GM spoilt a perfectly good segment here and ordered Booker T to spin the roulette wheel. It’s a good job it landed on “mystery opponent,” otherwise, Kane would have been stood off camera for absolutely no reason.

There were huge CM Punk chants starting to fill the arena as they gradually made themselves heard to the television audience at home.

Punk walked out of the match saying; “What are they going to do, fire me?! I don’t care!” and he ws counted out by the official.

Sin Cara came out to a decent ovation to face Evan Bourne in a match that should have occurred the week before at “Power to the People."

The roulette wheel was spun, and it landed on a “No Count-outs” match. The match was absolutely outstanding. It truly made up for the screw up at the “Power to the People” Raw event with explosive action and not one bit of movement wasted by either competitor.

If ever a match was pay-per view worthy, this was it.

Kofi went to spin for his match against Dolph, but Vicky Guerrero took it upon herself to do the honours. It landed on “Player’s Choice,” and Kofi elected to have Vicky banned from ringside.

It was an OK match, but I felt like I’d seen the exact same thing about 1,000 times.

Back from commercial, and Kofi was in a headlock (as if you’d expect anything else).

Kofi won the match.

It’s a good job the next spin to determine what match Del Rio would have with Big Show landed on “Steel Cage;” otherwise, the whole story would have been doomed. It also would have been a waste of time suspending the cage above the ring for a “just in case” scenario.

Mark Henry came down to the ringside area shouting; “don’t eyeball me!” It was hilarious.

Mark Henry pulled off the door of the cage (he had better look than that time he infamously botched getting the door off) and attacked Big Show as Del Rio escaped to win the match.

Mark Henry then shoved the door into Big Show, resulting in one side of the cage breaking and Big Show tumbling to the floor.

This elicited “holy sh*t” chants I haven’t heard in a long time. This feud looks to building momentum by the minute which is strange—because there is no title involved and they are mid-card superstars.

Kelly Kelly beat a Bella with the Boston Crab in a submission match (chosen by the wheel of course) and was attacked by the twins after the match. Eve made the save and that was that.

DDP showed up to promote The Very Best of WCW Nitro and Drew interrupted, saying they were both washed up, old relics, that were taking up valuable TV time. He received a Sweet Chin Music from Shawn Michaels for that.

Rey Mysterio and Alex Riley took on The Miz and Jack Swagger in a Tornado Tag Team match. It was actually a really good match that the crowd was more than in to. By the end of it, I came to the conclusion that I’d not heard a crowd that loud all year, even at a pay-per-view event, and they were absolutely deafening. It made me enjoy the match a whole lot more.

R-Truth then took on John Cena in a tables match. It wasn’t a particularly bad match, and this was where the programme started to get interesting. Punk moved a table out of the way, saving Truth and allowing him to spear Cena into a table propped up in the corner.

Then came the now infamous worked shoot promo. Punk sat at the top of the stage and cleared the air about many things the fans shouldn’t really know about.

He said he likes Cena a hell of lot more than the people in the back, but hates the idea that he’s presented as the best. Punk then proclaimed himself as the best in the world.

However, he did say he was better at kissing Vince McMahons ass than Punk, as Hulk Hogan was—he then said no-one kisses ass like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

He explained that Paul Heyman saw something in him that no one else did and that he is now barely promoted, and though it is not sour grapes, the fact that The Rock is in the main event of WrestleMania XXVIII makes him sick.

He then mentioned other wrestling promotions and that the reason Vince isn’t a billionaire is because he surrounds himself with sychophants.

Punk was cut off Sopranos style just as he was about to tell a personal story about Vince.

This Raw was one for the ages. It won’t be forgotten in a hurry, especially if the Money in the Bank pay-per-view lives up to all the hype. I thought for a gimmicky Raw, it was one of the best of 2011—mainly down to CM Punk.

WWE SmackDown Review: July 1, 2011

Christian started the show by saying he wanted Randy to sign the contract in the ring tonight, but Teddy informs Christian that he shouldn’t be too hasty, as should Mark Henry be successful against Orton, it may be a Triple Threat match.

Christian was banned from ringside for the entirety of the match.

Mark Henry took control and never really lost it, even when the action spilled to the outside. He looked dominant against the Viper and looked to be in line to receive a title shot at Money in the Bank.

