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Well Money in the Bank certainly was an interesting event. Punk and Christian are now champions, although whether Punk will be counted as champion still remains to be seen. Evil has triumphed over good and the guy that’s been at the head of the company since I can remember has now been put out to pasture and the Game, Triple H has officially become ‘the man’ on TV now. Hopefully this will lead to lots of new outcomes and please god let him reveal that he is the anonymous GM and put an end to that whole laptop debacle. Whether or not Punk will come back or not we certainly can say that he shook things up and hopefully the company will move forward in a better direction now, making everything more real and thus blurring the lines between real and fake even further. I for one am looking forward to it, so without further pause, let’s get on with the report…

1st Place: C.M. Punk (10/10)

The man who no longer works for the company comes top of the chart for perhaps the last time, but I doubt it somehow. In one of the most memorable matches and moments in the WWE, C.M. Punk managed to buck the odds and capture the WWE title one hour before his contract with the company expired. Punk has changed the landscape of the WWE forever whether he is coming back soon or not. Still though to let the hottest commodity in wrestling right now sit on the shelf while things are clearly amicable between him and the company is not something the WWE would or should do. So I personally expect to see C.M. Punk back in a WWE ring in the very near future. As a fan my favourite part of the match at Money in the Bank had to be right at the very end when Punk blew a kiss at Vince McMahon as he escaped over the barricade and left the arena though his home town crowd.

2nd Place: Mark Henry (9/10)

The World’s Strongest Man deserves to be in second place this week as he was able to take out two of the biggest men on the WWE’s roster, once again helping to facilitate this change in the WWE’s landscape, triggered by Punk. Now I’ve enjoyed some of the work that Big Show and Kane have done, but after Kane’s great heel run last year started to fizzle out, he has been little good for anything else than keeping young guys down and jobbing to the bigger stars, and Big Show just buries everyone. So to have the two big men put on the shelf as the WWE is hopefully on the verge of a revolution is a great thing in my opinion as it gives more breathing room for the younger stars, especially the next generation of ‘big men’ in Wade Barrett, Sheamus and Ezekiel Jackson.

3rd Place: Christian (8/10)

Your winner and new World Heavyweight Champion: Christian! Finally Christian has won back the title he so rightly deserves. The WWE restored my faith with the MitB PPV and made my prediction that they had something planned all along when Cena and Orton became champion right all along. Admittedly they took a little longer getting round to it than I thought they would and I was starting to lose hope that the WWE really were that short sighted to pander simply to their ignorant audience of kids, who would like whatever you shovelled them, so there really is no point pandering to them. But now it is a new day and I’m kind of glad that the WWE set things up like this since it’s such an epic turn around. I think overall a heel Christian works better in this situation and also makes a better champion as Christian always comes across as a bit of a dick, but as a heel it’s on purpose.

4th Place: Alberto Del Rio (7/10)

The winner of the Raw MitB match has clearly been put on some kind of holding pattern as he failed to cash in the case against Punk before he escaped and then lost out in the first round of the tournament on Raw to crown a new champion. Basically it seems like Del Rio will have to wait once again before becoming champion. It’s not like the Mexican Aristocrat isn’t used to disappointment though as after his Rumble win and title let down at Wrestlemania, followed by being shut out by the Christian-Orton feud on Smackdown, Del Rio has been passed up while at the same time as being handed opportunities multiple times. I suppose it’s better to be given title shots and lose than not be given them at all.

5th Place: The Miz (6/10)

Hobbling his way into fifth place is the former champion; The Miz. Miz needs a face turn so badly I could taste it, and with a bum leg you’d think that would be the perfect time to set him out as a courageous underdog in the tournament to crown the new WWE champion. All it would have taken was to put him up against Del Rio and Truth rather than Kingston and Mysterio, but no, instead the WWE decide to waste the opportunity and are now still missing a much needed face for their roster.

6th Place: Sheamus (5/10)

The Celtic Warrior came close at Money in the Bank but wasn’t able to capture the coveted prize. It seems like the company is trying to experiment with turning Sheamus face though after his attack on both Orton and Christian at their contract signing and now what seems to be the beginning of a feud with Wade Barrett. I’m not so sure about Sheamus as a face superstar, but one thing is for sure, the company needs more high profile faces. So if it works it works, all I ask is that if it doesn’t then don’t keep trying to force it down our throats. That’s why Cena and Mysterio are so hated by some fans, because as faces, being booed is a sign that their character’s aren’t going completely over and need to be changed, but instead of a change we got five more years of the same rubbish, and that’s just not cool.

7th Place: R-Truth (4/10)

The conspiracy has triumphed once again as the Truth loses out on a shot at becoming the new WWE champion to Rey Mysterio and his little Jimmies. Truth continues his journey away from the main event scene, the only way Truth will go back to being the WWE’s top heel is if Punk is really gone, the Miz actually does turn face, and Del Rio is buried in some kind of long rivalry in the near future.

