Welcome to the most must-see Vulture Hound weekly review in history; welcome to… The Raw Review (Money in the Bank special).

Pre Show
Golden Truth vs Breezeango

This match presented a great opportunity to push two up and coming stars in Fandango and Tyler Breeze. Something that doesn’t sound like an actual statement of fact but seriously, despite the comedic characters they’re running with, they are actually two superstars that could go on to become future tag champions with a pretty irritating heel gimmick. The latest match in this feud saw the Golden Truth finally pick up a win at the expense of the badly burnt Breezeango.

Pre Show
Dudley Boyz vs Lucha Dragons

A new era and a new match up… Is what you’d expect from home much WWE are reminding us that we’re in the midst of a new era. So it came as a large surprise to get such a match up. After all, it is only the Pre Show so I don’t think they expect people to pay attention to any matches that have no relevance in any form. It was, however, great to see Sin Cara continue to get through another match without botching any moves. I’m slowly beginning to warm to him after five years. It is quite interesting to see that there are quite a large number of tag teams in the company going forward into a brand split. Will we see brand inclusive tag titles or will it be cross brand?

Fatal 4 Way Tag Team Championship Match

If Enzo gets any closer to the bone with his euphemisms and metaphors then we could be seeing if he does bleed green, white and red. I’m almost certain that Enzo and Cass accidently but definitely won that match due to mistiming by Karl Anderson and the referee. The three count happened and I can’t say I’m anything other than disappointed that it was mistimed that badly for Anderson to interrupt the pin.
The match as a whole was, at times rather clunky, but there were some great bits in it. Particularly at the end where Big E showed his strength by dead lifting Karl Anderson for Kofi to eventually help double team and finish the match retaining their tag team championships. Gong forward it fuels the fire for when they do eventually drop the titles but also helps The New Day move one step closer to becoming the longest reigning tag team champions. Maybe a way to gain Anderson and Gallows/Vaudevillains genuine heat would be to take the titles away from New Day the day before they are due to become longest reigning champions.

Baron Corbin vs Dolph Ziggler

I thought this feud was done with and we were going to get a genuine push for Corbin? After all, winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal should be a legit reason for a push even if it is more of a mouthful than ‘Dolph Ziggler’s a stickler for a tickler’. I see no point in this feud continuing and I feel the WWE Universe agreed with me as they chanted, “boring”, on more than one occasion. There’s no point in Corbin winning against the same opponent. I understand that not all the matches are going to be amazing but I’ve just about seen enough of Dolph overselling Corbin’s move-set. At least make matches relevant by creating a new and exciting storyline the New Era has promised to deliver. I only hope the Corbin gets thrusted into a challenging storyline in the weeks to come.

Charlotte and Dana Brook vs Becky Lynch and Natalya

I was highly disappointed that the Women’s Championship wasn’t being defended at Money in the Bank. The whole point of Charlotte not being with her Dad is to highlight her ability as a great champion and so she should be defending her Championship at every PPV. I guess the angle they’re going for is that she is vulnerable without her father at ringside. It’s the complete opposite of what they should be doing. Dana Brook has been forced into this storyline and it makes her looks more uncomfortable than Ric Flair in an alcohol free zone. Just as I was beginning to think Natalya should be taking a break she suddenly turned on Becky after Charlotte picked up the win with Dana. Hopefully this marks the end of the feud and we may finally get to see Sasha Banks, Paige or Lana challenge for the title. As for Becky and Natalya, I’m actually looking forward to see what Hart can do as a heel.

Sheamus vs Appolo Crews

What a terrible weekend it’s been for Ireland. First they lost to Belgium in the football; then lost to Sri Lanka in the cricket; and suffered defeat at the hands of South Africa in the Rugby; Now, Sheamus has unexpectedly lost to Apollo Crews… All sarcasm aside, if you didn’t expect anything other than a win for Crews then you really need to stop drinking so much Guinness. Much like his in-ring energy, I never get tired of watching Apollo Crews. He is highly entertaining and can seemingly do anything! It’s just a shame that his personality is a little bit too clean cut. Hopefully as time goes on he can work on his persona and move towards challenging for the US Title.

