Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Trending Topics: The curious booking of the Money in the Bank ladder matches - [a case of the summer]


So this year's two Money of the Bank Ladder Matches are as follows:  For the WWE Championship contract, you have CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus vs. Randy Orton vs. Christian vs. Kane vs. RVD.  For the World Heavyweight Championship contract, you have Dean Ambrose vs. Damien Sandow vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Jack Swagger vs. Antonio Cesaro vs. Wade Barrett vs. Fandango.

Right off the back, something jumps out about this.  Specifically, the VAST difference in the level of caliber and name power competing in the two matches.  In one match, you have (by my count), 23 collective World Championships reigns (and that DOESN'T count the ECW Championship).  Number of World Championship reigns for the other match?  A whopping goose ONE!  And that one is widely regarded as one of the most disappointing World title reigns of the modern era.

But at the very least, they made a story out of it.  Vickie Guerrero pulled a fast one and swooped up all of the top Superstars.  And the silver lining is that guys like Cody Rhodes and Antonio Cesaro -- who I have supported a lot this year -- are getting to participate in a semi high profile PPV match.

So once you get past that, you'll begin to notice something even more curious about the line ups.  And that's the unusual heel/face alignment.  Have you noticed that every single competitor in the WWE Championship Money in the Bank Ladder Match is a face?  And, even stranger, every single person in the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Ladder Match is a heel.  And the match with all the faces are competing for the title held by a face, while the match with all the heels are contending for the opportunity to face the heel champion.

The "All Star" match (see, not even they are mincing words here) is a little easier to follow from a fan's perspective.  First off, you have two guys who act heelish (Bryan and Orton), and a guy who does a magnificent job of changing his alignment based on his opponent (Kane).  And since they're all faces, chances are there will be a contingent of fans rooting for at least one competitor at any given time.

But the heel side?  None of these "bad guys" seem to be heading towards a face turn (I suppose Cody Rhodes is your best shot), so who's left to root for?  Fandango (just based on his generally positive fan reaction)?  It's a bit of a dangerous risk to take.

So, what do you think?  Do we see a turn in either match?  Or will the fans be so torn or indifferent that they just won't respond at all?

No comments: