As the WWE gears towards the 2016 Money in the Bank this author will be going back to review every Money in the Bank PPV in history, so let's kick things off where it all began, 2010.
SmackDown Money in the Bank: Christian - Matt Hardy - Kofi Kingston - Kane - Cody Rhodes - Big Show - Drew Mcintyre - Dolph Ziggler
The first ever Money in the Bank PPV kicked off in the only way possible, a Money in the Bank ladder match. This match featured a good blend of experience and young upcoming talent and the balance worked well throughout the match. Things kicked off with everyone targeting the two giants and failing as the veteran's cleared house before coming to blows against each other.
The two other veterans in this match, Matt Hardy, and Christian then began to team up using the ladders which they have plenty of experience with as they worked on Kane before going against each other with Christian getting the upper hand sending Hardy into a ladder. On the outside of the ring, Kofi Kingston took the fight to Drew Mcintyre, putting him through the Spanish announcers table with a Boom Drop from the top of the ladder in an amazing risk taking move which Kingston has become known for.
Back in the ring, Dolph Ziggler had his hand on the briefcase until Kane pulled the ladder away, catching him in mid-air and nailing an impressive Chokeslam onto the show-off. Big Show then brought out his giant ladder as the normal ones broke under his weight, he had quite the struggle getting it into the ring to the point where he actually received a pop for getting it in, but before he could use it Cody Rhodes attacked him with a small ladder to his already injured ankle.
After eventually climbing his giant ladder, Kane appeared to push him off which sent Show flying over the top rope to the floor. Every superstar then grabbed a ladder and piled them on top of him taking Show out of the match. If that didn't do the trick Kane Chokeslamming both Ziggler and Kingston onto the pile (and Show) certainly did, and the Big Red Monster's path of domination didn't end with that. Kane took Rhodes and threw him headfirst into a van that was being used as a part of the set up for the show.
Whilst Kane was on a rampage the fan favorites, Hardy, and Christian were on top of the ladder battling it out until they both knocked each other down. This led to Mcintyre crawling his way up for the first time since the Boom Drop but Kane would return to stop him and pick up the briefcase himself winning the match.
Analysis: This was a fun match to kick things off featuring a good blend of experience and young talent that worked well, there was a lack of major spots other than the Kofi/Drew spot but the crowd bought into it and everyone had their time to shine, overall a good show opener with Kane looking dominant as the victor.
Divas Championship Match Alicia Fox (c) - Eve Torres
The first of two women's matches on the card and this one was for the Divas Championship. Alicia Fox spent the majority of the matchup working on her opponent's back with various submission moves that hampered Eve Torres throughout. Torres attempted to fight out of the submission and hit a suplex but her back wouldn't allow it and after attempting to fly from the top rope Fox caught Torres out by putting her knees up before the Axe Kick to defend her title.
Analysis: A fairly short match with little talking points but seeing Fox target a specific area of the body and work on it throughout the entire match is something that fans don't often get to see in women's wrestling, Torres' selling was great throughout and the champion defended in a clinical way.
Unified Tag Team Championship Match- The Hart Dynasty (c) w. Natalya - The Usos w. Tamina
The tag titles were defended in a match featuring plenty of wrestling lineage with two of the company's youngest upcoming teams. DH Smith started the match off dominant and controlling using his size and strength along with frequent tags to Tyson Kidd as the champions were impressive in the early goings. A blind tag by The Usos followed by a double-teamed Samoan Drop saw them nearly steal the match out of nowhere.
After attempting the splash from the top rope Kidd reversed putting his knees up before tagging Smith back in who attempted to lock in the Sharpshooter until Tamina attempted a distraction but Natalya quickly leveled the playing field by taking her out. Back in the ring and Smith locked in the Sharpshooter to defend the titles.
Analysis: A fun tag match that needed another 5-10 minutes to really get going. The outside inference was always coming but it was good to see it not cost the champions like it normally does, four talented wrestlers who put on a solid match.
World Heavyweight Championship match- Rey Mysterio (c) - Jack Swagger
Rey Mysterio headed into his title defense with an injured ankle and the majority of the match was spent portraying that story with Jack Swagger going for it from the inception. Despite being thrown around by Swagger like a rag doll, Mysterio showed the fight and heart that he is known for. Avoiding Swagger's head first run at the turnbuckle the challenger fell outside of the ring and Mysterio took a leap of faith from the top rope to the outside in a great spot that had an impact on his existing ankle injury.
After Mysterio powered out of two Swagger Bombs and saw his 619 be countered into an Ankle Lock it seemed like it was only a matter of time before the champion would be defeated. Yet a great piece of trickery by Mysterio saw him defend his title. Swagger had his Ankle Lock applied until Mysterio loosened his boot releasing the grip and putting on a roll-up to gain a quick pinfall victory.
Analysis: This was a very good match that told a great story of Swagger attempting to work the injured ankle, Swagger worked hard and the two had great chemistry in the ring, a great match worthy of the World Heavyweight Championship.
Post-match Swagger took out his frustrations on Mysterio, locking in the Ankle Lock for a third time and refusing to let go until Kane appeared making the save. After brawling with him all the way to the back Kane would then return, but this time with his Money in the Bank briefcase which he successfully cashed in, beating Rey Mysterio to become the new World Champion.
Analysis: A good idea t have a cash-in the very same night on the first ever Money in the Bank PPV, Mysterio was vulnerable and having him take out Swagger made it seem like it wasn't going to happen, this was also arguably Kane's best ever run as World Champion.
