| Money in the Bank | |||
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Promotional poster featuringBig Show andHornswoggle | |||
| Promotion | WWE | ||
| Brand(s) | Raw SmackDown | ||
| Date | July 17, 2011 | ||
| City | Rosemont, Illinois | ||
| Venue | Allstate Arena | ||
| Attendance | 14,815[1] | ||
| Buy rate | 205,000 | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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| Money in the Bank chronology | |||
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The 2011Money in the Bank was aprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event produced byWWE. It was the second annualMoney in the Bank and took place on July 17, 2011, at theAllstate Arena in theChicago suburb ofRosemont, Illinois, held for wrestlers from the promotion'sRaw andSmackDownbrand divisions. This was the last Money in the Bank held under the first brand extension, which ended in August, but was reinstated in July 2016.
Seven matches were contested at the event, including one broadcast as adark match. In the main event,CM Punk defeatedJohn Cena to win theWWE Championship and thus, Cena was fired instoryline. In other prominent matches,Christian defeatedRandy Orton bydisqualification and as per stipulation, he won theWorld Heavyweight Championship,Alberto Del Rio won theRawMoney in the Bank ladder match againstAlex Riley,Evan Bourne,Jack Swagger,Kofi Kingston,Rey Mysterio,R-Truth andThe Miz for a futureWWE Championship match at a time of his choosing, and in the opening contest,Daniel Bryan won theSmackDownMoney in the Bank ladder match againstCody Rhodes,Heath Slater,Justin Gabriel,Kane,Sheamus,Sin Cara andWade Barrett for a futureWorld Heavyweight Championship at a time of his choosing.
Money in the Bank was broadcast globally and received positive reviews from critics, with the main event receiving the most praise. For pay-per-view buys, 205,000 customers paid to watch the event compared with 165,000 for theprevious year.
In 2010,WWE establishedMoney in the Bank as aprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV) and it was held in July—in April 2011, the promotion ceased going by its full name of World Wrestling Entertainment, with "WWE" becoming anorphaned initialism.[2] Theconcept of the event came from WWE's establishedMoney in the Bank ladder match that was originally held atWrestleMania from 2005 to 2010. The match features multiple wrestlers usingladders to retrieve a briefcase hanging above the ring. The briefcase contains a contract that guarantees the winner a match for a world championship at any time within the next year.[3] For 2011, two Money in the Bank ladder matches occurred. One was exclusive to wrestlers from theRaw brand while the other was exclusive to those fromSmackDown. Raw's match granted a contract for aWWE Championship match while SmackDown's granted aWorld Heavyweight Championship match contract. The event took place on July 17, 2011, at theAllstate Arena in theChicago suburb ofRosemont, Illinois.[4][5] It was the second event under the Money in the Bank chronology and the last to occur under the firstbrand split, which ended in August.[6] Tickets went on sale in May 2011 throughTicketmaster with prices ranging fromUS$25 to $300.[4]
Theprofessional wrestling matches at Money in the Bank featured professional wrestlers performing ascharacters inscripted events pre-determined by the hostingpromotion, WWE.[7][8] Storylines between the characters were produced on WWE's weekly television showsRaw andSmackDown with the Raw and SmackDown brands—storyline divisions in which WWE assigned its employees to different programs.[9] These storylines provided the background to the 2011 event, which continued the storylines from the previous event in WWE's 2011 pay-per-view schedule,[7][8]Capitol Punishment.[10]
The main event featured John Cena defending the WWE Championship against CM Punk. Punk defeated Cena in a non-title match on the June 13 episode ofRaw (after a distraction from R-Truth on Cena),[11] and then became the number one contender by winning atriple threatFalls Count Anywhere match against Alberto Del Rio andRey Mysterio on the June 20 episode ofRaw. After the match, Punk revealed that his WWE contract would expire at midnight on July 17, immediately after the Money in the Bank PPV ended; Punk vowed to win the championship and leave the company with it.