CM Punk better win the belt at Money In The Bank

by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Jul 9, 2011 12:37 PM EDT

Pro wrestling has a buzz surrounding it for the first time in a very long time. It's thanks to CM Punk basically being allowed to be CM Punk, but the worry from most wrestling fans is that Vince McMahon will find some way to screw it up. With the stipulation that John Cena will be fired if he drops the title to Punk adding a nice little twist to their Money In The Bank WWE Championship match, it also sets up a different story line for them to work with. I see a few ways this could go down, but I fear Vince will take the easy road on this one. The absolute worst possible scenario would be a clean win for Cena. Please don't let that happen...

I fully expect the Chicago crowd to have their "If Cena wins, we RIOT" posters out in full force, and if Cena wins it could get ugly. A couple days ago on ESPN 1000 radio in Chicago, host J Hood had Ring Of Honor wrestler, and good friend of Punk, Colt Cabana on the show talking about a number of things, and Hodd flippantly mentioned how ugly it could get if Punk lost in his hometown, even joking about a Vancouver like riot. They were kidding, but the immense popularity Punk has in Chicago coupled with the enough's enough attitude fans have about Cena, multiplied by the buzz surrounding this match and I could see the fans going the litter the ring with trash route.

A clean win by Cena would be the safe route, especially with the recent slur used by Punk (something that was way overblown by the way), but a Cena win then a Punk hiatus would make that go away.

But knowing Vince there's another scenario that is sitting there that makes perfect sense. A Screw-job Chicago style. I could see Vince coming to the ring, calling for the bell as soon as the STF is slapped on Punk, then milking that situation for some mileage. This would work because it would tease a Cena heel turn, but only if they kept an air of mystery between Cena and McMahon for a few weeks. If Cena comes out and starts a feud with Vince the next night it'll crap on the buzz.

Screwing Punk, letting the possible Vince/Cena angle peculate until Punk finally returns, then having a heel Cena feud with a face Punk would work for me.

Another angle I'd be OK with, and the one I'd prefer, is a clean Punk win leading to him taking the WWE Title off TV for a while, and having Cena fired. But Cena has to stay away for a bit, like a month or two. Give the fans a break from Cena, we need it. RAW can then eventually have a tournament to crown a new champion, that would fill a few weeks of programming. Then after the new champ is crowned (someone fresh and new please), have Punk start showing up TMZ style with his title in tow. The speculation of Punk returning could last a few weeks until he eventually returns with the belt, and now RAW would have two champions. Champion vs Champion match, yadda yadda yadda, and who ever wins can ride the "undisputed" WWE Champ role for a lifetime.

I honestly just hope they give us something different, or something we haven't seen in a real long time. Please no double DQ or double countout. The status quo is stale, we definitely have Cena 'nuff.

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Unless there is already a contract in place if Punk wins then the MITB will cash in & get the belt back

by The Legend on Jul 9, 2011 1:07 PM EDT reply actions

if Cena wins clean

I’m officially taking a hiatus from watching wrestling.

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by 49erLou on Jul 9, 2011 1:28 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

here, here...or is it hear, hear?

I’m with you on taking a break.

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by TestOO7 on Jul 10, 2011 11:05 PM EDT up reply actions

There's no way Punk wins and leaves with the title, but at the same time, I don't envision Cena losing it

Personally, I think we are going to see a DQ victory for Cena. Left unresolved so far is the fact that Nexus, who have been somewhat inconspicuous of late, is still out there.

I wouldn’t be surprised if, leading up to the PPV in the remaining episodes of RAW, we see a little conflict between Punk and Nexus, with the end result being that Nexus attacks Punk during the PPV, resulting in him winning, but Cena not losing the championship.

Maybe not that, but I’d be surprised if Nexus isn’t somehow involved with the ending of how things go down.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
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by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jul 9, 2011 1:53 PM EDT reply actions

The most talked about

scenario (which is the one I see) is Punk winning, He then loses to Del Rio (who wins the RAW MITB).

This either happens right after Punk wins making ADR a bigger heel (with the heat he’d get from the Chicago crowd) or they wait until the next night on RAW where Punk would say his “goodbye”. This would set up Del Rio and Cena for SummerSlam.

It appears to me (at least for right now) that this is really little more than a better than average attempt to try and get Cena more over with the other half of the audience who isn’t buying his stuff.

I still think the whole story line would be better off revolving around Punk, but even then I’m not sure I have any confidence in them nor messing it up anyway.

by Anthony Steven Lewis on Jul 9, 2011 2:23 PM EDT reply actions

I think adding the Cena will be fired stipulation basically killed the match since everyone knows him being fired won’t stand and was already done before. This should have been all about Punk not about Cena but instead we’ll have the same bs with Cena winning and Punk leaving and maybe someone cashing in MITB.

by Raker on Jul 9, 2011 7:10 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

MITB Winner scenario

Punk wins, MITB winner cashes in, Cena helps MITB beat Punk. So the following happens Cena can still keep his job since the only way he gets fired is if Punk left with the belt.

I’m guessing a dark horse wins the RAW MITB: Bourne or A-Ry.

by Bryqan on Jul 10, 2011 10:09 AM EDT up reply actions

Is A-Ry really a dark horse though? I won’t be surprised at all if he wins with what they’ve been doing with him lately.

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by The Legend on Jul 10, 2011 12:20 PM EDT up reply actions

I really don't get the push he's being given...

