MONEY IN THE BANK 2013 - THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Whilst Money in the Bank 2013 stands to be remembered for the return to WWE of Rob Van Dam, it’s important that we don’t forget what the event means and what fruits of labour it could bring as we venture into the second half of the year. Whilst the return of RVD may be a vital part of WWE six months from now, there are many roads WWE could take with its younger talent to cement their place in the company and in the fans minds as serious contenders.

With previous winners of the coveted Money in the Bank matches including Edge, Dolph Ziggler, John Cena, The Miz plus many others, the two winners of this year’s annual spectacle are almost guaranteed a WWE or World Heavyweight Championship victory at some point in the next year, meaning the winners could – if they avoid the ‘Dolph Ziggler’ treatment – be automatically elevated into a main event position. A huge step up the card for a mid-card player treading water somewhere he can no longer do anything for.

As we look towards July 14th, WWE once again have the stage to make new stars. As we await two new Champions elect and the homecoming of one of WWE’s most popular wrestlers, this could be the beginning of a fresh new landscape for WWE, all they have to do now is capitalise on the gifts they have been given.

NOTE: this review was written before Kane was taken out of the Money in the Bank Match and it also slipped my mind that Alberto Del Rio had turned heel at Payback, which means here, he is referred to as a face.

Money in the Bank All Stars Ladder Match

WWE Championship Contract

Rob Van Dam vs C.M Punk vs Kane vs Randy Orton vs Christian vs Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan

Last year in this very match, John Cena predictably scaled the ladder to capture the Money in the Bank briefcase which entitled him to a shot at the WWE Championship, any time for the next year. John Cena chose to cash that briefcase in on Raw’s 1,000th episode where he failed to capture the WWE Champion from then reigning champion, C.M Punk. The result made John Cena the first man in history to fail in succeeding to win the championship in the history of Money in the Bank. The problem people had with last year’s offering from the Red brand is that it was wholly predictable. There was no one in the arena who didn’t believe John Cena was going to leave Money in the Bank with the briefcase.

Reading opinions on the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, none were truer than a piece which was written in Power Slam Magazine in June. Inside the issue, it stated that the Money in the Bank Ladder Match shouldn’t be won by known wrestlers who have already held the coveted WWE Championships. Instead it should be won and contested between mid-card wrestlers who need to make the next step up the food chain in WWE and spread their wings as far as their standing in the company goes. They’re right. Those who have already held the WWE Championship, even just once, don’t need the Money in the Bank Match to grant them another shot as it’s a given that at some time or another they will get another shot.

Last year’s match featured only former WWE Champions seeing Big Show vs John Cena vs The Miz vs Chris Jericho vs Kane, no new talent featured in the match and WWE only seemed bothered about pushing those who had already been recognised as champion and the match only seemed to exist in order for to further the John Cena and C.M Punk feud which was scheduled to kick off again in the latter months of 2012. The booking totally devalued what the match was created for and that was to give those who needed the chance to get a foothold in the main event of WWE, the opportunity to step up and see if they were made of sterner stuff. The winner of the Money in the Bank Match should immediately be elevated into an important place in WWE’s plans and the fans minds. By having five former WWE Champions compete in the match there was no real winner and all WWE did was screw itself out of a new main event player.

Looking at this years line up for the one and only Money in the Bank Ladder Match, WWE have done exactly what they should have avoided. In the style of 2012’s outing, WWE have booked all former WWE and World Heavyweight Champions to compete for a shot at the prestigious gold. In this match there isn’t one man who needs the spotlight a victory here would provide and no one who needs that step up the ladder they could only find here. Reasonably, looking at all seven men in this brawl, each could easily find their way into the main event scene once again which begs the question, why, in their time of need, aren’t WWE doing something to make several new stars – a task which could have competently been done in this match.

The big news going into this match, as we learnt at Payback, is that Rob Van Dam is returning to WWE after several years away from the company, competing in TNA. Whilst his exploits between leaving the company and re-entering will more than likely be kept under wraps on WWE television as they have some kind of phobia of mentioning wrestler’s pasts when it comes to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, WWE will do everything it can to hype his return and that includes a victory on his reintroduction into the company. I know we’re starting out with the predictions early into the preview but looking down the list of competitors only RVD and Daniel Bryan should be in mind to win this match.

A few weeks ago, we pondered on Van Dam’s role in WWE in 2013. Where could he possible fit in to the structure? I commented that he could give the Intercontinental Championship division a huge lift and maybe a feud with Curtis Axel may be on the cards for RVD. As a wrestler who made an impact on his WWE debut in 2001, RVD could have a few great scraps against Axel who in many ways did the exact same thing RVD did on his debut. Making an impact. Henning has the skills but he lacks a pinfall victory, on pay-per view against a really huge name. If and most likely when RVD wins the Money in the Bank Ladder Match then a run against the current WWE Intercontinental Champion before cashing in the Money in the Bank contract could be beneficial for both men and the company as a whole.

Of course, all of this is based on RVD staying around long enough to do anything worthwhile. According to reports, and as of yet I cannot deny or confirm this, RVD has only signed a part time contract with WWE, the likes Brock Lesnar has now. Which means Van Dam will make scarce appearances should this turn out to be true. Such a contract would then state that RVD cannot be WWE Champion for any length of time. If this is true then its unlikely RVD will win this match or the WWE Championship. WWE like their Champion to close every house show and on a limited contract RVD could not appear on every show throughout the week and whilst this could be done with the World Heavyweight Championship, WWE do not see their second most important piece of gold as a show closer.

Despite his contract, Van Dam would of course be the perfect choice for the next WWE Champion. He’s been away so long that those who have joined in his absence do not know fully what he is capable of at the right weight. Van Dam could bring new viewers into the company and with someone new at the helm, especially someone capable of being the underdog face that the likes of Ryback could beat on and then lose to in a dramatic overcoming on pay-per view would give WWE the perfect chance to shake up and reinvigorate the headline scene. Van Dam’s presence at the top of the card for three or four months would allow WWE to build a new, younger and stronger foundation underneath him. Whilst Van Dam is defending against the likes of Ryback and C.M Punk above, WWE could furnish the division with the likes of Curtis Axel, Christian, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton and Sheamus to name but a few. And when Van Dam is ready to drop the gold WWE would have a wealth of options to chose from that aren’t John Cena.

In addition to all of this, Rob Van Dam as a fresh face would give WWE a brand new feel. Though he’s an old hand returning, those of us who have sat and been subjected to WWE’s non stop merry-go-round of recurring faces would welcome a change of face and those who have tuned out of the product in the previous three or four years may be tempted back to WWE should they find out that WWE are no longer pushing John Cena as WWE Champion every week and month but instead a wrestler who may have seen and done it all before but who ultimately, is bringing something different to the industry. There’s no denying that WWE have missed RVD since he’s been gone as there is no one else with his high flying style in WWE’s ranks.

On June 14th 2013, one of wrestling’s favourite sons comes home to roost and I for one will be there to welcome him home. World Wrestling Entertainment and the wrestling industry as a whole should be all that much better off for it.

Daniel Bryan, if one does not plump for Rob Van Dam, has to be the next favourite to win the Money in the Bank Ladder Match seeing as he will almost certainly challenge John Cena for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam. His in ring performances have been a tour de force and he is ultra reliable in singles competition. Recently, Bryan’s performances in the ring against Randy Orton, one of the men who will oppose him in this match and on the mic against Triple H have been nothing but outstanding and surely this is the beginning of Bryan’s ascension back to the top of the card. No one reading this can deny that Daniel Bryan belongs at the very pinnacle of WWE’s mountain.

Now Bryan has shook off the Team Hell No albatross that was placed around his neck when WWE didn’t have anything else to do with him, the man who was a sensation around the entire world can begin once again to climb back towards his destiny. And it’s a move which WWE should have executed in January, instead of waiting until June to do so. Team Hell No, at the beginning was amusing but rapidly became stale and sour. The comedy in the group and the interactions between Bryan and Kane were predictable and there was only ever one place Daniel Bryan could go. If WWE had kept him as a mid card talent there would have been a severe backlash from the fans. Had we began chanting his name and peppering WWE with chants of ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ during events, the company would have had no sensible reason as to keep Bryan where he was. Even worse for Vince, he couldn’t have possibly invented an excuse as to why so many people were into Bryan and yet he wasn’t competing at the top.

I like to think that WWE have elevated Bryan as thanks for everything he did for both Kane and the WWE Tag Team division. Without Bryan, Kane and the Tag Team Championships would have been mere time filler on each show and certainly there was no one within WWE who could have stuck up a partnership with Kane like Bryan did and for the most part is was successful. But there had to be an end to the tomfoolery and the sooner WWE pulled the trigger on the split, the sooner the company could prove that they were serious about making new stars and not relying on the tiresome John Cena to pull in the numbers. Let’s face it, on his worst day Daniel Bryan is ten times better than John Cena. Thinking about it, with a little investment, Bryan could even be as big a money spinner as Cena. His chants of ‘Yes’ and ‘No’, have sold millions of t-shirts world wide and his popularity is showing no signs of dissipating.

I have no doubt that at Money in the Bank, Daniel Bryan will fight RVD, Christian, C.M Punk and Randy Orton to be the star of the match and judging by his talents alone we should be in for a cracking ladder match which by rights could take ‘Match of the Year’ honours. Whilst Bryan needs to eliminate the ‘diving head butt’ routine from his long list of moves, I’m sure that at Money in the Bank Daniel Bryan could have several great feuds with other talent before cashing in and even elevate them before he himself once again takes the mantle of WWE Champion.

Whilst this is what should happen, or at least another version of it, we have to look at what WWE will most likely do. It has been widely rumoured that at SummerSlam in August, Daniel Bryan will challenge John Cena for the WWE Championship and if the campaigning by Bryan’s fans work, then we will have a new WWE Champion on the biggest show of the summer. Will Bryan be hindered by Cena? Most probably. But hey, its fresh, it’s new and its certainly a better option than anything else WWE may have in mind for its best all round performer.

Only time will tell what WWE have planned for Daniel Bryan after Money in the Bank – John Cena or no John Cena. One thing is for certain and that is no one in Titan Towers can dispute that the man with a beard that would make God jealous, is the future of Vince McMahon’s company. One would have thought WWE had learnt their lesson about keeping their top stars and hot prospects happy by now after Brock Lesnar and Goldberg left in 2004, Rob Van Dam refused to sign a new contract before the turn of the decade and The Rock chose Hollywood over the squared circle. But hey, maybe Daniel Bryan will be the one to show WWE how to value a star and this time keep him sweet, so he chooses WWE over any other form of entertainment or company. Right now though, Daniel Bryan is in poll position to take this industry by storm and there’s only one thing to say about that! ‘Yes’, ‘Yes’, ‘Yes’!

Christian has almost became a shadow in WWE. I know he’s had no end of injury problems over the last years and they have kept him out of action and out of the public spotlight, but unfortunately, it has been to his detriment. Jay Reso has been a man who has given his all to WWE for fifteen years and his reward has been two World Heavyweight Championship reigns which lasted less than a month each with the first last forty eight hours. His feud with Randy Orton in 2011 was the hottest thing in WWE at the time and produced several gripping pay-per view matches which will live long in the memory. But in 2013, WWE do not see Christian as a viable choice to carry the company through the rest of the year.

I would normally stand up against this choice and say that Christian is one of WWE’s best wrestlers, which there’s no doubt he is, but on this occasion maybe WWE have it right. Christian has become a liability in the ring because of his injuries. ‘Captain Charisma’ has had so many injuries in such a short amount of time that I doubt WWE will ever put the big one around his waist again. WWE like wrestlers who aren’t injury prone and who can carry out a long and developed programme as champion against numerous challengers without the risk of serious injury. Right now, that isn’t Christian and WWE know it. The truth is, whilst he’s so injury prone, WWE are scared that if they give him the big one again and he gets injured in the middle of a hot feud, their buy rates would plummet when Christian was forced to take more time out to rehab another injury.

And they’re right. At such a precious time when you’re looking to make new stars or at least reignite old stars into the main event position, you cannot take a chance on someone so injury prone. Right about now Vince McMahon will be thinking about WrestleMania and either having whoever is going to take the briefcase cash it in on the grandest stage of them all or being champion until WrestleMania night. Simply put, Christian cannot be relied upon to be the short term future of the company. Getting injured three months into an eight month storyline and being out for a year recovering would be disastrous for WWE if they put the WWE Championship on Christian and the discussed should happen.

What needs to happen with Christian now is that WWE need to build him all over again. The injuries have taken their toll on his standing within the company and the man who contested those superb matches with Randy Orton in 2011 has disappeared. This Christian is a man who is being jobbed out and thrown on shows to fill time when WWE have no one else to fill a spot. I think it’s fair to say that once again the glass ceiling which was placed above Christian’s head in 2010 is once again in place and now the man who was once touted as the brother of WWE Hall of Famer, Edge, needs to do everything he can to break that ceiling. Don’t let Christian’s appearance in this match fool you.

Christian isn’t in this match to give the impression that he may be the next contender to the WWE Championship. Instead, Christian is simply here to fill out the numbers once again, and fingers crossed, provide some much talked about moments. Moments which were missing from last year’s effort. With previous in these matches, Christian surely has to be the favourite to take the lead in what everyone hopes will be a stunt packed show. Putting that fact aside, what can WWE do to boost Christian’s chances of finally making his way back into the main event scene, providing he keeps injury free?

