WWE Money in the Bank 2015 Preview and Predictions

Ladders.

Giving their thoughts and predictions on what to expect from the PPV are members of the site @JoeySplashwater, @TimWelcomed and @TomBlargh.

R-Truth vs. King Barrett on the kick-off show

Joey:

I have a theory that R-Truth is retiring this year and he’s being randomly inserted in weird situations (WM Ladder match, Elimination Chamber match, the recent Raw promo) on TV before he leaves. As for this match, it is what it is. Fine match that you don’t care much about.

Interest Level: 3/10
Prediction: R-Truth wins.

Tim:

R-Truth legitimately got a laugh out of me on Monday. That doesn’t happen often nowadays. That doesn’t make me care about this match. They are both decent wrestlers so the match should be okay but I doubt I’ll remember it in a week.

Interest Level: 2/10
Prediction: King Barrett Wins.

Tom:

Did Barrett do something to get people cross at him? Or is this just what happen to modern Kings of the Ring(s)? R-Truth being confused is a good time but I don’t have any interest in seeing him wrestle.

Interest Level: 2/10
Prediction: R-Truth wins.

Ryback vs. Big Show for the Intercontinental Championship

Joey:

The set-up for this match has been as great as one could have hoped for. Big Show has been absolutely hilarious on the last two episodes of Raw. Ryback has been a very likeable character lately. As great as the character work has been, I still have no interest in this match based off past history. Hopefully they prove me wrong.

Interest Level: 3/10
Prediction: Ryback wins.

Tim:

I have not enjoyed any bit of this. Ryback is doing fine as a face and is actually tolerable but I just can’t get into him. I sure as hell can’t enjoy The Big Show and his “wit.” I don’t care for either of these guy much when it comes to their wrestling style so this match just isn’t for me.

Interest Level: 1/10
Prediction: Ryback wins.

Tom:

Jesus. JESUS. I’m not ready for this. I’ve enjoyed The Big Show and The Big Guy engage in some Big Banter, but the only matches I want to see them in are ones with mad stipulations. Musical chairs or yo momma joke diss-offs or something. You know what would be best? Just force them to compete in all those mad contests from the first season of NXT, I want to see Ryback and Big Show carrying barrels around the ring and having to dance with the corpse of Mae Young, anything but wrestle.

Interest Level: 1/10
Prediction: Ryback wins.

Nikki Bella vs. Paige for the Divas Championship

Joey:

I’ve finally come around to both bandwagons – Nikki Bella IS excellent and Paige IS overrated. I will be disappointed if Paige wins the title here as I’m not ready for the year of Fearless to end.

Interest Level: 6/10
Prediction: Paige wins.

Tim:

This match should be alright. I guess it’s time for a “change” and Paige gets the title from Nikki. It’s hard to get into the Diva’s division because the characters change so fast with no explanation and the matches never live up to what I think they could be. Nikki Bella is okay. She’s amazing compared to most of Divas on TV. You have people like Summer Rae who I remember thinking was actually a decent talker on NXT, Layla, and Nattie that would probably have great matches with Nikki but it feels like we keep getting Paige over and over. Naomi was a great change of pace and I wish she would have gotten the title. Paige hasn’t impressed on the main roster and I’m tired of these matches.

Interest Level: 3/10
Prediction: Paige wins.

Tom:

I’m literally unable to process the thought of watching any PPV match featuring Paige and either of the Bella Twins, I’m sick of it. I’M SICK OF IT.

Interest Level: 2/10
Prediction: Nikki Bella wins.

The New Day vs. Prime Time Players for the Tag Team Championship

Joey:

The New Day has been stellar as of late but Kofi Kingston will be in the MITB ladder match meaning Big E and Xavier Woods are representing the team. Woods and Big E may provide better character work but in their matches, Kofi still is the leader who leads them to have good matches. I’ll be rooting for a good match because I like the PTP dudes as well but I have little hope for it.

Interest Level: 5/10
Prediction: New Day wins.

Tim:

I’m hoping this will be the match where I can finally get an idea of PTP as wrestlers. I’ve seen them wrestle many times but never feel like they get enough of a showcase for me to really know how I feel about them in-ring. They looked okay in the Elimination Chamber. Their characters can be entertaining sometimes and really cheesy all of the other times. They’ll actually have a decent team to work with here in Woods and Big E so I’m interested in seeing how this plays out but I’m not getting my hopes up too high.

Interest Level: 5/10
Prediction: New Day wins.

Tom:

I’m not sure that the Prime Time Players are very good! They have their moments, but it’s a significant stepdown from seeing New Day feud with Kidd and Cesaro. I’m sorry for being so grumpy in my predictions for this show so far, it just feels like I’ve seen all of this before.

Interest Level: 4/10
Prediction: New Day wins.