[12] On the next episode ofRaw, Punk cost Cena atables match againstR-Truth, then delivered aworked shoot promo, colloquially dubbed "the pipebomb", saying that he, rather than Cena, was "the best in the world"; he also berated WWE for not promoting him properly. Punk called Cena an "ass-kisser" and insulted WWE management—including chairmanVince McMahon and executiveJohn Laurinaitis and saying thatDwayne Johnson was main eventingnext year's WrestleMania that made him sick. In addition to saying that he was breaking thefourth wall by talking to the camera, Punk proposed that he could defend the WWE Championship by wrestling inother companies such asRing of Honor (ROH) andNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) after leaving the company with the title.[13][14][15] As a result, Punk was given a storyline suspension and stripped of his championship match. Cena confronted McMahon and threatened to walk out on him and return the WWE Championship if Punk were not reinstated. McMahon relented on the condition that if Cena lost the title, he would be fired.[16] On the following episode ofRaw, McMahon tried to persuade Punk to sign a new contract to ensure the WWE Championship would stay in WWE; McMahon agreed to Punk's demands and apologized to Punk before Cena interrupted the proceedings. The segment resulted in Cena punching Punk, so Punk tore up the agreed contract teasing a face turn for Punk.[17]
The main feud from SmackDown was Randy Orton defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Christian. The storyline started on the May 6 episode ofSmackDown, when Orton defeated Christian to become the champion less than a week after Christian had won the title.[18] Christian would then invoke his rematch clause against Orton atOver the Limit,[19] in which he lost.[20] At Capitol Punishment on June 19, Orton defeated Christian to retain the title again by pinning him, after the referee failed to notice his foot under the bottom rope.[10] On the June 24 episode ofSmackDown, Christian demanded another attempt at the title from SmackDown General ManagerTheodore Long; his demand was granted with the proviso that he could defeatKane. Christian lost the match against Kane by disqualification after interference fromMark Henry. Long then made a tag team match for later that same episode, pitting the team of Christian and Henry against Kane and Orton with a similar stipulation, where Henry pinned Orton to win the match.[21] Afterward, Long offered Henry an attempt at the championship if Henry could defeat Orton again. Henry lost the match by countout after Christian engineered a distraction. This set up a match between Orton and Christian for the title at Money in the Bank.[22] On the July 8 episode ofSmackDown, Christian's lawyers in the storyline added a stipulation to the match that if Orton was disqualified or there was "poor officiating", he would lose the title to Christian.[23]
The Raw Money in the Bank competitors were announced on the June 27 episode ofRaw with no qualifying matches; these were Alberto Del Rio,Alex Riley,Evan Bourne,Jack Swagger,Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio,R-Truth, andThe Miz.[13] The SmackDown Money in the Bank competitors were announced on the July 1SmackDown asCody Rhodes, Daniel Bryan,Heath Slater,Justin Gabriel, Kane,Sheamus,Sin Cara, andWade Barrett.[22]
The feud betweenBig Show and Mark Henry started on the June 17 episode ofSmackDown, when Big Show was forced to face Henry in a match. Big Show knocked out Henry before the bout began,[24] creating a rivalry between the two. Henry interfered in Big Show's matches with Alberto Del Rio at Capitol Punishment and on the June 27 episode ofRaw in a steel cage match. Henry versus Big Show was later announced for Money in the Bank.[10][13]
WhenBrie Bella lost herDivas Championship toKelly Kelly on the June 20 episode ofRaw, a title rematch was announced for Money in the Bank.[12] Kelly had been feuding with the Bella Twins (Nikki and Brie Bella) since May 2011.[25]
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| EnglishCommentators | Michael Cole |
| Jerry Lawler | |
| Booker T | |
| Spanish Commentators | Carlos Cabrera |
| Hugo Savinovich | |
| Ring announcers | Tony Chimel |
| Justin Roberts | |
| Referees | Mike Chioda |
| John Cone | |
| Scott Armstrong | |
| Charles Robinson |
The event, featuring commentary byMichael Cole,Jerry Lawler, andBooker T, began with the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match. During the bout, Sheamus slammed Sin Cara through a ladder propped between the ring apron and the announcers' table with apowerbomb. The ladder was bent in half and Cara was stretchered away from ringside. Near the end of the match, Barrett, Rhodes and Bryan were the only three in the ring. Bryan put Rhodes in aguillotine choke submission hold on top of the ladder in the middle of the ring while Barrett sneaked up the other side of the ladder. After Bryan knocked Rhodes off the ladder, Barrett got Bryan onto his shoulders and tried to throw him off. Bryan countered with repeatedelbow strikes to Barrett's head. Bryan thenkicked Barrett in the head and unhooked the briefcase to win the contest.[1][26]
