Choke's Money in the Bank 2016 Predictions and Preview

Posted by: choke Jun 19, 2016 | 1669 views | 0 comments

Just a reminder that the entire Drop the Belt staff will be attending this event live, so that scoring will not be happening until the next morning. Sorry for any inconvenince.

We had great seats at WWE MITB

Had some high expectations when I bought the tickets to the event several months ago, and while those expectations probably won't be met given the overall card, I do think the top matches on the card do have a lot of promise however. Let's get right to it.

PRESHOW: Goldust and R Truth vs Fandango and Tyler Breeze:

I'll be honest I've fast forwarded through just about any/all interactions with these 4 over the last few months so I have no clue what's happened here. I'll go with Golden Truth because the WWE has really been trying to make this a thing for what seems like the last year.

PRESHOW: Dudleyz vs Lucha Dragons

What a terrible pre-show set of matches. I see no reason to tune in before 5. Flip a coin. My coin says Lucha Dragons.

Tag Team Title 4-Way Dance: New Day vs The Club vs Enzo & Cass vs Vaudevillains

I'm going to rule out Enzo/Cass and Vaudevillains off the bat as I think they'll have their chance in the future, but it's just not time yet to move on from New Day as the main story for these titles. So that leaves the Club. Personally I think they should give them the titles on their first title shot just to amplify their impact. What better statement than for them to leave MITB with the tag titles AND a win over John Cena (more on that later). My head says they'll let New Day retain and we'll be seeing that feud extend through Summerslam.

Sheamus vs Apollo Crews

Apollo had quite an impactful debut on RAW right after Mania, but then seemed to fade into the background a bit. I think they've done a good job bringing him back, and a win over Sheamus should get him back on the track that he originally debuted on. The big question is: will the fans continue to not seem impressed? He really needs an injection of personality that's not just "I'm a nice guy" which is how it comes across. Anyway, Crews should take this.

Money in the Bank match: Dean Ambrose vs Kevin Owens vs Cesaro vs Sami Zayn vs Jericho vs Del Rio

Okay in order from least to greatest chance to win

6) Alberto Del Rio: He still can go, but it's just hard to imagine him with the case at this stage in his career
5) Sami Zayn: Running around with the briefcase just doesn't seem like it'd fit him at this juncture
4) Chris Jericho: He's been getting a much bigger push than I ever would have anticipated a few months ago, but it still seems more likely that it'll go to newer, fresher talent
3) Cesaro: The crowd eats him up, and he seems out of the doghouse lately, but the next 2 just seem to be on a path more suitable for the case
2) Ambrose: Arguably the hottest wrestler on the roster right now, for that alone it seems like there's a chance he can win. Also, the title will either be on Reigns or Rollins so the story writes itself. The main reason I don't like Ambrose winning it is that I think the case storyline works best with a guy who will carry it around taunting the title holder for months until cashing it in, which sort of works with Ambrose's crazy side, but works much better with....
1) Kevin Owens: He's just been killing it in the ring and on the mic since he arrived, and the squirrely bad guy with the case role the WWE loves just would fit him so well. It's very close between him and Ambrose, but I'll go with my wishful thinking and say KO takes it.

Baron Corbin vs Dolph Ziggler

Corbin has improved quite a bit from his time in NXT where I could barely stand him. He does still come across unnatural and stiff in interviews at times, but I've enjoyed his character for the most part since his call up to the main roster. Corbin needs this win and it's hard to imagine him not getting it

Rusev vs Titus O'Neil for the US Championship

Rusev is on a roll and I find it hard to believe he will lose the title this soon after winning it. PLUS TITUS TOUCHED VINCE! C'mon man. Rusev retains.

Charlotte and Dana Brooke vs Becky Lynch and Natalya

There is absolutely no reason to have the heels go over here. Becky should get the win over Charlotte to set up her title shot in the coming months. End of story

AJ Styles vs John Cena

John Cena has done his part in making newcomers or rising stars shine in the ring. Just off the top of my horrific memory, I can rememeber him having great matches with Zayn, Cesaro, Damien Sandow, Dolph Ziggler, and I'm sure there are many many others where he really made the other guy look like a superstar. The one problem, is that he never seems to LOSE that match. Other than Kevin Owens beating him last year in their first PPV matchup (I think?), which was STUNNING to most, including me, he usually makes the guy look like a star before burying him with an AA. So I can see that being a thought here. Styles and Cena have a great match only to end in the disappointing, somewhat expected finish of Cena winning. Well much like the Kevin Owens win, I think Styles will win and surprise many in the crowed. Since Styles turned on a dime to his heel character, that leaves the door open for some Club interference or some other nefarious means to the end, which will protect Cena in the end, but I'd love to see it happen clean. Will we see Balor or some other new member of the Club debut? I think they're probably saving that for Summerslam, then again I was convinced we wouldn't be seeing Rollins at Extreme Rules, and I was dead wrong on that one. Speaking of which....

WWE World Heavyweight Title: Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns

I've hated the build up for this. I know the WWE likes to do this every once in a while, as far as having the main event competitors NOT WRESTLE FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH, but I feel in this world it just does a disservice to both. Highlight reels alone don't sell a match to me, I want to see some fists flying and Roman Reigns being put through a table, and subsequently onto a stretcher and into an ambulance. Can you tell I have Rollins on my fantasy team yet? Much to my chagrin I think it's difficult to picture Rollins winning the title back right off the bat. I think this will be a long, drawn out story between all 3 members of the shield, which makes me want to go back and plug in Ambrose as the MITB winner almost. Man, I'm just picturing Ambrose cashing in at the start of tonight's match, or at the end of it, and constantly having Rollins interrupt him, ultimately getting us to a 3 way dance at Summerslam or maybe even all the way at Mania. But I digress. Bottom line: Reigns retains, but Rollins stays in the title picture for the foreseeable future.