Money in the Bank (2012)

Background

Money in the Bank featured seven professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds or and storylines that played out on WWE's primary television programs. Wrestlers portrayed villains or heroes as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.

At previous Money in the Bank events, Raw wrestlers competed for the WWE Championship contract and SmackDown competitors challenged for the World Heavyweight Championship opportunity. The 2012 event featured two interbranded Money in the Bank Ladder Matches, one for a future WWE Championship match and the other for a future World Heavyweight Championship match.

On the June 25 episode of Raw, Vickie Guerrero announced that only previous WWE Champions may participate in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match for the WWE Championship contract. The four participants are Kane, Chris Jericho, Big Show and John Cena. Earlier, during the pay-per-view, The Miz would return from filming The Marine 3: Homefront and announced that he would insert himself in the match.

On the June 29 episode of SmackDown, qualifying matches were held for the Money in the Bank Ladder Match for the World Heavyweight Championship contract. In those matches, Damien Sandow defeated Zack Ryder, Tyson Kidd defeated Jack Swagger, Santino Marella and Christian defeated Cody Rhodes and David Otunga in a tag team match and Tensai defeated Justin Gabriel. On the July 3 "Great American Bash" edition of SmackDown, Rhodes defeated Christian and Dolph Ziggler defeated Alex Riley in two additional qualifying matches. The final qualifying match for the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Ladder Match took place on the July 9th episode of Raw in which Sin Cara defeated Heath Slater.

CM Punk successfully defended the WWE Championship against several contenders, and had defeated Daniel Bryan in many pay-per-views, the last one also involving Kane. At the same time, Bryan's ex-girlfriend AJ Lee had taken a liking towards Punk and Kane and had also rekindled her interest in Bryan, but Punk and Kane believed that she was unstable due to Bryan breaking up with AJ. After No Way Out, Bryan defeated Punk and Kane to earn his rematch against Punk at Money in the Bank. Weeks later, AJ was named special guest referee. Right before the pay-per-view began, WWE.com posted that the no disqualification stipulation was added.

Event

The event opened with the Money in the Bank Ladder Match for a World Heavyweight Championship contract involving Damien Sandow, Tensai, Intercontinental Champion Christian, United States Champion Santino Marella, Tyson Kidd, Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes and Sin Cara. Santino appeared to have a chance to win the match after delivering the Cobra to Ziggler but his fear of heights caused a delay which cost him a shot at retrieving the case. Cody then appeared ready to retrieve the case but he was distracted by Vickie Guerrero and that allowed Dolph to execute the Zig Zag on Rhodes. Kidd then pulled Ziggler off a ladder with the aid of another ladder and a powerbomb-like manoeuvre. The action even took place outside of the ring as Tensai set up a ladder outside of the ring across the ring apron and delivered a Powerbomb onto it to Sin Cara. Christian appeared to be ready to retrieve the case when Ziggler used the ladder Tensai set up as a bridge back into the ring, knocked Christian off of the ladder and then grabbed the briefcase.

Then, The Miz returned and announced his entry in the Raw Money In The Bank ladder match.

Next, Sheamus defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Alberto Del Rio. During the match, Del Rio repeatedly targeted Sheamus' left shoulder after Sheamus collided with the ring post. Despite the injury, Sheamus was able to execute White Noise and a Brogue Kick to get the win.

After that, The Prime Time Players faced Primo & Epico. WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston and R-truth were at ringside providing commentary for the match. The Prime Time Players were on the verge of winning the match after Young performed a Gut Check on Primo. However, Young lost his focus, which allowed Primo to roll him up for the win.

In the fourth match, CM Punk defended the WWE Championship against Daniel Bryan in a no-disqualification match with AJ serving as the special guest referee. During the match, Punk accidentally knocked AJ down. Bryan took advantage of the situation and made it appear that he was concerned about her health when she was escorted to the back of the arena. While AJ was away, Bryan worked over Punk's injured ribs with the aid of a kendo stick. Punk attempted a Go To Sleep twice but Bryan countered each time. Bryan applied a surfboard but Punk escaped by using the kendo stick. AJ returned to the ring and made the second referee go to the back after both men were down following Bryan delivering a superplex. She brought a chair into the ring and put it in the center of the ring. Bryan was able to get control of the chair and despite hitting Punk with it several times, he was unable to score the win. Bryan tried to sweet talk AJ, allowing Punk to roll him up for a near-fall. Punk set the chair up in the corner and before he could send Bryan into the chair, AJ stood in the way. Her distraction allowed Bryan to gain the advantage. However, as Bryan went to grab the stick, she stood on it. That distraction allowed Punk to deliver a scoop slam with the chair and attempted a Diving elbow drop but Punk missed and his elbow landed on the chair. Bryan put Punk in the Yes Lock and then used the cane for additional leverage. Punk fought out and performed a GTS for a near-fall. Punk brought a table into the ring and finally won the match after performing a Back Suplex off the top rope through the table on Bryan.

