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JR's Blog: JR's Money In The Bank Post Event Thoughts

Posted: Jul 18th 2011 By: CMBurnham

Money in the Bank post event thoughts....

The MITB PPV was one of the better WWE PPV events that I can ever recall watching from the proverbial 'comfort of my own home.' I've been physically present for many great, WWE PPV events over the years but watching at home is a different experience for me.

Sunday night's MITB PPV delivered big time. I'm watching it again tonight.

The crowd in Chicago and likely the heat in the arena helped ascend the show. The All State Arena is a magical place when the live crowd is emotionally invested and they were Sunday night. If great matches traditionally get 5 stars this crowd deserves 6.

Unlike some UFC PPV's, I could actually hear the crowd at home and the louder that I turned up my TV the better the live event experience at home was.

CM Punk and John Cena had a scintillating main event that featured over 30 minutes of classic, old school wrestling. It took me back a generation, or so it seemed, and that match alone was worth the price of the PPV. My black hat is off to both men.

John Cena and CM Punk reminded me of why I have had a love affair with this genre since I was a boy.

It's a match like Cena vs. Punk for the WWE Title in a red hot city that facilitated me having some of the best years of my life sitting at ringside. All the elements came together including one of the most intriguing conclusions to a PPV that I can recall in a long, long time.

Punk is the WWE champion but what does his future hold as Punk's contract has now expired with WWE? What will Cena's fate be now that the Chairman has been globally embarrassed? What will the fall out be on Monday Night Raw? There's so many more questions than answers as the build to Summer Slam begins in Green Bay Monday night.

Christian winning the World Title surprised me. Interesting way of doing it too as Orton's anger management issues got the better of him. It makes for some provocative TV going forward on Smackdown. Bottom line is that I understood what occurred but was left wanting to know more of what will now happen especially to Orton due to his post match assault on the new World Champ.

Mark Henry is arguably at the best 'spot' in his career after decisively defeating the Big Show including a post match injury attack. Henry has 'attitude' and fits the bill of a big, bad bully. Mark looks to be totally committed to his conditioning as he's dropped a bunch of pounds and it shows not only his appearance but his in ring work as well.

Many don't realize how physically challenging Ladder matches are but they are even more arduous when there are eight guys in the match. These bouts are mentally and physically draining and most wrestlers feel the affects for days afterwords. I truly believe that these types of matches shorten careers as every wrestler's body has an expiration date and those dates come quicker the more ladder matches one experiences. Just ask Edge.

In any event. all 16 men in the two MITB Ladder Matches certainly contributed to the overall success of the PPV.

Daniel Bryan winning the Smackdown MITB match was a shocker. I would have lost the farm on that one had I been a gambling man. However, I loved the outcome of this match. Bryan is a talented young man who has a spectacular skill set, is a high character person, and brings more steak than sizzle. I needed a reason to reinvest in Bryan and now I have it.

Albert Del Rio's victory in the Raw MITB Ladder Match was less of a surprise but made sense in that Del Rio's been on a 'roll' and seems to be championship bound sooner than later. BTW Del Rio must have one helluva garage for all those high dollar vehicles that he drives but one has to assume that all his cars are 'low mileage.'

If you didn't see MITB live then I wholeheartedly suggest that you catch the encore and/or get the DVD in a few weeks. A really strong show from start to finish. While Wrestlemania is the mack daddy re: sizzle and presentation and the Undertaker vs. HHH match was a classic wrestling match, MITB from start to finish was arguably a better overall, wrestling show.

Thanks for stopping by and for ordering JR's products at http://www.wweshop.com/Category/JimRoss where WWEShop ships worldwide 24 hours a day.

On a weekend where many of us remember the passing of Bruiser Brody and Terry Gordy, each at different times many years ago this weekend, it was somewhat fitting that we ended the weekend with such a a physical, compelling wrestling event with a main event that might not be touched for a long time in WWE.

Boomer Sooner!

J.R. @JRsBBQ