The debut edition of WWE Money-in-the-Bank came to you, live on pay-per-view, from the Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO. After the ruthless group known as The Nexus interfered in their recent rematch, Sheamus would defend the WWE Championship against former champion John Cena in a Steel Cage Match! Since losing the World Heavyweight Title at WWE Fatal 4-Way, a new side of Jack Swagger has emerged; a side that enjoys inflicting pain upon others using his new, dangerous submission hold, the ankle lock, as Swagger has hobbled “The World’s Largest Athlete” Big Show and even the new World Champion, Rey Mysterio, and now “The All-American American” Jack Swagger will get his rematch for the World Title as he challenges new champion Rey Mysterio for the gold! Eight RAW Superstars would get the opportunity to challenge for the WWE Championship at any time for the next year as two-time holder of the Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity, “The Ultimate Opportunist” Edge, “The Viper” Randy Orton, former World Champion Chris Jericho, United States Champion The Miz, “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry, the high-flying Evan Bourne, “The Guru of Greatness” John Morrison, & “The Fortunate Son” Ted DiBiase would all vie for the prestigious opportunity! The Superstars of SmackDown would also get the chance to earn a title shot at any time for the next year as an unstable and revenge-fueled Kane, “The World’s Largest Athlete” Big Show, Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston, “The Chosen One” Drew McIntyre, “Dashing” Cody Rhodes, “The Platinum Superstar” Dolph Ziggler, and ladder match veterans Christian & Matt Hardy would all compete in a Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match with the winner earning that very right to challenge for the World Championship whenever that Superstar sees fit! The Unified WWE Tag Team Titles would also be defended at the inaugural event as The Hart Dynasty would defend their gold against Jey & Jimmy; The Usos! The Women’s Title would also be up for grabs as Layla would make her first defense of the coveted title against the recent target of Layla & Michelle McCool’s torment, Kelly Kelly! After feigning an injury in order to retain her title, Alicia Fox would defend the Divas Title against the Divas she wronged, Eve Torres!
>>Match Results<<
- SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match: Kane def. Big Show, Kofi Kingston, Drew McIntyre, Christian, Matt Hardy, "Dashing" Cody Rhodes, & Dolph Ziggler to win the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity.
- Divas Championship: Alicia Fox (c) def. Eve Torres by pin following the Fox Kick to retain.
- Unified WWE Tag Team Championship: The Hart Dynasty (c) (with Natalya) def. The Usos (with Tamina) by Jimmy Uso submitting to David Hart Smith’s Sharpshooter; The Hart Dynasty (c) retains.
- World Heavyweight Championship: Rey Mysterio (c) def. Jack Swagger by hurrincanrana roll-up to retain.
- World Heavyweight Championship: Kane def. Rey Mysterio (c) by pin following the Tombstone Piledriver to win the World Heavyweight Title.
- Women’s Championship: Layla (c) (with Michelle McCool) def. Kelly Kelly (with Tiffany) by counter roll-up to retain.
- RAW Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match: The Miz def. Edge, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Mark Henry, Evan Bourne, John Morrison, & Ted DiBiase (with Maryse) to win the RAW Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity.
- WWE Championship: Steel Cage Match: Sheamus (c) (with The Nexus) def. John Cena by escaping the cage to retain.