Later, Ryback faced Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks in a handicap match. Ryback executed Shell Shocked on Reks to win the match.

After that, Divas Champion Layla, Kaitlyn, and Tamina Snuka faced Beth Phoenix, Natalya, and Eve in a six-diva tag team match. When the referee lost control of the match, Tamina performed a Superkick on Phoenix. Beth stumbled into Layla, who performed a neckbreaker on Phoenix for the victory.

The main event was the Money in the Bank Ladder match for a WWE Championship contract involving John Cena, Big Show, Chris Jericho, Kane and The Miz. Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment on Show through a broadcast table and then the other wrestlers buried Show under several ladders. Jericho became the lone man in the ring after he hit Cena with a ladder after Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment on Kane on top of The Miz, who was lying on a ladder. Just as Jericho was about to grab the briefcase, Show came back into the match and destroyed the ladder Jericho was on with one hand. Show destroyed every ladder that was in the ring and then grabbed his super-sized ladder under the ring. Kane and Show fought on top of the ladder but Show knocked him off and then knocked Cena off the top of the ladder. Jericho was finally able to get Show off the ladder with a chair. Jericho applied a sleeper hold to Cena while both men were atop the ladder. After Cena fell, Jericho almost grabbed the briefcase but The Miz climbed the other side of the ladder and both men almost grabbed it. While they were battling, Show climbed up the ladder and gave Jericho and The Miz KO Punches. Cena climbed up the other side of the ladder and used the case to block Show's punch, in the process unhooking the briefcase to win the match. Cena then grabbed the briefcase and knocked Big Show off of the ladder.

Aftermath

On July 23, 2012, during Raw 1000, John Cena cashed in his Money in the Bank on CM Punk by having a singles match with him, becoming only the second wrestler (Rob Van Dam being the first) to announce his intention prior to cashing in. Cena won the match via disqualification thus not winning the title after Big Show interfered. This made John Cena the first of two wrestlers (as of 2016) to officially cash in the contract and not win the championship, the other being Damien Sandow.

Meanwhile, Dolph Ziggler attempted various times to cash in the contract following Money in the Bank including four times on SmackDown against Sheamus and Big Show when they were champions respectively and on two episodes of Raw attempted to cash in, being thwarted by John Cena and Ricardo Rodriguez respectively. Ziggler defended the briefcase twice, on the August 20 episode of Raw to Chris Jericho and at TLC to Cena in a ladder match. Ziggler finally cashed in the contract, defeating Alberto Del Rio on the April 8, 2013 episode of Raw, after Del Rio had been attacked by Jack Swagger.

The feud between Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio continued into SummerSlam, where Sheamus "beat" Del Rio. After Sheamus attacked Ricardo Rodriguez, Del Rio sought David Otunga to ban the Brogue Kick. This was granted by SmackDown general manager Booker T. The ban was lifted at Night of Champions, where Sheamus won.

Also, at Raw 1000, CM Punk turned heel after attacking The Rock, who was helping John Cena fend off Big Show. At SummerSlam, Punk defended the WWE Championship against Cena and Show in a Triple Threat Match and at Night of Champions against Cena, where the match ended in a draw. Punk would continue to defend the WWE Championship until the 2013 Royal Rumble, where, despite interference from The Shield, The Rock would defeat him for it.

Reception

Money in the Bank received generally positive reviews. The Baltimore Sun called the pay-per-view "Strong, if unspectacular"; they praised the WWE title match calling it a "fun ride" and that "The no disqualification stipulation really added to the contest". Both Money In The Bank matches were well received. 411 mania awarded the pay-per-view a 7.8/10 calling it 'good'. The WWE title match received a 4/5 while both the Money In The Bank matches received a 3.5/5 rating.