DVD Review: WWE Money in the Bank 2016 - Seth Rollins v Roman Reigns 6

WWE Money in the Bank 2016 is out now on DVD and Blu-Ray, from WWEDVD, Amazon, Base and all reputable home video outlets, priced £12-£23 on DVD. The release features the full Money in the Bank PPV, with around 3 hours of wrestling content, which unfortunately means there is no space for any special features on the disc. However, there is Seth Rollins challenging Roman Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship, John Cena battling AJ Styles, a Six Man Ladder Match for the eponymous Money in the Bank contract featuring Chris Jericho, Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Dean Ambrose and Alberto Del Rio and more, so this disc has to be well worth the money from your bank, right? 

The main event has Roman Reigns putting the World Heavyweight Championship on the line against Seth Rollins in a very good contest. The pair work to the crowd, keeping true to their characters, whilst playing towards the mostly anti-Reigns audience, which makes for a much more satisfying story. The action flows well throughout, with a number of big spots and pacy sequences and reversal, as well as a handful of strong false finishes. The show ends with the most sign-posted swerve, as the Money in the Bank winner heads down to ringside (Ummm...if for some reason you didn't want spoilers, sorry about the front cover of the DVD!) 

John Cena and AJ Styles first ever clash, in the semi-main is arguably the match of the night, as the pair wrestle a clever contest. Styles dominates Cena and always appears to have an answer for The Cenation Leader's signature offence, with this becoming the bouts main narrative thread. The finish leaves things open for a future rematch, and with the duo seemingly never breaking into their top gear here, but doing more than enough to get the Las Vegas crowd whipped into a frenzy, that will be something you should be very excited about come the conclusion of the match. 

Rounding off the upper-card, Chris Jericho, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, Alberto Del Rio, Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose battle in a Six Man Ladder Match, with the Money in the Bank contract on the line in a fun spot-laden contest. The best spots of the match comes from rivals Zayn and Owens who get to continue their feud with some nasty moments, whilst Cesaro puts in the contest's strongest performance. The final few minutes felt a little anti-climactic, with a construction of ladders never quite living up to the initial excitement, meaning that the finish seemed to be missing something. 

The mid-card is highlighted by a stellar Fatal Four-Way Tag Team match, that sees Enzo & Cass, The Vaudevillains and Gallows & Anderson all going after The New Day's Tag Team Championship. After Enzo & Cass and The New Day cut comedic promos, the match keeps a good pace, with some sterling booking and featuring a variety of exciting sequence and spots, involving all eight men. Baron Corbin taking on Dolph Ziggler has some lovely moments where the two appear to be clicking, but also features some slip ups and an awkward ending. Things aren't help by the audience, who whilst beginning to warm in the final stages, are mostly silent for the first two thirds of the bout, apart from a mild "Boring" chant a few minutes in. 

Natalya and Becky Lynch team against Women's Champion Charlotte and protege Dana Brooke in a decent bout, but it's the post-match shenanigans that are the most interesting part. It takes a while Sheamus and Apollo Crews to get going in their bout, but the match develops into a hard-hitting scrap that features some big spots and a sweet finish. Rusev defending the United States Championship against Titus O'Neil, starts off well with a brawl on the outside, but it quickly becomes clear that O'Neil is out of his depth as he struggles to keep up the pace in what is the worst match on the card. 

Finally...

ATPW Home Video Rating - 6.51/10 

This is a good supercard offering from WWE, with all three of the marquee bouts delivering enjoyable and entertaining outings, whilst the Tag Team Championship match provides the under-card's best action. As far as WWE B-Shows go, this one is probably the most worthy of your DVD shelves, as not only does it contains good quality action, but there's also two World Heavyweight Championship changes and it's also the final supercard before RAW and Smackdown were split in the WWE Draft and numerous new titles began to be added. Although there's no special features, which means we miss The Golden Truth going over Breezango and The Lucha Dragons getting the best of The Dudley Boyz from the Kick-Off show, the disc doesn't really miss them 

Words - James Marston 
Special Thanks to - FreemantleMedia International and Fetch Publicity

DVD Review: WWE Money in the Bank 2015

WWE Money in the Bank 2015 is out on DVD and Blu-Ray on Monday (24th August 2015) in the UK. You can pre-order here at WWEDVD.co.uk and all other reputable DVD stockists. Broadcast live on PPV (and on the WWE Network) from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, USA on 14th June 2015. The show features Seth Rollins defending the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a Ladder match against Dean Ambrose as the main event. There's also five other matches featuring the likes of Kevin Owens, Neville, Kane, Randy Orton and Paige in action with a Money in the Bank Ladder match also on the card. The Intercontinental, WWE Tag Team and Diva's Championships are also up for grabs. The disc includes over ten minutes of special features, including one further match. Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and John "Bradshaw" Layfield provide the commentary.

