WWE Money in the Bank recap: PPV is strong, if unspectacular

Money in the Bank is a pay-per-view that can help change the landscape of WWE for the remainder of the year.

This year's installment featured two Money in the Bank ladder matches, two title matches and a number of additional unannounced matches.

In the end, both champions retained their titles, and new -- yet familiar -- challengers have emerged.

Here's a match-by-match look at the show:

Pre-Show Match

Tag Team Championship

R-Truth and Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Hunico and Camacho

This pre-show match was a pretty standard tag team affair. It was better and more competitive than any likely expected it to be, given the challengers. All four men worked hard to put on a decent match to get the crowd going. Unfortunately, the crowd just doesn't seem to care about Hunico and Camacho. Kingston got some good pops from the crowd, so that was a good sign for the champ. Overall, though, this was just a token title defense filling time until the Prime Time Players get their title shot.

Result: R-Truth and Kofi Kingston retain the Tag Team Championship

 

Money in the Bank

World Heavyweight Championship Contract

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

This match was a typical Money in the Bank spotfest, and not of all them went off without a hitch. In the early goings, there were a few botched spots that were almost a little scary to watch. There were some memorable moments in the match, particularly due to Ziggler's ability to sell like a dead man. The match did have some traces of storytelling, too, as Tensai and Tyson Kidd continued their issues and Tensai proved to be a dominant force all around. The final few minutes became absolute craziness in the best form of the words, and the ending saw Ziggler climb the ladder and grab the briefcase. Ziggler and Cody Rhodes were the popular choices to win, and either would have been a good choice. With Ziggler winning, though, I just hope he holds on to the case for a while rather than rushing into another immediate rematch with Sheamus.

Result: Dolph Ziggler retrieved the contract

 

World Heavyweight Championship

Sheamus (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio

I wasn't sure what to expect from this contest going into it, as Del Rio is usually hit or miss, especially as it pertains to crowd reaction. But he and Sheamus followed up on a good build to this match with a quality bout. It wasn't a match of the year contender by any means, but they clicked well and put together a good back-and-forth match that saw both men shine. Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez assaulted the champion after the match, which seems to indicate their feud may continue. I wouldn't be opposed to that, as I think they're capable of having even better matches. Ziggler also had the first near-cash-in of the Money in the Bank briefcase, but Del Rio stopped him. Before the ref could ring the bell, Sheamus recovered and hit Ziggler with a Brogue Kick. It was a good scare, but seeing Ziggler get Brogue Kicked is about as overplayed as the "What" chants.

Result: Sheamus retained the World Heavyweight Championship

 

Primo and Epico vs. Titus O'Neil and Darren Young

Why is there a non-title tag team match on pay-per-view when the titles were defended on the pre-show? Shouldn't those spots have been reversed? Perhaps the logic is that the Colons and Prime Time Players have an ongoing feud, but that raises the question of why the tag champs don't have one of their own. The problems continued with the ending of the match, as the Colons won. Why are the No. 1 contenders losing on pay-per-view? Take away all the booking problems with this and it was actually a good match. These teams actually have good chemistry and work well together, but the booking issues brought down the enjoyable factor by a major degree.

Result: Primo and Epico d. Titus

 

WWE Championship

No Disqualification featuring AJ as Special Guest Referee

CM Punk (c) vs. Daniel Bryan

The last-minute addition of the no disqualification stipulation to this match really added to the contest. Punk and Bryan put together a great match with a near-perfect blend of technical wrestling, weapons brawling and just pure brutality. And the drama of AJ being the guest referee at no point greatly overshadowed the actions of the men. At one point, she stopped Punk from using a chair, then turned right around and prevented Bryan from grabbing a kendo stick. She called the finish right down the middle, as Punk retained his title. For all the people who worried that the love-interest drama would take away from this match, WWE proved them wrong. This was a really fun ride, and as much as I wanted to see Bryan win at least one big match in this rivalry, keeping the belt on Punk was the right call. It will be interesting to see where both men, as well as AJ, go from here.

Result: CM Punk retained the WWE Championship

 

Ryback vs. Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks