With the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic altering the wrestling landscape in more ways than one, it seems that going forward, WWE (and perhaps other wrestling promotions) may have to rely on the idea of pre-taped, cinematic matches for their major pay per views.
The latest example was the ‘most unique’ Money in the Bank ladder match that took place at WWE headquarters last Sunday. Both men and women’s MITB matches took place simultaneously from the lobby and had to fight their way up to the roof, where a ring was situated with the briefcases suspended above surrounded by a phalanx of ladders.
Suffice it to say, the match was riddled with various spots that were expected, but occasionally did not really make sense or served any purpose. Here are some of my thoughts about the whole match(es).
There should have been more property damage
Back in 2019, WWE announced they were selling the iconic Titan Towers, which had served as their global headquarters for decades, and moving down the street. So what better way to send off such an iconic and historic location for professional wrestling.
But other than King Corbin throwing a weight in the gym shattering a mirror, there was almost no massive property damage done. If this was supposed to be about ‘climbing the corporate ladder’, shouldn’t it look like more of a fight? Instead, the one segment that looked like a massive fight was a food fight, and speaking of which….
Was that really necessary?
As soon as I saw Paul Heyman licking his chops over a massive spread that could have fed two families, I was certain that this sordid bit was all Vince McMahon’s idea. The Chairman of WWE is notorious for loving storylines involving urination, flatulence and bowel movements.
I mean, the man had literal shit dumped on himself from a porta potty in 2006.
Just ask Jim Ross about Vince’s fascination with fat joke storylines. This makes Heyman’s involvement in the food fight rather surprising. It was very out of character with the loud and outspoken advocate of Brock Lesnar we are all accustomed to on screen.
The fact that you had Shayna Baszler and Aleister Black, two competitors who have been booked as savage badasses for years, involved in a food fight was extremely out of place. Otis was a natural fit, though.
Make guest appearances useful
Being inside WWE headquarters, everyone expected guest appearances; Vince and Stephanie McMahon were no-brainers as well as the aforementioned Heyman. But Brother Love? Doink? (and not even the real one; it was just some dude in makeup). While an injection of nostalgia from time to time is a good thing, I wish there was some meaning behind those appearances.
Remember when Big Show was in a MITB match a few years ago and had the same problem, as the ladder rungs kept breaking when he stepped on them? Show had a reinforced ladder made instead customized for his size.
For the past few weeks leading up to the match, WWE teased how Otis was breaking ladder rungs when he tried climbing them because of his weight. What if while Otis was in the ring, Big Show comes in and goes “hey buddy, I think I can help,” and he reaches under the ring to pull out that ol’ ladder again?
That would have been a much more interesting plot twist to add into the men’s MITB match, and I wouldn’t mind keeping the final ending as is with Otis catching the briefcase.
Did you think there were other spots in the MITB matches that weren’t necessary or could have been improved upon?
An average professional doing the 9-5 grind who really loves wrestling across all platforms. Here's hoping wrestlers finally get some basic workers rights in 2021.
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