However, the Big Show’s music started to play despite no Big Show turning up, and because of the distraction, Orton was able to RKO Henry and leave him to be counted out.

Mark Henry then threw a tantrum, destroyed the audio equipment and threw the audio engineer of the mini stage he was on. It looked awesome and truly was compelling viewing.

Daniel Bryan and Ted DiBiase came down to the ring with no music thanks to Mark Henry’s antics and faced off in a fairly average match.

Daniel Bryan did win, but not with the LeBell Lock. He won with a kind of limpet submission move that had the same effect as a sleeper.

It was then revealed that Christian was the one who played the Big Show’s music during Henry’s match—the sly dog.

In a backstage segment, Cody had a go at Ted for losing and tried to light a fire in the Million Dollar man’s son, to try and make him win for once.

We then got the back-story as to why Jinder Mahal has a hold over the Great Khali. It is the threat that he will bring shame to the family by divorcing Khali’s sister. This was told by Ranjin Singh in what I thought was an inventive segment.

Christian then defeated Sin Cara with the spear after an extremely long, yet exciting match between the two. This proved one thing to me—Sin Cara’s freaky lights do not guarantee a win!

Sin Cara has had two good matches in one week, and I think he may be finally getting used to the WWE style. I believe if he keeps his performances to this standard, he will definitely gain the popularity Mysterio has found.

Ezekiel Jackson and Cody Rhodes were next to compete. Cody wore down the big man with submission manoeuvres and evasive techniques, but in the end, his win came from a distraction by Ted DiBiase, which allowed him to execute his springboard kick from the second rope.

Cody panted to Ted; “You did the right thing!”

Johnny Curtis painted himself into a corner.

The television audience was then informed that CM Punk has been suspended indefinitely for his comments about the Chairman and the company.

Kane took on Wade Barrett next, and it wasn’t a bad match; it’s just that I’m getting really bored of Kane. I hate watching him wrestle. It’s like trying to watch a seal walk. It just isn’t happening for me.

Barrett reversed a chokeslam, then Kane looked to be setting up for a tombstone piledriver, and it made me wonder when the last time was that we even saw Kane do that move. I mean, seriously, that’s a big chunk of his character, and he apparently isn’t allowed to perform it?

Kane won after a successful chokeslam.

Teddy Long was in the ring in a tent...oh no, wait; it was a suit. He was there to oversee the contract signing between Christian and Orton.

If Christian is screwed on Sunday, he will get another rematch with no questions asked.

Contract signings always kick off—this time it was Sheamus who crashed the party, seeking retribution for being punted out of action.

It was Brogue Kick paradise as Sheamus went ballistic, laying out Orton and Christian.

“You wanna punt me in the head!? I’ll rip your head off!”

Love it.

It was a fairly good SmackDown, but most of the matches were fairly mediocre. The development of the storylines was top notch, though, and they made this episode shine, hiding the negatives of the actual wrestling.

WWE Raw Review: July 4, 2011

John Cena did not look happy as he started the episode of Raw. He walked down to the ring with a serious stride and picked up a microphone straight away.

By the way, props to the guy who held up the sign “we’ve Cena muff”.

What a winner.

Cena explained that Punk’s outburst did not sit well with the WWE brass and said that the decision to suspend Punk sucks.

He referenced sign confiscation, Daniel Bryan’s firing and CM Punk speaking his mind, eliciting “First Amendment!” chants.

I love all this shoot stuff!

We were told Mr. McMahon would show up to address the situation.

A Divas tag match followed pitting the Bellas against Kelly Kelly and Eve. Kelly Kelly owned the match with her Fame-Asser.

Truth reckoned he should be awarded another title match due to beating John Cena the week previous. He stated this in a segment where he was interviewed by Scott Stanford.

To be fair, I’d rather leave Truth out of the title picture until Punk is definitely not coming back.

Santino Marella and Kozlov then took on Otunga and McGillicutty, the Tag Team Champions. In what was an extremely boring match, McGillicutty picked up the victory.

The weirdest thing happened at the end of this match. Zack Ryder showed up and shouted “WOO, WOO, WOO, you know it!”...and that was it. I’m just hoping that goes somewhere.

