Harsh Realities From Rewatching Money In The Bank 2011

It has been 15 years since the 2011 Money In The Bank PPV took place, but it is still considered to be one of the best events ever put forth by WWE, most in part thanks to an iconic WWE Championship main event in which CM Punk defeated John Cena. However, not everything about this show has necessarily aged well.

When looking back across Money In The Bank a whole 15 years ago, there are some harsh realities that fans will come to realize, whether that be bad booking decisions, new champions being crowned, or hindsight which negatively impacts what we saw at the show.

4

WWE’s Push Of Alberto Del Rio Failed

• Alberto Del Rio won the RAW Money In The Bank ladder match.
• Del Rio cashed in his briefcase at SummerSlam.
• Fans never bought into Del Rio as a world champion.

At Money In The Bank 2011, Alberto Del Rio was given another route to a world title after having lost in his World Heavyweight Title challenge at WrestleMania 27, earn after winning the Royal Rumble. Del Rio was the victor in the RAW Money In The Bank ladder match, becoming one of few wrestlers to have achieved both Rumble wins and the Money In The Bank briefcase. Although Del Rio would fail in an attempt to cash-in his contract later that night, he only had to wait until the next PPV in SummerSlam 2011 to successfully execute his guaranteed title match, beating CM Punk to become the brand new WWE Champion for the first time ever.

From there, Del Rio went on to become a four-time world champion in WWE, retaining a spot in the main event scene for the next couple of years. Unfortunately, not matter how hard Vince McMahon pushed Del Rio and tried to make him a big star, the WWE audience simply did not connect with or buy into him as either a heel or as a babyface. Money In The Bank 2011 was the beginning of his true ascent up the card and into the world title picture, which is one of the harshest realities from rewatching this classic WWE PPV.

3

WWE’s Divas Division Was In A Bad State

• WWE’s women’s roster was given less than five minutes at this PPV.
• Kelly Kelly beat Brie Bella at Money In The Bank 2011.
• This is the least memorable match from Money In The Bank 2011.

One of the biggest throwaway matches when rewatching the Money In The Bank 2011 PPV card comes in the form of the Divas Championship match between reigning champion Kelly Kelly and her challenger Brie Bella. At the time, WWE did not care about the women’s roster in any way, shape, or form, and the fact that these two wrestlers were handed just under five minutes to work a match is a clear-as-day example of exactly that.

A harsh reality of rewatching any WWE PPV before the year of 2015 (including the highly acclaimed WWE Money In The Bank 2011) offers up a sour reminder of how badly mistreated the women’s division was for so many years under Vince McMahon’s creative leadership, even when it came to matches involving Hall Of Famers in Brie Bella and highly popular babyfaces in Kelly Kelly. This was a match that offered very little due to it having so few minutes to generate anything worthwhile or memorable.

2

A Very Weak Money In The Bank Ladder Match

• The RAW Money In The Bank ladder match was a mess.
• This ladder match had a predictable winner in Alberto Del Rio.
• The SmackDown ladder match was far superior on this PPV.

More often than not, Money In The Bank ladder matches are nearly always enjoyable. There are a few exceptions in which these matches don’t quite flow or hit the high marks, but even a weaker iteration of this stipulation can offer up fun moments, memorable spots, and favorable winners. Unfortunately, the RAW Money In The Bank ladder match in 2011 is one of the few that didn’t deliver. Despite a field of talented wrestlers in Rey Mysterio, The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, Evan Bourne, R-Truth and Alex Riley, this bout saw disjointed sequences, botched spots, a messy delivery, and a choice in winner that pleased absolutely no-one.

Earlier in the night, the SmackDown Money In The Bank ladder match involving Daniel Bryan, Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Sheamus, Sin Cara, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater and Kane blew the RAW match out of the water, setting lofty expectations that simply could not be reached. Opening the show in this manner gave the other match little chance at succeeding, but those in the bout failed to deliver anything of much quality regardless.

1

The Summer Of Punk Was Ruined By WWE

• CM Punk defeated John Cena at Money In The Bank.
• Punk “left” with the WWE Championship.
• WWE ruined the booking of CM Punk’s 2011 main event run.

The main event of Money In The Bank 2011 is one of the greatest matches in the entire history of WWE, as CM Punk defeated John Cena in front of a red-hot hometown crowd in Chicago to win the WWE Championship and walk out of the promotion, seemingly at the end of his contract with the company. The presentation of this match from start to finish was perfect, and this clash alone makes this one of WWE’s greatest events. However, what wasn’t so perfect, is everything that came after Money In The Bank 2011.

The angle of Punk leaving the company lasted all of two weeks before he returned with a brand new contract, entering a unification feud with John Cena. Despite being the most over star in the entire promotion throughout the summer of 2011, WWE completely botched everything regarding Punk following Money In The Bank with overbooking, an infamously awful feud with Kevin Nash, losing to Triple H, and more. As good as Money In The Bank was for CM Punk’s career, one of the harshest realities of this event is that WWE threw away lightning in a bottle.