As the wrestling world mourns the loss of one of its most influential legends, “American Dream”, Dusty Rhodes, we also continue to move forward to WWE’s sixth annual Money in the Bank Pay-Per-View on Sunday, the 14th of June, live from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Over the last number of years, Dusty did as much as he could to preserve the wrestling industry for future generations to come, working with young talent in NXT, so today we’re going to do what we do best, talk wrestling, and predict the outcomes and potential coming out of this Sunday’s show. Let’s get straight into it, with my match-by-match predictions for WWE Money in the Bank 2015!
Pre-Show: R-Truth vs. King Barrett
There was a point when ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin could become the King of the Ring, declare that “Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass”, and soar into the next level, allowing him to become one of professional wrestling’s greatest stars. How can we transition from that, to a point where winning the once coveted title of King of the Ring is more of a burden on your career than anything else?
Obviously not everybody is the next Steve Austin, but you would think that awarding the likes of Barrett with the crown would hint at the prospect that you have some sort of creative direction for the man. Instead, you eliminate him first in the Elimination Chamber for the Intercontinental Championship, and then book him in the pre-show against a man who nobody, old or young, would benefit greatly from a win against.
In fact, the way things have been booked on the road to Money in the Bank, more people want to see R-Truth in the ladder match than King Barrett, all because of an admittedly hilarious segment in which Truth thought that he was originally scheduled to be in the match in the first place. They did this, even though Barrett was the one who needed a strong run on the way into this event, and all events going forward for that matter.
Without a doubt, WWE have missed the boat with regards to King Barrett. You can’t expect people to care about and respect your “King of the Ring” If you’re not going to feature him on your programme as anything more than enhancement talent. There’s not much else to say. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised to see Truth get the victory but for this one I’m going to go with my gut and go with King Barrett. Hopefully a win will preserve any credibility the man has left.
Winner: King Barrett
WWE Tag-Team Championship: The New Day vs. The Prime Time Players
I think reuniting the Prime Time Players was probably the best possible outcome for them at this current moment in time. Titus O’Neil has a lot of people behind him, who believe he has what it takes to really make it big in the WWE as a future champion. But since the deck is stacked as it is, Titus is in the perfect spot in the tag-team division.
Despite their time apart, the Prime Time Players is one of the longest-running tag-teams still active on the WWE roster, so it’s mesmerising to me that they’ve never held the WWE Tag-Team Championships. If your catchphrase has been “Millions of Dollars” for the last number of years, you would think they would’ve seen some gold in that time. But I digress…
When Darren Young and Titus O’Neil were the last two competitors eliminated in the Tag-Team Title Elimination Chamber, I was quite surprised. I thought for sure that it would come down to New Day and Cesaro and Tyson Kidd, but I guess with all that’s happened with Kidd’s injury, they’re lucky it turned out this way.
I was impressed by Young and O’Neil that night, and even though they didn’t win, I think they rightfully earned this title match on Sunday. On the flip side, I have been loving (to hate) the work of The New Day in recent weeks. The guys have one of the most irritating gimmick in WWE today, and it works wonders for them.
With Kofi in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, this defence will be made by Big E and Xavier Woods, which hopefully means Woods’ glass-shatteringly annoying voice won’t be heard too much, as we usually see him screaming from the outside.
These are two established, worthy tag-teams and I know it’s going to be an exciting match. As for a winner, I think New Day have weaselled their way out of championship defences too many times for them to lose just two-on-two, in a fair fight. So I can see them stealing yet another title defence, with some sort of outside interference from Kofi Kingston giving them the edge.
When they do lose the titles, however, I think it should be in a tremendous fashion that pits all of the odds against them one final time. Like in 2007, when the Hardy Boyz won the World Tag-Team Championship in a Battle Royal, where one member of a team had to be thrown over the top rope for the whole team to be eliminated.
That would be very exciting, and could perhaps feature the likes of Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady finally making their debut on the main roster and winning the Tag-Team Titles. Now that would be a great way to introduce them on the main roster. How you doin’?
Winners and still Tag-Team Champions: The New Day
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Ryback (c) vs. Big Show
I am a huge fan of the Big Show, and I think this match perfectly represents the role he should be playing as a WWE Superstar in these latter years of his career. Obviously this match is being utilised as a way to prove Ryback as a worthy Intercontinental Champion, and regardless of my disdain for the man, at least his inevitable rise to through the ranks is being done in the right way this time.
The one thing I’m surprised about is The Miz’s exclusion from this title match. Two weeks ago on Raw, Miz was gifted a championship opportunity against Ryback, which was swiftly taken from him with an emphatic right hand from Big Show, knocking him out cold.
The following week, MizTV featured the Big Show, and when Ryback came out to confront the giant, Miz got involved, attacking Show from behind. This allowed Ryback to hit Big Show with Shellshock, building his momentum on the way into his first official title defence.
You would think that Miz’s inclusion in the build-up to this match would have resulted in his name on the line-up, especially since his original title opportunity was rather unceremoniously taken from him, but apparently not. You snooze, you lose, I suppose.
Anyway, I’m pretty much counting down the days until Ryback loses the Intercontinental Championship, but I’m afraid that timer isn’t running out on Sunday night. Expect Ryback to hit shellshock, after which Michael Cole, that jackass with the cowboy hat and the rest of the announce team will pretend they never saw a feat of strength like it in their lives. Give me a break.
Winner and still WWE Intercontinental Champion: Ryback
WWE Divas Championship: Nikki Bella (c) vs. Paige
I was genuinely surprised when Naomi didn’t walk out of Elimination Chamber with the Divas Championship. I thought it made sense, if Nikki Bella was leaving as the rumours suggested, for Naomi to win the title and have Paige feud with her since winning the Battle Royal in London made her the true #1 Contender.
But now that Naomi has been edged out of the title picture for the time being, it looks like her two-PPV run as a top heel in the division has come to a definitive halt. I guess they got bored of her or something? I always thought pairing her with Tamina Snuka was a sign that they thought they’d made a mistake with her in the first place.
I want to save a whole article to talk about Nikki Bella, Paige and the Divas division, because there are a lot of differing opinions on Nikki’s right to the Divas Championship, and the possibility that Paige may be being overexposed to the WWE Universe. If I go into that now this post will go way over the desired word count, so I’m just going to jump right into my prediction.
Contrary to popular opinion, I have been enjoying Nikki Bella’s reign as Divas Champion. In my eyes, she perfectly represents the effect that WWE can have on your life. When she began her career, she was bloody awful in the ring, but over the last two years I think her ability, as well as her stock amongst WWE fans, has gone way up.
While I love Paige, she did just make her debut a year ago. If she wins on Sunday, then she will have already tied AJ Lee’s record for the most Divas Championship reigns. If Paige wants to bring change to the Divas division, which I honestly think she can, with help from Bayley, Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch, I would recommend holding off on her third reign as champion for at least a few more months.
For that reason, I think the right person to go with at Money in the Bank is Nikki Bella. If the Bella Twins are sticking around (although it looks like they’ve found a way to write Brie out of the picture so she can spend time with her husband), then I suggest they keep the title on her for the duration of the summer. Perhaps Paige can win the title from her at SummerSlam.
Winner and still WWE Divas Champion: Nikki Bella
John Cena vs. Kevin Owens
The rivalry of John Cena and Kevin Owens has been one of the most real and exciting stories to come out of WWE in recent years. Dare I say, in just four weeks of existence I would liken it to Cena’s rivalry with CM Punk back in 2011. Not quite as good, but good nonetheless.
There is obviously something about Owens that brings out the best in John Cena, because he has been delivering some of his best promo work over the last two or three weeks. And the fact that Kevin Owens is at this level in the WWE after only making his NXT debut last winter proves that NXT does work.
The talent there is capable of taking over (pardon the pun) the WWE, and a day will come when some of the talent down in Florida are main-eventing WrestleMania. But that’s then, this is now. And right now, Kevin Owens is gearing up to take on, and hopefully conquer John Cena for the second time in a row.
