The 8 Ball: Top 8 Takeaways From MITB

Top 8 Takeaways from Money in the Bank

According to the mass-produced wisdom of the Magic 8-Ball, Money in the Bank 2015 was the best secondary WWE pay-per-view since TLC 2013. The mothership had itself a good night. Hot start with the MITB match, instant classic between John Cena and Kevin Owens in the middle, main event that delivered (with a clean finish!) to close the show. It wasn’t perfect, but it was both enjoyable to watch and a show in which meaningful things took place. More like this, please. Lots of stuff to take away from this card, so this week the 8-Ball will delve into some of the larger ramifications of what went down at MITB.

On an unrelated note, in my last column I opined on why Lucha Underground is the best weekly wrestling show on television. Two things have happened since then. First, LU is under consideration for an Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Structured Reality Program category. That says something about what counts for “reality” on television, but it’s heady stuff for a wrestling program to get any sort of critical acclaim. It also fits into what I was saying in the column, that LU has managed to mix pro wrestling with modern television in a fresh way. It’s a bit like Ren & Stimpy back in the ‘90s. It became a cult hit with Gen Xers, which helped pave the way (along with The Simpsons) for cartoons to escape the Saturday morning graveyard. LU is the pro wrestling show you can watch with your non-wrestling-fan friends and they might get into it. Second, Prince Puma and Johnny Mundo put on a classic on this week’s show. Find it, watch it.

8. Divas Down

The match between Nikki Bella and Paige had been forgettable and inoffensive until the Twin Magic double swerve ending … then it got real stupid. For a division that’s been a victim of lousy booking for years, it was a backbreaker. Fans didn’t much care about the Bellas or Paige or the divas in general before the match. Whatever hope may have existed for the WWE divas to morph into something more like the NXT women is all but gone. It’s becoming increasingly clear that Vince McMahon isn’t going to rethink how he books females. We’ll be fed crap followed by more crap and topped off with a crap chaser. Honestly, you had to feel bad for the women involved in the match at MITB. Can’t feel good being stuck in a farce that never ends.

7. Escape from Alcatraz

One of the refreshing things about MITB was it contained some legitimate surprises. For instance, few people thought the Prime Time Players would win the tag titles. Much as I’ve loved the New Day run with the belts, I can’t begrudge Darren Young and Titus O’Neil their victory. Those two had to slog through an ocean of miserable booking to get here. They’ve been consigned to afterthought status. Titus was on deck to suffer the quickest Royal Rumble elimination ever this January until Roman Reigns botched it. Darren was in the “Where are they now?” file for the better part of the past year. These guys have paid their dues and they’re proficient in the ring (Darren working the heat segment, Titus coming in to clean house). It sends a message to the forgotten souls of the WWE that maybe there is a way back. In general the tag team scene has become the WWE’s rehab division in 2015. Cesaro and Tyson Kidd were drifting aimlessly before they won the belts. Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods were working as jobbers before they hit gold with New Day. Maybe next we’ll get the Zack & Jack Connection, or Fandango and Adam Rose as Hot Entrance.

6. Maybe They Don’t “Belee” in Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns was supposed to win the Money in the Bank match, right? It looked like they lined it up for his inevitable rise to the top of the ladder. Dean Ambrose had been placed in the WWE Championship match. Bray Wyatt was off the card completely. King Bad News was buried on the pre-show. Kevin Owens was dancing with John Cena. That left Neville, Sheamus and Kofi Kingston as the main challengers for the MITB honors (unless you thought Dolph Ziggler or Randy Orton were going to get a second briefcase odyssey). Then, when Reigns was on the cusp of his pre-ordained win, Wyatt took him out of the match. First off, the crowd went ballistic for it. If Bray had climbed the ladder and taken the briefcase, that might have been perfect. Reigns still isn’t universally popular and Columbus wasn’t vibing on him. Last thing he needed was another guaranteed shot at the big title greeted by a chorus of boos. So the Reigns swerve was good booking in that sense. He needs to get the audience to congeal either for or against him before he gets installed in the main event. Second, they’re adding to Reigns’ arsenal. The power bomb party he dished out and the suicide dive were nice touches. Maybe he’s evolving in the ring. We shall see. Either way, the WWE definitely is playing the longer game with Reigns, which means his “face of the company” rise is not the sure thing it seemed to be a few months ago.

5. Stories Don’t Happen in Straight Lines

Sheamus’ MITB win pushed the angry button on more than a few fans. As mentioned above, it looked like the fix was in for Reigns. This wasn’t how the story was supposed to go. Allow me to defend the WWE’s choice here. One of the big problems with the promotion’s creative side during the past year-plus has been a glaring inability to surprise us and go in unexpected directions. It’s been an uneventful walk down an obvious path with most WWE storylines. On Sunday we got something we didn’t expect. Instead of grouse about it, we should embrace it in the hopes that maybe we start to get more of that. Even better, what if they do cool things once they take these unexpected detours? That might knock the complacency right out of the audience. Most of us didn’t see Sheamus coming or the Prime Time Players taking the tag titles or Seth Rollins winning clean. Good. That’s how you open the door to inventive and memorable plot twists. For instance, most people who hadn’t read the books didn’t see Jon Snow getting stabbed by his Night’s Watch brethren on the Game of Thrones finale. What happens now? We don’t know because the show has caught up to the books, though the smart money is that Snow lying there in a pool of king’s blood (because his father is actually Rhaegar Targaryen) with a red priestess on the premises indicates he’ll be resurrected. At MITB the WWE showed a willingness to complicate it’s storylines. As much as anything else, that’s what the E needs to do to get hip to being on television in the 2010s.

