Pre-PPV
Right around 6:45 PM CT, the dark match of the PPV started. It was a tag team match between Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov vs. David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty. The match was brief. There’s nothing much to say about the match. Santino won after hitting the cobra. It was a very predictable match but the fans loved it. Chicago really loves Santino. When WWE RAW comes back to Chicago on December 26, the main event should be Santino vs. John Cena. That match would have a very interesting crowd reaction.
After the dark match, the fans cheered loudly when the ladders were brought out for the Smackdown Money in the Bank match. Then Booker T, Michael Cole, and Jerry “The King” Lawler came down to the announce table. As always in Chicago, there were cheers for Booker and King and boos for Cole. Michael Cole, Health Slater, and Vickie Guerrero are probably the only heels that get booed by almost everyone in Chicago. I say “almost everyone” because there was a Michael Cole fan at the March 28 RAW in Chicago. Cole Miners DO exist. After that, the Spanish announce team came out. I think that was the first time I have seen the Spanish announce team in Chicago and I immediately thought, “Someone is going through their table tonight.” There was no National Anthem before the PPV. The WWE used to perform the National Anthem (America’s theme music) before every PPV when Lillian Garcia was the ring announcer for the WWE. I wish the WWE would start performing the National Anthem again even if it is Booker T doing the singing.
Money in the Bank PPV
At 7:00 PM CT, the titantron in the arena showed the PPV copyright warning, the WWE signature, and the opening PPV promo. I always get chills at live PPVs when they show that PPV Warning spot. That’s when you know the PPV is about to start. I like how the titantron shows pretty much everything the fans at home are seeing including the commercials. It is like watching the PPV at home only that you are watching it with 14,000 other people on a giant screen and you have the option of watching the action unfold in front of you if you don’t want to stare at the screen the whole night. After the promo package, Chicago got a loud and impressive as always pyro show.
Smackdown MITB match
I think Sin Cara was the first person to enter the ring. It was Sin Cara’s Chi-Town debut and it seemed like the fans liked him. Kane was the last wrestler to be introduced which I thought was great because Kane always has a sneaky pyro that comes out of nowhere and scares the shit out of me. I thought it would be different this time knowing that Kane was the only one who hadn’t been introduced yet but his pyro still scared me. After my heart stopped beating at 100 beats per second, the match started. One of the things I remember about this match was that the MITB participants didn’t climb the ladder much in the beginning but were doing a lot of cool spots without the ladder. I was expecting the Smackdown MITB to be good but it was fantastic. It was nice to see Sin Cara and Daniel Bryan do the flying backflip Rock Bottom move off the top rope. The fans loved that move. The best spot of the match was when Sheamus slammed Sin Cara out of the ring and onto the ladder. That drew the first “Holy Shit” chant of the night. Sin Cara started shaking after the fall and someone in the crowd yelled, “Oh my God, he killed Sin Cara! You bastard!” I’m not even making that up…I swear that happened. That’s a South Park reference in case you were wondering. Also someone yelled, “That’s a sidewalk slam Booker!” after Kane hit a sidewalk slam during the match. Later in the match, Sheamus jumped off the top rope and hit Daniel Bryan with a clothesline while Bryan was on Sheamus’s shoulders. The fans started a “LOD” chant. I’m sure a lot of Little Jimmys were confused. I know the fans were referring to the Legion of Doom but even I didn’t understand why the fans were chanting “LOD”. I enjoyed the finish to the match. I thought either Sheamus or Wade Barrett was going to win and I was really shocked when Daniel Bryan won. Daniel Bryan was the guy I wanted to win so I was very happy with the result. It was cool hearing everyone chanting “Daniel Bryan” after the match and after watching the match again at home, the chant seemed to make Daniel Bryan get emotional. If this means Daniel Bryan is going to get a push within a year, I’m really happy about the result because I think Daniel Bryan can be a great World Champion. By the way, this was my sixth WWE event and that was the best opening match I have ever seen. A lot of cool spots in the match and the spots were executed very well. I was surprised how good Cody Rhodes, Heath Slater, and Justin Gabriel looked. I think those three will be in many more Money in the Bank matches in the future.
Kelly Kelly vs. Brie Bella
This was a good spot to have the Divas match I guess. It gave the fans a chance to calm down after the insane ladder match. I got a lot to cover so I’ll be brief here. This match was boring. It wasn’t that long and it still felt too long. The best part of the match was when Kelly Kelly won because that meant the match was over. It wasn’t PPV quality and would have been a bad RAW match. I barely paid attention during the match. The rest of the fans didn’t care either and started a “CM Punk” chant during the match.
Big Show vs. Mark Henry
This match was very disappointing. I tried to convince myself that this match wouldn’t suck because the build-up for this match was very good but this was a boring match. The false finish when Big Show kicked out of the World’s Strongest Slam added nothing to the match. However, I’m glad that Mark Henry won. Not too long ago, I wrote about a fictional storyline in which Mark Henry had a match for the World Heavyweight Championship. That might become reality very soon. I thought something cool might happen after the match when Mark Henry grabbed a chair but instead all Mark Henry did was put Big Show’s foot in a chair and then jump onto the chair which I thought was lame. I enjoyed it a lot more when I watched it at home. I envy the home viewers a little because there were parts of the show that were probably more enjoyable at home. Everything is happening so fast in-person. I think at times watching at home can be a more enjoyable experience. I would have enjoyed hearing Big Show swearing after Mark Henry landed on his foot. I watched the end of the match at home and you could hear Big Show say, “What the hell was that shit?” The fans started a “CM Punk” chant when Big Show was carted out of the arena.
RAW Money in the Bank match
I liked the Smackdown match more than this match. This match was shorter than the Smackdown match and I knew it was shorter without even checking the time. However, this match was very good. There were three spots I thought were very cool. The first spot was the Evan Bourne shooting star press off the ladder and onto everyone outside the ring. I was really shocked to see him perform such a risky move outside of the ring. That was not what I was expecting when I saw him climb the ladder. That spot drew the second “Holy Shit” chant of the night. I’m not sure if you could see this on TV but most of the crowd was fist pumping while they chanted “Holy Shit”. Have you ever seen when the crowd chants “Jerry Jerry Jerry” during the “Jerry Springer Show”? It was like that but with “Holy Shit” chants instead of “Jerry” chants. The second cool spot was when everyone was trying to grab the briefcase at the same time. From where I was sitting, it really was a cool sight to see the briefcase swing back-and-forth while everyone reached for it. The third spot that was cool was when The Miz returned to the ring. After seeing Sin Cara exit in the Smackdown match, I think everyone assumed The Miz was done for the match when he got injured and the fans cheered loudly when The Miz returned to the ring. I really thought The Miz was going to win until Rey Mysterio stopped The Miz and then I thought Rey Mysterio was going to win. A lot of fans didn’t like Rey in Chicago. It was a vintage heel loving, face hating Chicago crowd at Money in the Bank. Alberto Del Rio stopped Rey from winning by taking off his mask. Rey really cares about that mask. Chris Jericho once won the Intercontinental Championship by removing Rey’s mask. That’s really the easiest way to beat him. After that, Alberto Del Rio fell off the ladder which people are calling a botch but it didn’t look like a botch in the arena. I was actually happy Del Rio fell off the ladder because it extended the match and I thought it was going to give someone else a chance to climb into the ring and climb a ladder. When Del Rio got back on the ladder, he tossed Rey’s mask in the crowd and the mask landed in the 6th or 7th row. The mask is probably on eBay right now and is being sold by someone who shoves a program in CM Punk’s face at an airport at 5 AM so he can get an autograph and sell it because he is too lazy to get a real job. After Del Rio climbed the ladder, he grabbed the briefcase and Chicago was happy that someone other than Rey Mysterio won the Money in the Bank match. Like I said, it was a very good match. I lost my ladder match virginity and I enjoyed both ladder matches. I can’t imagine how insane WWE ladder matches must have been at live events during the Hardy Boyz/Edge and Christian era.
