Wrestlemania XXVI Preview: Money in the Bank Ladder Match

‘I look up to the sky and now the World is mine’

A line from this year’s Wrestlemania theme ‘I made it’ and I think it quite aptly describes the Money in the Bank ladder match. A briefcase hangs above the ring and the first person retrieves it get a title match at any time from the moment they unhook it till Wrestlemania the next year. Every person that has cashed in MitB has won one of the World titles (however as we all know not everyone who won money in the bank went onto cash it in. Mr Kennedy won the briefcase but lost it to Edge who went on to cash it in.

Anyway that is enough of history lesson now it is time to look forward to tonight’s MitB match. 10 men are all vying for the briefcase. How do they rate? Well let’s take a DSHD look at what we think their chances are. The two number factors are chances of winning in our opinion, which seems pretty obvious and entertainment factor which is basically how many spills/ big spots they will be involved in or just how much will their involvement be remember. So for example at Wrestlemania XXV Mark Henry would score relatively high although not taking many big bumps he was involved with the ‘Tadpole Splash moment’ The Kofi ladder moment and the parting of the Ladders with Kane.

Christian
Captain Charisma making his Wrestlemania return and just like his last Wrestlemania with WWE he is in the MitB money match. The big difference is that this year lots of people have him down as the favourite to win. A former ‘WWEECW’ (thanks for that one Joey Styles) champion and a ladder match specialist it would seem that he has all the advantages going into this match. However, the only time Christian has headlined a company was TNA and would Vince trust him to be able to headline Smackdown or RAW as WWE or WHC? It is hard to tell also it seems that Vince is increasingly about developing new talent which is why the US, one half of the tag team titles, Women championship and Divas championship are all held by rising stars in the WWE as well as the fact that up until Elimination Chamber Sheamus was the WWE Champion and MitB has often been a match to give either a young star his break CM Punk and Mr. Kennedy even if he got injured and lost his chance, but paradoxically it has been used to give a veteran his break for example Edge and RVD all one the big prize for the first time after winning MitB.
Chances of winning 8.5/10
Entertainment factor 8.5/10

Dolph Ziggler
You can’t stop perfection? Well, really? I have to disagree. Ziggler sort of disappeared last summer after his feud with Rey and to be honest he resurfaced at the Royal Rumble as number one again ruining one of my predictions and since then he has been back on the scene with his new move the Sleeper hold, which he has been utilising with to good effect. But I just don’t see him winning MitB because he has not been given a consistent push and I have a horrible feeling he could disappear after Wrestlemania or float around like Shelton until the next MitB or Royal Rumble or a similar event. But I could see Ziggler hitting the Zig Zag off a ladder or something tonight and having a few good spots.
Chances of winning 1/10
Entertainment factor 5/10

Drew McIntyre
The Chairman’s choice, the current intercontinental and with only one lost to his name (sort of) looks destine for great things. But is he destined to win MitB? Perhaps, but it would be a long shot. The Scotsman is making his Wrestlemania debut this year’s as the extra 9th man to the MitB, which in itself suggests that he is not top on the list for people to win. As well as that as a current champion giving him the MitB would I feel be too much too young for this Superstar, who lacks the charisma and in my opinion the talent that someone like the Miz, has can and is currently pulling off holding two titles. But in a year or so I have a feeling I could be writing about MitB and Drew McIntyre could be the odds on favourite. Also with regards to his entertainment factor Drew is neither a powerhouse nor a high flyer and I feel he could get a bit lost in a ladder match with this many men.
Chances of winning 3.5/10
Entertainment factor 4/10

Evan Bourne
If I had to pick a winner based solely on personal opinion then Evan would be up there in the top two. He has bags of talent and when he is given the chance to speak he seem quite charismatic. The problem is WWE don’t seem to know how to use him properly, they don’t have a heel cruiserweight that has the same highflying ability to put him up against and it seems they don’t like Evan doing a David vs. Goliath sort of victory over the bigger competitors. So at the moment Evan is stuck in no man’s land and I really don’t see WWE even consider giving him a title match but what I do see is him stealing the show in the MitB tonight and showing everyone how to go Air Bourne properly.
Chances of winning 0.5/10
Entertainment factor 9.5.10

Jack Swagger
The All American American is the person I want to win and it is not wholly unlikely but I would say that if he did win it would be a big surprise. The former ECW champion was teased as having a feud with Cena when he helped Mr. McMahon the other week (walking to the ring in somewhat comical fashion) likewise in the past when Cena and Swagger have locked horns it has been an epic contest between the two superstars and if they were allowed to go at it again it could really make Swagger’s career much like The Miz. Also it would seem that Cena or a RAW superstar has to win the WWE championship match because technically Batista is a Smackdown Superstar and both titles cannot be on the same brand. Could it be Swagger? Maybe but either way I think this athletic Oklahoman could be quite entertaining in MitB regardless of the outcome.
Chances of winning 5.5/10
Entertainment Factor 7/10

