Friday, March 12, 2010

MITB: The More, The Merrier!

Okay, so I haven't seen Smackdown yet, but a lot of people have read spoilers or seen it outside of the United States and a big story coming out of the show is that Money in the Bank will feature a whopping ten Superstars this year.  Unsurprisingly, like everything that ever happens in the world of wrestling, this is causing a large portion of the fanbase to complain.  There seems to be this notion that ten guys is just too much, I even read someone claim that it "leaves no room for proper psychology or story."

Uh, The very nature of the Money in the Bank Ladder Match leaves no room for proper psychology or story.  If you want a story at WrestleMania, Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker, or even ShowMiz vs. Morrison & R-Truth will have you covered, but MITB is an excuse for guys to do crazy moves off ladders, nothing more, nothing less.  WWE doesn't do spotfests very often, but MITB is the one match where you know you can shut your brain off and just enjoy, it's the wrestling equivalent of the popcorn flick.  How can you even expect psychology or story when it's a bunch of guys just thrown into a match with each other?  Occasionally some ongoing feuds will mix up in there, but all people care about are the "ooh, ah" moments and who wins.  

I honestly don't see why it matters if there are six, seven, eight or ten guys in the match, in fact, the way I see it, ten guys is better.  The more guys in the match, the safer it becomes because you have more guys to catch someone who's doing an insane dive off a 16-foot ladder onto a concrete floor.  I know if I was Evan Bourne, I'd much rather have nine guys to land on than five.  Also, not that MITB ever really loses its pace, but you know how the match works, a ton of spots happen and a bunch of guys are laid out, selling their big fall, the ladder shot to the head, or being powerbombed over the top rope, with more guys, there's less of a chance for a lull period.  On the flipside of that, it gives guys more time to rest after those big bumps, because there are more guys left to work while Shelton Benjamin asks himself why he keeps doing this every year.

This ain't Steamboat/Flair, and calling it a clusterfuck isn't really an insult, that's the point of the match.  When it comes to dudes putting their bodies and careers on the line in Money in the Bank, I say the more, the merrier. 


  1. My problem stems from my hate of, for lack of a better word, clusterf*ck matches.

    TNA do them all the time and they drive me insane. I know MITB isn't exactly the place for great storytelling, and I don't expect it to be at all, but with all past MITB matches I've been able to "keep up" with whats going on.

    Maybe that's my problem; maybe I need to sit back, relax and enjoy. It's so hard!

  2. MITB can be exhausting, and I think that's why it traditionally opens the show, so as not to wear the audience out too late in the evening.

  3. Yeah, you're right. Never would have thought of it like that.

  4. If a ten-man contest means that Kofi Kingston still has a chance of getting in, I'm all for it. I know that some people think that more competitors reduces the focus on each individual, but I get the feeling that many of the same people would also complain if the likes of Kingston were left off the card altogether.

  5. On Smackdown when i watched it last night (I'm in the Uk, and we get it a few hours before you guys) ... i counted 9 participants after the final participant got in in his qualifying match last night.

    Unless one will come from RAW, i think it's only 9 - although, i could have mis-counted! lol

  6. I think they announced that it would be a ten-man match during last week's edition of Superstars.