CM Punk vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Mark Henry (w/ “Mr. USA” Tony Atlas) vs. Finlay (w/ Hornswoggle) vs. Montel Vontavious Porter vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Christian vs. Kane in a Money in the Bank Ladder match
We now come to the biggest show of them all in WrestleMania and we hit a historical landmark with the 25th anniversary of the show, and given the magnitude of the show it was shaping up to be a memorable one to say the least. As has become the norm for WM, we have our MITB match and this is the second time in three years that the match opens the show, and after only having 7 entrants last year we are back to 8 this year. This year’s group was a unique influx of talent from all 3 brands and looking at the field, it seems like Punk is the favorite to be the first to win back-to-back MITBs though I’m sure many though Christian was a dark horse choice.
On the 2/23 RAW, Punk defeated John Morrison and the Miz in a Triple Threat match to qualify and on the 3/2 RAW Kane defeated Rey Mysterio and Mike Knox in a Triple Threat match to qualify. On the 3/3 ECW, Henry defeated Santino Marella to qualify and on the 3/6 Smackdown, MVP defeated Matt Hardy and Benjamin defeated Jeff Hardy to qualify, and on the 3/9 RAW Kingston defeated Chris Jericho to qualify. On the 3/10 ECW, Christian won a tri-branded battle royal to qualify and on the 3/13 Smackdown, Finlay defeated the Brian Kendrick to earn the final spot. Over the next few weeks, the 8 men would trade victories in a series of multi-man tag matches and on the 3/20 Smackdown, MVP defeated Benjamin to win the United States Championship. The build for this match is usually pretty simple as the 8 men trade victories with each other, and again the big story going in was whether Punk would go back-to-back or if someone else would grab the briefcase.
As mentioned, this is the second time in three years that this match opens the show and it was the perfect way to kick off the show, and Punk, Kingston, Finlay, Christian, and MVP get big pops while Henry, Kane, and Benjamin had solid heat as heels. Everyone wastes no time and goes after Kane and Henry to start the match as Benjamin and Christian slide outside, and Kane and Henry clear everyone out of the ring and Henry kicks at Kane as he pounds on him in the corner. He whips Kane into the other corner and splashes him as Benjamin and Christian bring a ladder into the ring and ram it into Henry, and then they ram it into Kane as Kingston rolls back into the ring and he leaps over the ladder before hitting a dropkick that sends the ladder into Christian and Benjamin. He hits the Boom Drop which drives the ladder into both men and he sets the ladder up only for Finlay to toss him to the outside, and Kane hits a big boot on Finlay and goes up one side while Henry goes up the other until Punk, Kingston, Finlay, and MVP come in and brings them down. They send Kane and Henry to the outside as Benjamin brings another ladder into the ring and climbs it only for the other 4 men to do the same, and they brawl at the top until Kane and Henry come in and tip the ladders over which causes everyone to fall to the mat. Kane nails Henry and hits a big boot as he tosses one of the ladders out of the ring and positions the second one, and he climbs up only for Henry to tip the ladder over and hotshots Kane on the top rope as Henry grabs the ladder. Finlay slides back into the ring and avoids Henry tossing the ladder at him as he hits a drop toehold that sends Henry into the middle rope, and he hits a low dropkick that sends Henry to the outside and then he hits a suicide dive onto Kane and Benjamin on the floor. Christian gets in the ring and hits a springboard crossbody onto Kane and Finlay as MVP gets on the apron and hits a somersault senton onto all three men, and Punk and Kingston slide into the ring and hit stereo suicide dives onto everyone on the floor as Benjamin climbs up the giant ladder in the aisle and hits a scary somersault senton onto everyone in a great spot. Henry looks to go up top as Finlay brings the shillelagh into the ring and hits Henry in the head with it, and Atlas gets on the apron and Finlay kicks him to the floor as Hornswoggle brings a stepladder into the ring. He climbs it and gets onto Henry’s back as he hits a Tadpole Splash onto everyone on the floor in a fun spot, and Finlay hits Henry with the stepladder and goes outside as he brings another ladder into the ring and sets it up. Kingston rolls back into the ring and Finlay stomps on him as he whips him into the corner and rams the shoulder into his ribs, and he looks to position the ladder only for Kingston to leap through the ladder with a dropkick to Finlay and he yanks