Similar to WWE's last DVD event offering, Elimination Chamber, the show is slow to get going thanks to starting with a multi-man match, which means many entrances to kick things off. Luckily once the Money in the Bank Contract Ladder Match does get going it's a fun bout, that see's Dolph Ziggler, Kane, Kofi Kingston, Neville, Sheamus, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns vying for the, now familiar, briefcase. With some nice storyline elements thrown into the mix, building towards the bouts conclusion, this is an entertaining start to the show. Paige challenging Nikki Bella for the Diva's Championship is a decent encounter for the most part, with a surprisingly good false finish, but it is hurt by a nonsensical closing sequence, that leaves even the commentary team confused. The Big Show and Ryback's Intercontinental Championship collision is a waste of time on an event like this, with The Miz on guest commentary being heavily involved in the contest. 

Kevin Owens and John Cena manage to top their previous Champion vs. Champion outing, creating a match that is everything the previous one was and more. Whilst there is, admittedly, a few clunky moments here and there, the storytelling is of a very high standard and shows off a new side to John Cena. The aftermath of the epic encounter is just as interesting as the bout itself, setting the stage for a third match to round off the trilogy at a latter date. There's an entertaining heel promo from The New Day's Xavier Woods and Big E, before their WWE Tag Team Championship encounter with The Prime Time Players, that works the Ohio crowd nicely. The match that follows is nothing special, but completely watchable. 

The main event is perhaps not what you'd expect when looking at the card and seeing Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins' Ladder Match over the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in that slot. The bout shies away from the spot based antics of the earlier ladder match, although there are plenty of treats here also, to present a clash with a strong narrative thread, with both men playing their respective roles very well. The pair take the action all over the arena and manage to pull these brawling elements back into the narrative rather well, keeping a good mixture of styles throughout the bout. The main criticism has to be that the match is a little too long (it's just over 35 minutes long bell-to-bell) for what it is, it could easily stand to lose five or six minutes and not be effected at all. Following the bout, the winner's interview with Jo-Jo on the entrance ramp is curious touch for a modern WWE PPV, although it does work rather well in this case.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.52

This is the strongest WWE DVD event offering since WrestleMania 31, with both Kevin Owens vs. John Cena and Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins improving on their outings at Elimination Chamber. The whole undercard is also a marked improvement, and if you remove the Intercontinental Championship match you've got a card that works from top to bottom. 

If you were to ask me which post-Mania show was worth splashing your cash on, to bridge the gap to SummerSlam, then Money in the Bank would be that show. You can pre-order here.

WWE Money in the Bank 2015 Review

It had only been two weeks since Elimination Chamber, and here we were at another multi-man based gimmick PPV, namely Money in the Bank. Alongside the eponymous bout in which Roman Reigns, Sheamus, Neville, Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston and Kane did battle for a shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, WWE presented two marque rematches in the form of Seth Rollins putting his aforementioned title up against Dean Ambrose (with added Ladder match gimmick) and John Cena tangling once more with Kevin Owens. Could the rematch live up to their previous counterparts? Could the Money in the Bank ladder match set itself apart from past incarnations? Let's find out with this here review!

Promotion: WWE
Show Title: Money in the Bank
Date: 14th June, 2015.
Venue: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America.
Theme Song: Money in the Bank by Jim Johnston
Commentary by: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, John Bradshaw Layfield and The Miz (Big Show vs. Ryback only)

Ladder match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Seth Rollins (C) 

vs. 

Dean Ambrose

There's a lot to talk about when it comes to the longest one on one match on WWE PPV since Triple H and Shawn Michaels did battle inside Hell in a Cell at Bad Blood in 2004. Where does one even begin? How about the start? Things were kept to a minimum in terms of added build up on the PPV, with the initial video package, followed up by the Kick-Off Panel of Renee Young, Booker T, Byron Saxton and Corey Graves putting over their excitement for the match and running through the possibilities. A much better approach than the Authority over-kill we've seen on previous PPVs. A backstage segment just prior to the main event did everything that needed to be done, as all the Authority had a chat with their pal Seth. Triple H absolutely killed his rallying cry for Rollins to step up to the plate. 

Over thirty five minutes is a long time for a wrestling match these days, especially in WWE. Both Elimination Chambers ran shorter than this, so there was a lot of pressure on Ambrose and Rollins to deliver enough content to fill the time they were provide and keep the audience both within the arena and at home captivated by the action. The early section was a rip roaring adventure, with the former Shield duo running through a series of exciting and well-timed spots, like a superb sequence that ended with The Architect  flying into a ladder off a suicide dive sequence and Ambrose's diving elbow drop off the top of the ladder (with added tribute to Dusty Rhodes).

The bout needed to shift gears in order to be able to go the distance, and it did so, heading into a more psychological avenue. Rollins going after Ambrose's knee, after hitting it with a steel chair, allowed the match to breath and settle, as the paced slowed considerably for a time. The two worked so well in their given roles in this section of the match, Rollins focused attack made him look like a bit of dick, especially with his usual boastful swagger, whilst Ambrose showed the all-important babyface fighting spirit and showed it well, especially in a back and forth slap battle whilst Rollins had him placed in a figure four leg lock. Ambrose continue to sell the leg for the remainder of the bout, even when it wasn't the focus, so that get's a big thumbs up from me, and a double thumbs up for when Rollins went back to the leg hitting it with a TV monitor later in the match.