Kane
The Big Red Monster the only former WWE/WHC champion in this match. He has Wrestlemania and Money in the Bank experience which might give him an edge in tonight’s match. Also he came ridiculously close at winning MitB at Wrestlemania XXV which could drive him forward at Wrestlemania XXVI also the man that knocked him off the ladder is not in the match so could this mean it will be Kane’s year? Probably not, WWE seem not to want to give Kane a World title or any title for that matter and I just don’t see MitB making a difference this year but who knows, I have been wrong before?
Chances of winning: 4/10
Entertainment factor 6.5/10

Kofi Kingston
The Ghanaian Buzzsaw was Jamaican in the last MitB that is not particularly relevant on the face of it but actually after reverting back to his actually nationality and ditching the Jamaican accent Kofi actually was given a main event push against Randy Orton and look destined for great things. Then that push sort of died for some unknown reasons and Kofi went into the grey area between mid-carder and main eventer. But also like Swagger during the Mr. McMahon vs. John Cena match it was teased that Kofi could be feuding with Batista in the future. However, Kofi’s ability to bust people open all the time seemingly by accident could put him in lots of people’s bad books a prevent him winning MitB or getting the final push fully into main event status, this seems pretty clear since he was the 10th man to qualify for a 8 man match.
Chances of winning 7/10
Entertainment factor 9/10

Matt Hardy
After a up and down 2009 Matt Hardy has vowed to reinvent himself and set the record straight in 2010 and MitB could be his way of doing just that. A bit of a dark horse and sort of forgotten in the run up to MitB because of NXT, but do not let this fool you Matt Hardy could surprise everyone and finally climb to the same heights as his brother Jeff (no pun intended.) The only drawback is that Matt Hardy has always been second fiddle to Jeff and whenever I look at Matt Hardy I always put him as the second brother. He is a very gifted and talented wrestler but he seems to be never quite reach the level needed to be WWE/WHC champion. But perhaps he can win MitB and shake off the shackles of his brother’s legacy and finally reach the top of the food chain.
Chances of winning 4.5/10
Entertainment factor 6.5/10

Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP)
One half of the World’s Strongest Tag Team (he is the half with the talent and Charisma) MVP has always been a consistently good performer and his Wrestlemania matches are very good. Who can forget his U.S. title match with Chris Benoit at Wrestlemania 23 when he took the Crippler to his limit? MVP has been feuding with The Miz for quite a long time now and to be honest every time the two of them met one on one they have had amazing matches. A truly talented individual that has not quite yet been give the chance to prove himself at the highest level since his debut feud with Kane. Wrestlemania XXVI will probably not be his year but his performance on the grandest stage of them all will be up there with everyone else and who knows this year could well be a good year for MVP.
Chances of winning 4/10
Entertainment factor 5.5/10

Shelton Benjamin
The Gold Standard, a nickname which is perhaps not very apt as the last time Shelton held a title was March 20th 2009 when he lost his US title to MVP. The best analogy I can think of to describe Shelton’s role in MitB is ‘always the bridesmaid never the bride’ as Shelton has been in 4 of the 5 Money in the Bank matches and at Wrestlemania XXVI he will be entering into his 5th. Shelton will not win tonight, however if he is lucky he might be able to earn a feud with McIntyre over the IC title after MitB depending on how the match pans out.
Chances of Winning 0/10
Entertainment Factor 9.25/10

What is interesting about this year’s MitB is that one of the WWE PPVs later this year is called MitB which would suggest that the briefcase will be cashed sooner rather than later. This could be at Wrestlemania or at the April Pay Per View which at the moment is Extreme Rules a PPV that bodes well for MitB winners. But also this year more so than other years there is no clear winner or even a group of people you could pick to win for example at Wrestlemania XXI Kane, Y2J, Edge and Chris Benoit all looked like viable winners or at Wrestlemania XXIV Y2J, Punk and Mr. Kennedy all looked like they could win. So one of the many reasons why Wrestlemania XXVI will be off the chart this year is that like most of the matches on the card MitB is just too close to accurately call despite my best efforts.