This is such a tough one to call. On one hand, the obvious choice is to go with John Cena, because, well, it’s John Cena. He said it himself on Raw this week, whether you love him or hate him, everyone knows that the safest bet this Sunday is John Cena.
On the other hand, Kevin Owens had possibly the single greatest debut match in WWE history, when he not only took Cena to his very limit at Elimination Chamber, but pinned him cleanly in the middle of the ring. Why go to all that effort if you’re going to turn around two weeks later and have Cena undo the history you just made for this man’s career?
Another thing that makes me hesitant is that Cena even addressed the fact that he always wins in this situation. He is the safest bet. You know who else was the safest bet? The Undertaker at WrestleMania 30, and look how that turned out. I’m not likening this match to the streak ending, but WWE has a habit of pulling the wool over your eyes whenever you think you know something for damn sure.
The John Cena method of putting over young talent, let’s use Rusev as an example, is to have the kid look strong as hell and earn a somewhat questionable victory over Cena, only to have him turn around, beat your ass and leave your career hanging by a thread. It’s like the hidden method behind it is to see if you can pick yourself up after Cena bulldozes through your potential.
This is obviously different because Owens’ victory at Elimination Chamber is undisputed, the guy won the match clean as a whistle. But it is very possible that Vinnie Mac and the creative team will get cold feet about letting Kevin Owens look so destructive as to beat John Cena cleanly for two straight PPVs in a row. The easy booking decision is to let Cena win, the daring one is to give the match to Kevin Owens.
You will never be able to take Kevin Owens’ victory over John Cena away from him, that’s set in stone. It was likely the best debut match that anyone coming out of NXT will ever have. But I would argue that this upcoming rematch is a lot more important than the first, because if you think beating Cena is difficult, try doing it twice.
I will be very impressed and shocked to my very core if Kevin Owens can go over Cena in a similar fashion to Elimination Chamber. He absolutely deserves it, and I think it would be the smarter way to go, but it’s out of the ordinary for WWE, and I’m not sure they’re ready to make that leap yet.
Make no mistake, I am pulling for Kevin Owens to beat John Cena all the way, but if I was a betting man, and I hate to agree with John Cena’s promos, I really do, the smart money is on Hustle, Loyalty and Respect. Let’s hope Fight Owens Fight can prove me wrong and turn into Win Owens Win once again.
Winner: John Cena
Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Kane vs. Neville vs. Randy Orton vs. Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns
If you’d like to read an in-depth analysis of all the participants in this match, including their roles and chances of winning, I’d encourage you to read last Sunday’s ‘Under the Spotlight’. I discussed the match in a lot more detail than I will here, so do support the cause and have a cheeky read of it. You can do so right here.
What I will say is that I have made it my mission this week to go back and re-watch every single Money in the Bank Ladder Match in history. At the time of this writing, I’ve got just over half of them watched, but it has really gotten me in the mood for Sunday’s event.
The greatest thing about professional wrestling is that with each headlock, each arm-drag, the men and women involved are telling a story. And one of the most exciting stories told year in and year out in the WWE is the tale of six or seven men who are willing to put their bodies on the line, all for a shot at the immortality that comes with not only winning the Money in the Bank briefcase, but the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
And like I said last week, Seth Rollins has set the bar at just how much of an impact you can make when you cash in that contract, which makes this Sunday’s ladder match just that much more special. We are undoubtedly going to see a war, and every single man has his part to play.
I’m not going to run through all the participants like I did before, so I’ll just dive straight into my prediction. While I would love to see one of the high-fliers in Kofi Kingston or Neville overcome the odds and pull off the victory, I think it’s going to be one of the more ground-and-pound styled superstars like Sheamus and Roman Reigns that walk out with their arm raised.
I would love to see Sheamus become, and correct me if I’m wrong, the second man in history to conquer the trifecta: Royal Rumble, King of the Ring, and Money in the Bank. The guy deserves it, and whether you love him or hate him, he still has a huge future to fulfil in the WWE.