8th Place: Wade Barrett (3/10)

I guess Wade Barrett will have to wait even longer to get a shot at the title after losing out at Money in the Bank. Barrett has been primed for a title run since he stepped into the WWE as the leader of the Nexus and yet somehow it never happened. The problem is that the WWE still focuses far too much on the main event, not giving the mid card guys decent feuds so that when they get to main event level there is enough history to back up their reigns and give them enough reason to square off against certain wrestlers. Aside from John Cena and Randy Orton, Barrett hasn’t really squared off against anyone of any real not in any sort of rivalry. The thing with Jackson lasted two seconds and didn’t end very well for Barrett, and I have little faith that these events with Sheamus will end with much difference.

9th Place: Cody Rhodes (2/10)

Another man who lost out at Money in the Bank is the formerly Dashing Cody Rhodes. While Rhodes put in a good effort in the match he wasn’t able to get anywhere near the actual briefcase and now seems to be being passed up for his rivalry against Daniel Bryan by Heath Slater. Something that seems quite a joke to me, but the WWE seem to be happy enough with the guy, god knows why.

10th Place: Heath Slater (1/10)

Speaking of the one man girl scout band, he comes in last on the chart after challenging Bryan and losing. Slater and Gabriel have quite clearly broken up, even if it was done in a completely messy fashion. Gabriel turned face while Slater has stayed a heel, I for one think that Slater isn’t likable enough to become a face any time soon. He’s also going to need a hell of a lot of work before he can be considered a big time player in the WWE, I’m not saying it’s impossible, it’s just not very likely.

2011-2012 Season Top Ten: Overall Top Ten:

1st Place: R-Truth (104/160) – 1st Place: C.M. Punk (647/1160)

2nd Place: The Miz (89/160) – 2nd Place: The Miz (633/1160)

3rd Place: Alberto Del Rio (76/160) – 3rd Place: Chris Jericho (564/1160)

4th Place: Cody Rhodes (74/160) – 4th Place: Jack Swagger (343/1160)

5th Place: C.M. Punk (69/160) – 5th Place: Cody Rhodes (311/1160)

6th Place: Wade Barrett (54/160) – 6th Place: Dolph Ziggler (307/1160)

7th Place: Sheamus (51/160) – 7th Place: Sheamus (294/1160)

8th Place: Christian (49/160) – 8th Place: Alberto Del Rio (271/1160)

9th Place: Michael Cole (43/160) – 9th Place: Wade Barrett (257/1160)

10th Place: Mark Henry (36/160) – 10th Place: Randy Orton (224/1160)

Weekly Filler:

The Face-Off: Rey Mysterio

I put Mysterio here simply for the fact that he is clearly growing stale and needs an image change. It was fine when Sin Cara was coming in and Mysterio was hopefully winding down and on the way out. But now that Sin Cara has been suspended it looks like we will have to deal with seeing the Human Highlight Reel on a weekly basis in the main even again. Fans in Chicago might have been a special case but the fact is that there are at least enough people to fill an arena that will favour the Miz over Mysterio and let their feeling be heard by solidly booing the pint-sized patsy. I just want him to go away.

Face the Facts: Daniel Bryan Winning Money in the Bank

Well it finally happened, Daniel Bryan finally got to win something major in the WWE. I’m also glad that he is waiting until Wrestlemania to cash in the case because someone needed to do it at some point. I just hope that this isn’t the WWE’s sick sense of humour and he will also be the first person to lose after cashing in the case. Despite his credentials I still think the WWE need to build Bryan up more before they make him champion as he hasn’t been involved in any real good feuds since coming into the WWE. It’s the same as Barrett, the company really needs to actually see the bigger picture and begin building up their future stars now. That doesn’t mean putting them in world title matches or facing off against main eventers necessarily, instead it can just mean putting them in engaging mid-card feuds.

On the Rise: Christian

This mention goes to Captain Charisma for winning the World Title by spitting in Randy Orton’s face and then getting a low blow for his efforts to win the match. It certainly is a unique way to win the title. I just hope that Christian isn’t the WWE’s answer to Mr. Anderson and that he will keep the title for a little longer this time. That way he might actually get the chance to legitimise his title reign and by default the title itself, just like the Miz was doing before the title got stolen by Super Cena.

Flat-Footed: Dolph Ziggler

The Platinum Playboy is here simply because he was not at Money in the Bank and he got nowhere in the championship tournament on Raw. Sure he is the US champion, but what does that mean anymore? Those mid-card titles are always won and lost via some miscellaneous match with someone that the promoters have just thrown at the champion because they are the flavour of the month and they want to legitimise their pick by attaching a strap to them as soon as possible. Ziggler needs to make some headway soon or he might be stuck toiling away in the mid-card slot forever.

That’s all for this week, I’m excited to see how things develop in the WWE now that Vince McMahon has ceased to have his fingers all over the product, on air at least. Also things are still up in the air as to whether C.M. Punk will be coming back sooner rather than later with the title in tow. My guess is that he won’t stay away and it will be more like the summer of Punk, but who knows, the WWE might see that as too unrealistic a storyline, which seems a bit selective to me considering some of the stuff they have done in the past but hell it’s their opportunity they are wasting. Hopefully they won’t though as I for one want my weekly fix of Punk back! This is James Wright signing off.

Source: wrestlingtruth.com