Judgement Day 2009: Shelton Benjamin vs John Morrison

At Judgment Day, two of the most athletic Superstars in WWE will unleash their rivalry on the WWE Universe as John Morrison takes on Shelton Benjamin. Destiny has been moving these two driven, squared-circle technicians toward an explosive collision since Morrison premiered on SmackDown in Madison Square Garden. On that fateful night, The Shaman of Sexy educated Benjamin in the ways of the Palace of Wisdom, defeating the former United States Champion. This set the dangerous wheels of mayhem in motion, as Benjamin and Morrison launched a dual-brand rivalry, using both Thursday and Friday nights as a staging ground on which to wage their relentless physical and psychological warfare. On “WWE Superstars” two weeks ago, The Gold Standard truly shined, interfering in Morrison’s match against Chris Jericho which led directly to his defeat. However, when Benjamin tried to proclaim “ain’t nobody stopping me, no!” on SmackDown - recruiting his former tag team champion partner Charlie Haas to topple Morrison - The Friday Night Delight lit Haas’ fire. His momentum then broke on through in the last week leading up to Judgment Day. First, on “WWE Superstars,” Morrison floored Benjamin after The Gold Standard lost to Rey Mysterio. Then, on Friday night, Morrison and his ‘mystery partner” CM Punk proved triumphant over Benjamin & Haas in a high-octane tag team match of mayhem. Week after week, Morrison and Benjamin have fueled the fires, and now only the explosion remains. And when the combined skill and determination that these two Superstars have unloads itself upon the WWE Universe, they could very well steal the show. Don’t miss Judgment Day, Sunday May 17 at 8pm ET/1am BST, only on pay-per-view.

WWE Superstars #4

On the forth ever edition of WWE Superstars there will be one of the big mis-matches in WWE History, When Hornswoggle faces the Big Show. Click to see the Tale of the Tape. Strangely with this only being the 4th episode of WWE Superstars, this is the 3rd time Hornswoggle would have made an appearance on the show and the Big Show's Second.

Also on this edition of WWE Superstars, The Gold Standard Shelton Benjamin will face the current Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio, what will happen between two of Smackdown's best Superstars, just 3 days before Rey defends his Championship against Chris Jericho at Judgement Day.

And Finally on this Episode of WWE Superstars, the ECW Champion will have his hands full with "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry, with his title defense to Jack Swagger only 3 days away, Expect Everything.

This is the 100th Post here on The Dirt Sheet HD blog, I wanted to do something better and bigger, but the blog had been left not updated for nearly a week, so I had to at least get this one in.

Thoughts on Orton vs Batista & WWE's Young Guns (HQ)

I don't know why, but I feel like I've seen Orton-Batista too many times and over a too short a time period, by looking at the picture on the match preview, it just looks too same-ish. And when it's only Judgement Day, the second summer PPV, that's not great for WWE, there's a long time until Summerslam and I'm already bored with this match. It might be because of the disappointing match they had a Armageddon, which I don't actually remember that well.

In theory these two are two of the biggest stars in the WWE, and probably could have a great match. But they will not because Batista is not the star, athlete or wrestler that Randy Orton is, he's boring, he's the same old stuff night after night and to be honest he's an over paid and over hyped powerhouse (like the common fat school bully). His best years are behind him, from this point on, he will not have a career-defining match. At this point in time, someone like Santino Marella has a better chance at a history-making match or moment, than Batista.

Sure, I'm being harsh and angry, but that's it as well, I feel distain for Batista, he angers me (and seeing him doing absolutely nothing, just standing around, at the Hatton-Pacquiao fight on Saturday didn't help, only cause WWE didn't have any House Shows this weekend).

Anyway, away from how s**t Batista is. WWE could have used this as a chance to get a real #1 contender, and not just through a stupid match, that was an apparent set up by Vickie and Big Show, which was always going to go Batista's way. But I do have to commend the WWE slightly on the drama with Cena coming out to taunt Show, considering they nearly killed him off the night before; I have to admit I didn't expect that.

As I was saying, with two of the WWE's top superstars "on the shelf", this could have been the golden opportunity to showcase some real young talent. Whilst on the subject, it'll be interesting to see how a John Morrison face turn will work, you can see it happening already, even with him saying "S'up Teddy" to Teddy Long rather casually. And I really want to see Morrison and Jericho square off, ironic considering JR has called Morrison a young Shawn Michaels; he also looked good against Shelton Benjamin, but would have loved to seen an epic match, like Shelton and 'Taker had the other week. That's another supertstar who has it all just not the backing from Vince, at least he's got a bit further than his former tag team partner Charlie Haas, who seems to be finishing his impersonating days and tag teaming with Knox whilst over here in Europe. And also it'll be good to see how Miz's heel run goes on Raw after his "win" over John Cena on Monday Night.

Here is a clip from Friday Night's Smackdown were Chris Jericho & John Morrison meet for the first time, their part starts from 1:02.

