MITB 2021 (memories and pipebombs)

[Devon Malcolm]

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Edited July 13, 2021 by Devon Malcolm
the new york yankees

[Pinc]

The Summer of Punk was one of those moments when the fantasy booking pervs were right. Punk should've been working Indy shows and showing up on camera phone footage crashing WWE events with the 'real' belt for at least a few months before returning to Raw. And when he did return - it should've been because he'd got a load of concessions off a desperate Vince in exchange for a title defence, rather than just because.

Instead he did that one great bit of business with Rey and Triple H at Comic-Con and that was pretty much it. Back on Raw within two weeks was it? Completely going back on everything the character had said before MITB and knackering the angle.

Still, I don't think the original promo has aged badly like some have said. It was the good kind of shooty nonsense which strengthened the story/characters rather than detracting from them. And the contract signing with Vince was even better. And then tearing the house down with Cena in Chicago. Its one of the best months any character ever had in WWE and could've been a bridge to a whole new kind of story telling for them. I was reminded of it when I saw all the buzz that Logan Paul/Mayweather caper generated via camera phone footage last month. There's no reason contemporary WWE couldn't use the same tactics and Summer of Punk should've been the beginning.

[AVM]

Yeah, I think they really fucked it with Punk in hindsight. They could have had him appearing on the indies, on panels, all across the media baiting them. It would have also been perfect as WWE was getting to grasps with social media at the time, so it really could have been treated as an angle that's continuously going on in the background. It's also something they had never done before.

[Chasingamymatt]

I just dont rate the promo that highly. Its too controlled. When you compare to Bret pre & post mania 13 the realism is striking. Saying that they bolloxed the story begining to end. NASH being involved, loosing to Del Rio & HHH. Dead in the water.

[tiger_rick]

1 hour ago, Chasingamymatt said:

I just dont rate the promo that highly. Its too controlled. When you compare to Bret pre & post mania 13 the realism is striking. 

In fairness, it's authentic to Punk's character and his usual delivery. That's him.

Bit harsh to compare it to the best promos ever. Nothing does compare. 

[tiger_rick]

That segment after SummerSlam 2011 is on YouTube, the one with Punk's great "WTF. Kevin Nash. I thought he was dead. LOL" line. When Punk is met by security, the one to the left is Eli Drake/LA Knight. Is that Scorp next to him?

[air_raid]

The worst thing for me about the aftermath is they totally fucked Rey by making his only reign with the belt proper not even make it to the end of the show, and have top babyface John Cena look a total bastard in challenging him to the match in the first place. Of course Punk wanders out straight after so it’s him and Cena going face to face that people are talking about, not the two title changes. Net result of the nights booking - Cena’s an arsehole, Rey doesn’t matter. Good work, lads.

[LaGoosh]

Weird time period as you had the utter convoluted mess of the title picture on Raw with Triple H, Kevin Nash, Johnny Ace etc all getting involved contrasted with the brilliantly simple and effective Mark Henry Hall of Pain run on Smackdown. 

[BomberPat]

Johnny Ace was an unsung hero of the Punk angle for me; Vince had outgrown the "corrupt boss" role, and that whole thing was pretty tired by then, but Laurianitis was just the perfect ineffectual middle manager. As much as people talked about Austin/McMahon working because "everyone wants to beat up their boss", in my experience it's the Laurianitis types that are far more annoying in work than the big bosses ever are.

[Factotum]

As others have said, that match felt huge. The lights around the arena before it, the atmosphere of the crowd, two cracking guys playing their roles to perfection. It really is incredibly enjoyable. Punk and Cena's dynamic was always intriguing to me with Punk essentially liking Cena but hating the company for positioning him ahead of him. It was much more interesting and I wish we got more of it

The Summer of Punk was utterly wasted. I think Punk said in an interview that they had a lot more planned but they needed a Summerslam main event due to something so he had to come back. They really could have had an enjoyable 2-3 months of that,

[sukhy]

Kevin Nash texting himself from Triple H's phone while Triple H was refereeing was just atrocious, convoluted storytelling, the type of storytelling that we all thought only TNA could have.

The fact that the "Summer of Punk" ended with him losing to Triple H at a B PPV, 2 months after Punk walked out on the company after a 5 star match, is absolutely bonkers. The whole thing reeked of them being terrified of making Punk into a star, and it was a huge shame, because it got people interested for the first time in years. It had people hooked, and they pissed it all away.