Randy Orton vs. Christian
I enjoyed this match. I didn’t really know who to root for in this match because I’m still a Randy Orton fan but I do like Christian too. The fan reaction was split. Orton got a huge reaction during his entrance but there were a lot of “Let’s Go Christian” chants during the match. The fans also chanted “Randy Sucks” and I read that the fans also chanted “Overrated” to Orton but I didn’t hear it. I thought it was funny when Christian brought a chair into the ring so Orton could get disqualified which would have given Christian the World Heavyweight Championship. Obviously Orton got rid of the chair but it set-up what the story of the match was going to be. One of my favorite parts of the match was when Christian hit Orton with the Killswitch and got a near-fall. Those near-fall reactions are always fun and a lot of people in the arena were hoping that was the finish. I also loved when Christian teased the spear during the match. The crowd was on their feet and started a “Spear” chant. There was a loud cheer when Orton kicked Christian in the nuts and the referee ended the match because we knew Christian had just won the World Heavyweight Championship. When was the last time a crowd popped for a disqualification finish? Usually the fans boo that but with the DQ stipulation, it worked out great. The best part of the match came afterwards when Orton gave Christian a RKO on the table. When Orton came back to the Spanish announce table to attack Christian again, the crowd was going nuts. It was EXTREMELY loud. The crowd noise while Orton was setting up the second RKO on the table was one of the loudest crowd reactions I have ever heard at a WWE event. It was thunderous. After the second RKO, the crowd was chanting “One more time”. By the way, I was a little disappointed that the table didn’t break after the two RKOs because if it did, I think the crowd would have blown the roof off the building. It was not very surprising to hear Chicago cheer Orton despite booing him during the match. Chicago is usually seen as a crowd that cheers the heels and boos all of the faces but we will cheer faces if we think they deserve it.
CM Punk vs. John Cena
Okay, it’s time for the main event. What can I say about this match that hasn’t already been said? The excitement for this match started as soon as the Orton-Christian match ended. Right before the promo for the match, the fans were already chanting for CM Punk. I loved how the WWE waited about a minute after the promo before playing Punk’s music. I have watched the replay of the match at home and the image of the camera panning the crowd before Punk’s music is really a cool sight. When CM Punk came out, I was nervous because I was a little bit afraid that Punk would try to get the crowd to boo him. Then I saw the shirt Punk was wearing and once I noticed the Chicago flag on the front of his shirt, I knew CM Punk was going to be a full-blown face for this match. I enjoyed seeing Punk trying to get the fans to cheer louder and it reminded me of Judgment Day 2009 which was the first and last time I saw CM Punk as a face. Chicago is a great sports city and it really felt like CM Punk representing our city and this was the championship game. CM Punk said that John Cena has become the New York Yankees but I think Chicago considers Cena to be the Green Bay Packers. After Punk was done whipping the crowd into a frenzy, John Cena came out and the fans booed as usual. Before I go any further, I want to say that I wasn’t expecting another WrestleMania 22 or One Night Stand 2006 reaction to John Cena. I was hoping that the reaction would be as hostile as those events but I was really confident that it wouldn’t be. Before the event, I was thinking that I would be happy with a crowd reaction that was similar to the Hogan vs. Rock WrestleMania match where the fans were booing The Rock and cheering Hogan even though The Rock was the good guy and Hogan was the bad guy. That was the type of reaction I wanted to see and in my opinion, there was a very similar reaction during the Cena vs. Punk match. This was probably the most hostile crowd reaction for a Cena match since ONS 2006 so I am very happy about that. When the match started, the fans were really into the match. Whenever Cena hit an offensive move or applied a submission hold, the crowd booed. Whenever Punk hit an offensive move or applied a submission move, the crowd cheered. That’s exactly the reaction I was hoping for. It was similar to the Cena vs. Triple H match at WrestleMania 22 without the “Fuck You Cena” chants. Actually someone near my section actually tried to start a “Fuck You Cena” chant and was able to get a few people to join him but the chant did not fill the entire arena. It’s probably a good thing that the chant failed. The chant would have only been appreciated by about 25% of the viewing audience and would ruin the match for the other 75%. Plus they would have to edit it out of the Money in the Bank DVD and I want the match to be as uncut as possible when I watch the DVD. A few minutes into the match, the fans started chanting “You can’t wrestle”. The chant was obviously directed at Cena but CM Punk hilariously tried to confirm it. If you were watching at home, you already saw it but I’ll mention what happened anyway. Punk took a brief break from the match and said, “Me?” while pointing to his chest. When the fans booed, Punk