Sergeant Slaughter was then shown in the back with Evan Bourne, due to it being Independence Day in the United States. The All-American American Jack Swagger then issued a challenge to Slaughter, who swiftly accepted.

Swagger won with the Swagger bomb fairly easily, which I have to admit I didn’t expect. Legends usually win in this situation, so I have to hand it to you WWE; you gave me a surprising result!

He then locked the ankle lock in on the Serge, only for him to be saved by Evan Bourne.

The Pledge of Allegiance was then spoken.

The pointless (you’ll see why later) No. 1 Contenders match for the WWE Championship was won by Alberto Del Rio, when he locked in his cross arm-breaker on Mysterio. Truth was the other competitor and was as equally impressive as Del Rio and Mysterio.

There were some pretty cool spots throughout the match, but I have to say I thought it dragged just a little bit. The crowd were loving it, though, and absolutely lapped it up.

Dolph came out to celebrate the birthday of USA, and therefore his birthday, due to him being the US Champion.

Dolph said there will never be another Dolph Ziggler, and Kofi Kingston interrupted.

They cut a promo, started brawling and Vicky ended up with cake all over her.

I don’t see why we needed to see Miz face Riley. We saw it at the last pay-per-view, and I need a bit of a break before I see it again.

Riley won, resulting in a huge pop from the crowd, and it was only after the match I realised why they had them face each other. 

Miz attacked Riley after the match, screaming; “I made you!” The emotion Miz was able to project was impressive and certainly allowed me to become emotionally invested in his character.

Mr McMahon arrived, annoying me because his tie was off centre throughout the whole segment. He said Punk was suspended because he deserved it.

Cena then came out to confront the boss and asked him if he would be suspended should he say something McMahon doesn’t like.

Vince replied by saying he does what is best for the company (very true) despite what the people think.

Cena said Vince has now made the title meaningless and walked away from the boss, leaving the title behind.

Vince panicked, reinstated CM Punk, put him back in the match at Money in the Bank with the added stipulation that if Cena loses, he is fired.

The segments which furthered the Punk storyline were definitely the best, moreso because they were what everyone was waiting for.  The triple threat match to determine the No.1 contender stole the show, though, with some great spots and the crowd loving every second.

WWE SmackDown Review: July 8, 2011

The show started with all the Money in the Bank participants in the ring waiting to be interviewed. Bryan was first, only to be interrupted by Cody. Wade then spoke his piece (I won’t bore you with all the details) as Sheamus stormed the ring, steel chair in hand.

 Sheamus managed to clear the whole ring with just one chair. The escape Sin Cara executed was one of the best things I’ve ever seen. He dived over Sheamus, who was flailing the steel chair, and slithered out of the ring. It looked absolutely amazing.

The crowd were buzzing already.

Sheamus then cut a promo on Orton, stating; “I’m gonna hit you so hard I’ll knock the voices out of your head!”

Sheamus was announced to be facing Orton in the main event of SmackDown, and Christian had a clause added to his contract whereby if there is any bad officiating or Orton is disqualified, Christian automatically becomes champion.

A tag match featuring DiBiase and Rhodes against Daniel Bryan and Ezekiel Jackson followed. It was a fairly boring tag match, following the same generic formula—I’m not moaning, just simply pointing out that it was nothing special.

DiBiase won after being saved from the torture rack by Cody Rhodes.

Matt Striker interviewed Mark Henry, or tried to—Mark Henry just became mega-angry at the questions and scared Striker off.

Jinder Mahal squashed Trent Barreta again (I guess they’re running out of guys for Jinder to dominate.)

Khali had a go at commentary but it was just...awful.

There was then a swift interview with Sheamus, who said his rage was down to an Irish thing.

AJ then took on Tamina. I’ve been defending women’s wrestling, but it has been so bad recently that I have to admit I’ve skipped a few. AJ won.

Kane took on Mark Henry in a losing effort. Kane’s advantage was lost when he tried to chokeslam Mark Henry through the announce table.  Henry overpowered the Big Red Machine and managed to get him up for the World’s Strongest Slam, picking up the victory in the process.

Randy Orton was then interviewed, his main point being that he is sick and tired of Christian asking for one more chance.

