Money in the Bank 2011

Money in the Bank 2011 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE, which took place on July 17, 2011 at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois. It was the second annual Money in the Bank pay-per-view.
==Background==
Money in the Bank featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that will be played out on WWE's television programs. Wrestlers will portray heroes or villains as they follow a series of events that build tension and culminate in a match or a series of matches.
The main event stemming from the Raw brand for the Money in the Bank event featured John Cena defending the WWE Championship against CM Punk. On the June 20 episode of Raw, Punk won a Triple Threat Falls Count Anywhere match over Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio to become the number one contender for the WWE Championship. Also, after the match, Punk announced that his WWE contract expires the same day as Money in the Bank, and vowed to win the championship and take it with him. However, at the end of the June 27 episode of Raw, Punk delivered a worked shoot promo, berating WWE for not promoting him properly, and insulting several authority figures, such as McMahon family members (Vince, Stephanie and Triple H) and WWE executive John Laurinaitis. Additionally, he proposed that, upon winning the WWE Championship, he might defend the belt in Ring of Honor and/or New Japan Pro Wrestling. As a result of his actions during the promo, Punk was indefinitely suspended within the WWE storyline, thereby removing his match with Cena from the Money in the Bank card. After some intervention from John Cena, Mr. McMahon agreed to reinstate Punk and to bring the match back. However, the stipulation was added that if CM Punk left with the title, Cena would be fired from the company. The following week on Raw, Punk returned and revealed that Mr. McMahon desperately wanted to sign him to a contract to ensure that the WWE Championship would stay in the WWE. Punk made a list of nearly insurmountable demands to McMahon, but McMahon still wanted to sign the contract. John Cena interrupted the proceedings, and after Punk referred to Cena as a "dynasty" that rivaled the New York Yankees, Cena punched Punk in the face. The distraught Punk then ripped up the contract that would have kept him in the WWE.
SmackDown's main event was between Christian and Randy Orton. At Capitol Punishment, Christian's foot was under the bottom rope while he was being pinned. The referee failed to notice this, and Christian felt as though he was cheated out of the victory. As a result, Christian demanded that he be given another chance. SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long gave Christian the chance by putting him in a match against Sheamus. The match turned into a tag team match after some interference, and Christian's tag team partner for the night Mark Henry pinned Randy Orton. Teddy Long decided to give Mark Henry a shot at earning the right to face Orton at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, but Christian used The Big Show's music to distract Henry and allow Randy to win the match, keeping Christian in line for a title match. During the contract signing for the match, Sheamus, who had been kicked in the head by Randy Orton weeks earlier, returned and attacked both Christian and Ortoon. Christian used this opportunity to have his lawyers write up a new contract. The terms of this new contract stated that Christian could win the belt via disqualification or if there was a case of "bad officiating". Christian then started to taunt Orton the next week by stealing his wallet, betting an absurd amount of money, and interfering in his main event match against Kane on SmackDown.
The Raw Money in the Bank competitors were placed in the match based on their recent performance. Alberto Del Rio, R-Truth, and Rey Mysterio were all given an opportunity to simply become the #1 Contender's for the WWE Championship following CM Punk's suspension by facing off in a Triple Threat Match. Del Rio won the match, but when Punk was reinstated later that night, Del Rio's #1 Contendership was abandoned. Del Rio was then reinserted into the match. All the Raw competitors then spoke about their anticipation for the match on Raw, but this ended in a large brawl. Alberto Del Rio broke up the brawl by attacking his future opponents with a steel ladder, and then revealed his personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez had returned from the injuries he sustained from The Big Show. Other feuds were contained within the match, including the feud between Alex Riley and Miz, which picked up steam after Riley beat Miz yet again on Raw. Miz got revenge by brutally attacking Riley on the outside of the ring.
