WWE Money in the Bank 2011 Review: How Vince McMahon Got Got

Money in the Bank was a highly anticipated Pay-Per-View, and it did not disappoint. It was an exciting, dramatic, and a bit chaotic showing at times, but always entertaining. Well, besides the Diva's match and a forgettable match between Mark Henry and the Big Show.

The show began with the Smackdown ladder match that dark horse Daniel Bryan won. The match had its share of high-risk spots and action, most notably a powerbomb by Sheamus that sent Sin Cara through a ladder bridged from the announce table to the ring. Action was paused for a moment as Sin Cara was carted off.

Sin Cara looked good for the time he was there, but in my opinion, Sheamus put on a stellar performance. Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater did well for their first ladder match appearance, as did Cody Rhodes and Daniel Bryan, giving us some good wrestling and some ladder drama.

Kane hit Daniel Bryan with a nice-looking flying clothesline with Bryan perched on Sheamus' shoulders, and a couple of times Barrett came close to scaling the ladder. It was a great match to open the show and got the crowd into the PPV, as well as got me hooked.

It surprised me that Daniel Bryan won the case, but it is nice to know that he isn't completely stuck in the mid-card. That being said, I'm hoping that Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett are able to have their breakout moment soon. With the way the Orton vs. Christian match turned out, they could be extending the feud to SummerSlam, which means they're out of running for the belt for now.

The next match was the Divas Championship match, which seemed to kill the crowd. There wasn't that much to it as Kelly Kelly had the momentum for nearly all the match and finished Brie Bella about six minutes into the match, taking the belt.

The redeeming quality about this match is that the feud is over. As the Bellas leave, you can hear Nikki asking Brie how she could lose to someone who doesn't eat. Can't we have a true angle or storyline with Diva matches? Without a reason to watch, the matches are just time-filler. Of course, I doubt the intention for most Divas matches is really good wrestling...

Mark Henry and Big Show followed this, and it was another slow match. There isn't much to say about this one either. Mark Henry hit Big Show with a World's Strongest Slam and went for the pin-fall, but Show kicked out. Henry then went for another World's Strongest Slam, followed by two big splashes before finally getting the pin.

He then attacked Big Show post-match, putting his ankle in a chair and jumping off the ropes, crushing it. Big Show had to be carted off from the ring. The match did well to put Mark Henry over as the new big, strong guy, and maybe we'll see him feuding with Kane so he can get his monster back.

Fourth was the Raw ladder match, and if you'll forgive my language, it was nothing more than a cluster****. It began with all eight competitors in the ring with ladders of all sizes playing bumper cars with each other.

Del Rio was thrown from the ring and was subsequently buried under ladders with Mysterio following him. Eventually, the Miz and Swagger ended up outside of the ring. Riley jumped on top of them, and then R-Truth jumped on top of them, and then Kofi and Mysterio joined the dog pile. Finally, Evan Bourne hit a Shooting Star Press on top of them all. It was an impressive series.

The, there was another injury moment as the Miz fell from the briefcase and landed awkwardly on his knee. He was helped from the ring by trainers. The middle of the match then showed some good ring action around the ladders. Mysterio hit a 619 from the ladder, and Swagger got an ankle lock on Kofi as he started to climb.

Near the end of the match, the remaining competitors scaled the ladders for a shot at the briefcase. Del Rio fell first, then Swagger, Bourne, Riley, Truth, and finally Mysterio. Kofi Kingston had a shot at the case, but Swagger was able to stop him. After they fell, the Miz raced back to the ring on one foot and went for the case.

At the end, Del Rio and Mysterio were going for the case, but Del Rio unmasked Rey before he could get to it. Both ladders went down, and Del Rio was able to set up his ladder and take the case. A lot of great action from everyone, and while not as smooth as the Smackdown match, it was a great piece of work.

Randy Orton and Christian were next. This feud definitely had the potential to get boring, but these two gave another quality match.The match began slow and worked its way up to a nice pace. Christian hit a flying headbutt that looked great.

After a number of counters, Christian was able to hit the Killswitch, but Orton kicked out. Orton hit a high neckbreaker, but Christian kicked out. The two traded some moves before Orton wanted the RKO. Christian backed into the corner and spit in his face, causing Orton to snap and low blow Christian. Orton was disqualified, making Christian the champ.

Post-match, Orton continued the beat-down, giving him two RKOs onto the Spanish announce table (which refused to break). I kinda wish they played up Orton's anger a bit more prior to the PPV and had him get disqualified in matches leading up to this one, but it was a good match nonetheless, and it makes Christian look like the smart one. It looks like this feud will be heading into SummerSlam.

Finally, we have the main event: John Cena versus CM Punk. This match was incredible, and one of the best I've seen these two in. It began very slow with some holds and maneuvers and counters. But the match continued building, with Cena busting out some moves we don't usually get to see from him and Punk landing some good spots.

Punk actually was able to counter the Five-Knuckle Shuffle, which sent the crowd into a frenzy. The two continued to trade spots, counters, and near-falls for about another ten minutes before Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis wanted to the ring. John Cena put Punk into the STF, and Vince started signaling for the bell to ring. As Laurinaitis ran for the bell, Cena jumped out and knocked him down.

He said he wanted to win the match on his own, and then got back into the ring only to be hit with the GTS and get pinned. Vince then called for Del Rio to cash in his briefcase, but before the bell rang, Punk leveled him with a kick. Punk then jumped the barricade and ran into the crowd while Vince looked on with a serious face.

Of course, the question is this: what will happen tonight on Raw? CM Punk is no longer contracted to Raw. He has the belt. Cena should be fired because of the stipulation. There are so many ways it could play out that I'm sure few people have an idea of what will happen.

This was an excellent PPV showing from WWE and is the best of the year to me. John Cena versus CM Punk is definitely a contender for Match of the Year. Both ladder matches were entertaining, and Bryan's win was a nice surprise.

I'm looking forward to the buildup to SummerSlam, and especially for tonight's Raw. I'd give this PPV a solid A. What did you think? Let me know in the comments below!