A real set back for this match for me was the crowd, who were quiet for the majority of the match, rarely getting behind Ambrose or jumping on Rollins back for his antics. There were pops for the bigger spots but nothing else. If the crowd had died off as the match went on then that could easily be attributed to the bouts epic length, but the crowd were hushed from the opening bell onwards. Maybe they were worn out from the lively John Cena vs. Kevin Owens bout that came before this one, maybe they weren't quite ready for the main event to start when it did. It'd be interesting to hear an account from someone who was inside the building at the time to find out exactly why the crowd were so muted.

The pace of the final third of the match was an interesting combination of the two previous thirds, with both men clearly spent from twenty odd minutes of action, Ambrose selling his injury limb, but both going hell for leather in order to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Rollins desperation to put away Ambrose on his own really came into play at this point of the match, as we saw a more determined Rollins than we have seen over the last three months. Whilst some of these sections of action felt a little bit unnecessary, such as the spot that saw Rollins and Ambrose head into the crowd, only for Rollins to throw Ambrose into a flimsy table and run back to the ring, but the one section that stood out to me was Rollins absolute destruction of the Lunatic Fringe as he hit multiple barricade bombs (see what I did there?), before a superb sitout powerbomb onto a ladder that was piled with chairs. That particular spot really put over how desperate Rollins was to win and sold how he was willing to put his body on the line for the title, thus making the title look like something worth winning.

So that leaves us with one thing to talk about, I suppose. The finish. Now, usually I'd have no problem with this particular finish, that saw both Ambrose and Rollins fall to the ground holding the title, with The Architect holding onto it, but in this match it just didn't sit right for me. As over half an hour of action and buying into the various stories that were weaved into the match, it felt a bit cheap to have none of them really pay off. Ambrose's injured leg didn't play into it, Rollins wasn't able to show decisively that he could do it on his own and the feud wasn't settled at all but seems to be over again, at least for now. Obviously, Rollins has something to boast about that will continue to see the growth of his character, with some more of his twisted truths, and Ambrose should slot into another feud without much trouble being able to build momentum that should see him in a position to win the big one in twelve months or so, so it's not all doom and gloom here. An interesting experiment in terms of the WWE main event scene, but one that will need some tweaking before we see about of this length again.

Overall Rating: 7

Singles Match

WWE United States Champion John Cena 

vs. 

WWE NXT Champion Kevin Owens

It's an accepted fact that the second album is harder than the first, ask The Strokes or Bloc Party, but for every Room on Fire or A Weekend in the City, there's a Favourite Worst Nightmare or Contra where the group manages to duplicate the critical or even surpass the initial effort. This was one of those moments, taking all the best bits from John Cena and Kevin Owens initial encounter two weeks ago and building. I'd love to go back and watch these two matches back to back, as they almost follow on directly from each other, with each match complimenting the other. 

What made the wrestling nerd in me squee a little was, of course, the story telling. This is where having the match happen only two weeks after the original actually played in it's favour, as the events of that match were still pretty clear in my mind. So I could see that John Cena was attempting to put Owens away using a number of different moves, that either we haven't seen from him before or he uses rarely. There was an inverted suplex, a sitout electric chair drop, the return of the Cenacanrana (which looked the best it ever has) and the West Newbury Destroyer. Whilst on the flipside, Owens pulled out a number of similar moves to what we saw him use at Elimination Chamber, the contrast was great to watch play out on the screen. And it didn't stop with just the moves.

John Cena's character performance took things to the next level. When was the last time we saw Cena confront a referee about a decision? I know, I can't remember it happening for quite some time at least. The frustration that he showed through his face and body when being unable to get the pin following an AA, put over how much the victory would mean to The Cenation Leader and therefore raised the stakes of what was essentially just a singles match. The crowd added a bucket load to this as well, as the Nationwide Arena was rocking from start to finish. "Big match feel" is an often forgotten about variable in terms of match ranking, and one that is difficult to quantify, but non-the-less, this match had it.

John Cena may have gotten his win back following a springboard stunner and an Attitude Adjustment, which was the right decision going forward in my opinion, but it was Owens who ended the matches air time standing tall with both the WWE NXT and United States Championships. This will, arguably, do more for Kevin Owens than another victory over Cena would've done, as he came across as a nobhead for attacking a Cena who was willing to shake his hand after a hard fought battle. I'm hoping that we see Cena off television for, at least, a few weeks to sell the attack by Owens (just like Sami Zayn did on NXT), giving Owens the freedom to show what he can do against opposite a less experienced WWE hand, but I wouldn't expect we've seen the last of this rivalry.

