Money In The Bank 2013

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 181 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: September 23 2013

With a star-studded line-up and some very good matches, Money In The Bank 2013 is a great event to relive on DVD. It doesn't quite match the standard of the famous 2011 MITB card, but it does come close.

The opening seven-man MITB Ladder match had the weird aspect of only featuring heels, but this doesn't affect the quality, which is top-notch throughout. Curtis Axel vs. The Miz is adequate if ultimately inconsequential, since Axel's chances of losing his Intercontinental Title were low. AJ Lee vs. Kaitlyn is another really enjoyable entry into their surprisingly powerful rivalry, and whilst Chris Jericho vs. Ryback won't win any Match Of The Year awards, it's worth watching at the same time.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Dolph Ziggler is a tremendous battle for the World Heavyweight Championship, let down only by its anticlimactic (yet understandable) finish. John Cena vs. Mark Henry exceeds admittedly low expectations, and the six-man main event - the "All-Stars" MITB match, minus Kane who had been taken out by the Wyatts - is a memorable and eventful headline attraction, which includes a major development in the CM Punk/Paul Heyman saga and the WWE return of Rob Van Dam.

Unexpectedly, one of the highlights comes from the pre-show match: clearly, The Shield and The Usos were out to make a statement because, far from putting on a filler match to warm up the Philadelphia crowd, their WWE Tag Team Title collision is the best doubles bout of the year so far, and should really have been featured on the PPV itself.

As mentioned earlier, Money In The Bank 2013 wasn't an all-time classic, but it certainly has the elements required to deliver a DVD which is a lot of fun to watch. One of the better cards of 2013, that's for sure.

Overall Rating: 8/10 - Very Good

Money In The Bank 2014

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 185 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: September 15 2014

More than in any other year, Money In The Bank 2014 is all about the Ladder matches. Both are exciting battles, and with one additional thriller on the under-card, MITB 2014 makes for an enjoyable wrestling DVD.

The non-Ladder highlight of the show is the opening Tag Team Title clash between The Usos and the team of Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, which greatly exceeds expectations. A short Paige-Naomi bout is not exactly a classic; even Cameron at ringside looks bored (although this indifference was used to set up Cameron's heel turn). Damien Sandow vs. Adam Rose is another short match, the first of two comedy bouts on the show. At this point, the show is dragging badly, but things turn around with an excellent MITB Ladder match involving Seth Rollins (who takes a jaw-dropping backdrop off a ladder onto another ladder), Dean Ambrose, Rob Van Dam, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler. That the match is built around the Rollins-Ambrose feud gives this a different flavour to previous MITB Ladder matches, and the stunts catapult this into being a very enjoyable thrill-ride.

Goldust and Stardust against RybAxel is a Raw-level match at best, Ruse vs. Big E is good but not great, and Layla vs. Summer Rae with Fandango as referee is yet another match played for laughs. The main event is at least worthwhile, with an 8-man Ladder match deciding the fate of the WWE World Heavyweight Title, vacated by Daniel Bryan due to injury (a Bryan promo from the Kick-Off Show is the DVD extra, by the way). Though inferior to the earlier Ladder bout, it's still an enjoyable headline bout, which is perhaps most notable for the accidental, and heavy, blood loss sustained by Randy Orton.

Fans would be buying this DVD for the Ladder matches, and in that respect the DVD is an easy recommendation. But the opener aside, the rest of the card is skippable at best and totally unsuitable for PPV at worst. Had the rest of the card been up to scratch, the rating below could have been very high indeed.

Overall Rating: 7/10 - Respectable

Money In The Bank 2015

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 184 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: August 24 2015

(To read a full event review of WWE Money In The Bank 2015, click here.)

Money In The Bank has generally been one of the best WWE events each year since it began, and the 2015 show was no different. The DVD of the card is now available, and there are three major matches which make the sixth MITB PPV another memorable instalment. Since it took place days after the tragic passing of Dusty Rhodes, the show opens with a ten-ball salute, and later we get a very good video tribute to the American Dream.

In the ring, besides the Kick-Off Show bout between King Barrett and "King What's Up" R-Truth (which is here as a DVD extra), the action begins with the 2015 MITB Ladder match (Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus vs. Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Neville vs. Kane vs. Dolph Ziggler) which is a great start to proceedings, even if the match is a shade inferior to the 2014 MITB encounter. Nikki Bella vs. Paige is a good effort despite the screwy ending, and the Ryback-Big Show bout also has a questionable finish, although The Big Guy and The Very Big Guy make the most of their fairly short time before the conclusion.

John Cena's second match with Kevin Owens is superb; one of the best bouts of 2015, it is in my opinion the pick of their three great PPV encounters, and allows them to prove that their Elimination Chamber thriller was no fluke. The New Day vs. The Prime Time Players has a filler feel to it, perhaps because fans didn't expect a title change, so the outcome is a genuine surprise to the live audience.

The main event, another Ladder match between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, is undoubtedly a strong battle that has some memorable spots, but it lasts way too long, coming in at almost 40 minutes. Take 10-15 minutes out of this, and have Ambrose either stay down from the series of brutal ringside powerbombs or take out that spot entirely, and the final result would have been a big improvement.

Nevertheless, it's still a worthy end to a really enjoyable event, which advances, instigates and concludes feuds to prepare WWE for the summer ahead, while delivering some great action. Not the best Money In The Bank show ever, but it's an eventful card which warrants a DVD purchase.

Overall Rating: 7.5/10 - Good

Money In The Bank 2016

Image Source:
Fetch Publicity

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 198 Minutes
Certificate: 12
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: August 22 2016

(To read a full event review of WWE Money In The Bank 2016, click here.)

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

Hyped up as "the greatest Money In The Bank Pay-Per-View in history", MITB 2016 didn't quite surpass the outstanding 2011 card, which had several high-quality matches and was capped off by the unforgettable John Cena-CM Punk main event. It was, however, the best supershow of the year thus far, and the DVD release allows you to relive this memorable event.

The opening Fatal Four Way match for the WWE Tag Team Titles, pitting The New Day against Enzo and Cass, Gallows and Anderson and The Vaudevillains, is a good opening contest and, despite some botches near the end (one of which, by Gallows, was so obvious on the night that it has been edited out here), the participants maintain crowd interest all the way. Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler came after their rivalry had peaked, making this a satisfactory yet ultimately unwanted match to those in attendance. The women's tag bout (Charlotte and Dana Brooke vs. Becky Lynch and Charlotte) is okay but feels more like a Raw match, although it does have an unexpected twist after the finish.

Sheamus vs. Apollo Crews will be remembered fondly in the future if Crews goes onto achieve main event status in WWE; hopefully, the Draft will allow the talented Apollo to begin rising up the ranks on SmackDown. We then come to the first of three major matches on this show, the first-time clash between John Cena and AJ Styles. Supported by a hot crowd, this is an excellent encounter, featuring a topnotch performance by AJ (the layout of the match means that around 70% of the offence, and great offence at that, comes from Styles). The only black mark against it is the slightly anticlimactic finish, although it was clearly designed to set up a rematch further down the line; as Taz pointed out on his (highly enjoyable) radio show The Taz Show, WWE could have come up with a more creative way to extend the feud than what we got here.

The Money In The Bank Ladder match (this year starring Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Chris Jericho, Cesaro and Alberto Del Rio) is a tremendous spot-fest, and one of the better MITB matches to date. (I should have mentioned that the promo segment involving KO, Y2J and ADR after the Tag Team Title match is well worth watching as it contains some hilarious banter between the three men.) Rusev vs. Titus O'Neil for the United States crown is another match that would have been better on Raw, for it existed here solely to allow the crowd to recover before the main event; in this spot, the match was never likely to succeed. Finally, the main event between Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins for the WWE Title is a very good match, and another strong headline performance by the much-maligned Reigns. Rollins shines in his first match since his injury from the previous November, and post-match we get a huge moment which I won't spoil here; all I will say is that you should watch this right up until the very end of the show.

Because the MITB event lasted well north of three hours, the card has been condensed somewhat to make the DVD running time. Some advertisements during the card and the Kick-Off panel in-show reaction segment are not here, which admittedly is not a great loss. What is annoying, though, is that there are no extras whatsoever, meaning that both Kick-Off Show matches (The Golden Truth vs. Breezango and The Lucha Dragons vs. The Dudley Boyz) are absent. This is a card which really should have been released on a two-disc DVD so that the main card wouldn't have been stripped down, as slight as the cuts are to the PPV itself, the Kick-Off bouts could have been included, and some other extras could have been thrown in too. Hopefully, WWE will think about this going forward, given the rumours that three-hour+ PPV events could be the norm going forward, at least for the bigger cards.

This aside, Money In The Bank 2016 is well worth watching and, therefore, the DVD of the show is well worth owning.

