LIVE Money in the Bank thoughts - July 14, 2013

10:49 - Well as I said, Randy Orton needed this victory more than anybody in the match.  That isn't to say he was the best person to win, though.  Having said that, I don't really have any issue with it.  If nothing else, the match told a series of really great stories.  Heyman finally turned on Punk and Bryan continued his journey to becoming a huge star.

10:24 - I liked the beginning, with everybody teaming up against one person in order to eliminate them, before dissecting into two different pairings.

10:21 - I'm highly disappointed.  It doesn't appear that ANYBODY in this main event is wearing new gear tonight.  And Punk still has that weird Wolverine sideburns thing going on.

10:15 - This is likely the toughest match to predict.  Do they go with the "sentimental" favorite in RVD?  The guy who has the most momentum in Daniel Bryan?  Or the guy who is most in need of a boost in Randy Orton?  I'm going to go with Bryan.

10:08 - Not surprised to see Cena win here.  I AM a bit surprised that we saw some edge to him tonight by not releasing the STF right away and shoving the ref when he was getting yelled at.  I'm always for adding a little edge to his character.

9:59 - By the way, Cena wins this.  A heel has won every single match so far.  No way Cena doesn't retain.

9:47 - Don't get me wrong....I LOVE the idea of a match that CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and Christian are in closing the show over John Cena, but I have the same complaint as I did last year:  Having the ladder match AFTER the title match kills the suspense of seeing a potential cash in.  From a story telling perspective, it makes no sense.

9:45 - Wow.....a non-Rock, non-Brock match is closing over John Cena tonight!

9:41 - Sensible ending.  World Championship stays on Del Rio, but Ziggler had victory in his grasp.  I understand the need to break up Ziggler and AJ, since one is a face and the other is a heel, but I think it would have been wiser to just have AJ come out with Ziggler like normal and done the same ending.  That way, you have the motive for a break up without Ziggler looking jerky when she comes out.

9:38 - I don't really get Ziggler's reaction here.  Yes, her music playing was a bit distracting, but otherwise AJ didn't do anything wrong.  Ziggler turning to AJ and demanding she leave did more to distract him than anything she did.

9:34 - Who would have guessed that Ziggler would be THIS great a fit as a babyface?

9:23 - I like when Dolph has specialty shirts made in colors different than the ones sold on WWEShop.com.  Like when he had a pink shirt made, when the official shirt was black.

9:20 - I'm guessing we see three babyface wins for the final three matches.  Ziggler wins, but I haven't decided yet if he actually wins the title.

9:17 - Unlike most of the prior matches, where I said "the right person won," for this match I would say "the person who needed the win more won."

9:14 - Then again, every single match thus far has seen a heel win.  Would they do that AGAIN?  I just don't see Ryback losing another match.

9:03 - Tough to predict who will win Jericho vs. Ryback because both lose virtually all of their big PPV matches.  Theoretically, they both need a win.  I guess I am going with Ryback, since he's not yet established and thus would be hurt more by another loss.

8:59 - YAYYYY!  Another clean win for the right person!  With all of these clean heel wins and retained titles, I'm thinking there's a good chance that Ziggler wins the World Heavyweight Championship tonight.

8:50 - AJ Lee BETTER win this one!!  I won't even bet against her.

8:48 - Thrilled to see Curtis Axel win this match clean.  But, again, why not let him just use the Perfect Plex as a finisher?

8:45 - I really wish they didn't have people constantly kicking out of the Perfect Plex.  It's an immediately legitimate finisher.  Why waste that?

8:36 - Odd segment.  Like the all heel Money in the Bank match, who were we supposed to root for there?  Brad Maddox was making fun of Vickie, or Vickie for being made fun of?  By the way, new gear for the Miz!

8:29 - A lot of people on Twitter are calling this Cody's coming out party.  I certainly hope that's true.  Rhodes has done an awesome job with three very distinct characters.  It's incredibly unfortunate that he's been so much of an afterthought this year.

8:26 - Let's get all of that blood off of you before we sell that heartbreaking betrayal!

8:24 - New prediction:  Sandow costs Cody the match and wins it.

8:23 - I'm glad the Shield came out, because I kept asking myself why they wouldn't just come in and do that.

8:20 - Really, REALLY fun match so far.  But what does Swagger benefit from helping Cesaro win the briefcase?

8:10 - None of these heels are particularly likable or sympathetic, so I'm wondering who the fans will pull for.  Philly is a smart crowd, so Ambrose seems like a likely person.  Kinda surprised to hear "We the People" chants, though.

8:05 - This is a tough match to predict because the direction of all of the competitors and the title they're competing for are so inconsistent.  I'd love to see Cody Rhodes win, and if not him, Antonio Cesaro.  However, smart money is on Dean Ambrose or quite possibly Damien Sandow or Fandango.  I don't think Swagger or Barrett have a shot.  My official pick is Ambrose.

8:03 - Considering how blatantly the World Heavyweight Championship match AND that title's Money in the Bank match is completely glossed over, what's the purpose of even keeping it around?  Why not just unify the titles?

8:02 - I really wish CM Punk would just grow back his full beard.

7:58 - Not surprisingly, the Smackdown Money in the Bank Ladder Match is kicking off the show.  If that's not enough of a slap in the face, some (all?) of the entrances won't even take place on the PPV.

7:54 - Worth noting that I really like the new format of WWE's PPV pre-shows.  It's been said by others but I agree -- why not use a portion of the three hours of Raw for this panel-style discussion?  I understand the resistance to do it for the entire first hour, because people might write it off.  But why not devote 8:45 to 9:30 or something an intermission?  It'll at least break things up and give people a rest (although I understand why that would be rough for the live audience).

7:50 - Really great, fun opening match.  The right team won -- and cleanly, thankfully -- but I'm glad the Usos got a little big show exposure.  Hopefully they don't fade into oblivion, as they had some creative spots throughout the mach.  Cool that these two teams got a "This is awesome" chant as well.

7:43 - Odd that the Shield are on the babyface corner of the ring.

7:38 - Kinda lame that the pre-show has commercials.  It also just occurred to me that John Cena -- after getting "fired" by Wade Barrett -- said he looked forward to spending time with his family.  Then proceeded to appear on Raw as usual.  How is that much different than what Mark Henry did?

7:37 - Catching the pre-show right now with the Usos against the Shield.  I'm guessing the Shield takes the win here.  As they should.