Overall Rating: 8.5

Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Roman Reigns 

vs. 

Sheamus 

vs. 

WWE Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston 

vs. 

Dolph Ziggler 

vs. 

Kane 

vs. 

Neville 

vs. 

Randy Orton

Obviously, the spots are the most important ingredients in a match like this, and that's what the majority of fans expect heading into proceedings. It has to be said that this match wasn't as packed with those big memorable spots as previous matches have been. Whilst there were still moments like Randy Orton tripping Neville off the ladder into an RKO, Roman Reigns powerbombing The Man That Gravity Forgot and Kofi Kingston onto a ladder in the corner and a cool sequence of action that lead to Dolph Ziggler hitting a Zig Zag off the ladder to Sheamus, this match suffers because of everything that has gone before it in previous years. If you'd never seen a Money in the Bank Ladder match before then I'd imagine it would have been a much more awe-inspiring display than if you were watching your sixteenth. 

Where this match also suffered was it's almost formulaic structure, which was undermined by a lack of logic, at times, that made it hard for one to suspend disbelief. The biggest example of this would be Dolph Ziggler's involvement in the match. It would be easy to praise The Showoff for his hard work in the match, he took a number of big bumps and was heavily involved throughout most of the match. However, after taking a bump off the top of the ladder, Ziggler was up almost instantly to hit a Superkick on Kane, in a match that lives and dies on the consequences of falls like the one Ziggler took, to have a competitor jump straight up makes it harder to buy into the fact that they can't get to their feet for the final few minutes of the bout. 

I'm almost definitely being harsh on what was an throughly entertaining slice of WWE action, that saw everyone in the match (with perhaps the exception of Kane) working hard to put on a spectacle for the Colombus crowd and us folk at home. Neville's performance stood out especially, taking some big bumps, being believable in his selling and impressive when on the offence. In a match that needs everyone to be selfless in order to put on the best possible match, The New Sensation gave a lot to his opponents taking a number of big moves from the likes of Reigns and Orton. Undoubtly the biggest match of his WWE career so far, and only his third appearance on pay-per-view, Neville showed that he more than belongs in this type of match-up, hopefully we'll see him continue to get a steady push over the next few months.

I have to say I was surprised to see Sheamus walking out with the Money in the Bank briefcase, as I think like many I was convinced Reigns winning was nailed on. Whilst I wasn't too enamored with having Bray Wyatt take Reigns out of the bout, I'm fairly happy to see The Celtic Warrior get a chance to move back up the card. His character has been head and shoulders above what we'd seen prior to his return a few months ago and, bar a sub-par effort against Orton on Monday Night RAW #1150, his in-ring performances have been enjoyable. A quick feud with Neville would do a lot for both men over the next couple of months, and I'd expect we may see Sheamus holding onto the briefcase until at least after SummerSlam in August.

Overall Rating: 6

Singles Match for the WWE Diva's Championship

Paige 

vs. 

Nikki Bella (C)

Going hard and fast from the outset, this was one of the best Diva's bouts to be presented on Pay-per-view in quite some time. Whilst the bout was hurt by the duo being unable to get the Nationwide Arena into the match, until perhaps the final near fall, both worked hard to create an enjoyable encounter, that included some nice near falls and for the most part strong action. The action in the first couple of minutes on the outside of the ring may have been the strongest of the match, with Paige hitting a somersault senton off the ring apron and Nikki tripping The Anti-Diva on the barricade.

Whilst having John Bradshaw Layfield shitting on the finish on commentary didn't help things, I thought the closing angle that saw Paige able to reverse Twin Magic and pin Brie Bella, before the swap was revealed to the referee, allowing Nikki to pick up the win, was a clever one that played nicely of their previous match on Monday Night RAW #1149. It builds the desire to see Paige defeat the Bella Twins, whilst also firmly placing the Twins back as heels within the Diva's division. A rematch should be much more anticipated and just goes to show what can happen the women of WWE are given the time to peform. More of this please.

(Quick Note - I'd prefer to have only been able to hear Paige during her pre-match interview with Renee Young)

Overall Rating:  5.5

Singles Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

Ryback (C) vs. The Big Show

The Miz's pre-match promo, before taking his seat from commentary may have been the best thing about the almost fifteen minutes this was given. The action wasn't actually that bad, but there was just no real drive or purpose behind it, Ryback just seemed to batter Show (including an impressive verticle suplex), before Miz had enough of dicking around a ringside and ran in a caused a disqualification. If there hadn't have been only two weeks between PPV's, then this could easily have happened on Monday Night RAW to set up a triple threat, if that's what they want to do. Why they are pushing a Ryback/Big Show/Miz three way feud, I have absolutely no idea. 

Overall Rating: 1

Tag Team Match for the WWE Tag Team Championships

The Prime Time Players 

vs. 