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

AA Gamethread Embiggening Record Holder- 453 posts (10/03/10)
3rd Place- 2011 AAOP Contest

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jul 10, 2011 12:48 PM EDT up reply actions

He's one of the few promising guys the WWE has who can hold his own on the mic

right now and with the Miz feud and Cole hating on him, he’s got a great push to work off of.

"In fact, most of these free-swinging Padres couldn’t hit Dock’s funky palm ball. I threw it often. But by then, also, the first acid distractions entered: the TV flickered; the cracks in the wall started to move; the hand soap started to breathe — those sorts of things. Plus I was drawn to the outdoor garden between innings. Rain was near, I sensed." - A.J. Daulerio

by Gdawg on Jul 17, 2011 3:51 PM EDT up reply actions

I wouldn’t be terribly surprised to see Riley win MITB, but if he does it all but guarantees Cena goes over Punk clean. A-Ry might win Money in the Bank, but he’s not winning the belt, even to lose it the next night on Raw.

by The so-called Beautiful on Jul 10, 2011 5:20 PM EDT up reply actions

You just write gold wherever you go.

Another nice article Les. I think the winner of the match will be Little Jimmy, and R Truth will have a coronary from that. :) Damn you Little Jimmy.

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by Ditkavsworld on Jul 11, 2011 5:41 PM EDT reply actions

Thanks!

I love the Little Jimmy stuff!

If you go in the bathroom, turn off the lights, and say "Da Coach" 5 times while facing the mirror... Ditka will appear and slap the wussy right out of you.

by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Jul 14, 2011 11:25 AM EDT up reply actions

Problems with Punk losing to MITB Winner

All of the past MITB winners, except for RVD (which was a whole different set of circumstances), who have cashed in to win the title have something very important in common – all of their opponents had been incapacitated in some way:

-RVD, of course, cashed in his briefcase to schedule a title match at the ECW One Night Stand PPV. There was no way in hell he was losing this match, and even then he the WWE felt he needed the help of Edge and Paul Heyman to go over on Cena.
-Swagger cashed in on Jericho who was playing up to having hurt ribs, and it was right after Edge speared him
-Kane cashed in on Rey right after a match in which Swagger assaulted him afterwards. This is the weakest example, but it was also the first time an MITB winner cashed in on the same night so the element of surprise was there
-The Miz cashed in on Orton after the Nexus (when they were still relevant) administered one of their gang beatdowns on him
-Edge cashed in the first time in the best cash-in match of them all, taking advantage of a battered Cena who had just been through an Elimination Chamber match
-Edge cashed in for the second time against The Undertaker after Mark Henry had left him bloody in the middle of the ring on Smackdown
-CM Punk cashed in the first time on Raw and beat Edge after Batista had already brutally attacked him
-CM Punk cashed in the second time against Jeff Hardy after a grueling ladder match with Edge

Anyway, my point is that it’s more than the element of surprise that the MITB Winners have had in common – they’ve had a champion left for dead waiting for them. To me, Punk beating Cena clean only to lose to any of the MITB participants would make no sense at all. The only way Punk beating Cena and losing clean to ANY of the MITB participants (from either brand) makes any sense is if there’s some sort of jumping of Punk after he wins. This could only work if Vince comes to ringside when the match is about to end and either a) jumps Punk himself with a foreign object or b) calls out a whole slew of mid-carders to destroy Punk after the match to make sure he doesn’t leave with the belt. Either way Chicago is gonna be PISSED. My money is on Punk winning, walking out, and leaving us in the dark which forces us to tune into the USA Network’s #1 program for 50 years running, Raw. Last, I think Punk would be an absolute fool to take time off following all the buzz he’s got going for him now. I only hesitate slightly when I compare it to if Hall & Nash would’ve suddenly decided they no longer wanted to work for WCW after showing up those first two times.

by NegroGrande on Jul 12, 2011 11:52 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

or...

Cena flips out and turns heel

I can wish…

If you go in the bathroom, turn off the lights, and say "Da Coach" 5 times while facing the mirror... Ditka will appear and slap the wussy right out of you.

by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Jul 14, 2011 11:30 AM EDT up reply actions

Honestly

I don’t see Cena ever turning heel as long as we’re stuck in the “PG Era”. He makes the company too much money as the Hogan of the company. Not only that, but there is no top face capable of taking his place just yet – not even Orton. I do think that the PG Era will be coming to an end within the next couple of years, though. Vince is smart. He knows he needs to change the landscape of the company every now and then to keep things fresh. Hopefully then we’ll see a heel Cena.

by NegroGrande on Jul 14, 2011 12:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Thanks for this, the whole MITB winner beating punk after he beats Cena prediction has really been a buzzkill because it’s so obvious and likely…but now I’m not so convinced that’s what will happen.

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by Kaleb Kelchner on Jul 14, 2011 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions

It’s too predictable at this point. With all the buzz that the WWE has created among its older fans over the past three weeks with tip-toeing the shoot line, that’s just too flat of a finish to all of this. I could also see Vince possibly forcing both MITB winners to challenge at the same time, setting up an impromptu triple threat match which would make it more feasible for Punk to lose. This PPV just has the feel that something big is gonna happen a la Edge cashing in against Cena at NYR.

by NegroGrande on Jul 14, 2011 12:38 PM EDT up reply actions