The Intercontinental Championship division is where Christian has to look for the time being. With the top tier out of bounds for now, Christian can do the most good down the ladder and at his age and experience, maybe that is where he is best suited now. When WWE get the feeling he can once again go for long periods without picking up any injuries then they can begin to looking at elevating him once more. Curtis Axel is the obvious choice to oppose Christian after Money in the Bank and with WWE serious about pushing Axel and now with Paul Heyman at his side, the pair could turn a feud for the Intercontinental Championship into a real money spinner and a step for Curtis Axel to begin climbing the ladder. Christian has the skills and know how to elevate another wrestler by both beating and losing to them and undoubtedly, that is where he is best suited now.

WWE don’t have to limit Christian to Axel. In fact if he was used as a lynch pin to hold the division together, they could easily disguise the fact that Reso is the man whilst everyone else is built around him. Incorporating Antonio Cesaro, Wade Barrett and The Miz, WWE could easily fill out the rest of the year with the five men and begin building the I.C division from there. Each one have the skills to help put the building blocks in place, and with Christian overseeing it all, where can they go wrong? Unfortunately, at this time, that is the only choice WWE have for Christian. His many injuries have necessitated that he cannot confidently compete in the main event for a while to come, so hey, why not put your skills to good use elsewhere. There are worse things to be known as, than the man who rebuilt the WWE Intercontinental Championship division.

C.M Punk is a man who absolutely doesn’t need another WWE Championship reign, only six months after losing the WWE Championship after his mammoth run, to The Rock at Royal Rumble. WWE proved that with C.M Punk as WWE Champion, they have no other opponents for ‘The Straight Edged Superstar’ other than John Cena. And at this point in time, every member of the WWE Universe will do whatever it takes to avoid witnessing another Punk vs Cena feud. Of course, anyone who has witnessed happenings since Payback knows that immediate plans for C.M Punk don’t include a WWE Championship reign at the moment. Instead they focus on another face turn and the imminent split from Paul Heyman and face off with Brock Lesnar.

That path is a much more beneficial one for Punk to walk right now, rather than re-treading old ground with the likes of Cena and Jericho over and over again. A Punk vs Lesnar feud which will presumably take place at SummerSlam for the first time has Box Office smash written all over it. Punk, as the wronged avenger has the clout as Triple H did to combat Brock Lesnar and on top of that, Punk also has the skills to go head to head with Brock Lesnar and not look like he’s going to get demolished. People believe in C.M Punk. Good or bad they love C.M Punk because he stands up for what we believe in. Over these last few years Punk has become the voice of the voiceless and WWE is all the better for it.

A Punk vs Lesnar feud has limitless potential and even though Brock Lesnar is only on a part time contract and couldn’t wrestle Punk at Survivor Series, Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, WWE do have an out card in the form of Rob Van Dam. If RVD was to join Paul Heyman upon his return to the company then in Brock Lesnar’s absence, Punk could take out his frustrations on Van Dam until Lesnar returned to the company to resume his feud with Punk. Punk and Van Dam is another feud we haven’t seen and would have made us salivate back in the day. Now, it could be epic. The focus of this feud though will be Paul Heyman and who he sides with.

Whilst it’s a certainty that the WWE Championship will end up around the waist of Punk and / or Lesnar once again in the not too distant future, this feud will benefit from not having the company’s top gold on the line. Triple H vs Brock Lesnar had the same vibe promoting the feud about respect and who was the best. Pushing himself as ‘The Best in the World’ Punk would have the chance to prove that claim by felling WWE’s biggest monster in 2013. Whether or not Paul Heyman chooses Punk to stand by or his original client Brock Lesnar is irrelevant although thinking about it, WWE missed a trick with Heyman, Lesnar and Punk. Allow me to explain.

Had WWE kept all the ‘Paul Heyman’ guys together in one group, aka Punk and Lesnar then WWE could have easily added more to the stable gradually with the likes of Curtis Axel and Rob Van Dam. If the group needed anymore members then WWE could have easily chosen someone like Cody Rhodes who needed the exposure. The group could have gradually gone on to dominate WWE over the coming months and then eventually gone for gold by challenging Vince McMahon to once again put it all on the line by pitting several of his WWE superstars against Heyman’s guys. The guys in Heyman’s stable would have been instant stars and even better, WWE couldn’t have just booked Heyman’s stable to lose like jobbers because Brock Lesnar would not have stood for it behind the scenes. This could have become a really gripping story which escalated over time and involved WWE’s top stars and it’s underneath roster. Everyone would have been a winner. Still, maybe WWE will take some notice now that story is in circulation. We can always hope.

As for C.M Punk in Money in the Bank, well I still believe that Punk has returned to WWE too soon. With his departure after WrestleMania 29 and before Extreme Rules 2013 to heal old wounds, Punk could have done without at least another three months away from the company in order to maximise the hype for his return. That he was away for only two months if that, tells me that WWE had nothing else planned and no one else they believed capable of carrying a story like this one with Lesnar and rushed Punk back. Had WWE allowed C.M Punk time off until September or even November, then his return would have been one of the biggest ever. WWE would have begun to hear the chants of C.M Punk throughout the arena and could have even built the Lesnar feud off of that, citing jealousy that the fans wanted Punk and not Lesnar to compete for them. As a face, a Royal Rumble victory in January is almost guaranteed for Punk at this point in time and let’s hope both he and WWE can convey the face persona without smirking or looking like a heel this time around.

Without a doubt, the future is bright for C.M Punk right now and with a host of opponents lined up for him in between his feud with Brock Lesnar, I can only see him going from strength to strength. WWE have big things planned for C.M punk and judging on his professional conduct during his lengthily WWE Championship reign in 2012 and match against Undertaker at WrestleMania 29, we can all rest easy about his ability to perform whatever task is bestowed upon him. Whatever WWE plans to do with the company in the future, certainly C.M Punk is going to be right at the front of the charge.

Kane is the weak link in this match. Everyone knows it and its no secret that the former WWE, World Heavyweight and ECW Champion is out of place in this Ladder match. After Team Hell No’s disbanding, Kane has found himself a loose end in WWE. There is nothing left for him to do and that fact that WWE have placed him here because there are no other options for the Big Red Machine means that he’s now officially expendable. Would a few months break benefit Kane? Maybe, but that’s only if WWE were to come up with a plan for Kane they haven’t executed before and looking back on his run, Kane has done just about every single storyline WWE could conjure up for him.

Kane has been in love triangles, comedy tag teams up to the eye balls, tag teams where his partner turned on him, tag teams where his partner was seeing his squeeze behind his back, he’s been the face, the heel, turned on Undertaker more times than not and chased each top tier Championship without relative success. If anyone has any more ideas for Kane then I would like to hear them because I have nothing left to suggest for him. The only possible thing WWE could do with Kane now is demote him to the United States Championship division and just hope he can make an impact there. But judging by the fact WWE have placed him in this match, booking him further down the food chain isn’t an option.

If WWE were to give Kane six months off then the company would be forced to make a news star to fill the spot Kane leaves. Then, if that star becomes big enough, WWE could bring Kane back to feud with that star. Maybe. And I’m afraid that is me dredging the bottom of the barrel for ideas for Kane. Truthfully though, I really don’t know what Kane is doing here anyway. In recent months he’s been one half of the team who lost the Tag Team Championships and then fell to Dean Ambrose in singles competition at Payback. If anyone should be included in this match then it should have been the WWE United States Champion. Just think of the opportunity for Dean Ambrose and The Shield had one or all three of them been entered in this match. Kane is taking up valuable space here, space which WWE needed to make a new star.

With every other superstar in this match, there is an obvious path for them to take after Money in the Bank. Christian will drop into the Intercontinental Championship division and more than likely feud with Curtis Axel. C.M Punk is on a collision course with Brock Lesnar. Daniel Bryan will either clash with Randy Orton or Triple H in the coming months. Rob Van Dam has something huge coming his way and as for Randy Orton and Sheamus, well you can read them below. Kane on the other hand, is redundant. WWE have no storylines lined up for him and no plans for Kane at SummerSlam, though I assume they will find a match to sling him into so he’s not left off of the show.

Glen Jacobs’ time in WWE may very well be over. I’m not saying this to be horrible; I’m saying it because it’s the truth. Kane will never hold the WWE Championship again and it doesn’t seem to matter what he does at the top of the card, he remains irrelevant. Jacobs has had a terrific run in WWE as Kane and been one of the few big men who have outlasted their original transpire date. No one could ever have imagined Kane would come this far in WWE when he ripped the cell door off of Hell in a Cell on October 7th 1997. That is an achievement in itself. Now would be the perfect time for Kane to step away from the spotlight and go out on top. Because I’m warning him now. There’s only place for his career to from here and I doubt he’ll like the sheer plunge ahead of him.

Randy Orton has been a sheer marvel in WWE since WrestleMania 29. It was a disappointment to him I’m sure, to be booked in the opening match of the night when he belonged in the main event but since then he has been a force to be reckoned with. His match at Extreme Rules with Big Show was brilliant and his matches and exchanges with Daniel Bryan on Raw and Smackdown since ‘The Viper’ teased the much anticipated heel turn by dropping Bryan with an RKO have been nothing short of exceptional. The man who has done more jobs in wrestling than anyone I can remember is on his way back to the top, but before he gets there, he has one more job to do.

The job I speak of should come at Money in the Bank and it’s for Rob Van Dam. Those of you with long term memories will remember Van Dam’s last proper night in WWE, not counting his one off Royal Rumble return, was in a match against Randy Orton and Van Dam put Orton over big time. The last we saw of RVD was when Orton sent Van Dam crashing into the concrete with a DDT and RVD was wheeled out of the arena on a stretcher. Now it is time for Orton to return the favour before he is returned to his rightful place at the top of the mountain. I expect this match to end when Van Dam stops Orton grabbing the briefcase and claims it for himself.

So what is in store for Randy Orton after Money in the Bank? His feud with Daniel Bryan should continue and be taken to pay-per view level. Hopefully, Orton and Bryan will feud across SummerSlam and with any luck Orton will turn heel before August is done. I have heard people say that Orton doesn’t need to turn heel thanks to his new found connection with the fans but a heel Orton is needed much more than the face one. As heel, Randy Orton can elevate any face talent in victory or defeat. In 2009, Orton was the highlight of WWE with his scathing ‘Viper’ looks and his yellow bellied nature. Fans would regularly chant his name above Cena and Triple H’s and when he won the WWE Championship at Backlash 2009 he received a thunderous reception.

As a heel, Orton had systematically taken out the McMahon Family. Vince, Shane, Stephanie had all fallen to Orton and still we cheered him. Any other heel would have been booed out of the arena when he punted the face in the head and pinned him to secure the WWE Championship, yet Randy Orton was treated like a hero. Heel or face, Randy Orton has a connection to the crowd the likes of which most wrestlers only wish they had. It reminds me of Steve Austin. Heel or face, Austin could provoke a reaction from the crowd that was unlike anyone else. Even as a face, Austin could drop the company’s top guy with a Stone Cold Stunner and still receive a standing ovation. That is the sign of something special and Randy Orton has it.

Personally, I would love to see Randy Orton vs Brock Lesnar. It would be a tour de force of action and high spots. Lesnar has the power to throw Orton around the ring like a rag doll and Randy can sell that shit like it’s the end of his career. On the other side of the coin, Orton has the technical skills to carry Brock Lesnar through a long and technical main event match. If Orton could do with Lesnar what he did with Christian in 2011 then it would remake Brock Lesnar. Who knows, maybe WWE are planning an Orton vs Lesnar feud for 2014, but it will not have as big affect if both men are heel. Maybe it could be the beginning of Orton’s heel turn. Maybe after losing a long and breathtaking feud to Lesnar, Orton could be offered representation by Paul Heyman, a move which could lead to a beautiful partnership.

This of course is what should happen. WWE lack top tier heels at the moment and Big Show, Mark Henry and Ryback just aren’t filling the void. Randy Orton could bring a whole new dimension to WWE if he were a heel. But then WWE don’t think that far ahead. It’s been a while since we’ve seen anything long term in World Wrestling Entertainment and I don’t expect Randy Orton to be the first after all this while. Whatever WWE do to him after Money in the Bank, I’m sure that Orton can handle it with the usual aplomb he manages on a weekly basis.

Sheamus oh Sheamus, how far you have fallen recently. Not since TLC has Sheamus had a really important role in WWE. His last high profile match on pay-per view was in December and since then, his career has petered out. He was a blip in the Royal Rumble match, made no impression at Elimination Chamber, jerked the curtain at WrestleMania 29, was fed to Mark Henry at Extreme Rules and demoted to the Pre-show match at Payback in June. Where did it all go wrong for Sheamus in WWE? Six months ago he was competing in respectable matches for the World Heavyweight Championship, in the present; he seems to be an unimportant cog that WWE have no plans for.

The man who was once Triple H’s class pet doesn’t seem to be going anywhere fast and the impressive 2013 that people foresaw for him is dissipating fast. With only six months to go in the year, Sheamus needs to make up ground fast. With a lack of heels at his level in WWE at the moment, then WWE have to find other ways to make Sheamus count. If this means inserting him into the World Heavyweight Championship picture in a triple threat capacity then that is what it needs to do. Sheamus is too big in 2013 to be competing down the ladder. He’s still not at Randy Orton’s level image wise so he cannot get away with being pushed down the card. Sheamus has to be seen in main event positions to be known as a main event guy.

With Mark Henry and Big Show down, who else is there for Sheamus to compete against main even wise? He almost embarrassed Alberto Del Rio in numerous consecutive matches in 2012 for the World Heavyweight Championship and ran through Dolph Ziggler like he was nothing on television matches around the same time so maybe they are now out of the equation. The Shield have opposed and beaten Sheamus and the trio are not an option for Sheamus to defeat on his way back to the top. Ryback is a possibility as is a heel Chris Jericho, maybe if Randy Orton turns in the coming months WWE could once again look at booking the duo in another feud. Maybe Rob Van Dam is the answer if and when he wins the Money in the Bank Ladder Match. Other than that, Sheamus is stuck.

You see, it’s at time like these that WWE find they have booked themselves into a corner in the previous six months. Because WWE have failed to make any new stars, Sheamus now finds himself sparse as far as opponents go. Wade Barrett vs Sheamus could have been a huge at the Box Office had WWE not treated Barrett like a jobber for months and the same goes for The Miz. Antonio Cesaro was another option WWE could have had a lot of success with had they not anchored him with that awful yodelling gimmick and used him as cannon fodder to anyone and everyone. That just about passes up everyone and anyone with credibility in WWE and Sheamus has either fought them all already or wouldn’t be elevated by taking the rest on.

I’m sure WWE will find an answer to Sheamus’ problem, it always does somehow, but I hope this gives WWE the kick in the backside that it needs to see how important it is to make new stars instead of concentrating on John Cena and Ryback. Maybe WWE will finally take action and make a conscious drive forward to make someone new before December. If it doesn’t then it will find itself in the same position once again before the year turns.

Whilst Money in the Bank All Stars doesn’t exhibit anyone new, it will feature the return of Rob Van Dam, the continuation of Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan and a whole host of death defying moves which are sure to set this apart from everything else on the card. Whilst Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan are the second and third choices to win this match, in reality I believe only one man will. This match should be one of a kind.

Winners Prediction: Rob Van Dam

WWE Championship Match

(c) John Cena vs Mark Henry

Are WWE trying to make their main event matches the most boring ever? First WWE gave John Cena, Ryback. In the hope the pair could bring the best out of each other and prove the doubters wrong. That didn’t happen. John Cena and Ryback’s Last Man Standing Match at Extreme Rules was one bore after the next and filled with illogical moves and selling. Their three stages of hell match at Payback, should have been much better than it actually was, thus putting an end to the pair’s feud. To be honest, I thought the two would continue feuding for a while to come but I guess WWE saw the problems of putting two negative energies together and decided that it was time for a change.

So does that change come in the form of a wrestler who desperately needs the spotlight that a WWE Championship challenge brings? What bright, young, vibrant and exciting wrestler do WWE choose for this spot. Mark Henry. Give me a break. After the John Cena vs Ryback bore WWE must have realised that John Cena, to succeed this time as champion needs a ruthless son of a bitch who the crowd cannot possibly back even if that means cheering Cena. I don’t believe for the life of me that this match or god forbid, feud, will do anything better than Cena and Ryback’s tussle over the last two months. Mark Henry lacks everything in the ring and John Cena needed someone who could carry him to a good match instead of someone who will highlight the champion’s flaws as well as his own.

It’s not even like WWE didn’t have anyone else on hand to challenge John Cena. What about Sheamus, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar? I would have preferred to see WWE put a hold on the Brock Lesnar vs C.M Punk feud and have the former ‘Next Big Thing’ challenge Cena for the gold here. Any of those listed wrestlers would have been preferable to Mark Henry and if anyone can tell me what he brings to the table in 2013 that someone else, in fact anyone else, doesn’t then I will eat my hat, if I had one. We’re talking about a man here who has been given every chance to shine in his long and very dull wrestling career and has failed at every turn. Henry has been garnished with ample Championship opportunities over the years and every time he’s captured the gold his reign has been about as fun as toothache.

For once in their lives, I would like WWE or more importantly Vince McMahon, to come out in public and explain why he keeps pushing Mark Henry. Hell, what would have to lose? A little pride when people pointed out where he’s going wrong? If Vince McMahon was to stage a press conference or Q&A with the fans and actually listen to us and take our suggestions on board then all of this could be avoided. He could explain to us why he keeps giving Mark Henry chance after chance to be a star and we could tell him why it’s not working. Because clearly, those around him are too scared to do the job themselves. Anyone with eyes could tell Vince why Mark Henry is done in the wrestling business and give him some new ideas as to where to take the stories.

Mark Henry is the perfect example of why WWE should open up a submissions page on WWE.Com or Twitter or Facebook so we could send in storyline ideas and comments which would give WWE a different feel to other wrestling companies. There’s a reason why the stories we create and upload online as part of WWE’s annual game release are ten times better than the drivel WWE push out weekly and that’s because we know what we want to see and there are millions of us out there who would love to contribute to WWE television, most of us would do it for free just so we didn’t have to pay to see the same crap month after month. The problem though lies with the boss man himself. You see, in case you haven’t realised by now, Vince McMahon marches to his own beat and anyone who isn’t listening to that tune is swiftly removed and replaced by ‘yes’ men who tell Vince what he wants to hear. In short, McMahon doesn't like to be told what to do by people he employs let alone by the people who have made him his fortune. Vince believes he knows what we want to see and we don’t have a clue. Oh what it must be like to live in the world of McMahon.

On the subject of Mark Henry, the man who could actually fit a championship belt around his waist in 1999, believe it or not, did anyone else get their hopes up when on the June 17th episode of Monday Night Raw Mark Henry announced his retirement from wrestling. I really believed we had been granted eternal salvation from anymore of Henry’s horrible wrestling. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about and who don’t keep up with Raw on weekly basis, Mark Henry didn’t retire and it was all a ruse to get John Cena out to the ring in order to attack him and make a challenge for the WWE Championship. Because a wrestler who you previously had no dealings with or showed virtually no friendship through the years would be the first to come out and congratulate you on your retirement (insert sigh here). The whole angle was shoddy in the way it was booked and as soon as John Cena made his way to the ring you could read where it was going.

If WWE were to make Mark Henry the next WWE Champion, what could it possible accomplish? As World Heavyweight Champion in 2011, Mark Henry destroyed every challenger who opposed him not allowing them any offence and often making them look utterly out of his league. Whilst John Cena does this regularly, at least the current WWE Champion has a legion of followers who try their best to make every main event match seem important. The only thing a Mark Henry victory could accomplish is a down turn in business considering SummerSlam in one month away. Do we really want to see Mark Henry enters SummerSlam as WWE Champion and more importantly how could Mark Henry, billed as champion possibly sell the kind of buy rates WWE expect SummerSlam to pull?

John Cena can’t take all the blame for this recent dull run as Champion. Whilst his in ring product has been predictably awful as usual, WWE haven’t exactly given him the best start possible in his quest to win back as many fans as he can. Since defeating The Rock at WrestleMania 29 Cena has been given dud after dud, none of which he can rely on to help him cover up everything that is wrong. Ryback was a dumb choice for Cena’s first feud and WWE must have known that Ryback didn’t have the skill necessary to carry an effective feud in that spot on the card. Ryback is so boring that if you sent him to an insomniacs meeting, he’d cure the lot of them. His Smackdown match with Daniel Bryan aside, the highlight of his career has been just before he was sacrificed because WWE booked themselves into a corner.

For once John Cena is only partially to blame. Could he have done more in the ring? Absolutely. But the fact remains that WWE should have done more to make Cena’s latest remain memorable. This could have been accomplished several ways. Had Randy Orton turned heel at WrestleMania 29 or shortly after he could have either done so on John Cena or been someone who could have challenged Cena for the gold and lost without having his career affected. Had WWE given the pair all the distractions they could then another feud between the pair may have been watchable. It’s been nearly four years since the pair last did battle in a singles feud and if WWE aren’t shy of booking Cena and Punk in a feud one year after their last outing then Orton and Cena are surely destined to meet again somewhere down the line.

Without turning John Cena heel the other options are Sheamus and Daniel Bryan. The Irishman is at a stage in his career now where he can reasonably challenge John Cena without being ruined in the ring by the leader of the ‘Cenation’. Whilst WWE would have to turn Sheamus heel, it wouldn’t be a bad idea. Sheamus has gone as far as he can as a face and the change would do him good. Daniel Bryan on the other hand has the all round skills needed to hide John Cena’s flaws. Bryan has done so with others in Ring of Honor and surely would have no trouble at this stage in his career putting on a one man show in order to produce a main event worthy of remembrance and maybe even help John Cena take that next step.

There is another option however, for John Cena and that is reinstating John Laurinaitis. After Cena caused Laurinaitis’ dismissal, in a storyline, at No Way Out last year, there is scope for Johnny L to return to WWE as a regular on screen character to extract his revenge on the WWE Champion. If Johnny L was to gather another group which were more powerful than his former ‘People Power’ stable, it could be a way to turn Randy Orton heel completely and give mid-card talent a reason to turn up to work every week. Like DX and to a lesser extent, Legacy, this would be an ideal way in which to give some exposure to those trapped in the shadows. Providing John Cena didn’t demolish them before they got started.

Either way WWE need to do something with John Cena and do it fast. I would mention a heel turn for the popular with women and children champion, but we all know the likelihood of that happening. It’s more likely that Vince McMahon will come out on Raw, get down on his knees and beg our forgiveness for everything he’s done wrong in the past. If Cena were to turn heel though then I still stand by my original idea of reforming the NWO with JC as their leader. This would be one of the most important and earth shattering events to happen in wrestling since Hulk Hogan turned heel and formed the group at WCW’s The Great American Bash 1996. With Daniel Bryan on the horizon though, things could start to get interesting.

Right now though we’re left with the unappealing match of John Cena vs Mark Henry. Without a stipulation such as a cage match or something John Cena can handle then I imagine this is going to be a cross between Mark Henry vs Ryback (WrestleMania 29) and John Cena vs Ryback (Extreme Rules). Maybe though we’ll be wrong. Maybe on this night the pair will prove us all wrong. If there’s ever a time to do so then now would be it.

Winners Prediction: John Cena

Money in the Bank Ladder Match

World Heavyweight Championship Contract

Dean Ambrose vs Jack Swagger vs Fandango vs Antonio Cesaro vs Wade Barrett vs Damien Sandow vs Cody Rhodes

The second Money in the Bank Ladder Match for the contract entitling its holder to a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship looked, for a while, like it would never materialise. For the longest of times, WWE seemed concentrated on the Money in the Bank Ladder Match which had the WWE Championship shot at stake. But unlike its predecessor, the blue brand’s ladder encounter looks much more promising when you consider the star making potential with only one former World Heavyweight Champion in the mix.

As where Raw’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match features all former WWE or World Heavyweight Champions, Smackdown’s offering is focused solely on the younger talent and getting the future over today. A method everyone should surely agree with seeing as by the time this match has taken its final bow we could have two or three potential new main event stars. Everyone here is either an exceptional or promising talent and everyone watching should be anticipating this match more than the red offering.

When looking down the list of participants, then everyone except Fandango could easily take the step up to the next level and even if the match fails to put everyone in the spotlight then WWE could and should use this as a chance to elevate everyone here somehow. Antonio Cesaro, Dean Ambrose etcetera don’t have to win the match and they don’t need to capture the contract to get noticed on July 14th. All WWE need to do is simply allow their stars time to shine, that way, without a win, everyone will be elevated at least one level up. Which means those previously relegated to the United States Championship division should be pushed up to the Intercontinental Championship division and everyone in the once coveted Intercontinental Championship division should, in theory be in the frame for a World Heavyweight Championship shot of their own within the next year. Everyone is a winner.

The current WWE United States Champion, Dean Ambrose, has been a tour de force in the recent weeks and months on WWE pay-per view and television. After WrestleMania 29, The Shield looked like they were going from strength to strength. With Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins capturing the WWE Tag Team Championships, Dean Ambrose made it a home run when he went over Kofi Kingston at Extreme Rules to take the WWE United States Championship. It pointed to a upturning in WWE’s star making machine, and proved to the doubters that WWE were serious when they found a talent they believed could go all the way.

The victory was always sweeter considering Seth Rollins was a former Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Champion, thus an independent circuit wrestler. That WWE would push Rollins, as well as Bryan, Punk and to an extent Cesaro meant that those who knew independent circuit wrestlers were often better than WWE trained talent could bask in the glory and sit back smug as Vince McMahon was forced to swallow his pride.

During WWE’s tour of England, The Shield once again came off strongest in a brilliant six man tag team effort against The Undertaker and Team Hell No and in singles competition as Dean Ambrose combated Undertaker in a singles match on Smackdown. Whilst Ambrose would lose the latter brawl, The Shield would defeat Undertaker and Team Hell No on Raw, live for London’s O2 arena. Dean Ambrose was the standout star of the six man tag team match along with Daniel Bryan and one was greatly impressed with the respect he showed Undertaker in their singles outing, recorded the next night on Raw. After those nights and Extreme Rules, everything began to go downhill for The Shield and a little of their rebel image was cast adrift as they suffered their first ever collective loss since their debut in November 2012 at Survivor Series.