But I think Roman Reigns is the obvious pick here. This is one situation where predictability isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and I see a lot of potential in Reigns becoming Mr. Money in the Bank on Sunday night, namely the possibility of a Shield triple threat at next year’s WrestleMania. Believe that!
Winner: Roman Reigns
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Ladder Match: Seth Rollins (c) vs. Dean Ambrose
This rivalry has been very entertaining since its renewal. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins are two of the brightest stars in the WWE today, and they both have huge futures with the company. The question is, who walks out of Money in the Bank with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship?
When Ambrose briefly won the title at Elimination Chamber, my initial reaction was shock, followed by an immediate “nope, they’re going to reverse it”. But when they took a little bit of time, allowing Ambrose to celebrate, I was suckered in to believe that WWE had crowned the new Champion in Dean Ambrose. I didn’t realise it until then, but Ambrose looks damn good with that belt.
The great thing about this upcoming match is that Seth Rollins is looking to finally prove himself as a worthy champion. Ever since he walked out of WrestleMania 31 with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, practically all of his victories and title defences have come as a result of an outside interference, be it from Kane or J&J Security.
Two weeks ago, it was Roman Reigns who irked Seth Rollins into accepting a one-on-one ladder match with Ambrose, vowing to prove that he didn’t need The Authority, particularly Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. But it was this past week on Raw that this was put to the test, with Ambrose aiding Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble as they pulled off a pinfall victory over Rollins.
Which leads me to believe that Seth Rollins is going to prove all the naysayers wrong this Sunday, and retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Not only that, but I’ve been saying ever since the night after WrestleMania that Rollins is not losing that title, at least not until Brock Lesnar gets his revenge in the form of a championship rematch.
And since Lesnar is rumoured to be returning the night after Money in the Bank, I think it makes all the more sense, especially from a storyline perspective. After all, it was Stephanie McMahon who suspended Brock Lesnar, likely to protect their golden boy from harm after he just brought the title back to the Authority.
Perhaps Stephanie and Triple H took offence to what Seth Rollins had to say about them, so they’re lifting the suspension they placed on Lesnar earlier than we thought? If Rollins doesn’t need their help, surely that means he can take care of Brock Lesnar on his own, right?
It would also justify having Brock Lesnar compete in Tokyo against Kofi Kingston. If he was suspended, why would he be working house shows? He’s not John Cena, guys.
So even though I think the day will come when Dean Ambrose is holding that WWE World Heavyweight Championship as the true titleholder, that day isn’t coming on Sunday. Expect Seth Rollins to climb that ladder and leave Ambrose laying on the mat for the second year in a row. And who knows, maybe when he grabs the title, we may hear a certain iconic “Ladies and Gentlemen…”
Winner and still WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Seth Rollins
That’s all from me, folks. I hope you all enjoy Money in the Bank on Sunday night, and if you want to increase your viewing experience, I would heavily encourage you to take part in the second round of the SLTD Wrestling Predictions League! It’s fun, easy to use and it adds another element of enjoyment to WWE Pay-Per-Views. Check that out right here!
I would also recommend you to check out all of the other great content going up over the weekend, including plenty of coverage for Money in the Bank. Welcome our new writers with open arms, and support their work over the weekend!
Most of us at SLTD Wrestling got together to write our thoughts on the legendary Dusty Rhodes, following his tragic passing on Thursday. He touched so many people’s lives, and it’s going to be an incredibly difficult loss to overcome. You can find our tribute one of the most charismatic individuals ever to grace a wrestling ring, “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, right here.
Lastly, if you like my work, please don’t hesitate to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Carrier Pigeon and all other assorted communicative platforms. And join the conversation yourself by leaving a comment below. If you want to speak with me about Money in the Bank, wrestling, my work with SLTD Wrestling or anything at all, please follow me on Twitter @AdamOB_UTS.
Thanks for reading!
Self-Professed Conversational Wizard.
Admin, Editor and Writer for SLTD Wrestling.
Creator of 'Under the Spotlight'.
Studying Computing in Games Development.
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