>>Detailed Results<<
The inaugural edition of WWE Money-in-the-Bank kicks off in a big way as the opening match of the night would be the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match as “The Big Red Machine” Kane, “The World’s Largest Athlete” Big Show, Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston, “The Chosen One” Drew McIntyre, ladder match veteran Christian, “Dashing” Cody Rhodes, “The Platinum Superstar” Dolph Ziggler, and ladder match veteran Matt Hardy would all compete for the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity as its holder would earn a guaranteed shot at the World Heavyweight Championship at any time that Superstar sees fit for the next twelve months! Early on in the match, the two biggest Superstars of the match squared off with Big Show getting the best of Kane and sending “The Big Red Machine” to the outside, but when Big Show tried to climb the standard ladder, the rungs snapped, which led to Big Show heading to the outside of the ring to seek his monster ladder, but the other seven competitors stopped Big Show from going for the mega ladder! Shortly after this, the two ladder match veterans, Christian and Matt Hardy, went at it as the two Superstars battled each other to prevent the other from unhooking the Money-in-the-Bank briefcase! Following this, Dolph Ziggler came within seconds of winning the match, but Christian returned to the ring and knocked Dolph from his perch atop the ladder! This left Christian and Matt Hardy to resume their battle, but after Kane tried to utilize a double chokeslam on the two of them, Matt & Christian temporarily worked together to take Kane out of the equation for the time being, leading back to a battle between the two veterans of the ladder match! Christian would get the better of the exchange, but when Christian went for the briefcase, “Dashing” Cody Rhodes entered the ring and sent Christian off of the ladder all the way to the outside of the ring, where Christian collided with Big Show! Cody Rhodes and Matt Hardy would then square off, but Drew McIntyre would interject himself and send both competitors shoulder-first into the steel ring posts! McIntyre would then get ready to climb the ladder to retrieve the briefcase, but an incensed Kane pulled “The Chosen One” out of the ring and was set to deliver a chokeslam to McIntyre through the Spanish announce table, but McIntyre would fight Kane off for the time being. With Drew McIntyre still in a vulnerable position, McIntyre’s intense rival, Kofi Kingston, hit Trouble in Paradise on McIntyre before the daredevil Intercontinental Champion would scale a ladder and deliver the Boom Drop to McIntyre all the way through the Spanish announce table! Meanwhile, back in the ring, Dolph Ziggler once again tried to retrieve the Money-in-the-Bank briefcase, but Big Show re-entered the ring and knocked Dolph off of the ladder before delivering a high-impact chokeslam to Ziggler! Big Show would then take Kane out of the equation by smashing “The Big Red Machine” between the steel ladder and the corner of the ring! Big Show would utilize a ladder to take out Christian & Matt Hardy before Show would go under the ring and, after having some trouble maneuvering the monster ladder, Show would set up the huge ladder in the center of the ring, but Cody Rhodes would re-enter the ring and blast Show in the braced knee of “The World’s Largest Athlete” with a step ladder! Rhodes would then attempt to climb the ladder to retrieve the briefcase, but Dolph Ziggler intervenes and takes Rhodes out for the time being! Dolph would then start to scale the monster ladder, but Big Show would come back into the fray and, working essentially on one leg, would knock Dolph off of the ladder, but, after sending Drew McIntyre through the Spanish announce table earlier in the match, Kofi Kingston would re-enter the ring and plant Big Show with a DDT before the Intercontinental Champion would begin his ascent of the monster ladder, but Cody Rhodes would lead from the top rope and deliver a missile dropkick, taking Kofi off of the ladder! Rhodes would then go for the briefcase again, but Dolph Ziggler would jump in again and take Rhodes off of the ladder before delivering a modified Zig Zag to the steel ladder, taking himself out in the process! Big Show would then recover and try to climb the monster ladder, but Kane would come in and tip the monster ladder over, sending Big Show to the outside, where the other seven combatants would pile several steel ladders on top of Big Show! Several of the other competitors would then scramble to try and retrieve the briefcase, but Kane would ultimately take them all out! Kane would then scale the ladder, but Dolph Ziggler would come back in and lock the sleeper hold on Kane, but Kane would get out of the hold and ultimately chokeslam Dolph onto the pile of ladders on the outside of the ring; a fate that Kane would also deal out to Kofi Kingston before Kane would set his sights on Cody Rhodes as Kane would take Rhodes all the way to the staging area, where Kane would launch Rhodes into one of the armored trucks set up for the event! Kane would then make his way back to the ring where Matt Hardy was scaling the monster ladder to try and retrieve the briefcase and Kane would take Matt off of the ladder, but Christian would re-enter the fray and the two ladder match veterans, Christian and Matt Hardy, would work together to take Kane out of the match before the two Superstars would both find themselves battling for the briefcase atop the ladder! After Matt & Christian simultaneously took themselves out of the match, Drew McIntyre somehow re-entered the ring and it looked like “The Chosen One” would earn the right to choose his spot to face the World Heavyweight Champion for the gold, but Kane would come back into the ring and would chokeslam Drew McIntyre off the top of the ladder before Kane would be the one to finally unhook the briefcase; making Kane the winner of the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity, meaning that “The Big Red Machine” can now challenge for the World Heavyweight Title at any time he sees fit for the next year! How will being the holder of the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity affect Kane’s ongoing investigation into the attack on his brother, The Undertaker? When will Kane cash in his prestigious title opportunity?