Payback saw Reigns and Rollins drop Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan and Ambrose make the first successful defence of his United States Championship against Kane. After Payback had ended though, things didn’t look so rosy for the trio of next generation stars, despite their victories. Seemingly, WWE had run out of ideas for The Shield on television and having exhausted all their six man tag team options and with a baron Tag Team and United States division for the trio to truly immerse themselves in, WWE had to resort to what they knew best. Namely an undeserved burial. You would have though they’d have learnt from Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback, Zack Ryder, The Miz, Antonio Cesaro, Kofi Kingston and the endless list of buried stars who are now seemingly dead in the water, that burials only kills the aura instead of feeding the hype.

On the June 28th edition of Smackdown, The Shield lost yet another six man tag team match against opponents which included The Usos. Yes, that’s right. WWE’s hottest properties in years were jobbed out to The Usos. I can only imagine how quickly the three men who aspire to much better things felt the ground begin to slide under them and the earth open up at the bottom as they felt their images diminishing. Don’t get me wrong, the Uso’s are very good tag team and could have become huge had WWE bothered to build something of note around them, but as it stands, a loss to the tandem does more harm than good.

As the United States Champion, Dean Ambrose has the whole company at his feet. He could face anyone and convincingly defeat them or put them over without harm to his image, but we have to draw the line somewhere and that somewhere is The Uso’s. At this present moment in time WWE need to be hyping Ambrose because if he fails then the WWE United States Championship division goes with him. Vince has to know that this is basically the final chance for the division to regain some of that respect it once had. After so much damage it has been subject to, the division should by rights be defunct by now. Certainly there was no interest in it from the moment Santino won the gold which seems like years ago now, to when Dean Ambrose pinned Kingston in May. Dean Ambrose won’t win this Money in the Bank Ladder Match which means another loss for the trio of stars but that doesn’t necessarily have to harm them.

If Dean Ambrose puts in a solid showing on the night, willingly puts his body on the line during a few high bumps and takes his lumps, even WWE cannot harm his image. Heel or face, we want a fighting champion and if Dean Ambrose plays his cards right at Money in the Bank then he could do more good to his career in one night than WWE could do in six months. There can be victory in defeat; you just have to know how to attain it.

Poor old, Jack Swagger! What can one say to sooth the pain? As it happens, not much. You see, everything that has happened to Jack Swagger is partly his own fault. I won’t go over the police charge which currently faces him and by the time you read this and he appears at Money in the Bank, Swagger should already have stood in front of a court and accepted his charge. Unless his court case is yet again postponed. Obviously WWE don’t expect him to go down the Kermit otherwise he wouldn’t have been booked in this match.

Instead of concentrating on one negative, let’s concentrate on all of them. You see, Jack Swagger had it made for him when he returned to WWE after a lengthily absence and won the Elimination Chamber Match to become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 29. Everyone sat up and took notice of Swagger once again, despite the fact they never should have lost sight of him in the first place. The man born Donald Hager can thank WWE for that. And then it came. WWE gave Jack Swagger the artist formerly known as Dutch Mantel as a manager, a man who was meant to raise Swagger’s profile, instead all Zeb Coulter managed to do was turn people off of Jack Swagger.

The All American-American began spouting racist and anti-immigrant speeches backed by his manager and WWE even created an anti-immigration t-shirt for Swagger to supposedly cash in on this tripe. Though one would imagine it lost the company more money than it made. Can you honestly see people buying that shirt and wearing it proudly in the streets? The anti-immigration stuff was of course WWE’s idea, who else? But when it was executed, the whole house of cards came tumbling down around their ears. Whether what Swagger and Coulter were trying to preach on weekly basis was right or not, or the facts were the belief of Vince himself or a member or his staff are irrelevant. Whoever penned the angle should have realised that WWE’s fan base is made up roughly of 40% of foreign people spread across the world. That is like creating a product specifically for a certain market and then coming out verbally against your target audience with some offensive rubbish.

This is wrestling. Not an immigration tribunal or rant. Yet this didn’t stop WWE and on they went with the offensive rants. The whole thing was born out of a need for WWE to create an angle for Swagger vs Del Rio at WrestleMania 29. In truth they may have well not as bothered as neither man really turned it on in the ten minutes they were allocated and the match passed, as did their Extreme Rules foray, practically unnoticed. Now us, the normal, reasonable people of the world would turn to the angle and ask what is wrong with a simple feud over the World Heavyweight Championship with a story that puts the gold centre stage instead of a global problem. Partly, it was because WWE felt the need to draw attention and have their say on something that shouldn’t concern them and partly because Vince doesn’t believe the gold has enough power to sell tickets on its own. And we all know whose fault that is.

Naturally, WWE were always going to turn Jack Swagger onto Alberto Del Rio’s nationality. It could have been handled with care, instead WWE instructed Jack Swagger to go out to the centre of the ring and imply that both Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez were illegal immigrants who were working in America without a green card or the appropriate work visas. Anyone who knew anything about wrestling could tell this was fabricated bullshit. Did they really expect us to believe that two men, evaded border security, someone falsified their documentation and passed the rigorous immigration checks both the American authorities and WWE put its talent through upon hiring them? Even of Alberto and Ricardo had somehow managed to do so, people aren’t so useless that they wouldn’t have caught or questioned Del Rio’s right to work and live in America during all those plane tripe across th USA and abroad. The whole angle was poorly planned.

Now, thanks to shoddy booking and some of the worst writing I have ever seen in my life, WWE have to rebuild Jack Swagger when they could have just kept pushing him. It is a senseless waste of time and talent. WWE could just have easily booked Jack Swagger to injure Rodriguez and have Del Rio take his revenge, as their story for the pairs match at WrestleMania 29. How do WWE do this? Well a victory at Money in the Bank would do wonders for Swagger but seeing as he’s already won the match once and then went on to flop as World Heavyweight Champion thanks to WWE, maybe that isn’t an option. Could we really believe that Swagger would do any better this time around than last?

What Jack Swagger really needs now is a feud which you have to wear oven gloves to touch. Something which necessitates people tune in and are gripped by. WWE have created such feuds in the past and it wouldn’t take a huge amount of imagination to do so again. If WWE really want Jack Swagger to succeed then it has to shed Coulter from his side and begin booking him against its top stars. It’s the only way to make us forget against this recent blip and hey, who knows, maybe if Jack Swagger can begin producing unforgettable matches in the ring, we may have a new Kurt Angle on our hands.

Wade Barrett, the former WWE Intercontinental Champion, is yet another under card star who has taken a plunge in recent months. The Brit star looked like he was going to make a change in this industry and do what Davey Boy Smith ‘The British Bulldog’ never managed, thus becoming the first English WWE or World Heavyweight Champion. Even Sheamus has upped Barrett on that front and held both of the ‘big ones’. I don’t know why WWE have chosen to bury its British stars; William Regal is included in that, because often, with the tough brawling background, the British stars can prove to be the cream of the crop. What must irk Wade Barrett greatly though is that he and Sheamus competed for the same wrestling company in the United Kingdom before treading on WWE’s shores and often fought each other.

On the British shores both men were equal. However, in America, Sheamus is the stand out star and Wade Barrett has had to make do with making up the numbers further down the roster. The decent began, as it did with so many stars stepping onto the Money in the Bank Ladder, at WrestleMania 29 though the fall can traced further back than that. Wade Barrett had been a shadow in WWE in the latter part of 2012 and rarely featured on the product in any great capacity until he captured the WWE Intercontinental Championship for Kofi Kingston on Raw. The writing was on the wall when WWE booked the Championship change to take place on free television instead of pay-per view.

It’s now well documented that the Championship change would have had more impact had it happened at Survivor Series or TLC as more people would have seen it and therefore taken Barrett as a serious threat. That didn’t change the fact though that Wade Barrett was now the man holding what was once WWE’s second most important Championship. Though the Championship wasn’t seen as anything special anymore, Wade Barrett could have been the guy to change all of that. Both The British Bulldog and William Regal’s Intercontinental Championship reigns were important and well received, both men brought something different to the strap which elevated it and in turn the belt did the same to them. This time around though, neither the man nor the gold had the clout to do anything special for the other.

January, February and March passed for the Englishman without incident, sadly, and Wade Barrett fell further into obscurity in WWE. The Intercontinental Championship was as good as defunct and with the biggest show of the year was just around the corner. With the WWE Intercontinental Championship still in tact, Wade Barrett was right to hope for bigger things at WrestleMania 29. Instead of getting a main show match, WWE thought it wise to give Wade Barrett ‘Mr. Pre-show’ himself, The Miz. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Miz and he should be higher up the card than he currently is but at WrestleMania, Wade Barrett needed a huge name to carry him to the next level.

Putting the Intercontinental Championship on the pre-show was a dumb mistake by WWE and only further diminished the once and former prestigious belt. It sent out the message that WWE didn’t value the gold which previously made stars. On the night though, WWE were to be pleasantly surprised. Bumping Wade Barrett vs The Miz down to Pre-show made room for the abominable Fandango vs Chris Jericho brawl which just killed the show stone dead. Instead, the four minute WWE Intercontinental Championship which saw The Miz dethrone Barrett of his gold was a top drawer encounter which would have set the main card alight. WWE missed a trick there and I hope that they are beginning to regret it.

Losing the gold to The Miz was meant to be part of the beginning of Miz’s non-existent push back to the top of the card. However, WWE reneged on their booking agreement and switched the Championship back to Barrett. This kind of lazy, stop / star booking has devalued WWE’s stars over recent years and it only went to do the same with Wade Barrett and The Miz. Miz looked like a complete jobber and Barrett looked like a man who wasn’t capable of performing under intense pressure. Yet again, instead of booking Wade Barrett of a dangerous and intense challenger to the gold, WWE simply made the switch on free television and Wade Barrett wasn’t helped by the hasty title change.

At Payback, WWE took its eye off of Wade Barrett and The Miz and instead, rightly concentrated on Curtis Axel. Many criticised this move by WWE but they had shown a willingness to make a new star and at least we should be thankful of that. In truth, Wade Barrett hadn’t done himself any favours in the ring and his performances have been below par for a very long time. Thus, it doesn’t warrant a continuation of a Championship reign and Wade Barrett had to step aside so that the son of Curt Henning could have a shot at doing what Barrett had failed to done. It’s not all Wade’s fault; he really hasn’t had the backing of the creative and booking team. To make up for that though, Barrett should have given it his all in every match to show WWE what they were missing.

To demonstrate Barrett’s diminishing popularity in WWE one only has to cast their mind back to WWE’s live UK shows in November 2012 and April 2013. When Wade Barrett made his entrance for his numerous matches in November, he received a thunderous ovation from his hometown crowd and couldn’t have been more over. Fast forward five months later, and Wade Barrett comes out for his one and only match on the recorded leg of the tour to a sour ovation. Even Barrett’s own countrymen didn’t give a damn about him anymore. WWE couldn’t make excuses for this reaction and they tried then every one of them would have failed. Some could say that as the April show was recorded in London and Barrett hails from Manchester, the reaction was warranted. But then I would argue that William Regal, who got a heroes reception on the night against Barrett and the previous night against Fandango, didn’t hail from London either.

The truth is that time has run out for Wade Barrett and his main event charge. As the line of John Cena’s entrance song states, ‘the time is now’. Wade Barrett has to be the stand out star of this seven man brawl and we can only hope that his failings elsewhere, combined with the subsequent burial he has received urges him on to produce something truly memorable. WWE should book Wade Barrett to win this match as they were going to in 2012 before he was shelved with an injury. Money in the Bank should and in reality has to be the beginning of Wade Barrett in WWE. If he loses the match then I really don’t see what else there is for Wade Barrett in WWE.

Yodelling! Surely WWE could have come up with something better for Antonio Cesaro. Like others in this match his burial since he dropped the WWE United States Championship to Kofi Kingston has been purely childish on WWE’s part. I say childish instead of pathetic because there was no reason at all for it. Cesaro hadn’t gone online and tried to overtly get himself over with the WWE Universe because WWE wouldn’t. As United States Champion, Cesaro had been strong but not outstanding. He hadn’t been pulled over by police and arrested for marijuana possession, caught drunk in charge of a vehicle, arrested for domestic abuse or failed a random WWE drugs test. Antonio Cesaro had been the model employee. He’d done what he was asked and he’d done jobs for those he was told to do them for.

So what was the reason for WWE’s treatment of Antonio Cesaro. Same old, same old. You see, as much as WWE would have us believe they are a progressive company, behind the scenes they’re as stuck in the past as any other small minded minority. The fact that Antonio Cesaro is a former indi wrestler means that he is almost expected to tread the same boards that C.M Punk and Daniel Brian were forced to walk before him. WWE really expect every indi wrestler who passes through their doors to prove they belong in WWE by jobbing to everyone on the roster before the company consider them for a titanic push. If history does repeat itself then I truly fear for Seth Rollins when his time in The Shield is up.

