Money in the Bank 2011: CM Punk Leaves Chicago with the WWE Championship

The SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match opens the show with the kind of escalating chaos the concept needs, but Daniel Bryan's eventual victory gives the spectacle a surprisingly personal payoff. Sheamus creates the most violent image by powerbombing Sin Cara through a ladder bridged near the announce area, while Kane, Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett and the remaining field repeatedly interrupt one another's climbs. The closing sequence narrows the chaos to Bryan, Rhodes and Barrett. Bryan traps Rhodes in a guillotine atop the ladder, fights Barrett off with elbows and then kicks him away. He unhooks the briefcase to win the World Heavyweight Championship contract. The result is both a strong surprise and historically important because the contract eventually leads to Bryan's first world-title reign in WWE.

Kelly Kelly and Brie Bella receive less than five minutes for the Divas Championship, so the match functions mainly as a clean title defense between the two larger attractions. Brie works from the challenger position with Nikki Bella at ringside, while Kelly uses quicker offense and keeps the match from becoming dominated by outside distraction. There is not enough time for a substantial control segment or layered closing stretch. Kelly eventually catches Brie with the K2 and scores the pin. The champion retains decisively, which is preferable to a Twin Magic escape or disqualification on a card already carrying several complicated stories. The limitation is simply scale: the match is competent, but its short runtime and modest stakes leave very little lasting pay-per-view value.

Mark Henry's six-minute match with Big Show is less about intricate wrestling than about convincing the audience that Henry has become a genuinely dangerous upper-card force. Big Show's size makes that task meaningful because Henry cannot simply overwhelm a smaller opponent and call the transformation complete. The match stays compact and power-driven, with both men working around slams and short bursts rather than extended sequences. Henry lands the World's Strongest Slam for a two-count, then hits it again and follows with two running splashes for the clean pin. The post-match attack is even more important. Henry wraps a chair around Big Show's ankle and crashes down onto it, advancing the Hall of Pain character that becomes the defining run of his career.

The Raw Money in the Bank ladder match is faster and more compressed than the SmackDown version, with eight wrestlers constantly creating new threats around the briefcase. Evan Bourne supplies the signature aerial moment by hitting Air Bourne from a ladder onto the field outside, while The Miz appears to suffer a knee injury and later returns on one leg to make a dramatic climb. The final stretch centers on Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio unmasks Mysterio during their fight at the top, knocks him into another ladder and tumbles down in the same exchange. He recovers first and unhooks the briefcase. The finish gives Del Rio the WWE Championship contract that eventually becomes central to the SummerSlam aftermath.

Christian and Randy Orton continue their outstanding 2011 series with a title match built around one unusually dangerous stipulation: Christian wins the championship if Orton is disqualified or if the officiating is poor. Christian immediately tests the rule by introducing a chair and later survives another counter-heavy stretch that matches the quality of their previous bouts. He lands the Killswitch for a major near-fall and keeps looking for ways to provoke Orton emotionally. The decisive moment comes when Christian spits in the champion's face. Orton loses control, kicks Christian low and is disqualified, transferring the World Heavyweight Championship. The post-match attack is vicious, but the finish works because Christian wins by exploiting the exact weakness the stipulation was designed to expose.

CM Punk and John Cena produce one of WWE's defining main events by combining a hostile Chicago crowd, a real contract deadline and a championship story that makes every interruption feel dangerous. The match takes more than thirty minutes to reach its decisive stretch, giving both wrestlers room to survive signature offense without exhausting the audience. Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis eventually appear and attempt to manufacture a screwjob while Punk is trapped in the STF. Cena refuses the tainted victory and attacks Laurinaitis. When he returns to the ring, Punk catches him with the Go to Sleep and scores the pin. Punk then blocks Alberto Del Rio's attempted cash-in, blows McMahon a kiss and leaves through the crowd as WWE Champion.