Sin Cara faced Tyson Kidd in another outstanding match. (That’s three in a row for those counting) It truly was a show stealer. Sin Cara won with his top rope finisher, making it even more spectacular. I think Tyson Kidd works really well with Sin Cara.

Apparently, Tyson Kidd is not well liked in the locker room, though why Cole decided to share that with everyone is beyond me.

Slater and Gabriel took on the Usos, who performed their wild war dance before the match. If Josh Mathews tells me one more time that Jey Uso has a tattoo, I think I might scream.

This match showed me that the tag team division is not dead. The Usos picked up the win after a superplex and a crossbody.

Slater and Gabriel were then shown arguing; signalling the destruction of what I thought would be a tag team revival.

Johnny Curtis said he will take the cake when he debuts. He’s a weird fella, isn’t he?

It was then time for the main event. Christian was on commentary making it obvious to everyone with half a brain that an interference was bound to go down.

The tension between Sheamus Christian and Orton was electric—it is a much better feud than people give it credit for.

Sheamus skinned the cat! Mad skills there.

As predicted, Christian attacked Orton during his SuperOrton routine. Sheamus, not happy at this result, Brogue Kicked Christian before being RKO’d—leaving Orton on top, as if anyone expected anything different.

I was gutted that this SmackDown seemed to signal the end of yet another tag team that was looking to be rather successful. It was an average show really, with Sin Cara once again standing out to me.

WWE Raw Review: July 11, 2011

The final Raw before Money in the Bank. WWE couldn’t be doing a better job of building a storyline for this impending pay-per-view. I am so excited for it already!

CM Punk arrived with a megaphone, supposedly so he isn’t silenced again. He sat in the ring cross-legged and spoke about how he has the balls to say things that no-one else has the balls to say.

The CM Punk chants were deafening, I can’t wait to see what they are like in Chicago!

He proposed the first ever live signing of a contract in a WWE ring.

John Cena then showed up, and Punk thanked him for reinstating him. He said he would change the ugly belt (now I really hope Punk wins) and there was heavy use of the word “wrestler."

I was just thinking about how much better promos have been since this CM Punk storyline started, when the GM decided it would be a good time to chime in, putting a dampener on the tension and excitement brewing inside the audience, replacing it with an orchestra of boos.

A handicap match was set up between the Tag Team Champions Otunga and McGillicutty and John Cena.

This match started immediately.

Back from commercial, and Cena was in a headlock (surprise, surprise.) He kicked out of a double team manoeuvre and ended up winning with an Attitude Adjustment on McGillicutty.

A backstage segment then showed Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre and Vickie Guerrero all ripping Vince McMahon to shreds. They did their best to be funny, but it didn’t tickle my funny bone.

Vince forced them to team up in a handicap match against Big Show after over hearing them (not Vickie, no; don’t be so pedantic.)

Boy, it’s good to have Mr. McMahon back!

Kelly Kelly faced Rosa Mendes, won and was attacked after the match.

Eve came to save her, but the numbers game was too much, and the Bellas came out on top.

Six of the Raw Money in the Bank combatants exchanged a war of words in the ring until the Raw GM made a six-man tag match—Bourne, Riley and Kingston vs. Swagger Miz and Truth. Heels vs. Faces basically.

The segment was funny when R-Truth came out and expressed his fears of heights and spiders.

Ladders surrounded the ring symbolically as they all fought each other. Alex Riley won the match with his patented DDT!

His celebration did not last long, however, as Miz attacked him, resulting in a brawl between all six men.

Del Rio then came down to the ring and cleared it with a ladder, exactly like Sheamus did with a chair on SmackDown. Why waste a formula that works, eh?

Dolph and Drew took on the Big Show next. Ziggler hid for the match while Drew took all the punishment form the angry giant.

They ended up on the stage, where Mark Henry came out of nowhere and charged at the two men, forcing them off the stage and sending them crashing through the electrical pit as Cole called it.

Mark Henry refused any help from EMT’s.

Raw has really upped the ante this month, showcasing some excellent storylines and capping them off with brilliantly executed spots. Mark Henry sacrificed himself and it reminded me of old ECW, especially when the “Holy Sh*t!” chants rang throughout the arena.

It was then time for the contract negotiation.