The saving grace for Cesaro is that his performance in matches over the last couple of months have been superb. Much better than they were when Antonio Cesaro was United States Champion. Maybe the weight of carrying a failing division was too much for the former Ring of Honor Tag Team Champion to bare so early on in his WWE career, or maybe he just saw where the division was going and decided not to make an effort if it wasn’t going to do him any good. There is a logic there. Once you get to the top, or in Cesaro’s case the top of a certain division and you know that you’re not going any further it does cause a knock on effect. You’ve reached that goal and now you can stop trying. But without the Championship around his waist Cesaro now has something to fight for. The result is that his performances are much better.

Like a lamb to the slaughter Cesaro has willingly put over anyone and everyone WWE have put him in the ring with since his Championship loss. And whilst this may be seen as earning his stripes by the company, both parties have to make sure that it doesn’t become second nature. WWE can’t take their eye off of Cesaro and be happy using him as a jobber every week. There has to be a cut off point and that begins with Cesaro himself. Instead of sitting on the sideline, Antonio should be pestering WWE management, pointing out where he’s done the company good and paid his dues and then providing them with ideas for his character. If he continues to do nothing to halt the downward spiral then it will continue until we peer inside and Antonio Cesaro is lost.

How do WWE halt this and reverse his fortunes? This time around, it is easily said than done. Cesaro has lost so many matches in recent months that it’s going to be a struggle to get him back to his United States Championship image let alone higher up the ladder. If the willingness is there by WWE it can be achieved. Certainly though, I believe that it is going to be by winning this match. Could we really believe that Antonio Cesaro is going to be the next World Heavyweight Champion after so many losses on WWE television? A slow build is what is needed and it can begin by a strong showing here but WWE must have a plan for him when the match is all said and done.

Seen predominantly as a low to mid card player who is, at least, for the moment rooted in the United States Championship division, WWE could easily rebuild everything under Dean Ambrose around Antonio Cesaro. The newly married Tyson Kidd (congratulations go to him and Natalya), Damien Sandow, Fandango, Kane, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Evan Bourne – when he is good and ready to return full time – and a few of the NXT stars who are ready for the spotlight could forge a tremendous United States Championship Division. This would not only provide a stable foundation for Ambrose to defend his gold but for Antonio Cesaro to thrive all over again. A few huge wins over these names and other big talent would propel Cesaro once again. Whilst he’s stranded here though, he may as well try his best to build a suitable division under Ambrose.

I am confident that Antonio Cesaro will not win the Money in the Bank Ladder Match and claim the contract to face the World Heavyweight Champion any time of his choosing this year. There’s no mileage yet in an Antonio Cesaro vs Alberto Del Rio feud and seeing as Del Rio is still champion and will more than likely remain so after Money in the Bank, the victor really does have to be a heel here. It doesn’t have to deter Cesaro from pulling out one hell of a performance though. Because whilst he’s doing that, he’s standing out from the pack and that is the best way to get the WWE Universe behind you.

Damien Sandow showed so much potential when he first stepped into WWE that those who didn’t know any better could have been forgiven for tipping him for the very top. Indeed, Sandow carried some of WWE’s more sluggish and undependable wrestlers to very respectable matches. He was cheered by the fans who lapped up his put downs of them as common folk and his intellectual character was the perfect fit for a super heel in WWE. Like Antonio Cesaro there was no need to bury Damien Sandow because not only had he done nothing wrong, the guy was a brilliant worker who could be depended on in the ring to provide a tight knitted wrestling match.

Where did it all go wrong? When WWE saw Damien Sandow as an easy target. WWE backstage is heavily revolved around politics. Who likes who and who gets on with him and her. One wrong word, in the wrong ear could cause a wrestler to lose his push or even his whole career prospects. Triple H played these politics well, as did every other successful wrestler. Those underneath though are the ones who either refused to play WWE’s games or were just unsuccessful at them. WWE didn’t see Damien Sandow as a major star and therefore labelled him as a target. That target was jobbed, put down, beat down by The Rock like he was nothing and just when Sandow thought it couldn’t get any worse, he was put into a tag team with Cody Rhodes.

Team Rhodes Scholars were a very good team. They were always going to be with two men who were great wrestlers involved. But when WWE formed the duo it wasn’t to give wither man a step up the ladder, instead it was to easily bury and mock two of their most promising talents. This way, it was easier for WWE to bury them both in one foul swoop instead of take up time John Cena didn’t really need on television to do it separately. I can imagine WWE bigwigs having a good laugh with each other when planning what to do with Team Rhodes Scholars that particular week. It’s just a shame one of them didn’t put all of that effort into thinking the long term repercussions it would have for both men and the company. You see, there’s going to come a time when WWE need Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow to step up and take the reigns of the company as members of main event club. When that time comes they won’t be able to do so because no one will be able or willing to buy into them.

Instead of battling a valiant and heated feud with Team Hell No, Sandow and Rhodes lost at every turn and were not permitted to hold the tag team gold. Why book someone in a Championship match if you don’t have the confidence they can ably be champion in the first place? Eventually after matches, both tag team and single on Raw and Smackdown, tag team encounters on numerous pay-per view events in the final few months of 2012 and beginning of 2013, Team Rhodes Scholars were spent as a team. Never being allowed to pin or convincingly defeat the Tag Team Champions had all but killed off Rhodes and Sandow as a tandem.

It was shame, anyone with eyes could see how talented Sandow was as a singles performer but instead of pushing him as a talent who could one day be up there with Triple H and Undertaker, WWE decided the best path to take with Sandow was to push him as a coward. Part way through each match, Damien Sandow would take to the highroad and leave his match when the going got tough. Many heels have taken this method in the past in order to garner heat for their character, but WWE booked Sandow to do so in almost every match he had over the span of a few months. Hell, Sandow even tried to walk out on his Survivor Series match. Even pay-per view wasn’t spared this dumb booking.

When Team Rhodes Scholars began competing less as a pair and more as singles stars, things began to look up for Sandow. On WWE’s tour of the U.K he defeated Brodus Clay in a very respectable match without cheating and even better, he made Clay look good in doing so. This was just a small example of what he could do, given the chance. WWE need to go back to this footage and every other match in which Sandow has showed how he can carry someone weaker than himself and produce a decent match with them. It’s on these bases which a true WWE great is made, that’s if WWE can stop booking Sandow as a coward.

Damien Sandow would be an ideal candidate to win this Money in the Bank Ladder Match had events panned out differently for him these last nine months. Pushed to the hilt with victories over Randy Orton, Alberto Del Rio, Big Show and even John Cena would have set Damien Sandow up perfectly for July 14th and the rest of career. As things stand now, if Sandow were to hook the briefcase on the night then he would either go on to cheat his way to the World Heavyweight Championship and then go on to be a Jack Swagger Champion or cash the briefcase in and fail to capture the title altogether.

What would be kinder for Sandow on the night would be to have the briefcase in his hand and then to have it snatched away, cruelly. That way fans would begin to see Sandow as someone who is in contention for the gold at a later point, but ultimately someone who is going to start filling his potential. Should Damien Sandow run out on this match at Money in the Bank, then he may as well keep running. Out of WWE’s doors and straight into the line of ‘missed opportunities’.

Cody Rhodes, the son of ‘The American Dream’ is probably still trying to work out what he did wrong in order to receive such a stale reception from WWE bigwigs. In 2011 Rhodes was a very popular WWE Intercontinental Champion who received our respect when, at Hell in a Cell 2011, he dumped the new Intercontinental Championship into one of his paper bags and unveiled the new version of the old Intercontinental Championship. The Championship which Randy Savage, his brother Goldust, Ricky Steamboat, Shawn Michaels, Curt ‘Mr. Perfect’ Henning, Bret Hart and many others held. It was a nod to the old guard and one which showed how much respect Rhodes had for the company.

After a successful Intercontinental Championship reign Rhodes was entered into the aforementioned Team Rhodes Scholars and the end was nigh for his singles push. His matches against Randy Orton, Booker T and willingness to rebuild the Intercontinental Championship division seemingly meant nothing when it came time for WWE to plan Rhodes’ next step. Loyalty meant nothing to WWE and all Rhodes efforts and sacrifices were for nothing. He didn’t receive the mega push which he had worked for and instead WWE had no more plans for Rhodes once they had allowed Rhodes to be demolished by Big Show at WrestleMania 28 just so Big Show could pad out his Championship record.

It was a travesty in all truth. Cody Rhodes was deserving of a higher spot, more so than Big Show or John Cena. It was Cody Rhodes who had carried the Intercontinental Championship division for months whilst contesting some of the best matches on WWE television. Yet when it came time for a push, it was Big Show, the man who treated Rhodes like a jobber at WrestleMania 28 and Extreme Rules 2012. The man who had already had his time in WWE and done nothing with it. Cody Rhodes could have done a lot with the spot Big Show stole away from him, being chosen as John Laurinaitis’ right hand man to combat John Cena in the war between the General Manager and WWE hero. 

It was selfishness on the part of Big Show and just a pathetic way for WWE to send a message to their younger talent that no matter how hard you work or try; those who have had their time will still be bigger than you. Cody Rhodes was treated like a jobber by WWE and therefore received as a jobber by the WWE Universe. It was the wrong move to put Rhodes in a tag team when he was such a great singles star. WWE should have found another partner for Sandow and allowed Rhodes to carry on doing what he was doing when he was I.C Champion. If that had transpired, then WWE could have had a star on their hands.

WrestleMania is generally considered the time in which to begin again in a wrestlers career. Look at others who competed at WrestleMania. Randy Orton, Big Show and Sheamus finished their feud with The Shield and began other feuds. The Undertaker and C.M Punk brought their feud to a conclusion as did John Cena and The Rock. Every one of these men started a new and so should Cody Rhodes have. Instead WWE originally booked Team Rhodes Scholars and The Bella Twins to compete against Tons of Funk and The Funkadactyls at WrestleMania 29 but deemed they had no time for the match on the night and half-heartedly threw then show on Raw the next night.

Was Cody Rhodes allowed to start again as a singles star and flourish? No. He was kept in the doldrums which he had been used to for six months and worse, booked to lose to The Miz on Extreme Rules 2013 pre-show. On WWE’s tour of the U.K, Rhodes was forced to job to Tensai or Sweet T as he’s now known when a victory would have done him good. Going into this match, Cody Rhodes needed a few big victories to set in the mind of the fans the fact he may actually be able to accomplish the impossible. Personally, I believe Cody Rhodes would be a great World Heavyweight Champion if WWE got the machine behind him and pushed him so hard there could be no doubts in the fans mind that Rhodes wouldn’t slip back into the role he plays now. We need a change at the top and Cody Rhodes may be the man to provide it.

Fandango is an enigma. When he was first announced with the glitzy skits and adverts aired on WWE television months before his debut, it appeared as if WWE had created another novelty act which wouldn’t last the distance in the industry. To be fair, without seeing the guy and going only on the fancy presentation it seemed to all that Fandango was a character who belonged in the early 1990’s. Everyone could be forgiven for thinking that a character had escaped the era of cartoon wrestling and made his way to the modern day. Personally, I remember writing a blog on Fandango in 2012 before he made his debut in which I believe I stated that I would reserve judgment until he had actually wrestled.

Not once did I imagine that I would have to wait until WrestleMania 29, weeks and weeks after Fandango’s initial debut, to comment on his first match. The games began almost instantly with Fandango. First the character was shelved for weeks before he stepped foot through the curtains because WWE didn’t believe that a character they created, presumably for a laugh, didn’t have what it took to make it in WWE. After several weeks of pondering the case, WWE decided to give a whirl and finally debuted Fandango to the world. Unfortunately, instead of pushing Fandango as a serious threat to the wrestling business thus doing everything they in their power to make sure their initial fear wasn’t realised, WWE chose to book Fandango as a mere joke.

The expectation was high, at least for your Wrestling God. I had heard different opinions on the man behind Fandango and none of them were gleaming to the point where I believe he would ever be a true star in the ring, but he’d been through WWE developmental so he had to at least have something about him to make WWE bigwigs chose him to play the character. Sadly though, the impression everyone got of Fandango was that he was a weak, cowardly individual who used the excuse of people getting his name wrong as to duck out of a match. WWE had trod this path before with Damien Sandow and look where he ended up; it’s not something they should have done with Fandango.

However, time traipsed on and Fandango finally stepped into the ring at WrestleMania 29 in what was a dull, drab and awful effort by both the newcomer and Chris Jericho. Judging on this performance in which Fandango seemed wholly more bothered about getting his dance steps and poses correct, rather than actually putting on an entertaining match. On the night Fandango was sloppy and uninvolved, his debut certainly left a lot to be desired. Then a miracle happened. Suddenly, after the pressure of making his in ring debut has disappeared, Fandango began to perform. Granted, he didn’t set the world alight and his offence was still loose and needed tweaking but the man gave it his all and produced some impressive results.

Fandango vs Chris Jericho at Extreme Rules 2013 was a marked improvement on their WrestleMania debacle, and on Raw and Smackdown Fandango was putting in a shift. His popularity soared immensely on WWE’s tour of the United Kingdom. On both Raw and Smackdown, the British contingent were rampant in singing Fandango’s entrance theme throughout his matches and the entire show. Whenever a match which didn’t feature Fandango slowed, the crowd would tune up and in unison sing his entrance theme. I don’t see that happening with any other wrestler in 2013. This was a staunch sign that Fandango was making an impact with the audience and when that happens, regardless of the wrestlers in ring ability, he’s going places. We’ve already seen that with John Cena.

Before Payback went on air, disaster struck for Fandango. After being announced as one third of the Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat Match, Fandango was struck down with an injury which looked more serious than it actually was. Instead, Fandango was replaced in the match by Curtis Axel who captured the WWE Intercontinental Championship on the night. It was a blow for Fandango, especially when he tuned into the show to see the man who was standing in for him take the gold. It could have and probably should have been Fandango. I’m sure that was WWE’s plan to begin with, but hey, right now there is nothing Fandango can do for that division. He doesn’t have the skills or experience just yet to make a difference.

Here though, in a match of this quality and with its reputation, Fandango could enter a man and exit a star. Depending on how much interaction he can successfully pull off with the ladder and his fellow stars. Winning this match wouldn’t be the right decision for Fandango’s career at the moment, he’s not a headline star but the association with the main event at this level could take him that step closer. After Money in the Bank, WWE need to handle Fandango with care. A huge feud with a top name or upcoming name as we enter SummerSlam could be the making of Fandango as it’s clear the once cartoon era act is on the rise in popularity.

For a guy who was previously labelled as ‘doomed’ when he first made his WWE debut and after his disastrous showing at WrestleMania 29, maybe there is hope for Fandango yet.

This is a huge chance for WWE to prove how serious it is about its youth movement. In the absence of Jack Swagger winning the match, and lets be honest he’s had his chance in the main event and blown it, Money in the Bank 2013 would benefit Wade Barrett the most. A real hike up the ladder in one night would be momentous for the Brit. Right here, right now, I’m predicting that Money in the Bank 2013 is going to be the British revolution.

Winners Prediction: Wade Barrett

World Heavyweight Championship Match

(c) Alberto Del Rio vs Dolph Ziggler

This situation should never have come about. There was absolutely no reason for WWE to take the World Heavyweight Championship off of Dolph Ziggler at Payback, and whatever excuse WWE may give, it’s never going to be a feasible one. So let’s have a look at why WWE could have possibly have decided to have Del Rio dethrone Dolph Ziggler on his very first Championship defence.

First though, I would like to say that it was a senseless waste of time. Dolph Ziggler had been largely praised for hanging on as much as he did for his push when other men would have thrown in the towel long before, citing WWE’s ridiculous start / stop pushes and ridiculous storylines as the reason they were leaving. Dolph Ziggler though, he never gave up hope. WWE made Dolph Ziggler a laughing stock to the outside world, by making him continuously lose to talent who had already had their time in the industry and when a chance came along to actually elevate him, WWE either didn’t take the opportunity or refused to believe Dolph Ziggler was the man to carry the company forward.

Dolph’s steely resolve should have been enough to convince Vince McMahon that the man who states ‘It’s not showing off if you can back it up’ was the same one who could do the company some good if booked the correct way. And let me tell you, Dolph Ziggler can back it up in abundance. Still though, WWE refused to see it and insisted that Dolph Ziggler needed A.J Lee and Big E. Langston by his side to make him a star, because, you know, Langston has such star making qualities. I really don’t know if WWE were testing Dolph Ziggler to see if he would snap during 2012 and I’m sure they didn’t care or took delight in the fact that John Cena set Ziggler back six months during their feud, but still Dolph Ziggler refused to go down.

WWE desperately needs someone with the determination that Dolph Ziggler has. A lot of the stars today don’t and are simply happy to turn up, cash in the cheque and walk away convincing themselves they have done a good job. The entire WWE Universe celebrated when Ziggler won the World Heavyweight Championship, at last something had happened which we had waited an age to see and it was a glorious moment in time. Were we naive to think it would last or even get better? Maybe! With WWE’s track record, we should have known that anyone who isn’t Randy Orton or John Cena will be senselessly buried  when they finally hit the big time, it’s WWE’s version of trial by fire I suppose. But the company have to get it out of their heads that this is the way to get Champions over, it’s clearly not.

WWE should have listened to the reception Dolph Ziggler received on April 8th as a clear indicator as to how popular Ziggler is with the WWE Universe. Had Orton got this kind of reception then you can bet WWE would have done the same to him as they are doing to Ziggler. In a time when WWE are sparse on headline stars and desperately need the next big thing to sell out arenas and sell merchandise, WWE should be giving Ziggler every aid they can wheel out. A.J Lee and Big E. Langston are just another example of how much WWE do not trust Ziggler. To have them constantly there and interject them in the match only conveys that Dolph Ziggler can’t win a match on his own.

By now, WWE should have rid Ziggler of all outside distractions; a plight they should have learnt didn’t work when Vickie Guerrero was by Dolph’s side. Vickie’s constant presence by Dolph’s side was a distraction because of her screaming and wailing. One could not concentrate on Dolph’s matches because of Vickie’s distraction and now, with A.J replacing Guerrero by Ziggler’s side, it’s not the wailing and screaming that is the distraction as anyone who has seen A.J will be able to attest to. Right now, should be Dolph Ziggler’s time.

So what excuses could WWE possibly give for stripped Ziggler of the gold at Payback? The first would be that after the concussion, the company didn’t believe Ziggler was the man to represent the WWE. The answer to that then would be 1) what changed in such a short space of time? After all Alberto Del Rio suffered a concussion in 2012 yet he’s not representing as the World Heavyweight Champion and 2) if you didn’t believe he could represent the company with the gold around his waist, why put the Championship on him in the first place? If you don’t have the confidence that a member of your roster can confidently carry the company, then why allow him to win the Money in the Bank Ladder Match? Surely, if you thought you had made a mistake then why not just have Ziggler unsuccessfully cash it in and save yourself all this bother?

The next excuse would be that Dolph Ziggler’s concussion made him a liability. To that I would say, rubbish. Whilst a concussion is serious and time off is needed to heal it, if the doctors cleared Dolph Ziggler to return to action at Payback then he was fully healed. This excuse would be a feeble and pathetic one to go with and would do WWE no favours either. To come out with this excuse, would make WWE look dumb and stupid. Everyone knows a wrestler isn’t allowed back without doctors and WWE’s clearance and there is no way Dolph Ziggler could have competed at Payback without the consent of both parties.

The last excuse WWE could possibly spout would be that Dolph Ziggler was a mere caretaker champion. Out of all the excuses, maybe this would be the most feeble. To call a talent like Dolph Ziggler a caretaker champion would be the ultimate show of disrespect after everything they have put him through and made him do to become champion. Feasibly, WWE could not pass off the reaction Ziggler got when he pinned Del Rio for the gold as mere caretaker. No other caretaker champion has ever received that level of approval from the fans and especially not a hell one. For WWE to call our reaction hasty or even undeserved they may as well spit in our face.

What is left for Dolph Ziggler after Money in the Bank? If he doesn’t become the new World Heavyweight Champion then I fear for his future. With SummerSlam on its way, Dolph Ziggler could get a huge advantage from the exposure the event brings and as World Heavyweight Champion, he could be WWE’s next big thing. Sadly though I don’t see that happening. WWE see Alberto Del Rio as a much better bet for its company’s future which leaves the man who put up with all their shit in 2012, completely in the dark.

I’m just not feeling Alberto Del Rio at the moment. His performances have left me cold over the last few months. This may be to do with his lack of care for what he’s doing – does he look bothered to you? – or it may be to do with what WWE are doing to him with the loss of the Championship and then suddenly, out of the blue, winning it back for no reason. It’s true that Alberto Del Rio hasn’t done himself any favours with his in ring performances lately but a headline star should be received as such, no matter how bad he’s been. And Del Rio hasn’t had that reception. If anything, most people see Alberto as a mere fix to a long term problem.

Recent events around Alberto Del Rio have hampered his image somewhat. For those not yet in the know, Alberto Del Rio’s ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez has been suspended by WWE for thirty days for violating its wellness policy. Yes, they found un-prescribed drugs in his system. This is just baffling seeing that if there is a good reason to take drugs, which there isn’t, then WWE wrestlers have it. Rodriguez doesn’t have any injuries he needs to heel and therefore there is no good reason for him to be found with the substance in his system. Welcome to the maddening world of WWE. To cover for Rodriguez’s mishap, WWE have had to write him out of WWE television with a storyline injury.

Ricardo Rodriguez though, could be a blessing in disguise for Alberto Del Rio. Away for thirty days, WWE could conjure up a really good storyline for Ricardo’s return to the company. Alberto Del Rio could be given a huge leap in image if when Ricardo returns; he begins to play the heel manager in the vein of Queen Sharmell. For those who don’t remember Queen Sharmell, she is the real life wife of Booker T who was then King Booker. Sharmell’s turn was done to perfection in 2006 when Booker T was in line for a World Heavyweight Championship shot. Gradually, Sharmell would get more heelish each week until Booker T was forced to stick up for her. The resultant action saw Booker become a heel also. Though that is where WWE should cut Del Rio off.

Alberto Del Rio needs to play the martyr. He needs to elicit sympathy from the audience so they stand up for him. So they cheer for him, because the luke warm reception he gets now isn’t good enough. That could be effectively done with a Ricardo heel turn. Everyone loves Ricardo and we’ve how much the Del Rio character cares for him. So if Rodriguez was to manufacture a fake beat down of him with Del Rio’s next opponent only for Del Rio to make the save and Rodriguez to cost him the Championship, that would all but put the cherry on top of the cake. People would despise Ricardo and Alberto Del Rio would be felt sorry for. It’s another of those time honoured storyline that work.

Without something different to his bow, Alberto Del Rio is going to grow stale fast. We all saw how quickly he ran out of steam as a heel and that is when the jeers could be explained. Can you imagine how quickly he’s going to run out of steam as a face unless WWE constantly adapt him and add to the character? This face turn was made because it was seen as the final step for Del Rio. After failing as a heel, largely thanks to WWE’s treatment, the company knew something had to be done fast. The face turn may have been hasty and handled appallingly but it happened and his first act as face was to dethrone Big Show of the World Heavyweight Championship. It was a step up for Del Rio and the fans began to see a different side to him. That side though, in July 2013 has been well and truly seen and used. Alberto Del Rio is becoming predictable and in wrestling that is the worse things he could become.

I have heard a number of names thrown around for Del Rio’s next opponent. Rob Van Dam, Randy Orton, Wade Barrett or whoever walks out of Money in the Bank with the contract for a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. After that though, what? With Alberto Del Rio’s skills, should WWE allow him to use them effectively, then he could be a force to combat Brock Lesnar. Del Rio really does have all those UFC moves in his locker and if WWE pushed him as a no nonsense tough guy then Brock Lesnar may find he really does have competition after all.

Winners Prediction: Alberto Del Rio

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match

(c) Curtis Axel vs The Miz

Next to The Shield, Curtis Axel is the WWE’s best new comer of the entire year. Instead of picking up where they left off with him as Michael McGillicutty, thus jobbing him out to everyone and anyone on ‘Superstars’, WWE have yielded to public demand and give us a wrestler to look forward to in the future. Sure, I doubt his push will last any great length of time and WWE will tire of him as they do every new recruit who passes through the doors in favour of pushing old talent, but hey, they’ve made the effort at least.

The son of Mr. Perfect has all the talent in the world. Just like his father, he should go straight to the top of industry in the next few years, if WWE can keep their enthusiasm with him up. A strong showing in the Intercontinental Championship division should see Axel convincingly defeat every big name star from Randy Orton to Daniel Bryan. A move which should bring some authenticity back to the Intercontinental Championship. This time around, something WWE didn’t do with Wade Barrett, the company need to have Axel look strong as Champion and I’m confident that will be accomplished with Paul Heyman by his side. With Curtis Axel, WWE must play their hand of cards differently.

This means that they cannot book an Intercontinental Championship Match on a pay-per view Pre-show. They cannot book an Intercontinental Championship change on free television, which diminishes both the feud, the Champion and the Championship and everything they do with the gold and Axel has to culminate on pay-per view. It’s the only way now to really hype the guy, seeing as most of us remember him as McGillicutty. A move unfortunately timed with WWE’s DVD release of ‘WWE Live in the UK: April 2013’ which features a match on Superstars pitting Michael McGillicutty vs Jay Uso. At this present moment in time, WWE really didn’t need to remind us of Henning’s past character in the company.

It was a shrewd move by WWE to put Paul Heyman with Axel, who, for all tense and purposes has taken C.M Punk’s place in the Heyman stable. Paul Heyman is a wrestling genius and can ably manage Axel as a superstar. With his mannerisms, his expressions, his killer mic skill, Paul Heyman can immediately elevate any star that is associated with him. This is why I believe WWE should create a storyline in which Paul Heyman recruits some of WWE’s youngest talent, including Rhodes, Sandow and Cesaro and wage war on the WWE. Only this time, let’s have it better written and booked than the promising yet poorly executed WCW / ECW invasion of 2001.

