Supercard of the Year
This is the pay per view that featured a super hot main event that is also became the match of the year, two insanely fun Money in the Bank-style ladder matches, a better than expected Divas bout, the inspired start to Mark Henry’s Hall of Pain and part four of the epic Christian-Randy Orton rivalry.
It is hard to screw up a Money in the Bank Ladder Match, and the two included here did not disappoint. The World Heavyweight Title one included a sick powerbomb from Sheamus onto Sin Cara through a ladder. The WWE Title one included Evan Bourne hitting a crazy Shooting Star Press off a ladder onto various opponents on the outside.
This show also kicked off the monster (no pun intended) push of Mark Henry as he injured the giant Big Show and “broke” his ankle. It kicked Henry’s Hall of Pain push into high gear and led him to winning the World Heavyweight Title two months later.
Christian also won his second World Heavyweight Title, defeating Randy Orton via disqualification. It was won via dubious means, but it kept their red-hot rivalry going that spanned two more big time matches in their feud of the year candidate.
But it was the main event that cemented this show. Set in CM Punk’s hometown of Chicago, Illinois, the top-of-his-game Straight Edge Superstar defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship in his last night in the company. In the final minutes of the match, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon and Executive VP, Talent Relations John Laurinitis came out to observe the ending. Cena locked Punk in the STF and Laurinitis called for the bell a la the original Montreal Screwjob from 1997, but Cena said he did not want to win that way. Cena then knocked Laurinitis out, but in the confusion Punk hit Cena with the Go 2 Sleep and got the pinfall. McMahon then called out Alberto Del Rio to cash in his freshly-won Money in the Bank contract. Del Rio ran down to the ring but Punk clocked him with a punch as soon as he hit the ring. Punk then escaped into his hometown crowd as the pay per view ended.
It cemented the Summer of Punk as one of the best stories of the year, put CM Punk up to that tippy-top status and capped off a near five star match to boot.
It doesn’t get much better for a WWE pay per view.
Event Results:
- In the dark match that happened before the pay per view went live on the air, Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov beat WWE Tag Team Champions Mike McGillicutty & David Otunga in a non-title match.
- In the opening match, Daniel Bryan defeated Wade Barrett, Sin Cara, Kane, Cody Rhodes, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater and Sheamus in an eight man Money in the Bank Ladder match. Bryan now holds a contract for a World Heavyweight Championship match for any time up to a year.
- WWE Divas Champion Kelly Kelly pinned Brie Bella after hitting the K2.
- Mark Henry pinned The Big Show after a big splash. Post-match, Henry continued to attack and “Pillmanizes” Big Show’s ankle with a chair. Show was then taken away via stretcher.
- Alberto Del Rio defeated Rey Mysterio, R-Truth, Alex Riley, Evan Bourne, The Miz, Kofi Kingston and Jack Swagger in an eight man Money in the Bank Ladder match.
- Christian defeated World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton by disqualification when Orton kicked Christian below the belt in front of the referee. But as a result of a pre-match stipulation, Christian became World Heavyweight Champion due to the disqualification.
- CM Punk defeated John Cena to become the new WWE Champion.
Honorable Mentions:
WWE WrestleMania XXVII, TNA Destination X ‘11, TNA Bound For Glory VII, WWE TLC ‘11, ROH Death Before Dishonor IX, CHIKARA High Noon, WWE Survivor Series ‘11
Previous Winners:
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