The New Day's Xavier Woods & Big E (C)

Sticking to your bog standard tag team formula, this was a solid outing for both teams. Hurt slightly by the lack of time it was given, Xavier Woods, Big E, Titus O'Neil and Darren Young put together an entertaining match, helped along by just how over The New Day have become in WWE. Whilst the wrestling wasn't spectacular, with Big E's overhead belly to belly to Young being perhaps the standout moment from the bout, but it didn't need to be, in between the Owens vs. Cena and Ambrose vs. Rollins this worked nicely. I'm convinced the Prime Time Players only won because the show needed a face victory, but hey, Millions of Dollars, Millions of Dollars etc.

Overall Rating: 4

Tribute to Dusty Rhodes

Kicking off the show was a moving tribute to WWE Hall of Famer, Dusty Rhodes who sadly passed away on Wednesday. Having the entire WWE roster out on the ramp to start the show was a classy move by the promotion and seeing Vince McMahon shuck and jive to Common Man Boogie by Jimmy Hart and J.J. Maguire would have surely going a belly laugh out of The American Dream! The video package that would air later on in the show was one of the most emotional pieces of footage that WWE has ever created. Our thoughts remain with the Runnels Family and anyone close to Dusty at this difficult time.

Finally...

An interesting outing for WWE, with a lot of strong action on display throughout the card, often undermined by questionable finishes to differing degrees. Only Big Show vs. Ryback stands out as a match that I struggled to gain any kind of enjoyment out of, with Kevin Owens and John Cena delivering the best match of the show. The encouraging performance in the Diva's Championship match is also worth a lot of praise, hopefully we'll see WWE continue to push women's wrestling it's programming going forward. Certainly not the strongest incarnation of the Money in the Bank PPV, but definitely not a bad show.

Overall Rating: 6.5

WWE Money in the Bank 2014 DVD Review

WWE Money in the Bank 2014 is out on DVD and Blu-Ray now, available from www.wwedvd.co.uk. Broadcast live on Pay-per-View (and the WWE Network) from the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, USA on 29th June 2014, the show features Alberto Del Rio, Bray Wyatt, Cesaro, John Cena, Kane, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns and Sheamus battling it out in Ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship, a traditional Money in the Bank Ladder featuring Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, Rob Van Dam and Seth Rollins, The Wyatt Family's Luke Harper and Erick Rowan challenging The Usos for the Tag Team Championships and five other matches. The special features include an interview with Daniel Bryan from the Kick-Off show, a post-match interview and four "Money in the Bank moments". The commentary is provided by John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler.

Pay-Per-View

The main event ladder match over the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship see's WWE trying to make the best of a bad situation, following Daniel Bryan's neck injury forcing him to vacate the title. The match isn't a vintage Money in the Bank ladder match, but it still offers enough thrills and spills to keep one entertained for the duration. Some original spots involving ladder placement brighten this one up, as the story of Kane attempting to help Authority team mate Randy Orton win the title plays out over the top of the spots. The match flows nicely from spot to spot, but I can't help feeling that the finish ends up being a bit anti-climatic. 

The traditional Money in the Bank Ladder match is a better offering, even with a similarly flat finish. Whilst everyone plays their part in the match, this is the Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose show as their lengthy feuds begins to build in intensity. The Usos defending the tag titles against the Wyatts is a well paced tag team match, with a red hot crowd. Whilst the bout goes on to have some terrific falls, I can't help feeling it goes two or three minutes too long. 

On the undercard, the new Stardust and Goldust take on Rybaxel in a fairly basic tag team outing. Rusev and Big E put on an entertaining heavy contest, that does the best the pair could have realistically done in the situation. Paige puts her Divas Championship on the line against Naomi in a match, that get's a bit lost and has the focus completely wrong. Damien Sandow's begins his transition towards Damien Mizdow in a contest with Adam Rose that couldn't be considered anything other than filler. Summer Rae and Layla waste my time with a match that has absolutely no flow, as their God awful storyline continues in earnest.

Special Features

The special features include an enjoyable interview with Daniel Bryan conducted by Michael Cole on the Kick Off show, that includes some terrific work from Bo Dallas during an interruption. Fandango nails his character in a post-match interview with Tom Phillips, despite being stuck in the middle of the Summer Rae and Layla feud. There's also four video packages entitled Money in the Bank moments, that include highlights of a previous Money in the Bank ladder match and the subsequent cash-in. These include Jack Swagger, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler and Randy Orton. Nice little additions but nothing that isn't already on WWE's own Youtube channel. 

Finally...

Overall, this is a decent PPV offering from WWE, with both Ladder matches offering more than enough to keep me entertained throughout, whilst the Tag Title match is also well done. Whilst the undercard is a little rushed in parts, the majority is bearable and timed well, with the exception of Summer Rae and Layla's bout. I wouldn't say this DVD is a must-have, but it certainly wouldn't be a bad way to spend an evening. 

June 2014 Match of the Month

Following our most succesful Match of the Month poll to date, with three times the amount of votes as any other poll we have done, I thought it was time to turn these votes into a articles. This means they can be found at any time, with a little more background than our Match of the Month page delivers. 

This month we have a total of 28 different matches to choose from, with New Japan, WWE, Ring of Honor and TNA all being represented. It was an extremely competitive month, producing the closest top two we have ever seen, no doubt due to WWE producing two PPV's (Payback and Money in the Bank) in June. 

I'm going to be looking at the Top Five in reverse order, but first let's check out those matches that didn't quite make it that far.

Others Gaining Votes

From New Japan - 

 

KUSHIDA vs Ricochet (NJPW Best of the Super Junior XXI - Night 8) (4%)

Kota Ibushi vs Ricochet (NJPW Dominion 6.21) (3%)

The Young Bucks vs Time Splitters (NJPW Dominion 6.21)  (2%)

BULLET CLUB (AJ Styles & Yujiro Takahashi) vs CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii) (NJPW Dominion 6.21) (1%)

From WWE -

 

 Bray Wyatt vs John Cena, Last Man Standing (WWE Payback) (4%)

Cesaro vs Sheamus (WWE Payback) (2%)

 Alberto Del Rio vs Bray Wyatt vs Cesaro vs John Cena vs Kane vs Randy Orton vs Roman Reigns vs Sheamus, Ladder Match (WWE Money in the Bank) (1%)

Money in the Bank wins Event of the Month with 26%, Raw 1100 finishes 3rd with17% and Payback finishes 4th with 12%

From Ring of Honor 

 

Matt Hardy & Mike Bennett vs The Briscoes, No Disqualification Match (ROH Best in the World) (4%)

reDRagon vs Bad Influence (ROH Best in the World) (4%)

 ACH vs BJ Whitmer vs Caprice Coleman vs Tadarius Thomas vs Takaaki Watanabe vs Tommaso Ciampa (ROH Best in the World) (3%)

Cedric Alexander vs Roderick Strong, Submission Match (ROH Best in the World) (2%)

 Adam Cole vs Michael Elgin (ROH Best in the World) (2%)

Best in the World finishes 2nd for Event of the Month (24%)

 From TNA - 

 

Bully Ray vs Ethan Carter III, Texas Death Match(TNA Slammiversary) (3%)

Austin Aries vs Kenny King (TNA Slammiversary) (1%)

 Austin Aries vs Bobby Lashley vs Eric Young, Steel Cage Match (TNA Slammiversary) (1%)

Slammiversary finishes 5th for Event of the Month with 10%


So those were the matches that didn't quite make it into the Top 5, so let's look at the ones that did!

5th Place -

Crazzy Steve vs Davey Richards vs Eddie Edwards vs Manik vs Sanada vs Tigre Uno, Ladder Match 

TNA Slammiversary (5%)

 It was a brave decision by TNA to hold a multi-man Ladder match in the same month as WWE's Money in the Bank PPV, but it payed it off with all five out of the six men making their first appearance in the Top 5, as well as only TNA's third this year (Following Gunner and James Storm's No DQ, No Countout bout from Impact Wrestling and the interpromotional Cage match with Wrestle-1's Great Muta, Sanada & YASU taking on Bad Influence and Chris Sabin at Lockdown, both in March) 

The Slammiversary opener was an exciting near 10 minutes of action, with plenty of thrills and spills to get the crowd warmed up for a solid Slammiversary PPV. Some of the highlights included a lovely Superkick/Release German Suplex combo from The Wolves (Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards) onto X Division Champion Sanada, a nice recovery from Manik as he turned being pushed off the Ladder into a plancha, a Moonsault from Sanada onto Crazzy Steve who had been a placed onto a Ladder, Powerbomb/Backstabber combo from the Wolves and my favourite spot of the match, Manik sunset bomb on Richards off the Ladder onto another freaking Ladder!

Whilst this was mainly a spot-based affair there were some nice storyline elements, with The Wolves coming off a the main stars of the bout as they battle a top the Ladder making the X Division title look more desirable straight away, whilst their continued team work throughout the match made them look like a terrific tag team at the same time. Crazzy Steve was also fairly over with the Texas crowd, as his character continues to be one of the most interesting on TNA television. 

I think what stopped this bout from ending up higher up the rankings this month, were the few timing errors from Sanada, like leaving Crazzy Steve looking like an idiot while he waiting for Sanada to push over the Ladder, and the anti-climatic ending as Sanada simply pulled the belt down with no real build. I think if this match had gone another five or ten minutes we could have seen it featuring in, at least, the top three of the Month. 

4th Place -  

The Usos vs The Wyatt Family (Erick Rowan & Luke Harper) 

WWE Money in the Bank (9%) 

 Taking 4th place, it's a first Top Five appearance for The Usos, whilst Luke Harper and Erick Rowan make it four times within the Top Five (following on from teaming with Bray Wyatt against The Shield in February, March and April) 


The Money in the Bank PPV opener was a great way to kick off what was voted Event of the Month (26%). The bout was the classic wrestling condumrum; Power or Speed? With Harper and Rowan dominating most of the match, working both Usos with a combination of power moves and underhanded tactics. The Usos have perhaps been the most improved wrestlers this year, especially in terms of star power, and the vocal crowd was split almost down the middle for the two teams, as The Usos launched into a terrific comeback sequence, highlighted by a Corkscrew Dive from Jimmy and lovely double Superkick spot.