In the show's second match, Kelly Kelly defeated Brie Bella to retain the Divas Championship. Kelly won the bout after performing herK2 maneuver on Brie.[27]
In the show's third match, Mark Henry defeated Big Show. Henry gained a two-count after aWorld's Strongest Slam on Big Show. Henry then performed the move again and tworunning splashes for thepinfall victory. After the match, Henry wrapped a chair around Big Show's ankle and jumped on it, causing an injury to Big Show.[28]
The next match was the Raw Money in the Bank match, where all the wrestlers brought ladders. During the match, Evan Bourne performed his signatureAir Bourne aerial maneuver, diving from a ladder and landing on the other wrestlers at ringside. Bourne and Miz went for the briefcase but Del Rio toppled their ladder, and Miz was taken backstage with a knee injury. The seven remaining wrestlers simultaneously climbed four ladders in the ring, but fell off one by one. With nobody left in the ring, Miz hopped down to the ring and climbed the ladder with one leg, but Mysterio stopped him by slamming him off the ladder with asunset flip powerbomb. As Mysterio and Del Rio battled on top of the ladders for the briefcase, Del Rio distracted Mysterio by unmasking him and then pushing him onto another ladder, which tipped over and sent both wrestlers to the mat. Del Rio regrouped and unhooked the briefcase to win the match.[1][27]
In the show's fifth match, Randy Orton defended his World Heavyweight Championship against Christian, with the stipulation that Christian would win the title if Orton was disqualified or if there was poor officiating. Christian opened the bout by bringing a steel chair into the ring and trying to goad Orton into getting himself disqualified. Orton balked and threw the chair to the floor. Christian performed his signatureKillswitch, but Orton kicked out of the pin at the two count. As Orton was prepared to perform his signatureRKO move, Christian spat in his face. An enraged Ortonkicked Christian in the groin and in the process, a disqualification was called on Randy. As per the pre-match stipulation, Christian became the new champion. Afterwards, Orton viciously attacked Christian and gave him two moreRKOs onto the announce table.[28][27]
The final match was for the WWE Championship between Champion John Cena and CM Punk. WWE ChairmanVince McMahon had threatened to have Cena fired if he did not retain the title. During the match, two separate signatureAttitude Adjustment moves by Cena failed to score the victory. More than 30 minutes into the match, Punk performed hisGo To Sleep maneuver, striking Cena's ribs and causing Cena to fall out of the ring. As Punk rolled Cena back into the ring, McMahon and John Laurinaitis emerged from backstage and distracted Punk, resulting in Cena placing Punk in theSTF submission hold. Punk did not submit, but McMahon signaled the referee to award Cena the match and sent Laurinaitis to ring the bell.[1][28][26] This was reminiscent of theMontreal Screwjob in 1997, where a conspiracy orchestrated by McMahon led toBret Hart losing his WWF Championship toShawn Michaels by submission despite Hart never submitting.[29]
Not wanting a tainted victory, Cena broke the hold and attacked Laurinaitis. As Cena returned to the ring, Punk performed aGo To Sleep on Cena and pinned him to win the WWE Championship. McMahon ordered the winner of the Raw Money in the Bank match, Alberto Del Rio, to cash in his contract on Punk. When Del Rio ran out and tried to cash in his contract for an immediate WWE Championship match, Punk performed aroundhouse kick on Del Rio before he could do so. After blowing a kiss to a distraught McMahon, Punk fled the arena and left as WWE Champion.[1][28][26][30]
During the event, WWE announced that its attendance was 14,815.[1] It was later reported that 12,000 attendees had paid, earning WWE $750,000.[31] The event drew 195,000 pay-per-view purchases, which was an increase of 18.2% from the 165,000 of the previous year's event. This contributed to WWE's PPV revenue of $15.8 million for the third quarter of 2011 compared with $13.6 million for the third quarter of 2010.[32] The 2012 Money in the Bank event received 188,000 purchases, a drop of 3.6%.[33]
