| Company | WWE |
| Event | Money In The Bank 2012 |
| Series | Money In The Bank |
| Edition | 3 |
| Format | Pay-Per-View |
| Date | Sunday July 15 2012 |
| Venue | US Airways Center |
| Location | Phoenix, Arizona, USA |
| Attendance | 9,000 |
WWE Money In The Bank 2012
WWE Money In The Bank 2012 had a tough act to follow after the incredible MITB 2011 card which, to die-hards at least, has gone down as an all-time great PPV. Could MITB 2012 equal or surpass the previous edition? No. But it did manage to provide sufficient entertainment that made it an adequate show when judged on its own merits.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS TV SHOWS? READ OUR PRE-PPV REVIEWS OF RAW & SMACKDOWN!
Pre-Show
R-Truth & Kofi Kingston vs. Hunico & Camacho
I had forgotten that Camacho was still on the roster at this point, and yet it turns out that he actually hadn’t long debuted alongside Hunico, which demonstrates how little of an impact he had in WWE. This was a non-title affair and a basic showcase for R-Truth and Kofi Kingston to demonstrate how over they were with audiences at this point, especially Truth who had now settled into his position as a comical yet still credible babyface. The champs won (not retained) to keep their momentum going, but we would see the duo on the PPV itself in a non-wrestling form, leading to a scene that had me howling, which I will explain a little later.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS EDITION? READ OUR WWE MONEY IN THE BANK 2011 REVIEW!
Main Show
World Heavyweight Championship Title Shot Money In The Bank Ladder Match
Dolph Ziggler vs. Christian vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Damien Sandow vs. Tensai vs. Santino Marella vs. Sin Cara vs. Tyson Kidd
This was a bit of a random grouping of performers for the latest MITB match, which technically was for the SmackDown MITB briefcase (it was blue, after all, and it pertained to the World Heavyweight Championship which still officially called SmackDown its main home). But while it was hardly bursting with star power, it didn’t mean that the bout itself would be a let-down. In fact, this was an awesome opener with plenty of hair-raising spots. Tyson Kidd managing to leap off the ropes to hit a sunset flip to the canvas was very cool, while Tensai tossing Dolph Ziggler across the announcer’s table area (leading to him bouncing off a swivel chair at an awkward angle) was a mind-blowing visual. Speaking of Ziggler, he was the clear favourite to win here, since Christian had tried and failed numerous times in the past when he was in a stronger position within the company, and with Cody Rhodes having lost some of his momentum since WrestleMania XXVIII. Dolph stood out as the likely candidate to snatch the briefcase, and that he did to a rapturous response. In fact, the commentators even congratulated him warmly as manager Vickie Guerrero also applauded, even though Dolph was actually a heel. Things like that are frustrating to see, but for Ziggler, this was unquestionably a major moment. This would eventually lead to his finest hour, when Dolph successfully cashed in the case on Alberto Del Rio to a thunderous reaction the night after WrestleMania 29.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS PPV? READ OUR WWE NO WAY OUT 2012 REVIEW!
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Sheamus (C) vs. Alberto Del Rio
Mind you, if plans had been a little different, Ziggler might have only waited around 25 minutes to win the WHC rather than waiting nearly nine months. That’s because, after this match ended, Dolph attempted a cash-in, only to be thwarted before the bell could officially ring in a scene that would be repeated way too many times in the months to come. As for this match, WWE were finally able to get Sheamus and Del Rio in the ring together one-on-one (ADR had first confronted Sheamus the night after WM 28, then he was part of a four-way at Over The Limit, and finally he missed a planned title opportunity at No Way Out due to a concussion). Though Vince McMahon was relieved to make this match a reality at long last, the fans didn’t share the same enthusiasm. Del Rio needs a very charismatic, over and fast-paced opponent to truly give him a fantastic outing, and though The Celtic Warrior was trying his best, there was only so much he could do here. In the end, Sheamus hit a Brogue Kick to successfully retain his prize; somehow, Del Rio ended up getting two more ultimately unsuccessful chances at SummerSlam and Night Of Champions.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FIRST EDITION? READ OUR WWE MONEY IN THE BANK 2010 REVIEW!
The Prime Time Players vs. Primo & Epico
After a strong opening match and a significant second bout, the quality level dipped greatly for this pointless tag bout. Primo and Epico’s forgotten babyface turn can be matched only by AW (formerly Abraham Washington) spending no more than two months at the side of Darren Young and Titus O’Neil, who had previously earned a WWE Tag Team Title shot against R-Truth and Kofi Kingston. That match wouldn’t happen until SummerSlam, but the champions did join Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Booker T at the commentary desk to watch this battle and to scout the competition, so to speak. It was the equivalent of a bathroom break in terms of entertainment, even given the slightly surprising ending of Primo rolling up D-Young for the pin. Afterwards, the heels tried to dismiss their loss as being a mere blip, before confronting Truth and Kofi at ringside. This led to the humorous moment that I mentioned earlier: Truth and Kofi sent their upcoming challengers packing after Truth threw water in AW’s face, but in the process, Truth intimated that he was holding back the invisible Little Jimmy, which I personally found to be hilarious, and a forgotten instance of classic wrestling comedy. I’m a big fan of R-Truth, in case you haven’t noticed. Oh, and AW was fired within weeks.