the ladder down onto Finlay. He charges at Finlay who tosses the stepladder at him as Punk gets in the ring and kicks at Finlay before pounding on him, but Finlay gets a shot in and hoists Punk onto his shoulders as he hits a rolling senton onto the ladder. Christian and Kane get on the apron only for Finlay to knock both of them to the floor with the stepladder, and he sets the ladder up and climbs as he kicks Kingston away only for Kingston to hit Trouble in Paradise which knocks Finlay off the ladder. Kingston tries to climb the ladder only for Henry to tip the ladder over and he sends Kingston to the mat, and he hits a headbutt on Kingston and holds the ladder up as Kingston tries to run up the ladder in a great spot. Henry shakes him down and catches him as he hits the World’s Strongest Slam on the ladder and then he sets it up, and he looks to climb only for MVP to grab a ladder from the floor and jab it into Henry’s back before wedging it in the other ladder to create a bridge. He gets in the ring and pounds on Henry as he stomps on him repeatedly and looks to climb only for Benjamin to nail him, and MVP battles back and rams Benjamin into the buckle as he repositions the bridged ladder and looks for a suplex which Benjamin escapes. MVP shoves him and Benjamin slides under the ladder as he gets a kick in and he climbs onto the bridged ladder, and he leaps off only for MVP to catch him in a powerbomb and he climbs up as Punk gets in the ring and climbs up the other side. He pounds on MVP and kicks at his leg as Christian pulls MVP to the mat and hits a clothesline before grabbing at Punk, but Punk kicks him away and Christian climbs onto the bridged ladder as he pounds on Punk and tries to climb over him. Punk puts Christian on his shoulders though Christian escapes and hits the Killswitch off the bridged ladder in a great spot, and Kane props another ladder against the bridged ladder and catches a kick attempt from Benjamin who hits a spin kick. MVP climbs up the ladder as Benjamin climbs up the outside ladder to the bridged ladder and he meets MVP at the top, and he pounds on MVP and attempts a sunset flip powerbomb though it gets botched as both men fall off the ladder in a nasty spot. MVP pounds on Benjamin who gets a kick in and he hoists him up for a powerbomb before tossing him onto Henry and Atlas on the floor, and Finlay rolls back into the ring as he and Benjamin climb the ladder and Benjamin knocks him onto the bridged ladder. Christian pulls Benjamin to the mat and pounds on him until Benjamin gets a knee in and grabs the bridged ladder, and he sets it up next to the other ladder as he and Christian each climb up and pound on each other until they tip the ladder over. Benjamin falls over the top to the floor as Christian balances himself on the top rope and springs the ladder back into position, and he climbs up as Punk springboards onto the ladders and pounds on Christian who battles back. He rams Punk’s head into the ladder and Punk’s leg gets caught up in the rungs as Christian reaches for the briefcase, but Kane gets in the ring and nails Christian from behind as he climbs up himself and Christian pounds on him. Kane grabs Christian by the throat and hits the Chokeslam off the ladder as Punk frees himself and climbs up again while kicking at Kane, and Kane grabs him by the throat only for Punk to kick at him and shove him off the ladder before retrieving the briefcase and he wins the match.
The match itself was excellent as all 8 men worked hard and put on a really fun MITB match. There was a good mix of styles in the match and everyone got some time to shine, particularly Kingston as he was the big star of the match with some of the spots he delivered and you can say he in essence usurped that spot from Benjamin who looked good as well. Finlay, Henry, and MVP also got some good shine in the match even though they had the lowest chance to win the match, and if anyone Kane was kind of the odd man out as he didn’t really do a whole lot until the end. Looking at the field, Punk seemed like the obvious choice though it did seem like Christian was the fans’ choice to win as he seemed ready to finally be a main eventer after making his surprise return the previous month, but in the end Punk does end up winning and now it will be interesting to see if he can not only have a successful cash-in, but parlay it into a better title reign than he had the previous year. The crowd was red hot for the whole match and they were really behind Christian, but they did pop for Punk when he won though there were some noticeable boos as well. Punk wins the Money in the Bank match for the second year in the row and now we wait to see when he will cash it in.
Final Grade: ****1/2