Money in the Bank received positive reviews from critics.Dave Meltzer of theWrestling Observer Newsletter awarded the Cena–Punk main eventfive stars out of five,[34] the first WWE matchsince 1997 to receive such a rating.[35] It was the first match in any promotion in over five years to receive the full five stars, and is the first of ten "main roster" (excludingNXT andNXT UK) matches to receive five stars in the 21st century, with the second occurringnearly 11 years later, the third achieveda few months after the second, the fourth and fifth happening atthe following WrestleMania, the sixth accomplished over a year later atBacklash, the seventh occurred atBad Blood in a Hell in a Cell match also involving CM Punk, the eighth happening atWrestleMania 41, the ninth achieved five days after the eighth on an episode ofSmackDown, and the tenth taking place atSummerSlam a few months later in a Street Fight also involving John Cena. TheWrestling Observer Newsletter later awarded the event theBest Major Show of 2011, over other professional wrestling events by companies includingPro Wrestling Guerrilla and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, as well as over akickboxingevent by K-1 andmixed martial arts events byUltimate Fighting Championship. The main event won the Observer award forMatch of the Year.[36]
Alex Roberts of thePro Wrestling Torch Newsletter attended the event. He criticized the ladder matches as "dangerous spectacles" where many wrestlers "took plenty of painful-looking bumps" but often failed to score "a corresponding crowd reaction". He also stated that the apparent injuries suffered by Sin Cara and the Miz in those matches had unnerved the audience. In contrast, Roberts felt that the two world title matches, which focused on "in-ring psychology and storytelling", were much more "memorable" or even "legendary". Regarding the main event, Roberts said, "even a match-ending run-in bypassed the expected convoluted machinations and played perfectly to the narrative at hand".[37] At the end of 2011, Nathan Kyght of thePro Wrestling Torch Newsletter ranked Money in the Bank the best of 34 pay-per-views in 2011, including those from WWE,Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Ring of Honor, andDragon Gate USA.[38]
Wade Keller, also from thePro Wrestling Torch Newsletter, awarded the Cena–Punk bout five stars out of five, and said the "athleticism wasn't at the A+ level, but everything else that equals magic in pro wrestling happened in the last 40 minutes". Keller awarded the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match four stars and said there were "lots of good workers taking a lot of big bumps, but also selling them, during the course of the match". For the Orton–Christian match, Keller said that it was "paced well, executed well, and the finish played into the personalities and storyline of this feud". Regarding the outcome of the Henry–Big Show match, Keller commented that it was "interesting to see WWE really truly get behind Henry for the first time after all of this time".[26]
Dave Hillhouse at theCanadian Online Explorer's said Money in the Bank featured "exactly what a main event is supposed to be. A match that overshadows every other bout on the card, that has you, no matter how good each other contest is, looking forward to an ending just to be one step closer to the final contest." Hillhouse rated the main event eight out of ten and the overall event six out of ten. When the Canadian Online Explorer polled its readers on the event, 26% did not watch the event, 5% thought it was disappointing, 6% thought it was okay and 63% thought it was great.[27]
In 2013, WWE released a list of their "15 best pay-per-views ever", with 2011's Money in the Bank ranked the second best.[39] WWE also released "the 50 greatest WWE Championship Matches ever" in 2013, with the Cena–Punk match from the event ranked fourth.[40] In 2019, Troy L. Smith ofcleveland.com released a list of the "50 greatest wrestling pay-per-views of all time" from every professional wrestling promotion in the world, with 2011's Money in the Bank ranked at number four.[41]
Money in the Bank 2011 was released on DVD byWWE Home Video on August 16, 2011; it includedMatt Striker interviewing Daniel Bryan as extra content.[42]DVD Talk gave a "Highly Recommended" rating to the DVD, despite "an average technical presentation (no Blu-ray option, either) and no real bonus features".[42]
