Money in the Bank Predictions

Who will win?

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

I usually vlog my pay per view predictions over on my YouTube channel, but time is running out and things have been hectic this past week, so I'm going to just write up some quick thoughts on Money in the Bank.

Photo courtesy: WWE

Diva's Championship Match: Paige vs. Naomi: 
I still think the WWE has some work to do when it comes to Divas division.  There are some very talented women wrestling right now for the company, and they need the opportunity to shine.  I also don't think they've done a whole lot with Paige as the champion. Despite the fact that she's held the title for more than two months, I don't feel like I know much about her.  For that reason alone, I'd like to see her retain and the company do more to develop her character.

Photo courtesy: WWE

Tag Team Title Match: The Usos vs. Harper & Rowan:
This should be a great contest between two terrific tag teams.  The WWE in recent years has lacked solid tag team wrestling.  Every time I get hopeful that that's about to change a monkey wrench is thrown into the plans.  I like both of these teams, but I think Harper and Rowan have the edge here.  But no matter who wins here, I want to see the WWE continue to keep both teams together. No more breakups in 2014!

Photo courtesy: WWE

Stardust & Goldust vs. Rybaxel: 
I pick the recharged combo of the 'dust brothers.  I like what they're doing here and am interested to see where it's headed, perhaps another run as champs against the Wyatt Family.

Photo courtesy: WWE

Big E vs. Rusev:
This is a rematch from Extreme Rules.  Rusev has been on such a role.  I don't want to see him lose that momentum to someone he's already beaten.  So for that reason, I say continue the Rusev push.

Photo courtesy: WWE

Layla vs. Summer Rae: 
Lately, all I watch is Raw, so I don't know how this feud has been developing on other WWE programs, and honestly I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to it.  My gut tells me that Fandango, who is the guest referee, will turn on Layla and reunite with Summer. Honestly, I thought they made the better couple anyway.  Did I just say that???

Photo courtesy: WWE

MITB Contract Match: 
Here's where things start getting tough for me.  Part of my thinking is the winner of this match will cash in as soon as a new champ is crowned in the main event.  It seems logical the way the story has been building that Seth Rollins will win this match.  But Dean Ambrose has been such a thorn in his side, I could see him costing Rollins the win.  Does Triple H have something up his sleeve to insure a Rollins victory?  Since I need to pick, I'm gonna go with Rollins...

Photo courtesy: WWE

World Title MITB Match: 
Which leads to picking John Cena to win the championship. Rollins cashes in on a battered and beaten Cena, setting up for a feud with Daniel Bryan when he returns.  I only pick Cena to win this because I don't want someone new to hold the belt for a few seconds before a cash in happens.  I know there are "leaked" images of the SummerSlam poster floating around with Cena and Brock Lesnar, but I think that's all a swerve.  However, that being said, I don't know that the WWE has the faith to do a Rollins-Bryan program for the WWE World Heavyweight title.  I'd love to see Roman Reigns win it all, but I'd rather see him continue to develop and fight for it with a payoff coming at a bigger event, perhaps Wrestlemania.  I like Cesaro too, and if this was just for the contract, he'd be my pick.  

So there are my thoughts.  It's clear as mud when it comes to the two most important matches.  No matter what happens, it's sure to be interesting.  As long as Randy Orton walks out without the title, I'll be happy.  Sorry to all the Orton fans...

Hell in a Cell: Right Decision, Wrong Execution

Ryback stands tall, but Punk wins
Hell in a Cell 2012
Photo courtesy: WWE

By Chad Smart
@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter

As I start to type this, WWE’s Hell In A Cell pay per view has been over for about 12 hours.  I debated on writing because I found the show to be the perfect example of why monthly PPVs and themed PPVs shouldn’t exist and I didn’t want to spread more negativity around the My 1-2-3 Cents offices.  With that said, I don’t think HIAC was a bad show. It was just a show that had it not happened, no one would have missed it.

Normally I would start with the things I didn’t like about the show and end with the positives of the show. Unfortunately, I think the negatives outweigh the positives for HIAC so we’re going to start with the good stuff.

Overall the wrestling was good. The problem I had though was there was no match that had me interested in the outcome other than the WWE and World title matches.  With the exception of the Diva’s title, all of the outcomes were fairly predictable. Though I do take exception at Team Rhode Scholars winning by DQ, as I picked Team Hell No in the Rafter’s Radio pick ‘em contest since I didn’t see them losing the tag titles.

Kaitlyn shines in the Divas match
Hell in a Cell 2012
Photo courtesy: WWE

The World Title match between Sheamus and Big Show was the match of the night in my opinion and was a near perfect example of two power wrestlers beating the tar out of each other.  While the match was good, there’s one aspect that has me scratching my head. I’ll get to that in the negatives section.  I also thought the Divas title match was much better than expected.  Eve and Kaitlyn busted out some innovative moves and submission holds. If WWE ever gave the fans a reason to care about the Divas the talent is there for a solid division.  Those two matches and the lack of anything terrible are really the only positives I have for the show.

In addition to the announced matches, in what is becoming a monthly fixture, there were two unadvertised matches on the show. The U.S. Title match between Antonio Cessaro and Justin Gabriel made sense given the events on RAW. The Prime Time Players vs. the ReySins served no purpose other than to put a popular wrestler (Rey Mysterio) on the show.  

Gabriel misses the 450 Splash
Hell in a Cell 2012
Photo courtesy: WWE

Due to these additional matches, which were not short matches, they clocked in at a combined total of 20 minutes not including entrance times; the main event of the show only went 12 minutes.  I’m not saying had those matches not been on the show CM Punk and Ryback would have went longer. But I am hinting at poor time management on the show.

I have not missed Jerry Lawler since he’s been gone. In fact, when I heard his voice in one of the preview packages, I was reminded how irritating his voice is to me. JBL and Jim Ross have done a good job of filling in in the King’s absence along with a toned down Michael Cole. At HIAC though, I wanted to hit the mute button several times.  It sounded as if the three guys had gotten into an argument before the show and were determined not to work together.  Several times one of the commentators would say something and then another would repeat what was said. Then the original speaker would ridicule the repeater for saying what had just been said. If I didn’t know any better, I would also think someone had made a bet with JBL to see how many Notre Dame references and Oklahoma insults he could fit into the broadcast. Maybe it was an off night, or their minds were focused more on Hurricane Sandy. Whatever the reason, the commentary pulled the show down a notch or two.

Big Show beats Sheamus
Hell in a Cell 2012
Photo courtesy: WWE

During the Big Show/Sheamus match, the announcers made mention of Dolph Ziggler guaranteeing cashing in the Money In The Bank briefcase. They showed Dolph backstage watching the match. There were several references to Big Show’s 45-second title reign in December when Daniel Bryan cashed in the MITB case to become champion. After Show won the match, there was no Ziggler. There was no mention of Ziggler cashing in to try and become champion.  Maybe they should bring in Scooby Doo and the Mystery Gang tonight to solve the case of the Missing Zig. Seriously, what happened to Dolph cashing in during the show?

The backstage segments involving Paul Heyman and CM Punk trying to get the match with Ryback cancelled made little sense. First Heyman went to Vickie Guerrero to get the match cancelled and she said no. After a few matches, Heyman was shown going up to Vickie and thanking her for cancelling the match. She said the match was still on and Paul slinked off. Who told Paul the match was cancelled? Why did he go to Vickie a second time when she already said the match was happening?  It’s the little logic gaps or unexplained issues in WWE storytelling that brings down the entire story.

Punk with the kendo stick
Hell in a Cell 2012
Photo courtesy: WWE

Now, the main event, or “how to tell your fans you just wasted fifty dollars.”  Ryback losing was the right call. He’s not ready to be champion and ending the streak is a positive step.  Looking back at Goldberg’s streak, and how The Giant was unstoppable and quickly won the WCW title history will show you the longer one goes undefeated, the bigger and faster the fall is when they eventually lose. When a wrestler gets to the top of the mountain with little resistance it is harder to logically keep them of the perch after they get knocked off the top.  So Ryback losing will, in theory, help make him a bigger star in the long run if used properly.

Punk wins...with some help
Hell in a Cell 2012
Photo courtesy: WWE

That said, the cheating referee angle was not the way to end the unbeaten streak. Granted, it was better than Heyman using a cattle prod. Either because knowing the match wasn’t going to go long due to what time it started, or because the match was more a one sided affair with CM Punk getting in some offense but mostly being on the run for the match, the match just didn’t click with me. Yes, the visual of Ryback delivering the Shell Shock to Punk on top of the Cell will be a visual used in highlight packages for years to come, but the ten minutes preceding that moment weren’t good.

As I said, overall there’s nothing bad on the show and there are worse shows to spend your time watching. On the flip side, there’s nothing on the show that is must see. I’m guessing between the next 4 Raws and Survivor Series; we’ll see at least 90% of rematches from this show.

What did you think of the show?  Weigh in here or like us on Facebook and share your thoughts.

The European Union

The European Union (photos from WWE.com)

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

Editor's note: I don't have WWE 12 the video game, I've never played it, and had no idea this was one of the storylines.  Thanks!


It seems as if the WWE has something up its (their) sleeve for Drew McIntyre.  At least I hope they do.  His losing streak as of late has been the focus of a mini storyline.  Maybe it's going to take him to bigger and better things, but if it doesn't, I submit this plan for your approval.

It's by no means an original idea, I've talked about it with friends before and I'm sure others have had similar thoughts.  But I think this idea would bring several missing elements in the WWE back to the table. I would create a new stable called "The European Union", members would include of course McIntyre, along with Wade Barrett, Mason Ryan, Layla, and manager William Regal.  I considered adding Sheamus into the mix, but right now the WWE seems pretty high on him as a face, so I'll let them have him.

Barrett & McIntyre in FCW 2008 (photo from My123Cents)

Barrett of course would be the world title contender for the group.  I would have McIntyre and Ryan work together as a tag team.  This would allow both men to get some time in the ring and develop their characters.  While I still see McIntyre with a bright future, let's face it right now he's being wasted away and the WWE tag team division is still on life support.  Layla of course could be the Diva of the group, both wrestling and serving as a co manager to Regal.  Regal could still do some wrestling, but I'd like to see him turned into a manager.  I think it's a role he'd be great at and could help this group of young wrestlers become future champions.

Of course putting this plan into place would require the WWE creative team to come up with storylines and angles for the EU and not botch it up.  Considering the track record of the Nexus, the New Nexus, the Corre, and the Straight Edge Society; I'm not too hopeful.

Drew as IC champ (from WWE.com)

I miss the days of the factions, managers, and heck tag team wrestling.  This new group could help bring back all three elements.  Plus it would give someone like Drew McIntyre a chance to shine.  At the start of 2011, I picked him as one of my stars of the year.  While he's done a lot of jobbing lately, I think he's still got the potential for greatness.  So please, WWE consider this idea.  And if you're hiring, I'd gladly come work for you.  :D

What do you think?  What other factions would you create?  Post comments here or on Facebook or Twitter.  And don't forget to subscribe to My123Cents on YouTube.