4. People Watch Wrestling for the Wrestling?

MITB gave us three good-to-excellent matches. It had the MITB match itself, which was a groovy spotfest that gave each of the participants a chance to shine. It had Cena-Owens II, which followed the WWE epic format of guys hitting huge moves and then taking turns kicking out of them. Owens’ ability to transition quickly from defense to offense really made the match pop. Finally it featured the brutal clash between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, which was about as hardcore as PG can get. Looked like both guys endured hellacious punishment going for the big prize. And count me among those who loved the jump ball finish to the match. The result was a building full of people who seemed thrilled with the product. The crowd got nuclear hot for Cena-Owens in particular. Unlike Extreme Rules, Payback and Elimination Chamber, MITB remembered it was a wrestling show. Fans watch/attend wrestling events to see action. Whenever the WWE stages an event that delivers that sort of action, as opposed to turning most of the show into a tease for the next show, most people come away happy.

3. Cú Chulainn

The most interesting performer coming out of MITB is Sheamus. For way too long he’s been saddled with secondary belts (first the World Heavyweight Championship, then the U.S. title) where we’ve been sent the unsubtle message that he’s a sub-main event player. Didn’t matter than in 2014 only Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler could make claims that they performed better in the ring than Sheamus (at least inside the WWE). The guy was tearing off quality match after quality match with little to no recognition coming his way. I sometimes mention that a wrestler has a high floor. That means you generally know you’re getting an entertaining display of mock pugilism when he/she comes to the ring. Sheamus can put on a pacy, hard-hitting affair with just about anyone, exceptionally high floor with that guy. Meanwhile Kane matches often descend below the basement level into an extensive network of catacombs. Now Sheamus finds himself on the cusp of the main event picture again. You may recall a time back when the Celtic Warrior burst onto the scene in the WWE and looked like he’d be working in the Cena-Orton tier. He’s got the size. He’s got the resume. Most of all, he works best as an unapologetic heavy. He takes what he wants because he can. No reason Sheamus shouldn’t be viewed as one of the most legit thumpers in the WWE. Sheamus-Reigns, Sheamus-Lesnar, Sheamus-Ambrose (which it looks we’re getting first) – those matches create a much more interesting mix for the WWE. Nice to see a guy with real ability get an opportunity to break (back) into the main event scene. We can only hope he gets to form a faction called Cróeb Derg, Old Irish for Red Branch, which references a group of mythological kings/heroes and the severed heads of their enemies.

2. Looking Out for a Hero

Kevin Owens is now the third former ROH champion to light the world on fire by taking on John Cena. CM Punk and Daniel Bryan did it before him. It’s some of the best stuff the WWE has done in the 2010s. Allow me to explain my theory on why it works so well. Cena is as corporate as corporate gets. He got himself over, but he was clunky in the ring when he first became the WWE champ. He’s gotten a decade-long push like no one in history. Along the way he’s been obnoxious, terrible to women and the worst friend in the world. Yet there’s never any consequences or accountability for Cena. He just glides through life getting his way with a stupid smile on his face. Talented as he is, he didn’t earn what he’s been given. To a degree nobody could earn what he’s been given. Forget the kayfabe, John Cena is the face of the Authority. He is more marketing than man. So when these largely self-made stars come along, guys who paid their dues and got to the WWE by being incredible in the ring, what you get is the clash between the corporate figurehead and an authentic pro wrestler. John Cena is Ted McGinley in Revenge of the Nerds, Bill Paxton in Weird Science and Aaron Dozier in Better Off Dead all rolled into one. We’re trained to root against smug assholes like him. In real life Kevin Owens is the guy who represents hard work and ability. He’s the guy taking on the system, fighting for a fair shake, trying to do right by his family. That’s why the arena was molten for Owens and largely against Cena. They can have Owens kill a thousand rappers, won’t matter. He’s the real deal and he’s standing up against the biggest bully WWE Corporate ever created. Two matches into his WWE career and we’re already on the clock for how long it takes Vince McMahon and his cronies to realize Owens is the true man of the people.

1. Oh Yeah, Seth Rollins

To say Seth Rollins’ championship reign had been going poorly prior to Sunday night would have been a gross understatement. He was chickenshitting his way through his opponents. He’d just been beaten by J&J Security. At Elimination Chamber, Dean Ambrose straight up beat him and then took the title that should have been his, making Rollins look even more ineffectual. Don’t know if this was the plan all along, but it savagely undercut Rollins, who had been the best thing going in the WWE during the previous year. He needed to prove himself, to remove the asterisk that had formed next to his name on the list of WWE champions. To be honest, I thought Ambrose was going to take the belt at MITB and Rollins would be stuck with the dreaded losing streak gimmick. Then HHH cut a spectacular short promo prior to the title match and suddenly we had the possibility of Rollins getting back his balls. Sure enough, that’s what happened. Rollins and Ambrose battered each other. Rollins took control by hammering Ambrose’s knee, he upped the violence level to 11 with running barrier bombs and a sitout powerbomb onto a pile of plunder, and then he ripped the title from Ambrose’s grasp to establish himself as the rightful WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Great match, as much for the story it told as the ultraviolent action. Turns out Brock Lesnar is Rollins’ reward for stepping up his game. Yet that’s become an interesting story. No one put a hurt on Lesar like Rollins did during the past year and now the champ is back to being as capable as he is smart. Seth Rollins demonstrated why he belongs in the main event. They need to keep booking him strong so that we buy him taking the fight to Lesnar. If they do, then this could be a big summer for the WWE.

I take requests.. The purpose of this column is to look forward. What could be? What should be? What is and what should never be? What would make more sense? 411 has plenty of columns that count down and rank things that happened in the past. This is not one of those columns. The Magic 8-Ball is here to gaze into the future. If there’s someone or something you think should be given the 8-Ball treatment, mention it in the comments section. I might pick it up for future weeks.