Kevin Owens vs. John Cena – Champion vs. Champion

Joey:

Everything I said last month applies to a larger extent. Two of the best wrestlers in the world meeting in a fresh feud in a rematch of a MOTYC. Sign me up. I’m very excited to see how this match plays out whether it being Cena getting his win back or Owens dominance continuing. I’ll be surprised if this isn’t the best match on the show once again.

Interest Level: 10/10
Prediction: Kevin Owens wins.

Tim:

I’m very excited about this rematch. I understand if Cena wins here as I’m sure the story of the match will be good. I would like to think Owens might actually pull off another win here even though I know that’s probably crazy talk. He hasn’t lost a match yet. Now is not the time to take that away. That would create the more interesting story, anyway. Might as well go all the way with him at this point! These two proved they are great together at Elimination Chamber and I can only imagine what this one will be like. Okay, John Cena will probably win…

Interest Level: 10/10
Prediction: John Cena wins.

Tom:

AND NOW TO SOMETHING THAT I’VE SEEN BEFORE BUT I AM VERY EXCITED TO SEE MORE OF. I thought their first match together was fairly fantastic, but I feel like this might be even better. Owens already comes off as incredibly natural and confident in a WWE ring and I think he’ll be careful about making sure that this is something different to the first Cena match, and that could be really interesting to see.

Interest Level: 10/10
Prediction: Kevin Owens wins.

Roman Reigns vs. Kane vs. Sheamus vs. Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Neville in a Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Joey:

I love this weird lineup more than I’ve loved most MITB matches on paper. There are guys who can provide highlights (Neville, Ziggler, Kingston), the former champs (Orton, Sheamus, Kane), and the favorite (Reigns). It’s basically coming down to Roman Reigns vs. the field. Part of me wants to predict Kofi Kingston getting an upset victory but I can’t see WWE resisting the storyline of having Reigns torment champion Seth Rollins with the same MITB briefcase Rollins used to torment Reigns at Wrestlemania.

You know what – fuck it. I’ve changed my mind. My gut feeling is Kofi Kingston is winning this!

Interest Level: 10/10
Prediction: Kofi Kingston wins.

Tim:

Kingston and Neville are the only two guys in this match I look forward to seeing on a weekly basis. Ziggler will be sure to do some crazy selling at least. It should be somewhat entertaining between those three. Kane is just there being a bore. Sheamus will try to look intense and be a bully. Roman Reigns will be jumping around with his fist out a lot and then win with a smirk on his face. He’ll probably even get to be the main part of the biggest spot in the match. Real intriguing stuff. Honestly, it is a MITB ladder match. It’ll be worth a watch and probably be real fun.

Interest Level: 6/10
Prediction: Roman Reigns wins.

Tom:

I aggressively don’t care about most of the guys in this match, even though none of them are particularly bad. Reigns winning seems like such a foregone conclusion, which takes a lot of the fun out of this. Kofi and Neville’s antics should keep things exciting, but after how shambolic the Chamber match was a couple of weeks ago, I don’t know if I trust WWE multi-man matches to be as good as they once were. Still hoping that this’ll be a good time but I’m not especially excited for it.

Interest Level: 7/10
Prediction: Roman Reigns wins.

Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose in a Ladder Match for the WWE World Championship

Joey:

Their match last month was very lackluster and the road to this match has been disappointing but these two guys in a ladder match has to deliver, right? Seeing Dean Ambrose walk around with the belt is extremely bizarre and something I can’t process. If he actually wins it, I expect Roman Reigns to cash in but I strongly believe Seth Rollins will get the big win as his match with Brock Lesnar is coming soon.

Interest Level: 9/10
Prediction: Seth Rollins wins.

Tim:

I really want to be into this more than I am. I want Dean Ambrose to connect with me again. I want to be excited for a Rollins match. The feud has been a mess. Ambrose comes off like a Looney Tunes character. I can’t see this being worse than their previous match though. These two with a ladder has to be good, right? RIGHT? Seth Rollins has to retain here.

Interest Level: 7/10
Prediction: Seth Rollins wins.

Tom:

My anticipation for this match isn’t help by the fact that all the segments with Ambrose and Rollins tend to be towards the end of Raw, and I’ve generally checked out of that show by 10PM. Maybe that speaks to the quality of this feud though, which has seemed like a lot of silliness.

I’d like it if this was the match to turn me around on Dean Ambrose, who I’ve found dull for months now. Part of that has been his fairly lame “crazy” babyface character, but his wrestling has seemed a little hokey to me as well – there are a lot of little flourishes that tend to take me out of the match. A ladder match might not be the best showcase for what he can do, but you never know – these two had a terrific lumberjack match, of all things, so they’re clearly capable of greatness – it’s just hard for me to work up too much enthusiasm for them right now. Like every Alberto Del Rio match, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it much more than I think I will.

Interest Level: 6/10
Prediction: Seth Rollins wins.