The final four or five minutes were especially strong and had the live crowd on the edge of their seats as the four men launched into a series of near falls and false finishes with both teaming looking like they could have the win at any time. A personal highlight was a well excuted powerbomb from Luke Harper. JBL said on commentary "Talk about big fight feel", and he was completely right (for a change), this did feel like a big time fight, which is representative of just how far the WWE tag team division has come of the last year or so. 

Perhaps the only thing stopping this bout from reaching higher in this months ranking was a few slip ups from The Usos as they approached big moves. First, a slip on the barricade when attempting to perform a diving forearm to Harper, then a slip on the ropes when hitting a corkscrew and finally another slip as the match approached it's finish whilst attempting a Double Super-plex on Rowan. Whilst the slips were hardly The Usos fault, it did at those times slow the pace of the bout down and took away ever so slightly from those big moves. 

3rd Place

Bad News Barrett vs Dolph Ziggler

WWE Raw 1100 (10%) 

The only match TV match from June to make the ranking is this quality Intercontinental Championship bout from Raw. Bad News Barrett makes his first appearance in the Top 5, whilst this is Ziggler's second time, having finished joint fifth in Marchwith a Triple Threat also involving Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus from WWE's Main Event.

In terms of getting the crowd on their side, Ziggler and Barrett did a fantastic job in this one. The crowd started off luke warm at best, with a weak chant for Barrett all they had to offer. But as the bout headed towards a climax. Ziggler proved that he can be a very versatile blue-eye, with this lengthier match allowing him to show a fuller range of his selling ability than we have been able to see for a while. Barrett's offence was crisp and felt fresh, with some nice transition sequence like having to switch a Powerbomb in a Wasteland for a near fall. 

I think what worked so well in this match was that both men have a number of recognisable signature moves (Winds of Change and Wasteland for Barrett, Zig Zag, Fameasser and Super X-Factor for Ziggler) which allowed the match to build steadily with the crowd getting more and more into the match with each near fall. By the end of the match, the crowd were oohing and ahhing, with the finish getting a tremendous pop out of them. The fact that each men had gone at the other hammer and tongs made the Intercontinental Championship feel like something worth winning, which is, of course, exactly what the belt needs to feel like.

It is such a shame that Barrett suffered an injury shortly after this match, as the work he had been doing lately had been the strongest of his career, not only in the ring but on the microphone as well. He genuinely felt like he had momentum going forward following this match, and was beginning to build the prestige of the Intercontinental Championship in the process. Will be Barrett be able to get back to same position once he comes recovers? I sure hope so.

2nd Place 

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

WWE Money in the Bank (17%)

The most popular match from the most popular show of the month, seeing Kofi Kingston and Rob Van Dam make their debut in the Top Five. Meanwhile Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose make it in for the fourth time and Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger (following joint 5th place in March for his bout against Cody Rhodes and Goldust alongside Cesaro) appear for the second time each.

Everything we've come to expect from a Money in the Bank Ladder match with a few added extras. Spot after spot after spot, this match delivered in spades. Whether it was Ambrose's Butterfly Suplex to Rollins onto a propped up Ladder, a huge powerbomb from Swagger to Van Dam off the top of a Ladder, Ambroses ladder Superplex to Rollins or Kingston's back drop to Rollins off the Ladder onto a ladder bridged between the ring ropes and the ladder, this one had enough to keep the attention of the crowd and get them to pop at any time. 

What gave this match an edge for me was the solid storytelling and progression of the Ambrose and Rollins feud that was threaded throughout the match, with the aforementioned spots and numerous fantastic brawling sequences, the hatred between the two men emanated through the television screen. Also thrown into the mix was some magnificent selling by Ambrose and Ziggler, who both climbed the ladder with an injured limb and made those moments when they couldn't quite reach the briefcase very believable. The pop for Ambrose's return at the end of the match was also very nice indeed. 

What held this bout back from taking the Number 1 spot in my opinion was the weak finish. Even Jerry Lawler mentioned on commentary "This was a great match until Kane turned up" and he was completely right. There really wasn't much need for Kane to turn up here and I would have much rather seen Rollins use some other underhanded tactics to take Ambrose out of the match.

1st Place

Evolution vs. The Shield

WWE Payback (20%)

For the second month in a row The Shield vs Evolution takes the Match of the Month award! In fact it's Triple H's third Match of the Month award in a row, not bad for burying old timer (he hasn't won any of those matches). Randy Orton now has four Top Five appearances to his name, whilst Batista has three. The Shield make it four victories, with Ambrose and Rollins lifting their Top Five appearances to five and Reigns taking his total to four. 