Overall Rating: 8/10 - Very Good

Straight To The Top: The Money In The Bank Ladder Match Anthology

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 390 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: November 4 2013

Debuting in 2005, the Money In The Bank Ladder match has been one of WWE's most anticipated stipulations over the last decade. Originally appearing once a year at WrestleMania, and later earning its own PPV where two bouts were held each time, the MITB mattered because a) a guaranteed World Title shot was at stake; b) the matches themselves would be good, great or incredible; and c) the cash-in moments would usually be unpredictable and/or very dramatic, and largely resulted in new titleholders being crowned.

This DVD shows every MITB match from its debut to the 2013 entries, and is hosted by Raw MITB 2010 victor The Miz. The Blu-ray includes all the cash-ins up to Dolph Ziggler's post-WM XXIX World Title triumph, which means a few 'proper' full-length bouts (the highlight being Rob Van Dam vs. John Cena at ECW One Night Stand 2006), although the best 'unexpected' cash-ins are Edge at New Year's Revolution 2006 and a 2007 SmackDown, and CM Punk at a 2008 Raw.

The compilation is in two parts: the WrestleMania years and the MITB PPV years. The bouts from WM 21-26 are all here, and all are either very good or brilliant. The first four are the best, although all have their moments. Whether it's Shelton Benjamin's daredevil antics in all but one of the WM bouts, Jeff Hardy's truly insane legdrop onto Edge, the equally bonkers stunt involving Hornswoggle and Mr. Kennedy (KENNEDY!), the unexpected and/or long-awaited wins for Rob Van Dam and CM Punk (the latter of which was welcome at WM 24, but not at WM 25 where fans desperately wanted Christian to win; ironic given how much fans would later idolise Punk and constantly wish for his WWE return) or the big bumps and acrobatics involving Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne, every single match delivers a number of eye-catching or jaw-dropping moments. Even Ric Flair, Finlay and Mark Henry have a hand in stunning visuals.

It's clear when watching, though, that by 2009 the stipulation had peaked. It's unclear why: maybe it's because WWE went PG in 2008 and so the bouts had some restrictions from then on. Perhaps it's because the casting was more sensible in the early years. Possibly it's down to there being fewer rising stars who fans desperately wanted to see win a MITB match. Or it could just be that the first few matches felt fresh and different, an element which was bound to decrease as the years rolled on. Either way, the 2009 and 2010 Mania bouts deliver plenty of action, but they lack something of the earlier incarnations. Nevertheless, all are essential viewing; this run of matches alone is one of the best ever on a wrestling DVD.

The stipulation then enters the PPV era: the first Money In The Bank event was in July 2010, from which point a MITB bout for a WWE and World Title shot was held on each show for four years (the remaining time span of this compilation). The eight matches from the MITB PPV are all good or really good (I'd say one of the SmackDown bouts was the best in this section, and the 2012 'red' bout is the least inspiring) and still have their moments, from a crazy Air Bourne off a ladder to Dolph Ziggler's psychotic bumps to Rob Van Dam's 2013 return. On the whole, this portion of the release is also very much watchable, but again they lack that certain something which made the first couple of MITB bouts at WrestleMania feel really special.

Watching this drives home the thought that the MITB match really should return to being a one-match attraction at WrestleMania, especially with their being only one World Champ in WWE again. Its allure has been diluted by the PPV (although not as much as Elimination Chamber or Hell In A Cell), and such a move would guarantee a great match at every WrestleMania again. It also gives under-utilised or up-and-coming talent a great spotlight. Imagine, for instance, if this year the MITB bout was an 8-man clash at Mania between Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro, Tyson Kidd, Bad News Barrett, Kofi Kingston and someone from NXT, such as Adrian Neville. That would be a potential showstealer at WM. Obviously this isn't going to happen, and some wrestlers like Wyatt will be satisfied with their WM role this year; but it's an example of what could happen if MITB moved back to Mania.

I was also thinking about the dream MITB match after reliving these bouts; my choice for entrants in such a bout would be Edge (first winner), Jeff Hardy (crazy one), Chris Jericho (inventor of the stipulation), Shelton Benjamin (mad stuntman), Kofi Kingston (ditto), CM Punk (only two-time winner), Matt Hardy (to hold things together) and Christian (in case he finally wins). Of course, this won't happen either, but it was just fantasy booking in my mind. (Oh, and Edge would win - he is the Ultimate Opportunist, after all.)

Summing this up, then, whilst it is a bit sad to see the once-vibrant format lose part of its appeal over time, match quality is always high on this DVD and there are a ton of mad stunts. It is not one of the absolute best wrestling DVDs ever, but the Money In The Bank Anthology is definitely on the rung just below. It is a great compilation that all WWE fans will love.

Overall Rating: 9/10 - Outstanding