After CM Punk left the Allstate Arena with the WWE Championship belt, celebrity websiteTMZ pictured him showing off his newly won title belt on the streets of Chicago withColt Cabana andAce Steel.[43]
To crown a new WWE Champion, WWE ChairmanVince McMahon started an eight-man tournament on the July 18 episode ofRaw, which included all the participants of the Raw Money in the Bank ladder match except Evan Bourne, whose place was filled byDolph Ziggler. The Miz and Rey Mysterio made it to the tournament finals, which McMahon postponed so he could fire John Cena as a result of the conditions imposed on the Money in the Bank match.Triple H interrupted and announced that the WWEBoard of Directors had removed McMahon from power in avote of no confidence, and that Triple H was to take over the day-to-day operations of WWE. Before leaving, Triple H refused to fire Cena.[44]
On July 21, Punk gatecrashed the joint WWE–Mattel panel atSan Diego Comic-Con with title belt in hand. He confronted Triple H and took exception to WWE attempting to crown a new WWE Champion.[45] Two days later, Punk made a surprise appearance at a show hosted by theAll American Wrestling company without his title belt to endorseGregory Iron, a wrestler withcerebral palsy, as an inspiration for overcoming his impediment.[46]
On the July 25 episode ofRaw, Mysterio won the tournament to become the new WWE Champion, and immediately had to fend off Alberto Del Rio to prevent him from cashing in his Money in the Bank. Triple H, nowChief Operating Officer, decreed that Mysterio was to face ex-champion Cena later that night for the title; Cena won and again became WWE Champion. After the match, Punk made an unannounced return to WWE with the old WWE Championship belt to confront Cena, resulting in a situation where two wrestlersclaimed the rights to the championship.[47] Cena and Punk later fought in a match atSummerSlam on August 14 to crown the undisputed WWE Champion, which Punk won controversially. As Punk celebrated,Kevin Nash made his WWE return and assaulted him. Del Rio then cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and pinned Punk to become the new champion after kicking Punk in the head.[48][49] Punk regained the WWE Championship from Del Rio atSurvivor Series in November 2011; starting a 434-day reign untilThe Rock beat him at the 2013Royal Rumble event.[50]
After losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Christian, Randy Orton was granted a rematch at SummerSlam, where he won aNo Holds Barred match to win the title.[49] Meanwhile, in the storyline, Mark Henry went on to crush Kane andVladimir Kozlov's ankles with steel chairs.[51][52] He defeated Orton atNight of Champions in September to become World Heavyweight Champion for the first time.[53] Big Show returned from injury in October 2011 to feud with Henry over his title.[54] Daniel Bryan initially declared that he would only cash in his Money in the Bank contract for a World Heavyweight Championship match atWrestleMania XXVIII. However, on the November 25 episode ofSmackDown, Bryan cashed in the briefcase after Henry had been knocked out by Big Show to become the World Heavyweight Champion. The match was voided by General Manager Theodore Long as Henry was not medically cleared to compete, and the briefcase was returned to Bryan.[55] At WWE'sTLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs PPV in December 2011, Henry lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Big Show. After the match, Henry assaulted Big Show which allowed Bryan to cash in his contract and pin Big Show to win the title.[56] Bryan held on to his title long enough to have a World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania XXVIII in April 2012, where he lost his championship to Sheamus in 18 seconds.[57]
John Laurinaitis continued to appear on television after Money in the Bank. In October 2011, he was appointed Raw General Manager, replacing Triple H as the on-screen authority figure.[58] During Laurinaitis' rule, he feuded with CM Punk and later with John Cena,[59][60] until he was fired in the storyline atNo Way Out in June 2012.[61]
In WWE's documentaryCM Punk: Best in the World released in 2012, it was documented from the out-of-universe perspective that a disenchanted Punk rejected signing a new contract with WWE for more than a year leading up to Money in the Bank. After being persuaded byJoey Mercury andLars Frederiksen that he could only help wrestlers underappreciated by WWE (like himself) if he stayed, Punk signed a new contract with WWE about an hour before capturing the WWE Championship from Cena, while the pay-per-view event was ongoing.[62]