WWE Championship No Disqualification Match – AJ Lee Is Special Guest Referee
CM Punk (C) vs. Daniel Bryan
Next up, we had the blow-off to the fairly long-running feud between CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. By this point, AJ Lee had become a central focus of the story due to her previous storyline alignment with Bryan, which led to some surreal scenes on Raw as the soap opera began to overshadow the potentially-fantastic wrestling action. In hindsight, perhaps the most bizarre occurred on the July 9 episode of Raw as AJ proposed to CM Punk, who turned her down. Not only was it strange to see the lady propose to the guy, and for the then-babyface WWE Champion to turn her down, but of course in 2014 Punk and AJ would get married for real. Only in wrestling could something like this transpire, where AJ was associated romantically with several performers on-screen, and with the one guy who rejected her ending up being the person she would marry in the real world.
AJ was the special guest referee here, and not only did she wish to make Daniel Bryan’s life a living hell, but she also felt snubbed by Punk as well, essentially evening up the odds somewhat. This was evidenced during the match, though not before AJ was accidentally knocked over, forcing her to be taken backstage. When she returned, she brought a steel chair into the middle of the ring and left it there for the two combatants to fight over. In between, she also showed reluctance to count for either man. Nevertheless, she made it to the end as the official of what was a strong and hard-hitting battle, with Bryan’s repeated kendo stick flurry at Punk’s expense being the most memorable moment. Punk was able to continue his already-long reign as WWE Champion after hitting Bryan with a back suplex off the ropes through a table for the three-count (in a finish lifted out of WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007). Punk’s run with the gold would continue all the way to Royal Rumble 2013, where The Rock snapped his reign at 434 days, while AJ would really stick it to Bryan eight days later by being named the new Raw General Manager.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE LATEST EDITION? READ OUR WWE MONEY IN THE BANK 2020 REVIEW!
Handicap Match
Ryback vs. Curt Hawkins & Tyler Reks
Ryback’s growing WWE status had now been upgraded to him facing actual WWE wrestlers on a PPV, rather than steam-rolling through total jobbers on previous supershows. I was surprised at how much offence Hawkins and Reks got in here, even given the two-on-one odds: Ryback should have absolutely demolished two low-carders, but instead he was overwhelmed due to a decent degree before he made the inevitable comeback and won by Shell Shocking Tyler. It hardly did Ryback any damage in the long-run, but it was an early indication that the Big Guy would not be booked to the required standard that could have made him the future face of WWE.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING PPV? READ OUR WWE SUMMERSLAM 2012 REVIEW!
Six-Woman Tag Team Match
Layla, Kaitlyn & Tamina Snuka vs. Beth Phoenix, Natalya & Eve Torres
Honestly, there was nothing to see here. This was just a filler six-woman bout designed to ensure that MITB 2012 edged closer to completing a full three-hour PPV window. Matches like this demonstrate the difference between WWE’s women’s division during the Divas era and during the modern era, because a simple “throw them all in one bout” presentation like this would be greatly frowned upon by fans nowadays. Bac then, they simply looked at their phones while waiting for the main event to start. Layla, the reigning Divas Champion, won by pinning Beth Phoenix, whose WWE days would soon be numbered (which might explain why she lost so many matches in mid-2012).
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING EDITION? READ OUR WWE MONEY IN THE BANK 2013 REVIEW!
WWE Championship Title Shot Money In The Bank Ladder Match
John Cena vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kane vs. Big Show vs. The Miz
The last bout was a unique twist on the MITB concept. This could only feature performers who had previously held a WWE or World Title, meaning that while no new stars would be made, at least all involved were established talents. That included The Miz, who returned from a short absence earlier in the night to announce that he would also compete in the headline attraction, much to the delight of Michael Cole who hadn’t yet completely shed his heel persona. Nevertheless, the hype for MITB 2012 being all about John Cena competing in a MITB Ladder match for the first time (which I personally didn’t feel was a particularly impressive thing) meant that there was only one possible outcome.
Before we got there, we had a decent five-man battle, though it’s definitely one of the weaker MITB matches ever. As a straight-up weapons brawl, this might have seemed better, but judged alongside every other MITB Ladder bout that had come before it, this felt second-rate, even given some of the more eye-catching moments that we witnessed here. One of those concerned the finish, which seemed to occur earlier than planned: Cena and Show were at the top of a ladder, and Cena temporarily held the red briefcase while it was hanging to smack Show in the face. But his sheer strength meant that he snapped the case off of the handle, meaning that he had won the match a few seconds prematurely. He walloped Show once more with it anyway and then celebrated his victory, as well as his achievement of continuing to headline PPVs despite CM Punk being WWE Champion for nearly eight months at that point. Cena would become the first man to unsuccessfully cash in MITB against CM Punk when Big Show interfered, meaning that Cena won by disqualification, but he did not capture the WWE Title.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING TV SHOWS? READ OUR POST-PPV REVIEWS OF RAW & SMACKDOWN!
WWE Money In The Bank 2012 definitely wasn’t as good as MITB 2011, and in terms of standing out in one’s memory for the long-term, it also couldn’t compare to Raw 1000 eight nights later, which was one of the biggest Raw episodes of all-time. However, judged on its three main matches, MITB 2012 was a lot of fun, and the major attractions are worth a rewatch. The rest of the card is best avoided.
WANT TO RELIVE WWE MONEY IN THE BANK 2012? WATCH IT RIGHT NOW ON WWE NETWORK!
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