AJ Styles vs John Cena

Without a doubt this was the biggest match of the night. It doesn’t matter how many times we’re told it’s a dream match we still understand the brevity of it. It’s the first time this match has happened and it could possibly be the last. Both these men are at different points in their careers and needed the win for different reasons. Cena is out to prove he is the greatest ever in WWE history while Styles is still yet to prove to the WWE Universe that he is indeed the best in the world. Of course, Styles didn’t win it cleanly but he thoroughly deserved the win despite Gallows and Anderson coming out while the ref was unconscious and hitting Cena with the magic killer. The match was build up perfectly and it was carried out perfectly. The new era Styles was dominant throughout the match whilst the old guard Cena found it difficult to get to grips with the pace of the Phenomenal One. With Style winning the match in an unclean manner it’s likely that we could get a re-match with Cena winning at Battleground and then the final face off between the two taking place at SummerSlam. If the matches are anyway as entertaining as this was then I can’t complain with the outcome as Styles is showing what he is capable of regardless of any achievements he picks up along the way.

Money In The Bank Ladder Match

The Pay Per View’s namesake match could have seen anyone one of the men win it bar Alberto Del Rio. They’re all main event quality but I couldn’t see Del Rio drawing the crowds the way any of the other men could. A match filled with spots. Owens threatening to do something crazy with the ladder to Zayn but instead super kicking him; Del Rio finally having a logical way to execute his finisher; Cesaros rebound corkscrew punch. The match was incredible and made a great deal of sense. Owens, Zayn, Cesaro and Jericho can still fight it out in the IC title picture and Del Rio can take on Rusev for the US title. Let’s not forget the ultimate prize at the end of this match. Dean Ambrose has the potential to cash in on his former friends any time he likes. I can’t wait to see how the feud develops amongst the former SHIELD members.

US Title Match

I was surprised to see this match so far up the card as O’Neil doesn’t have ring presence of any of the Money in the Bank competitors let alone Styles and Cena… but then you’re not going to follow Apollo Crews vs Sheamus with this match. I think that I only have the running order to pick faults with shows that this match deserves a bit more credit than it got. There’s a small part of me that feels Titus O’Neil deserves a stint with the US Championship but then again there’s a large part of me that enjoys seeing Lana introduce Rusev as a champion every week. Titus, the family man, has made me feel more emotion in this story than Roman Reigns ever could. Much like Reigns, he does everything for his family. Except O’Neil has the added bonus of actually looking like a man with a family to cater for rather than a longhaired uncharismatic brother to Rosey.
The Accolade is fast becoming the move that is giving Rusev his brutal reputation and it was a nice touch to see him ironically shout “happy Fathers Day” after beating Titus in front of his own children. Boo hoo.

WWE World Heavyweight Title Match

We have all been waiting for this match ever since Rollins cashed in on Reigns to win the title. So you could imagine my childlike excitement when Rollins made his surprise return at Extreme Rules by ambushing Reigns at the end of his title defence against AJ Styles. Credit where it’s due for Reigns he’s clearly made an effort to improve his game and he did a nice razors edge into a power bomb. This is the kind of thing he should be doing more often to make himself look like a dominant champion. Instead, even Rusev looks more genuinely dominant than Roman Reigns. I greatly believe in the phrase, “you can’t polish a turd”. Something that is evident every time Reigns tries to do something new. Straying away from the Reigns bashing it was great to see Rollins lift the power bomb that blew his knee last year. This kind of move continuously made Rollins look like the stronger man. It’s kind of like telling your kids that Santa only delivers gifts to the good kids but you know even the bad kids have had better presents than you. Reigns is supposed to be the good kid yet Rollins possesses all of the gifts. It was a huge surprise to see Rollins win the title but it was an even bigger surprise to see Ambrose cash in so quickly to become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. It looks like the SHIELD triple threat could happen sooner than you think.

JBLS Best Bits:

“It’s mathematically improbably that the Champions (New Day) will walk out the winners here tonight” – I think you’ll find it is 25% probable, John.

“I spent a month here last night” – Huh? Does JBL not understand the concept of time?

“I watch sports. I love ‘em!” – Watching them with your eyes closed doesn’t count.

“This could be the biggest defeat of Sheamus’ career” – I mean, in some ways, losing to Apollo Crews is a lot like losing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship…

“An incredible talent. A stupid hat” – JBL summing up his career.