The first of five title matches would then take place as Eve Torres would get a second opportunity to regain the Divas Title as she would challenge Alicia Fox for the gold! After working over the back of Eve Torres throughout the match, Alicia Fox was able to take advantage of the injury before hitting the Fox Kick and pinning Eve en route to successfully retaining the Divas Title!
Backstage, Jack Swagger is on the phone with his “hysterical” mother and, after telling his own mother to “shut up”, Swagger told his mother that his father “deserved” to be the victim of Kane on SmackDown because Mr. Swagger has tried to steal his “spotlight”! Swagger then tells his mother that he will “snap” the ankle of Rey Mysterio and regain the World Heavyweight Title! Will Jack Swagger make good on his promise?
The Unified WWE Tag Team Titles would be on the line as The Hart Dynasty would defend the tag team gold against Jey & Jimmy; The Usos! After Natalya took out Tamina and Tyson Kidd taking Jey Uso out of the equation, it left David Hart Smith and Jimmy Uso as David Hart Smith would synch in the legendary Sharpshooter, which would force Jimmy to tap out, meaning a successful defense of the Unified WWE Tag Team Titles for The Hart Dynasty! Which team will step up next to challenge The Hart Dynasty for the Unified WWE Tag Team Titles?
With the health of the champion’s ankle still in serious question, the World Heavyweight Championship would be up for grabs as the injured World Champion, Rey Mysterio, would defend the gold against the Superstar that injured the champion, “The All-American American” Jack Swagger! Despite Jack Swagger working on the already injured ankle of Rey Mysterio throughout the match, Rey was somehow able to come back and, even with his severely injured ankle, catch Swagger with a hurrincanrana roll-up en route to successfully retaining the World Heavyweight Championship! However, after the match, an incensed Jack Swagger blasted Rey Mysterio from behind and locked in the ankle lock on the exposed ankle of Mysterio! Swagger continued to wrench on the destroyed ankle of Rey Mysterio, but Kane came out and attacked Swagger! Kane would then fight Swagger all the way backstage as Rey Mysterio celebrated his successful defense of the World Heavyweight Title! It looked like Rey Mysterio had narrowly escaped as the World Heavyweight Champion, but a certain SmackDown Superstar had different plans as, roughly an hour after winning the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity, “The Big Red Machine” Kane re-emerged, this time with his Money-in-the-Bank briefcase and Kane shocked the world by cashing in his newly acquired title opportunity to challenge an injured Rey Mysterio for Rey’s World Heavyweight Title! As expected, the badly injured Rey Mysterio was no match for “The Big Red Machine” Kane and, a chokeslam and Tombstone Piledriver later, Kane became the World Heavyweight Champion for the first time in his career! How will former champion Rey Mysterio react to Kane cashing in his Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity to win the World Heavyweight Title? Can anyone stop Kane now that he is the World Heavyweight Champion?
The Women’s Championship was also on the line as Layla, with the other half of the self-proclaimed “Co-Women’s Champions” Michelle McCool, would defend the Women’s Title against Kelly Kelly, who brought Tiffany as backup! During the match, Michelle McCool got involved in the match on the outside of the ring, but Kelly Kelly fought back by tipping McCool over the barricade and onto the concrete arena floor! Kelly Kelly would then hit the K2 on Layla, but Michelle McCool would place the foot of Layla on the rope! Kelly Kelly & Tiffany would then take Michelle McCool out of the equation on the outside of the ring, but this gave Layla time to recover and Layla was able to counter a roll-up attempt by Kelly Kelly to successfully retain the Women’s Title!
After Kane cashed in the SmackDown Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity to become the new World Heavyweight Champion, eight RAW Superstars would be looking to do the same with the WWE Championship as two-time Money-in-the-Bank winner Edge, “The Viper” Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, United States Champion The Miz, “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry, Evan Bourne, “The Monday Night Delight” John Morrison, & “The Fortunate Son” Ted DiBiase would all compete in the RAW Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match with the winner earning the RAW Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity; an opportunity they can cash in for a shot at the WWE Championship at any time for the next year! Edge would immediately live up to his moniker as “The Ultimate Opportunist” as, just before the match began, Edge slid a ladder into the ring, but when the bell rang to begin the match, Edge slid out of the ring as the other seven combatants battled it out, but with the other competitors seemingly out of the equation, Edge re-entered the ring and quickly scaled the ladder to try and secure the quick victory, but Randy Orton would foil the plan of Edge as the two spilled to the outside! Shortly after this, former tag team partners The Miz and Chris Jericho battled, but the largest competitor in the match, Mark Henry, re-entered the fray and took The Miz out of it before Mark Henry was blasted in the face with a ladder by Chris Jericho! Jericho would then come back into the ring, but Jericho was taken out of the match for the time being by Evan Bourne and Bourne would also fight Edge off, but Randy Orton would get his hands on Bourne as “The Viper” would proceed to plant Bourne with a suspended DDT! John Morrison would then head back into the ring and deliver the Flying Chuck to Orton, but The Miz & Ted DiBiase would then double team Morrison, but Morrison would fight back and send both Miz & DiBiase face-first into a ladder! Morrison would then set up and scale a ladder, but Edge would come in and battle with Morison atop the ladder as Chris Jericho brings in a second ladder to climb, but Randy Orton comes in and meets Jericho at the top of the ladder! With four of the eight competitors on top of two ladders reaching for the briefcase, Mark Henry comes in and knocks over both of the ladders! With everyone down and out, Maryse, who accompanied Ted DiBiase, made the bold decision to try and retrieve the Money-in-the-Bank briefcase herself! However, John Morrison would take Maryse down from the ladder and told Maryse to leave, but as this is taking place, Ted DiBiase is climbing the ladder to the briefcase! Morrison would then prevent DiBiase from getting the briefcase and would take DiBiase out on the outside, followed by The Miz targeting Morrison on the outside! Morrison would get the better of The Miz and, with Edge reaching for the briefcase in the center of the ring, Morrison rides another ladder to get to the ladder that Edge is on top of! Edge would then trap Morrison in the standing ladder as Edge & The Miz would proceed to use another ladder to smash it into the ribs of Morrison before Edge would shove the steel ladder into the face of The Miz! Ted DiBiase would then re-enter and take Edge down before knocking both Chris Jericho & Randy Orton off of the apron to the arena floor! DiBiase would then set up a ladder upside down next to the original ladder and would lean a third ladder to the upside down ladder! Mark Henry would then re-enter the match and would proceed to deliver the World’s Strongest Slam to Ted DiBiase before using a step ladder to take out both Chris Jericho & The Miz! Mark Henry would then start to climb the ladder, but Evan Bourne would jump on the back of Mark Henry and Bourne would climb the ladder, but Edge & Randy Orton would attack Henry and send Henry to the outside of the ring before Edge & Orton toss Bourne on top of Mark Henry, which leads to Henry planting Bourne with the World’s Strongest Slam on the arena floor! Mark Henry would then be taken out by a trifecta of signature maneuvers as John Morrison would hit the Flying Chuck on Mark Henry, followed by Chris Jericho hitting the Codebreaker and, finally, Edge hitting the Spear on Mark Henry! The other six capable combatants would then engage in a war of attrition with Ted DiBiase pulling The Miz off of the ladder and sending Miz face-first into another ladder! With a ladder bridged between the central ladder and the ropes, Edge & Randy Orton would lay Ted DiBiase face down on the suspended ladder and sliding the ladder over the top rope to the outside, where DiBiase and the ladder crashed! After working together to take Ted DiBiase out, Edge would take a run at Orton, but Orton would plant Edge with the RKO! Orton would then deliver the RKO to John Morrison as well, but as soon as Orton lands with the RKO, Evan Bourne hits Air Bourne on Orton! This leaves Chris Jericho & Evan Bourne to battle it out over the Money-in-the-Bank briefcase and, after Jericho knocks Bourne off of the ladder, it looks like Jericho could win the title opportunity, but Edge comes back in and meets Jericho at the top of the ladder! Edge would knock Jericho down a few rungs on the ladder, which positions Jericho for Orton to deliver the RKO! Edge would continue to reach for the briefcase, but Orton would knock Edge off of the ladder and ribs-first into the upside down ladder! It looked like Randy Orton would win the title opportunity, but The Miz would re-enter the match and knock Randy Orton off of the ladder before climbing the ladder himself and securing the briefcase; meaning that The Miz can now challenge for the WWE Championship any time he sees fit for the next year! Never at a loss for words, The Miz proclaims that everyone is living in his “moment” and by winning the Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity, he has “made it”! Now that he is the holder of RAW Money-in-the-Bank title opportunity, when will The Miz cash in his guaranteed WWE Title opportunity? Will The Miz become the first Superstar in history to hold the WWE Title and United States Title at the same time?
Then it was time for the main event as the WWE Championship would be decided inside a solid steel cage as Sheamus would defend the WWE Title against former champion John Cena in a Steel Cage Match! In an intense back-and-forth battle that saw both champion and challenger dish out the best in their arsenal against the other, it looked like John Cena would emerge the victor and WWE Champion after planting Sheamus with the Attitude Adjustment, but Sheamus managed to kick out of Cena’s signature maneuver, but this left both men out of it in the middle of the ring! With both champion and challenger at their, the six ruthless members of The Nexus come out with Nexus member Michael Tarver carrying bolt cutters with the clear intent of allowing The Nexus to enter the cage, but before The Nexus could get a chance break into the structure, a referee comes out and makes the bold move to take the bolt cutters out of the hands of Michael Tarver! With their plan to break into the cage foiled, The Nexus confronted the referee who had possession of the key needed to unlock the cage door and the referee started to hand the key over to Nexus spokesperson, Wade Barrett, but the referee made another bold move by tossing the key clear out into the crowd! As The Nexus confronted the referee on the outside, the action between Sheamus & John Cena continued, but the referee who was calling the match was distracted by the activity and the two combatants inadvertently knocked the referee down! Cena then locked in his STF and Sheamus tapped out, but with the referee out of commission, it did not matter, so Cena took to trying to escape the cage instead! However, The Nexus spotted Cena trying to escape the cage and the group gathered on the floor as Nexus member Justin Gabriel scaled the cage to meet Cena at the top! John Cena then gets the better of the exchange with Justin Gabriel and hurls Gabriel from the top of the cage to the ring below! Cena then begins to climb down the outside of the cage, but Nexus members Darren Young & Michael Tarver meet Cena on the way down! Meanwhile, on the other side of the cage, Sheamus begins to climb out of the cage, but is met by Nexus member Heath Slater! Sheamus manages to knock Slater to the floor and, with the rest of The Nexus occupied with John Cena on the other side of the cage, Sheamus managed to land with both feet on the arena floor, meaning that Sheamus retains the WWE Title! As soon as his feet hit the floor, Sheamus hightails it out of the arena with his title intact! Once again cost the WWE Title by The Nexus, John Cena took his frustrations out on two of The Nexus members, Darren Young & Michael Tarver as Cena beat down Young before waylaying Michael Tarver with a vicious clothesline and topping it off by blasting Tarver in the face with the steel ring steps! What is next for The Nexus? What is next for John Cena?