CM Punk came out mocking the chairman, then presented him with an updated contract, featuring lots of demands Vince couldn’t possibly meet. Here is a list of his demands;

1. He wants his own jet

2. He wants his face on everything, dictator style.

3. He wants them to bring the ice cream bars back

4. He wants CM Punk the Movie. You can call it The Chaperone 2, but it will be funny and successful

5. He wants the main event spot at WrestleMania 28

6. He wants an apology

CM Punk chants filled the arena as he spoke of his friends—Colt Cabana and Luke Gallows—being unceremoniously pushed out of the WWE because they enjoy wrestling.

He then threw the table over in a mini tantrum as “we want Ice-cream” chants filled the arena.

Vince McMahon apologised to Punk before Cena came out, told Punk he was acting like a child and shoved him. Boy, did business pick up here.

Punk sat at the top of the ramp, ripped up the contract and said he was leaving because he was just tired. Tired of everything.

I believe Raw pulled it out of the bag yet again, creating a fantastic build for the impeding pay-per-view. I haven’t been this excited for a pay-per-view since I started watching again in 2008. If programming was like this all the time, I for one, would not be so cynical about the product.

WWE SmackDown Review: July 15, 2011

Josh Matthews kicked off SmackDown by introducing Orton. I could swear that World Heavyweight Championship looks new...it looks smoother.

Christian interrupted Randy Orton and presented him with a framed picture of Christian standing tall over Orton, World Heavyweight Championship in hand.

He said Orton’s family is pathetic, and the only reason his dad is in the Hall of Fame is because the WWE brass wanted to keep the golden boy happy.

It was a good promo, but they don’t want to get too close to the magic Punk and Cena are creating; otherwise, it would take away from the feud

Ted DiBiase took on Ezekiel Jackson for the Intercontinental title, but ended up losing to the torture rack. Ezekiel retained the Championship and Ted received a telling off from Cody, who had been watching on the monitors.

He explained he was willing to give Ted one more chance—so he’d better not lose.

Daniel Bryan faced Cody Rhodes in a standard match. It was like anything else we’ve seen between these two barring a LeBell Lock that was executed on the ropes. It looked pretty cool.

Daniel Bryan became hung up on the ropes, leaving Cody free to hit him with his springboard kick, ending the match indefinitely.

Michael Cole did commentary with a paper bag on his head, and credit where credit is due; he was actually pretty funny.

Kane thanked Teddy for the match with Orton in a backstage segment. He said he didn’t feel like a monster anymore and he didn’t know why—one word Kane—mask.

In a weird scene, Jinder Mahal berated a photographer for concentrating on Khali instead of him. It was a pretty pointless scene if you ask me.

Christian was then shown to have written graffiti all over Orton’s coach. Vandal.

Sheamus took on Sin Cara. It wasn’t the best match in the world, but Sin Cara picked up the win by a cheap roll up, infuriating Sheamus. Barrett, who had been on commentary, attacked Sheamus with a big boot, and gave the Wasteland to Sheamus.

Barrett to win Money in the Bank!

Christian stole from Randy’s wallet and put $1,000 on the roulette wheel. Thief. He lost by the way.

Mark Henry and Big Show’s face off was actually really good, with both guys getting me pumped for their match on Sunday.

Kelly Kelly vs. Rosa Mendes. Kelly Kelly won—nuff said.

Johnny Curtis appeared with yet another Zack Ryder rip off, saying he would make his debut sooner than we think. Money in the Bank interference, anyone?

Justin Gabriel faced Heath Slater in what was just a shocking waste of an excellent tag team. Gabriel won with the 450 splash, but I was that gutted that they aren’t teaming up anymore, that’s all I wrote down!

Orton faced Kane in the main event, and Christian distracted Orton, resulting in him being counted out. What was Kane doing in the main event anyway? Twisted logic...

Christian then baited Orton to Kane, who became annoyed when Christian helped him put the boot in. Kane received an RKO, but Christian speared Orton and just wailed on him. After a failed attack with a chair, Christian fled, and Kane felt the brunt of Orton’s anger.

Serves him right for being in the main event where he didn’t even belong.

This SmackDown was the worst out of the three which is a shame, as it is the closest show to Money in the Bank. However, the build up of every match has been tremendous, so I am not too worried that this episode was underpar.

Thanks for Reading!

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