Having Curtis Axel walk out of Payback as Intercontinental Champion was the correct decision by WWE. With Barrett potentially heading for a main event push, WWE needed to reinvent the Intercontinental Championship division quickly. Curt Henning managed to help carry on the tradition of great Intercontinental Champions and so will his son. It just needs a really big feud. So who is there? As SummerSlam steadily approaches, I’m sure everyone would agree that Triple H would be the perfect opponent for Axel. ‘The Game’ hasn’t properly tried to exact revenge for the loss by stoppage the night after Extreme Rules 2013. And with the McMahon family seemingly heading into meltdown in another rift storyline – like we haven’t had enough – which we’re hearing may feature The Rock at WrestleMania 30, Triple H challenging Curtis Axel at SummerSlam, without the blessing of Vince McMahon and his wife who could be used in this feud to warn Triple H against doing so, could be huge.

If Triple H were to enter SummerSlam to challenge Axel for the gold in a high, upper card position, and lose to Axel by pinfall clean in the middle of the ring, then just imagine how much good that would do Henning in the long run. The man who went one on one with Triple H at SummerSlam and retained the Intercontinental Championship against one of the very best ever. Of course, this would also have a huge effect on the Championship. At the moment, WWE have no one of note challenging for the gold and even though Miz is a great wrestler, he’s not got the name anymore to make a huge impact. But if Triple H were to make it his intention to challenge for the gold, whilst dropping in lines like he’s not interested in the top Championships but wants to deprive Henning of one of the most prestigious Championships in history, then bam. Immediately, everything would be gold.

Like Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns, Axel has a huge future ahead of him, finally, in WWE. He’s been booked correctly, his in ring performances are better than average and if WWE can capitalise on all of this with a huge feud, then mark my words. By the time WrestleMania 30 rolls around, we will have a brand new star on out hands. Maybe even someone who could headline the show. Because this time it wouldn’t be a splash in the pan. Curtis Axel is the real thing.

What does Miz have to do to catch a break in WWE? He’s given his time to the company both in the ring and out. He’s done job after job for no names and still, he’s constantly booked on the Pre-show of a pay-per view after WWE promised us that his push back to the top was nigh. His twenty four hour Intercontinental Championship reign at WrestleMania 29 made him look like a real moron who couldn’t hold onto a Championship for longer than one night and more than that, Miz came across as a fluke Champion. But then again, that is how WWE have been booking him since his very first day in the company.

Thinking back, I cannot remember a time when Miz either won or defended a Championship convincingly without help. First he had John Morrison as a tag team partner and used him as a foil in which to retain the tag team championships. A similar pattern which continued with Big Show when the pair captured the doubles gold. Then Miz had Alex Riley in his corner and I lost count of the times Miz used Riley to retain the WWE Championship, not to mention cashing in on Randy Orton when ‘The Viper’ was injured – once again, making him look like a fluke champion. Not to mention all the times Miz cheated to win and retain the WWE United States Championship and WWE Intercontinental Championship.

From beginning to end, WWE have blatantly refused to make Miz look like star where Championships are concerned. WrestleMania 29 may have been the first time Miz actually won a Championship without help and instead of having him retain it until Payback, making him look like a worthy champion, WWE added insult to injury by booking him as fluke yet again, losing the gold twenty four hours later. Anyone else would look at their status in WWE and see what else is out there in other organisations. I’m sure Miz would fit in well in TNA or even Japan. But he has a contract to see out and the size of the engagement ring on Maryse’s finger didn’t come cheap. He’s still got that little lot to recoup before he thinks about going elsewhere.

Maybe Miz is hanging on, hoping he will catch the attention of WWE again and be spring boarded into the main event. Judging by his treatment over the last few months, Mr. Pre-show is staying exactly where he is. Miz has only wrestled on two of the last five pay-per view main bodies, Elimination Chamber and Payback. He was booked on the Pre-show of Royal Rumble, WrestleMania 29 and Extreme Rules. Whilst Miz did compete in the Royal Rumble match, his singles and most important match of the night transpired before the show went on air. Right now, everyone sees Miz as a minor player despite the face he is a former WWE Champion.

When Miz turned face, it seemed as if no one had told the man himself. He still smirked in the ring and for a while wrestled like a heel, though he’s made the change now. Instead of backing up the change with a flawless storyline which Miz could have gotten his teeth into and backed up in the ring, WWE decided instead to stick him in a pointless segment on Smackdown, yet another superstar chat show segment in Miz-TV! What was the point of that someone please tell me. It’s a waste of time completely and Miz is much too good for the role he currently occupies. If this is WWE doing everything it can to make him a star then I’d hate to think where Miz would be if the company held a grudge against him.

As for Money in the Bank, I’m sure Miz will put on a show, he always does, it’s just a shame no one backstage is watching and constantly thinking what could be done with the talent on display. Instead those at the Gorilla position, which include Vince, Stephanie and Triple H seem to either look away or use Miz’s matches to sort out any other business backstage. Because if they did watch closely then he wouldn’t be in the position he is now. Miz won’t leave Money in the Bank as WWE Intercontinental Champion this time around, but if he and Axel can put on a match superior to the fine effort Miz and Wade Barrett showcased on the WrestleMania 29 Pre-show, then maybe Miz may begin to change the higher powers mind about him.

Winners Prediction: Curtis Axel

Chris Jericho vs Ryback

Out of all the matches which will transpire at Money in the Bank, this is the only match which has nothing at steak. All the Championship matches have gold on the line and the two Money in the Bank Ladder Matches have a guaranteed Championship shot going for them. This though, is beginning to resemble something that WWE have swiftly come up with, to cover for the fact they don’t have anything else for Jericho or Ryback. Certainly after Chris Jericho’s feud with Fandango so low down the card and Ryback’s main event feud with John Cena, for the pair to be here on the card, points to a down turn in interest from the booking team.

Chris Jericho has been random as of late and that is the best way I can describe him. His feud against Fandango was lacklustre by even his standards and on Raw and Smackdown Jericho has looked like he belongs in the lower divisions rather than the high card spot he occupies at Money in the Bank. That though isn’t Chris Jericho at all. Not the Chris Jericho I used to watch and love. The only possible explanation I can derive from this, knowing how much Jericho loves the sport is that recently, thanks to WWE’s booking and usage of the man. We all know how good Chris Jericho can be in the ring, but WWE have not used him, at least this time around, to his full potential.

It’s well documented that WWE and Chris Jericho had a spat before he signed on to return at the Royal Rumble this year. With WWE wanting the rights to Fozzy, Jericho’s band, and Y2J refusing to hand over what WWE practically demanded probably out fear of being known as the man who began WWE’s venture into music – what a disaster that would be – the two parties were at a stalemate. Did WWE really expect Jericho to hand over his outside interests to the company who have so many failed exploits? Or, in actually fact, were they just testing Jericho to see how far he would go before he snapped? Either way, WWE didn’t get Fozzy and I can almost guarantee that when Chris Jericho signed the contract and WWE had him on board, already having lost the battle, revenge was on their mind.

I will never ever know why a wrestling company buries talent it needs to survive on, but that’s what has happened to Chris Jericho, even if at first glance it didn’t seem so. The Royal Rumble was a huge success for Chris Jericho even though he didn’t walk away with the WrestleMania main event in hand. Entering at number two, Chris Jericho made his way back into the WWE to a thunderous reception from the crowd. Throughout the match, the audience were staunchly behind the returning Jericho and even booed loudly when he was finally eliminated from the thirty man over the top rope match. Reasonably, things could have gone from strength to strength for Jericho had WWE not wanted to punish him for not handing over the band and everything that goes with them. They had lost the battle but they were not going to let Chris Jericho win the war.

It’s anyone’s guess whether the feud against Fandango was another attempt to punish the former Undisputed WWE Champion or not, but 3MB are definitely an attempt to take the piss out of what WWE perceive what Chris Jericho sees himself as. It could have worked out for the best had Chris Jericho found some enthusiasm from somewhere to make Fandango. I will give you that he did a good job at Extreme Rules but by that time it was already too later. WrestleMania 29 was the place to make the impression and the youngster, but on the night, Chris Jericho may as well have not turned up. It was desperately disappointing for the viewing audience and Fandango himself who was relying on Chris Jericho to do what he had done so many times before.

It was short sighted by Jericho not to have a hand in making Fandango at WrestleMania 29 and a touch selfish. But then again it’s not the first time Jericho has been selfish in the ring. At SummerSlam 2012 he fought Dolph Ziggler in a match which would have made Ziggler had he allowed Dolph to go over him on the night. Instead, Jericho came out on top and lost the next night on Raw to Ziggler. The fact still remains though that Chris Jericho should have refused to beat Dolph Ziggler at SummerSlam 2012 and pledged to help Fandango. Spotting that one of their oldest and most reliable hands had failed to do what they set out for him to do, WWE instead decided to rehash yet another feud between Jericho and Punk at Payback. Did the company really believe that Chris could only shine in his later years if he was opposed by one of the company’s very best in the present day? If so, then it’s not a good sign.

Now, Chris Jericho has the chance again, to give something back. Ryback may not be the most deserving opponent and unless he ups his game doesn’t have hope in hell’s chance of succeeding in WWE, but he is new and can still be saved if WWE do this the right way. Ryback has already lost to Chris Jericho on WWE television, but that doesn’t necessarily have to matter. Like we’ve said time and time again, it’s on pay-per view where it really counts. If Chris Jericho enters Money in the Bank in the right frame of mind and with the soul purpose of making a star in WWE, then all will be forgiven. If he enters Money in the Bank, is sloppy and highlights Ryback’s faults then he may as well pack his bags and head for the exit door. Because Jericho has no more use in WWE.

What is needed on the night is a career performance of a lifetime by Jericho. Ryback doesn’t possess the ability to help himself in the ring so it will be left to Jericho to do the honours for him. Chris Jericho needs to sell every move like it’s the end of his career to give Ryback some clout back. John Cena has taken almost every inch of credibility Ryback had as a wrecking machine, but with some work it could all be restored. That isn’t to say that Jericho has to take all the punishment on June 14th. It would do Ryback good to fight back from some of that offence which made Jericho an Undisputed and World Heavyweight Champion. If anything, Ryback would look stronger for it.

Money in the Bank could be Chris Jericho’s final chance to do something worthy in WWE. If he refuses to do so then he’s surplus tom requirements and merely taking up space which is needed elsewhere and by other. Should Jericho leave Money in the Bank having made a new star then he will have justified the last seven months of his career and prove that he is still a team player.

Ryback irks me greatly. He looks the part, at time acts the part, but when he gets into the ring, he looks so far from that part its horrible to watch. With all the help WWE have given Ryback at the very beginning you would have thought he’d have learned to do something effectively. Hell, he doesn’t even have to know how execute a move properly. If he just knew how to put an effective match together then it would be a start. At the moment, every Ryback match consists of him overpowering his opponent, no selling their short lived comeback and then putting an end to them and the match as if nothing has happened. Could he be the heel John Cena? If not, then he’s doing a good job of trying to emulate one of WWE’s most successful stars.

When Ryback was created, WWE intended him to be the next Goldberg. That is clear. But what they failed to realise was that Goldberg was expertly built by WCW. Yes, he had the same flaws that Ryback has, in that both WWE and WCW booked their respective stars to work short matches which didn’t prepare them for the long haul of the main event and both men blow up around the same time each match. But unlike Ryback, Goldberg actually learnt something from those around him. Goldberg had Sting, Randy Savage, DDP, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall plus others to learn from. Ryback, it seems, hasn’t been taken under any wrestler’s wing or helped the slightest. In short, Goldberg succeed, Ryback has dismally failed.

It’s baffling when you think that Ryback began life as Skip Sheffield and went through both WWE developmental and NXT on his way to the top. He was even a part of the Nexus invasion of WWE which targeted John Cena to send a message to the company and its stars. WWE took a huge gamble when they repackaged Sheffield and Ryback. He’d been out with an injury but the Skip Sheffield character hadn’t been totally erased from the minds of the WWE Universe. It was a move which worked, thankfully, otherwise Ryback may have been one of the shortest lived characters in WWE history and that is taking in the likes of The Minotaur, Max Moon and Man Mountain Rock. A little nod to the past there for those who remember the golden years.

What can WWE do to reverse what both they and John Cena have done to the character? The obvious answer would be that WWE shouldn’t have fed him to the wolves when his character was still unstable. His loss to C.M Punk at Hell in a Cell 2012 was just the first step on a long trip down the ladder for Ryback. One which didn’t stop. Not wanting hark back on the past, but after his first ever pinfall loss in WWE to C.M Punk inside the devils playground, Ryback then failed to emerge victorious in the triple threat match for the WWE Championship at Survivor Series 2012 when Punk pinned Cena; in the six man Tables, Ladder and Chairs match at TLC 2012 when Daniel Bryan, a member of his team fell to The Shield; Ryback was eliminated last in the Royal Rumble 2013 match by John Cena; once again failed to put pay The Shield in a six man tag team match at Elimination Chamber 2013; lost a rubbish match to Mark Henry by pinfall at WrestleMania 29 – the night he should have been awarded a victory; drew a pants Last Man Standing Match with John Cena at Extreme Rules 2013 and then again, lost a three stages of hell match to John Cena last month at Payback. The damage has been well and truly done.

There is a way out though for WWE and Ryback and it comes in the form of Chris Jericho as discussed above. What WWE really need to do now, if they’re truly behind Ryback becoming the next big thing in WWE is give him a mega push and with SummerSlam one month away, what better time? SummerSlam will draw huge numbers for WWE which means the company have more chance to sell Ryback to a wider audience than they do on a normal pay-per view event. With Daniel Bryan about to lock horns with John Cena for the WWE Championship – presumably – I can only really think of Randy Orton that could get Ryback over in a mega feud. Staving off the Orton heel turn for a while longer may be WWE’s only chance of getting Ryback back into a position from which he can launch a main event assault.

Randy Orton vs Ryback is a viable option right now. It’s fresh, hasn’t been done before and WWE can rely on ‘The Viper’ to convincingly get Ryback over and sell his moves as they need to be sold. After that, Randy Orton can go to WWE bigwigs and demand a main event spot on every card because the number of jobs Orton has done for the entire roster over the last two years is truly staggering. Ryback would leave a feud with Randy Orton, shining brighter than he has ever done before. The John Cena debacle would be a distant memory and maybe we could begin to believe in Ryback. Of course the downside of this is that the very limited Ryback would have to capture the WWE Championship to put a full stop at the end of the push, but hey, sometimes you have kill a whole bed of flowers in order to kill a weed so two beds can grow in its place. If you get my drift.

Money in the Bank cannot all be on Chris Jericho and Ryback must do his part as well. If he times his moves perfectly, sells convincingly and paces himself well then Ryback could lay the foundations of a megs run later in the years and at the beginning of 2014. Maybe, after all this, with the right handling, Ryback could be Money in the Bank for WWE.

Winners Prediction: Ryback

WWE Divas Championship Match

(c) A.J Lee vs Kaitlyn

The WWE Divas Division has taken a turn for the better recently. As both champion and more recently challenger, Kaitlyn has shone. Her offence is sloppy and she needs to slow the whole shebang down a little because she has a tendency to rush everything she does. But, there is promise there and not since Trish Stratus has a Diva shown this much promise in the ring, in such a short time after her debut. On the other side, A.J Lee has been brilliant in her mentally unstable role and her capture of the Championship may have been a little deflating for everyone watching but she too could be huge with a little more work.

Of course, the magic ingredient to WWE’s Women’s Division of the past is that is was overseen by Dave ‘Fit’ Finlay. The Irishman took the time to talk to and help train WWE’s women and in return they repaid Finlay with hard work and dedication. Trish Stratus and Lita are both two great examples of what came out of the Finlay era of WWE’s women. Both are legends in the sport now and both had match after match of such high quality, to the point Trish Stratus vs Lita was the first ever women’s match to main event Monday Night Raw in its illustrious history. Finlay was such an integral part of the women’s division between 2001 and when WWE released him and the dip in quality was on show for all to see.

Only Beth Phoenix and the newly married Natalya ever really stood out in the ring in the last few years and whilst women like Layla, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres to name a few tried their best, they often came across as misguided in the ring and their matches were overtly sloppy. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t like to see Eve return to WWE, because I would. There was a substantial divide between Finlay’s women and WWE’s women. Without old Fit to show them the way, the women of WWE only got the experience of WWE developmental, which wasn’t much at all seeing as those down in Florida Championship Wrestling tend to concentrate more on the men rather than the women. Thus explaining the state of WWE’s Divas Division in 2013.

Now though, Finlay has returned to the company and whilst his role has been kept under wraps it’s widely believed that he has been assigned to the women once again. And why not? It’s where he can do the most good. Once again, with guidance, the Divas division is slowly turning around and for the better. It’s been a long time coming as well. Kaitlyn, Layla, Aksana and even the once hopeless A.J Lee, WWE’s current Divas Champion have begun to up their game.

Kaitlyn has all of the goods to make it in WWE, despite initial reports if her ability being less than favourable. She’s got the looks, the build and the drive to go big; she just needs to put it all together into one lethal package. If Kaitlyn can concentrate on what she’s doing in the ring and not what seems to be a reckless personal life outside it, being arrested for non paid parking tickets and receiving fines for this, that and the other then she can ground herself and her personal life will follow.

What story can WWE possibly give Kaitlyn? Well, when you read on you’ll view my plans for A.J, Langston and Dolph Ziggler for the rest of 2013, reasonably, until WWE can find more Divas who can produce in the ring, Kaitlyn could be used to prolong the feud with A.J, outside the ring. The pair don’t have to face off on every Raw or Smackdown, or even every pay-per view event. If WWE keep the physical interaction between the pair to a minimum then there could be mileage in this feud. If A.J and Langston were to begin a feud, it could be Kaitlyn who catches them out. Kaitlyn could then be used as a go between for Ziggler and A.J and begin to warn Dolph of his cheating girlfriend and best friend behind his back. Of course, at the beginning, Dolph Ziggler wouldn’t believe her and it would take some weeks for Kaitlyn to prove what the pair were up to.

Going with the storyline, Kaitlyn could begin to develop feelings for the wronged Ziggler, thus beginning Dolph’s face turn as he notices the affection Kaitlyn is showing towards him. When it is finally revealed that A.J and Langston are cheating on Ziggler, the pair could beat down Kaitlyn only for Dolph to come to her rescue, turning face on A.J and Langston. After that, WWE could begin a relationship between Ziggler and Kaitlyn which didn’t involve Kaitlyn accompanying Ziggler to the ring, and finally he could fight on his own. For Kaitlyn it would be another side to her, as she’s yet to go down the romantic route with a WWE Superstar, a road which is usually always walked by every Diva before they exit the company.

This could eventually lead to another Dolph Ziggler World Heavyweight Championship reign as a face and then the Kaitlyn heel turn, which would cost Dolph the Championship. It’s a perfect way to build Ziggler up as a star and then take the title off of him without damaging his image and put the spotlight on the Divas division by linking it with the main event scene, thus shedding the spotlight, which is much needed, on the female grapplers.

With the current influx of women in WWE’s ranks, including the promising Paige down in NXT, Kaitlyn could have it made for her. She’s going to be Divas Champion again even if it’s not going to happen at Money in the Bank and WWE have shown trust in her by booking her on several consecutive pay-per view events. In January of this year, one had begun to forget the division even existed thanks to the lack of matches the female of the species were given on WWE’s big events. This is an encouraging sign for WWE and its Divas division.

If WWE bring up their women from NXT and buy in the talents of other females from across the globe, certainly TNA British Boot Camp contestants The Blossom Twins would have been the perfect fit for WWE as would several Japanese ladies who really know how to put it together in the ring, then Kaitlyn would have some real competition on her hands. Better competition would force Kaitlyn to raise her game to Trish Stratus level.

Whilst I’m still undecided on A.J Lee as Divas Champion, I will have to reserve judgment until I’ve seen more of her in the ring. Before A.J won the gold at Payback, she had been inactive as a wrestler for so long that the matches she once contested on NXT and Raw are a distant memory. We’ll see over the next few months whether A.J has got it or not and if she hasn’t then WWE must take the belt away from her and concentrate on those who have. There’s no pressure for A.J to be a wrestler anymore as she has it made by the side of Dolph Ziggler, but it would be nice if she had another string to her bow and for WWE to have another person to rely on in their female division.

A.J is a good fit for the league even if she is a little kooky. Can a character like that really make it as a wrestler and a manager? Personally, I don’t think so. Her mentally unhinged persona needs to be concentrated on one job, doing so on two will make it grow stale quicker and if there’s one thing WWE don’t need right now, is for its Divas division to become stale just after it appears its taking a turn for the better. Like everyone else on the card, what A.J really needs now is a storyline to keep her occupied, something more than being eye candy on Dolph Ziggler’s arm. With Dolph recently wrestling as a face on WWE house shows, a turn could be in the works, which means WWE need something to help turn him.

What better than a love triangle between Ziggler, Langston and A.J? If Ziggler begins to turn and rejects the advances of A.J, thus having her stay in the back whilst he wrestles alone, then behind Ziggler’s back the unstable Divas Champion could begin to be romantically linked with Langston. This would create an air of pity around Ziggler and get us on his side. When Ziggler finally did find out what was going on he could play along as Batista did with Triple H when ‘The Animal’ found out it was Triple H and not JBL behind the attacks in an effort to make Batista choose JBL to fight at WrestleMania 21 instead of ‘The Game’. Ziggler could then, either on Raw or pay-per view, out A.J and level Langston with the ‘Zig Zag’ to what I imagine would be a rapturous ovation.

This could be A.J’s role in WWE for the foreseeable future. Not directly involved in the in ring side of things but helping Dolph Ziggler get to where he needs to be in the company. That would be a hell of an achievement seeing as WWE obviously can’t do the job at hand and A.J may even garner some respect from the WWE Universe for doing so.

Coming away from A.J and Kaitlyn, the question is, what now? How can WWE possibly keep it rolling along and take it to better heights? Keep Finlay in charge and give him free reign over the Divas Division. WWE can’t poke their noses in and interfere if they want it to succeed. Next, hire some more women who can wrestle. I’ve gone over it time and time again and won’t here, but there are hundreds of women in all different countries who could make the division better than this is so WWE should pay the fee for them to work in America. It’s a small price if it’s going to bring long term success. Cutting away the deadwood would be advisable. Currently, WWE have women like Naomi – Brodus Clay’s dancer – competing in the division and it’s not good enough. Making room for those who can get the job done is a must for WWE, plus, getting rid of them and hiring back Beth Phoenix and even Kharma, though they would have to buy her out of her contract, would be the best path to take.

It’s a little too early to predict whether the division is going to be saved or not. But the early signs are good so let’s just hope that WWE don’t think they know best this time around. We all know where that has ended up in the past.

Winners Prediction: A.J Lee

Pre-Show Match

WWE Tag Team Championship Match

(c) Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns vs The Usos

Just when it looks like everything is going well for WWE’s latest influx of new stars, WWE go and shove their most promising stars on the pre-show to what could be WWE’s most exciting pay-per view of the year. In past years, Money in the Bank has been the standout show of the year and whilst I have no reason to doubt this years will be any different, the fact still remains this match should be on the main body of the show, instead of tucked out of the way. Now, the only way anyone will get to see The Shield is if they either tune in via WWE.Com or WWE’s You tube channel or failing that, wait for the Money in the Bank 2013 DVD and Blu-ray release.

It’s a senseless move to book Reigns and Rollins on the Pre-show, in past months the WWE Tag Team Championships have been prominent on pay-per view and television, thus giving them an important image and people are actually beginning to care about the doubles gold again. Here though, all WWE is saying that on a card such as this, the Tag Team Championships and indeed The Shield themselves aren’t important enough to be featured and neither can the company find a space for them. Sheer laziness and shoddy booking. But then again...well, we all know what comes next.

The first train of though, and I hope it’s the correct one, is that the WWE Tag Team Championship match has been booked on the pre-show because of the challengers. Jimmy and Jay Uso aren’t pay-per view material in 2013, we all know that, but surely with Rollins and Reigns as opponents this match would have been respectable at worst. Whilst the Samoan brothers and sons of Rikishi aren’t pay-per view material, they are very good athletes and had WWE booked this match on the main show then it could have been one of the stand out encounters of the night. Both teams would have had a reason to go all out and it could have been a fantastic advert for the tag team division. On the Pre-show though, there is no reason for either team to really put forth a stunning display and it’s just an excuse for the teams to phone in their performances.

As for the match itself, it came about when The Uso’s defeated The Shield in a six man tag team match on the June 28th Smackdown, to become number one contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championships. It was a shock victory, I didn’t think for one minute WWE would put a team as low in the pecking order as The Uso’s over a team as high as The Shield but maybe it was for the best. Whilst The Shield came off the worst in the image department on the night, it did give the Samoan brothers some clout when their challenge to the gild was announced. It’s true, WWE could have gone about announcing The Uso’s as number one contenders in a different and less damaging way to their opponents, for example they could have held a tag team gauntlet match in which The Uso’s entered number one and saw off every other competition.

In hindsight though, maybe it was better the way it panned out. A victory over Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose made The Uso’s legit challengers as they had already pinned The Shield to earn a victory and proved that The Shield hadn’t gotten too big for their boots and were willing to put over lesser talent than themselves. Whilst I can only hope WWE have something stunning planned for Reigns, Rollins and Ambrose after Money in the Bank, I am as sure as I’ve ever been that The Shield will leave the event still WWE Tag Team Champions.

Winners Prediction: Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns

With a strong card, filled with strong matches we could once again be looking at WWE’s best pay-per view of the year. John Cena and Mark Henry have a chance to prove that they can do something worthy in the ring and in the other Heavyweight Championship match of the night, WWE must make Dolph Ziggler look like a real challenger, instead of a fluke who can’t hold onto a main title with the assistance of his bodyguard and main squeeze. If WWE can do both of these things on the night then it can count the event as a success regardless of happenings elsewhere.

The Smackdown Money in the Bank Ladder match must, and I mean must, make at least two news stars before someone grabs the briefcase entitling them to a guaranteed World Heavyweight Championship shot in the future, whilst the Raw Money in the Bank Ladder Match will undoubtedly bring the house down and much like the event itself, be remembered for the homecoming of one of WWE’s favourite sons. With Rob Van Dam coming home, it signals a bright few months ahead in WWE. Let’s just hope he’s shed his weight and can fly like he used to.

With the correct booking and the right results, WWE could find that if they play their cards right with the talent and the scheduled matches, June 14th 2013, for the company, could literally be Money in the Bank.

Onwards and upwards...