Brawling, brawling and a bit more brawling, that's what this match was. And I for one loved ever second of it, as did our voters. The bout was put together fantastically, with the pace and flow fluctuating throughout the bout, peaking and troughing at the correct points to keep the crowd engaged in the action. After a wild open section, the bout seemed to have settled down early on, with Evolution using the dirty tactics to keep control of the action and build towards a hot tag for The Shield. Following that was when the six men took it into the next gear, heading back out into the arena and onto the ramp and incorporating a number of of weapons including the steel steps, steel chairs, singapore canes, a laptop and the Spanish announce table. 

Not only were there a number of exciting spots like Rollins jumping off the top of the set onto all three members of Evolution, the bout was clearly structured to allow The Shield to come off as a big time stars and that they did. All three took a hell of a beating, but kept fighting back against the odds. The eliminations were done very nicely, with The Shield picking up a clean sweep, with each Shield member picking up a pinfall. I thought the finishes use of some fantastic symbolism as Triple H clung to his Sledgehammer before taking a Curb Stomp from Rollins and a Spear from Reigns allowing The Shield to secure the victory. 

Of course, The Shield exploded the next night on Raw, so as a last hurrah for the group this match worked very. Was it as good as the previous months bout? Was it as good as The Shield's clashes with The Wyatt Family? That remains to be seen. I guess we'll find out next week when we hold our Match of January-June 2014 vote. 

In the meantime don't forget to like us on www.facebook.com/acrossthepondwrestling and follow us on Twitter @ATPWrestling for all the best wrestling coverage from around the world.

WWE Superstar Collection - Daniel Bryan DVD Review

WWE Superstar Collection - Daniel Bryan is out now on DVD as an www.amazon.co.uk exclusive, currently priced at £5.45. This single disc set looks at the WWE career of Daniel Bryan between February 2010 and January 2012, expect to see Sheamus go up against some of WWE's best around that time, including Chris Jericho, Kane, Sin Cara, Wade Barrett and Big Show!

Content Listing

Singles Match

Daniel Bryan with The Miz vs. World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho with Wade Barrett

WWE NXT #1.01, 23rd Febuary 2010

Daniel Bryan & The Miz history

United States Championship Match

Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz (C) with Alex Riley

WWE Night of Champions, 19th September 2010

Money in the Bank Ladder Match

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

WWE Money in the Bank, 17th July 2011

Singles Match

World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Holder Daniel Bryan with Big Show vs. World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry

WWE Friday Night Smackdown #637, 4th November 2011

World Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage Triple Threat Match

Daniel Bryan (C) vs. Big Show vs. Mark Henry

WWE Royal Rumble, 29th January 2012

Review

Imagine a time before entire arena chanted "YES! YES! YES!", it feels like such a long time ago, but that's what this DVD presents, as we take a look at the early WWE career of Daniel Bryan. 

We kick off the set with Bryan's debut on the main roster as he took on Chris Jericho on the very first episode of NXT. The match is wrestled to crickets and it really isn't that interesting. Jericho seems intent of sand bagging Bryan at every turn, leading to Bryan taking a nasty bump into the announce table. Following, this we get a nice video package detailing Bryan's feud with The Miz, making the feud look awesome, which to be fair, it was. Bryan then get's a shot at the United States Championship against the aforementioned Miz. An enjoyable match, which builds the then LeBell Lock as a terrifying manoevre, with The Miz playing his role down to a tee. I miss heel Miz, there I said it! 

2011's World Heavyweight Championship Contract Money in the Bank Ladder Match is next, with Cody Rhodes, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, Wade Barrett, Kane, Sheamus and Sin Cara joining Bryan for an exhilarating battle with all the spots and excitement that the fans have come to expect from these kinds of matches. A Friday Night Smackdown encounter with Mark Henry looks promising, until Big Show decides to get involved and the bout is cut short. The final match on the disc see's Bryan beginning his heel turn, defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Big Show and Mark Henry in a Steel Cage Triple Threat bout. This one is alright, nothing special. It's shorter than you'd expect from a World title bout on one of the big four, but that's probably just enough to get over what was needed. 

This another decent outing for the Superstar Collection, surprisingly I didn't enjoy this disc as much as the one looking at Sheamus, mainly because Bryan was never presented as a star at any point. There's a lot of fun to be had especially with the bout with The Miz and the Money in the Bank Ladder match, and even if the bout with Chris Jericho isn't that great, I bet it won't be released on any other DVD set, so for a couple of quid this isn't a bad purchase at all.

Top Three Matches on Superstar Collection - Daniel Bryan

1. Money in the Bank Ladder Match

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

WWE Money in the Bank, 17th July 2011

2. United States Championship Match

Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz (C) with Alex Riley

WWE Night of Champions, 19th September 2010

3. World Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage Triple Threat Match

Daniel Bryan (C) vs. Big Show vs. Mark Henry

WWE Royal Rumble, 29th January 2012