Match Preview: MITB

Always one of the most exciting matches at Wrestlemania every year and this is now the 5th Money in the Bank Match, which always has the athletic and high-flying action every year. It, to be honest, could be better this year, because Mark Henry's in the match, why is he in this match, a ladder match, he can't wrestle let alone do a match like that, he will not be able to get half up the ladder. Except for him everyone else has experience in the match and has the creadability, even Kane. There is so much experience in this match, that this is Shelton Benjamin's 4th MITB and he adds something to the match everytime, he's the best superstar in this match who has never won it. I wouldn't be surprised if it starts 'Mania and that would be a great start to what looks like it will be an almost perfect night. But this year I think it might be the first one that is somewhat unpredictable at the winner unless the go with Punk again, or maybe after years of doing this match giving a real push to Shelton, or Vince might have changed his mind about Christian after all this time. The one thing I hope doesn't happen is Mark Henry winning, because I would stop watching WWE until he won it and then lost it again and totally forget about him again. Anyway I hope Mark Henry gets an injury early on to get him out of the way and then have a real match, which is shaping up to be one of the best Money In The Bank Ladder Matches, and considering they always say about that someone could cash in the contract that night at Wrestlemania, it would be great to actually see someone do that. And Finally, what would have made it better would be Evan Bourne being in the match, along with Shelton, Punk, Kofi, Christian and MVP that would be a great match, but too many babyfaces, considering R-Truth was meant to be in Mark Henry's position, wouldn't have been great theatre.

Focus on Money In The Bank - Wrestlemania 22

Match starts at 2:20

On The Road Again

Now there is no fact that after this week's WWE programming that we are full steam ahead for Wrestlemania 25. On Raw we saw Randy Orton and his Legacy run from Triple H and his sledgehammer all around the arena and then make a quick get away. Hunter's actions on Monday Night and at this time of year (not forgetting Orton has Championship match at WM25) you would have to be stupid to not see this match happening in Texas. It was interesting how after the McMahon situation they have got Randy on the path he should have been anyway, on the Road to Wrestlemania. Also on Raw we could have seen a better match between Shawn Michaels and JBL with a match with the Undertaker at Wrestlemania up for grabs. Somehow, I see that JBL hasn't really now got anywhere to go now, but really thought that he would be a part of the McMahon "Bastard" Storyline. And now Shawn's path to a match at WM, will go through Vlamdir Kozlov and this is where I fell strange, will they really let Kozlov be beat, but if he does win, WWE would have missed one of the biggest optunities in 25 years. On ECW, Christian lost, Tommy won, lets move on. Smackdown was one of the best Smackdown's in ages and it will be interesting to see what Ratings it gets in the US. Another thing that shows that maybe Kozlov will lose on Monday Night is that Kozlov and 'Taker went at it on Friday with Kozlov still getting away with his undefeated steak. Good match in all but did finish a bit too early with the slam off the top rope not really looking like enough to beat the Undertaker, or was it just me? The US Title scene is hotting up with Shelton Benjamin, MVP and Chavo Guerro. On Friday we saw Chavo steal one from Shelton (with Chavo acting as Face) in an alright match, and this should lead to a good match in the feature and maybe at Wrestlemania (but why would WWE give up the chance to get Shelton Benjamin in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match). I'm somehow also fell better now that Chavo isn't so messed up with all the rubbish happening around Vickie and Edge (even though he went up against Cena on Monday Night as Family), at least he's getting some more rope to get into a good feud. Miz and Morrison where also going to try and become the Undisputed Tag Champions in WWE, by winning Carlito and Primo's WWE Tag Team Championship. This was a good match and all in all these four work well together, I wouldn't be suprised if there is a re-match and Miz and Morrison actually win, because they are the best Tag Team in WWE right-now, fighting on every brand (less and less on there actual brand, ECW), if they did win it would also be another thing to feed their ego's as it would be their second WWE Tag Team Championship regin. John Cena and Big Show finished of what was a great night with the match fo the night, these two do have history and Big Show showed how if anything he could be the 3rd part of a Triple Threat for the World Heavyweight Championship. Everything happened in this match including a Wrestlemania deja vu momment with Cena Attitude Adjusting Show (it just doesn't sound the same, does it). But you knew that Edge would get in on the match in some way, but what on earth was that, Tazz said to JR on commentry (after JR over-reacted a bit) that he never did anything, but it was the opening that Show needed (by the way, how did the Big Show get up that quick after the FU) to get the knockout punch and chokeslam, to end Smackdown "clean" for the first time in ages. (And what the fuck is that Cena thing, it's like a double "30" of MVP's "305", what is "Word Life" not PG)