Women's Championship match - Layla (c) - Kelly Kelly
The second women's match of the night was like the first, short and sweet. Less of a technical bout and more of a fight with Kelly Kelly taking it to the champion from the bell until the match spilled to the outside allowing the outside interference of Michelle McCool to play a factor, ultimately distracting Kelly who lost via a roll-up.
Analysis: Layla wins in what was a slightly messy match with several noticeable botches. The LayCool interactions were fun though and Kelly Kelly performed well in the ring, not as good as the earlier match in this writer's opinion.
Raw Money in the Bank- Mark Henry - The Miz - Edge - Chris Jericho - Ted Dibiase - Evan Bourne - John Morrison - Randy Orton
The second Money in the Bank ladder match of the night was for a WWE Championship contract featuring eight Raw superstars and once again had a mixture of young talent and experienced main event players. The match started off with a much more intense pace with plenty of cool spots, the most notable being Randy Orton hitting his DDT through the ladder (instead of the middle ropes) on Evan Bourne in a unique move.
Mark Henry had a chance to showcase his strength with four men on two separate ladders battling over the case, the World's Strongest Man decided to push both sending all four men to the outside. With everyone out Maryse (who was accompanying Ted Dibiase) took it upon herself to climb the ladder to try and win the match for her man but John Morrison quickly prevented such a historic moment from happening.
Morrison was then on hand to stop Edge from winning as he balanced on a ladder from the turnbuckle until he landed on the upright ladder. However, he would pay the price as Edge trapped Morrison putting his legs through the ladder as he and The Miz used another ladder to hit his torso with, although their relationship quickly ended with Edge smashing Miz in the face with the ladder. The Rated R Superstar would then push the ladder to the floor with Morrison inside creating an awkward and painful looking landing.
Evan Bourne was then thrown over the top rope into the arms of Henry who hit a World's Strongest Slam onto the outside before he was then taken out by several finishers in a row. Back in the ring and Dibiase slides a ladder into the middle of tons of metal to use as a platform, Orton and edge pull the ladder to the outside with Dibiase on, a good spot that was followed with an RKO to Edge.
Chris Jericho seemingly had the match won until his legs were trapped and he was left hanging on the ladder whilst several stars took each other out with their finishes leaving only Bourne standing. He had the briefcase in his hand but couldn't unhook it and Y2J managed to break free and use the case as a weapon to take out Bourne.
Unfortunately for Jericho instead of capturing the case for himself he received an RKO from the ladder as Orton went on to push Edge off the ladder and through the steel supports of another ladder which was upside down in a nasty looking bump. Just as it seemed Orton had the match won, The Miz appeared, throwing Orton off the ladder to climb and retrieve the case himself, winning the match and shocking everyone in the process.
Analysis: A surprise winner considering the people involved and the stage of his career that Miz was in but that's what the MITB is meant for to build new stars to the main event level. This was a very good match that surpassed the earlier MITB, with more star power and still plenty of young talent the match featured more high and dangerous spots and it helped the match, plenty of moments where other stars almost won and it seemed believable which is always good. Was impressive to see the likes of Bourne and Dibiase get plenty of time to shine even though they shared the match with veterans such as Jericho and Edge.
Steel cage WWE Championship match- Sheamus (c) - John Cena
This was your typical steel cage match until the end, both men using the cage as a weapon and trying to escape to get the victory whilst stopping each other every time.Sheamus spent the majority of this match in control, throwing Cena around the ring and using the structure as a weapon to inflict punishment, each time he would try and escape John Cena would manage to stop him just in time.
Cena managed to fight back and get into the match, though, and when he did the pace of the match picked up which it needed. Cena, however, took one risk too many, attempting to hit a 5 Knuckle Shuffle from the top rope and missing allowed Sheamus a way back into the match, which he took. The Celtic Warrior hit the Brogue Kick which Cena kicked out from and followed up with an AA, which Sheamus kicked out from.
After this Nexus made their way to ringside attempting to get into the cage to take out both men, but the officials threw the keys into the crowd stopping it from happening. With the referee inside the cage trying to see what was going on Cena accidentally pushed Sheamus into him, knocking him out with Cena making his opponent tap out with no referee to see it.
Realizing his only way to win would be climbing the cage that is what he attempted yet Justin Gabriel would meet him at the top stopping him, until Cena threw him from the top of the cage into the ring. But Nexus would hound him whilst he climbed down, stopping him from reaching the floor whist Sheamus snook out the other side and won the match.
Following the match several members of Nexus wold chase Sheamus out of the arena with Cena laying out two members to close the show.
Analysis: The story is that Nexus cost Cena the championship with the distractions in what was a solid match but not a great one. The pace was fairly slow at the start but it picked up with both men hitting big moves and using the cage. Nexus were used for the right amount of time and managed to cause a big enough problem.
Overall this was a good PPV that had some entertaining matches with both the ladder matches stealing the show. It was good that they gave the ladder matches plenty of time to shine but for the first ever Money in the Bank event it would have been good to see one of them main event, but the Nexus angle was the main focal point instead.
Match of the night: The Raw Money in the Bank ladder match stole the show in what was the most entertaining of the two ladder matches. It used more innovative offense with the ladders and had some bigger spots with a surprise winner, a very fun ladder match.
Star of the night: Kane. The veteran had a very busy night not only becoming Mr.Money in the Bank but also the World Heavyweight Champion at the same time. He was impressive in the opening bout and his domination of Rey Mysterio was quick and effective, a strong showing from the Big Red Monster that built him to the main event once again.
Rating: 7/10