pointed to Cena and asked, “Him?” The fans then cheered and Punk said, “Okay,” and resumed the match. That was one of my favorite parts of the match. By the way, it felt like the crowd was chanting almost non-stop for the beginning few minutes of the match. One of those chants was the standard dueling chants you hear during Cena matches and I can confirm that the fans were chanting, “Let’s Go Cena/Cena Sucks”. I read some people say that the fans were chanting “Let’s Go Cena/CM Punk.” Some of the fans might have been chanting “CM Punk” but it sounded like the majority was chanting “Cena Sucks”. They really do sound similar so I understand why people would think the fans were saying “CM Punk”. The match was slow-paced in the beginning but the crowd was so excited that they didn’t care. Later in the match, CM Punk was able to counter the Five-Knuckle Shuffle by kicking Cena in the head which was great because the fans were booing Cena and then started cheering as soon as Punk kicked Cena. The whole booing and cheering stuff during the match was great and Chicago is truly one of the few cities that react to almost every part of an important match. There were several moments in the match where the fans were worried that Cena was going to win. The first scary moment was when Cena put Punk in the STF for the second time. I think the fans were somewhat confident that Punk would get to the ropes during the first STF attempt but we were definitely worried during the second STF attempt especially when Cena dragged Punk away from the ropes. I remember watching CM Punk’s face on the titantron and I could see the pain in Punk’s eyes. It looked as if he was thinking, “Not like this. It can’t end this way. Not after all I have gone through during these last few weeks. I can’t tap. I got to find a way to get out of this hold. I can’t quit now.” Then Punk reversed the submission into the Anaconda Vice and everyone went nuts. Chicago is one of the few cities that really go nuts during submission holds. We recognize submission holds and I think we consider a tap out to be just as enjoyable as a pin fall. The crowd was chanting “TAP TAP TAP” and was tapping out with their hands. I don’t think any of us really thought Cena would tap out but we were too much into the moment to think logically at the time. The other scary moments were the two Attitude Adjustments from John Cena. I was kind of expecting Punk to kick out of the first AA but I got nervous after the second AA. I had an out-of-body experience after the second AA and I just was motionless while Cena was covering Punk. I didn’t know what was going to happen and I was just praying that Punk would kick out. As soon as Punk kicked out, I immediately returned to my body and the crowd went nuts. I loved seeing how Punk would not give up. You don’t see that from someone who is supposed to be a heel. It was similar to WrestleMania this year when Triple H couldn’t beat the Undertaker. Cena later went to the top rope with Punk and the crowd starting booing because they thought Cena would hit an AA off the tope rope. I was thinking, “If Cena hits this AA, there is no way CM Punk is going to kick out.” The crowd relaxed a little bit when Punk reversed out of the AA and I think a lot of people in the crowd was expecting Punk to hit Cena with the Pepsi Plunge. Instead Punk hit Cena with a top rope frankensteiner just like Chris Jericho used to do. The fans loved that move. Soon after that, Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis started walking towards the ring. Punk got distracted and Cena put Punk in the STF for the third time. I saw McMahon motioning for the bell to be rung and I immediately thought the match was over. Then I saw Laurinaitis running towards the timekeeper and saw Cena jump out of the ring and punch Laurinaitis. That’s when I realized that the timekeeper didn’t see McMahon from the other side of the ring which meant Cena just saved the match. The crowd cheered which was the first time the crowd cheered Cena in Chicago since he whacked the Nexus members with a steel chair at Night of Champions last year. Cena climbed back in the ring and Punk hit Cena with the GTS. I really wasn’t sure if this was going to be the finish because Punk kicked out of Cena’s finisher twice so I assumed Cena would kick out of Punk’s finisher at least once. However, Punk got the three count and it took a second for me to realize that Punk had just won the WWE Championship! But I wasn’t completely excited yet. I began to wonder if Del Rio would come out. I could see Vince McMahon yelling into the headset at ringside but the fans in the arena obviously wasn’t able to hear a word he said. So Del Rio comes out and at that point, I had no idea what to expect. CM Punk ends up knocking Del Rio out and started to leave the arena with the title. That is when I realized that the PPV was going to end with Punk as the champion. The aisle Punk ran up was actually very close to me. I think Punk was in the aisle between section 111 and 112. I was in section 113. It was an amazing finish to a great PPV. I may never experience a Chicago sports team win a champion in-person so this was the next best thing. Jerry Lawler said on the broadcast that it was like if the Chicago Bears were in the Super Bowl and the Super Bowl was in Chicago. I think that is an accurate comparison but the Cena vs. Punk match felt even bigger than that.
Post-PPV
After the PPV, Vince McMahon waited for John Laurinaitis by the titantron. Laurinaitis was being assisted to the entrance area and when he got there, McMahon punched him in the face. Outside the arena, people were already wearing the T-Shirt that Punk wore before his match. I read that the shirt sold-out before the match even started and some of the shirts are being sold on eBay for $500. It usually takes an hour to leave the parking lot after a WWE event at the Allstate Arena so I usually watch the superstars leave the parking lot in their cars. This year I was able to see Daniel Bryan in his car as he was exiting the parking lot. I also saw a limo that everyone assumed was Vince McMahon. As always, there were two limos so you don’t know which one Vince is in. By the way, I have never seen John Cena leave the arena yet. He either has his own exit or he has his own limo. I have seen guys like Orton, Edge, and Undertaker in the past but never Cena. I didn’t hang around the Superstars parking area very long and the last interesting thing I saw was Mark Henry getting into his car.
Final Thoughts
This was a great WWE event. It was my third PPV and it was easily the best PPV I have ever seen. I have seen several WWE matches now in-person and the Cena vs. Punk match was the best match I have seen so far. The match was great and the crowd experience was the greatest crowd experience I have ever witnessed. Now I know what the Houston crowd must have been feeling when they saw the Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels match at WrestleMania 25. I knew I was witnessing history. The Punk-Cena match has to be one of the greatest matches that occurred at a non-major PPV. The major PPVs are WrestleMania, Summerslam, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble, and the King of the Ring PPV which no longer exists. This would have been a classic Summerslam match but it would have been in Los Angeles and the atmosphere wouldn’t be quite the same so the WWE was right to have this match in Chicago. Chicago is not just CM Punk’s hometown but also a great wrestling city that always delivers. I have never been disappointed by a Chicago crowd and Money in the Bank was no exception. I can’t wait for the WWE to return to New York because I think the WWE Universe will finally realize that the New York crowd is not as good as the Chicago crowd. CM Punk is the best wrestler in the world and Chicago is the best wrestling crowd in the United States of America. I do think Toronto has a better wrestling crowd than Chicago and I definitely would love to witness a WWE PPV in Toronto someday.
I’m surprised I made it through the whole night without losing my voice. I had wanted to buy a drink but the lines were too long and I don’t like missing a second of the action even if it’s the Divas match. You never know when something awesome will happen. So the whole night I was thirsty and I tried to save my voice for the main event but that’s not easy when there are two ladder matches and a really good World Heavyweight Championship match. My boos for Cena were a little bit raspy but somehow I was able to be vocal for the whole night and my voice was heard that night. WWE RAW is returning to Chicago on December 26 and I haven’t decided if I want to go yet. I probably won’t go. I would like to go to another PPV in Chicago but I would be okay if I never went to another WWE event ever again. It feels like there is nothing left that I need to see. Back in March, I thought I had witnessed the greatest WWE live experience of my life when I saw my hero The Rock in the ring with John Cena. I thought nothing could top that. If you asked me to try to think of something that I might enjoy more, I would say “Well I would love to see CM Punk win the WWE Championship.” If you asked me who the opponent should be, I would have said “John Cena”. When I go to WWE events, I look forward to two matches. I look forward to the CM Punk match because he is Chicago’s hometown hero and I look forward to the John Cena match because I love booing Cena and so does Chicago. I was shocked when I first found out that CM Punk would face John Cena in Chicago and I was even more shocked when CM Punk left the Allstate Arena with the WWE Championship. I don’t even remember cheering when Punk ran from the ring with the championship. I just remember being shocked and thinking, “This is really happening.” I could go to 20 more Chicago WWE events and nothing will ever top that in my opinion. I am really happy that I went to Money in the Bank and it will be an event that I will remember forever.
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