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

May as well use this thread as a reference point for anyone who wants to get in a few matches before tonight’s PPV. The entire history of the MITB ladder match

2005 - Wrestlemania 21

Edge vs Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit vs Shelton Benjamin vs Kane vs Christian 

2006 - Wrestlemania 22

Rob Van Dam vs Shelton Benjamin vs Matt Hardy vs Ric Flair vs Bobby Lashley vs Finlay

2007 - Wrestlemania 23

Mr Kennedy vs Matt Hardy vs Jeff Hardy vs CM Punk vs Finlay vs Randy Orton vs Edge vs King Booker

2008 - Wrestlemania 24

CM Punk vs Carlito vs Chris Jericho vs MVP vs Mr Kennedy vs Shelton Benjamin vs John Morrison

2009 - Wrestlemania 25

CM Punk vs Finlay vs MVP vs Christian vs Kane vs Mark Henry vs Shelton Benjamin vs Kofi Kingston

2010 - Wrestlemania 26

Jack Swagger vs Christian vs Drew McIntyre vs Dolph Ziggler vs Kofi Kingston vs Evan Bourne vs Kane vs MVP vs Matt Hardy vs Shelton Benjamin

2010 - Money in the Bank - World Heavyweight Title Shot

Kane vs Big Show vs Christian vs Cody Rhodes vs Kofi Kingston vs Matt Hardy vs Drew McIntyre vs Dolph Ziggler

2010 - Money in the Bank - WWE Title Shot

The Miz vs Randy Orton vs Edge vs Chris Jericho vs Ted DiBiase vs Mark Henry vs Evan Bourne vs John Morrison

2011 - Money in the Bank - World Heavyweight Title Shot

Daniel Bryan vs Cody Rhodes vs Heath Slater vs Justin Gabriel vs Kane vs Sheamus vs Sin Cara vs Wade Barrett

2011 - Money in the Bank - WWE Title Shot

Alberto Del Rio vs Alex Riley vs Evan Bourne vs Jack Swagger vs Kofi Kingston vs Rey Mysterio vs R Truth vs The Miz

2012 - Money in the Bank - World Heavyweight Title Shot

Dolph Ziggler vs Christian vs Cody Rhodes vs Damien Sandow vs Santino Marella vs Sin Cara vs Tensai vs Tyson Kidd

2012 - Money in the Bank - WWE Title Shot

John Cena vs Big Show vs Kane vs Chris Jericho vs The Miz

2013 - Money in the Bank - World Heavyweight Title Shot

Damien Sandow vs Dean Ambrose vs Cesaro vs Cody Rhodes vs Wade Barrett vs Fandango vs Jack Swagger

2013 - Money in the Bank - WWE Title Shot 

Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus vs Rob Van Dam vs CM Punk vs Christian 

2014 - Money in the Bank - WWE World Heavyweight Title Shot 

Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose vs Dolph Ziggler vs Rob Van Dam vs Kofi Kingston vs Jack Swagger

2015 - Money in the Bank - WWE World Heavyweight Title Shot 

Sheamus vs Neville vs Dolph Ziggler vs Kane vs Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton vs Roman Reigns

2016 - Money in the Bank - WWE World Heavyweight Title Shot 

Dean Ambrose vs Alberto Del Rio vs Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn vs Chris Jericho vs Cesaro

2017 - Money in the Bank - WWE Title Shot 

Baron Corbin vs AJ Styles vs Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owen vs Dolph Ziggler vs Shinsuke Nakamura

2017 - Money in the Bank - Smackdown Women’s Title Shot 

Carmella vs Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair vs Natalya vs Tamina

2017 - Smackdown Live - Smackdown Women’s Title Shot 

Carmella vs Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair vs Natalya vs Tamina

2018 - Money in the Bank - Raw or Smackdown Women’s Title Shot 

Alexa Bliss vs Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair vs Ember Moon vs Lana vs Naomi vs Natalya vs Sasha Banks

2018 - Money in the Bank - WWE or Universal Title Shot

Braun Strowman vs Bobby Roode vs Finn Balor vs Kevin Owens vs Kofi Kingston vs Rusev vs Samoa Joe vs The Miz

2019 - Money in the Bank - Raw or Smackdown Women’s Title Shot 

Bayley vs Carmella vs Dana Brooke vs Ember Moon vs Mandy Rose vs Naomi vs Natalya vs Nikki Cross

2019 - Money in the Bank - WWE or Universal Title Shot 

Brock Lesnar vs Mustafa Ali vs Andrade vs Baron Corbin vs Drew McIntyre vs Finn Balor vs Randy Orton vs Ricochet

2020  - Money in the Bank - Raw Women’s Title Match

Asuka vs Carmella vs Dana Brooke vs Lacey Evans vs Shayna Baszler vs Nia Jax

2020 - Money in the Bank - WWE or Universal Title Shot 

Otis vs AJ Styles vs Daniel Bryan vs King Corbin vs Rey Mysterio vs Aleister Black 

 

 

[tiger_rick]

I had a flick through early this morning. Didn't watch it all but saw the main bits. Crowd seemed a bit quieter than on Friday. Dunno if that's because they didn't pipe it as much or it just wasn't as novel but there were a few things I thought they'd be more into.

Women's MITB match was tosh. Pretty poorly booked, I thought, with some really ridiculous contrived spots including two people being "trapped" by ladders despite there being loads of room to escape. Just all felt a bit sloppy and personally, I didn't think there was a satisfying outcome from the this match. They reminded everyone that most of them have seen it and done it. Nikki and Liv Morgan were the only fairly interesting outcomes. Seems like the crowd would have gone for Liv.

Middle wasn't of any interest. Who didn't love Charlotte winning?

Men's MITB was much better. Couple of insanely fun spots from Ricochet. Too much of the laying about in the background while a couple of people did their thing though. Hate that about WWE multi man matches, sure everyone does. The winner was the right guy, I'm genuinely chuffed for him. I do really feel though that this company, or Vince at least, has no idea how to organically elevate someone. This briefcase, which honestly - I'm sick to death of, is the only way they can think to stick a rocket on someone's back. This should have been the point people were pissing there pants to see E get the opportunity, he should have been the only viable winner but he went into it on the same level or below about 5 other guys. Only Ricochet and John Drip-Drip feel a level down. No-one is a level up.

They worked their arses off in the main event but it suffered from the Rollins interference being utterly predictable and the Cena rumours meaning you were just waiting for Big John. Roman was never losing. They kept Edge strong but it was all just inevitable. Pretty sure that's the worst ref bump I've ever seen by the way.

[The Gaffer]

Spoiler

 

Best moment's at 2:06 here.

Edited July 19, 2021 by Gay as FOOK

[Daaaaaad!]

I haven't watched a lot of wrestling lately, but I caught SmackDown from Friday knowing that there were fans back in and so progressed to watch this. Perhaps it's just watching it with an uncynical eye, but I enjoyed it a great deal. 

Nikki winning the briefcase was lovely. Surely her vs. Alexa could be some sort of hero vs. villain feud? They didn't play that up enough for me - instead of having any sort of standoff, they just went to kicking each other about. Oh, and the hypnotism shite can get in the bin. I haven't missed that at all.

Omos is green as goose shit isn't he? I swear he looked better than this at WrestleMania. Weirdly awkward and slow for a guy I know a lot of people enjoy. The crowd seemed keen on him.

Fun to see Lashley bringing back the Dominator. Poor Kofi, mind.

Oh good, a Charlotte Flair title reign. How far off her Dad's number is she? I assume they're racing to get there.

Glad to see Drew not getting booed as I thought he might, although I can't imagine this potential feud with Jinder fucking Mahal will do anyone any good that's not one of the XL sized Bollywood Boys replacements he's got now. Ricochet was good in the ladder match, but I'm delighted Big E won. People seemed to be well into him, as they should be. Hopefully that puts paid to this idea that 'Vince doesn't believe in him' that I read somewhere else.

For a match I had little to no interest in seeing at WrestleMania originally, Edge vs. Reigns became really enjoyable. I might not get what everyone else is seeing in this returning Edge, but I did think he brought something that few other challengers potentially could to a match with Roman. Of course Seth had to get involved, which was something of an eye roll. I am not excited about that particular SummerSlam match.

And now we come to the real main event. I'd accidentally spoiled myself for the Cena return at the end so I knew it was coming; yet oddly, and I can't fully explain what happened here, when his music hit and everyone went mental I caught myself with goosebumps. In fact, I actually had a surprisingly emotional reaction to seeing that entrance altogether. Perhaps it's some form of nostalgia, or delayed reaction to how the pandemic has virtually cut my interest in WWE out altogether. But seeing John Cena enter to rapturous ovation in front of a full arena... man, it just made me feel happy, you know? I know it was predictable. I know it was inevitable. And I imagine it's probably coming in for criticism from those who are annoyed that WWE try nothing new, or are just going back to part timers. You know what though? I don't care. I'll watch SummerSlam for this now.