The feud between Mark Henry and The Big Show started when Big Show viciously attacked Mark Henry on SmackDown, following the events with Alberto Del Rio from last month. Mark got revenge by using the World's Strongest Slam to send Show through the Spanish announce table at Capitol Punishment. Mrk then went on a violent streak, interfering in Big Show's Steel Cage Match with Alberto Del Rio by ripping off the cage door, allowing Del Rio to win, and then using the door to smash into Big Show, completely destroying a cage wall! This attack left Big Show out of action for weeks, but Mark continued to terrorize WWE officials by attacking a sound technician and throwing him off the stage. Big Show's return to Raw was marked by a Handicap Match against Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre. This match was set up after Mr. McMahon overheard Ziggler, McIntyre, and Vickie Guerrero mocking him backstage. Big Show tried to Chokeslam Drew off the stage during the match due to his mounting frustrations with Alberto and Henry, but Mark tackled Big Show and Drew off the stage before this could take place.
Kelly Kelly won the WWE Divas Championship from Brie Bella on Raw during the Power to the People episode. The Bella Twins then focused on ridiculing Kelly for her small stature. Eve Torres, still bitter about losing the belt to Brie due to Bella trickery, joined Kelly's side to face off against The Bella Twins. Eve decided to be in Kelly's corner at Money in the Bank when she was forced to give Brie her obligatory rematch, to make sure Nikki didn't interfere.
The SmackDown Money in the Bank members also had a promo similar to the one given by the Raw superstars. However, instead of their promo being interrupted by Alberto Del Rio, it was interrupted by a chair-wielding Sheamus. Every competitor tasted Sheamus's steel, except for Sin Cara, who managed to dodge the attack and escape to the outside of the ring.
==Aftermath==
After leaving the Allstate Arena with the WWE Championship, CM Punk was pictured that night by TMZ showing off his newly won title on the streets of Chicago together with Colt Cabana and Ace Steel. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon started an eight-man tournament to crown a new WWE Champion on Raw, which included all the participants of the Raw Money in the Bank ladder match except Evan Bourne, whose place was instead filled by Dolph Ziggler. The Miz and Rey Mysterio made it to the tournament finals, which McMahon postponed so that he could fire John Cena based on the match stipulation from Money in the Bank. However, Triple H interrupted and announced that the WWE Board of Directors had removed McMahon from power due to a vote of no confidence, and that Triple H was to take over the day-to-day operations of WWE. Triple H then refused to fire Cena. On July 21, Punk, with title belt in hand, gatecrashed the joint WWE / Mattel panel at the San Diego Comic-Con International, confronting Triple H and taking exception to WWE attempting to crown a new WWE Champion. Two days later, Punk made a surprise appearance at a show hosted by the independent All American Wrestling promotion without his title to endorse Gregory Iron, a wrestler who had cerebral palsy. On the next Raw, the tournament concluded with Mysterio winning to become the new WWE Champion, and he had to immediately fend off Alberto Del Rio from cashing in his Money in the Bank. However, Triple H, now Chief Operating Officer, decreed that Mysterio was to face ex-champion Cena later that night for the title; Cena won to once again become WWE Champion. After the match, Punk made a surprise return to WWE with the old WWE Championship belt to confront Cena. Cena and Punk later faced off in a match at SummerSlam to crown the undisputed WWE Champion, with Punk coming out victorious. As Punk celebrated, Kevin Nash made his WWE return and assaulted Punk. Del Rio then cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and pinned Punk to become the new champion after kicking him in the head. Punk later regained the WWE Championship at Survivor Series by defeating Del Rio.
After losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Christian, Randy Orton was granted a rematch at SummerSlam, where he won a No Holds Barred match to win the title. Meanwhile, Mark Henry went on to crush Kane and Vladimir Kozlov's ankles with steel chairs in the storyline. He then defeated Orton at Night of Champions to become World Heavyweight Champion for the first time. Big Show returned from injury in October 2011 to feud with Henry over his title. Daniel Bryan initially declared that he would only cash in his Money in the Bank contract at WrestleMania XXVIII. However, on the November 25 episode of SmackDown, Bryan cashed in the briefcase after Henry had been knocked out by Show to become the World Heavyweight Champion. The match was voided by General Manager Theodore Long as Henry was not medically cleared to compete with the briefcase being returned to Bryan. At WWE's TLC PPV, Henry lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Big Show. After the match, Henry assaulted Big Show which allowed Bryan to cash in his contract and pin Big Show to win the title. Bryan actually did manage to hold on to the World Heavyweight Championship until WrestleMania XXVIII, where he lost it to Sheamus.
Kelly Kelly's next contender for the Divas Championship was Beth Phoenix, who turned villainous by attacking Kelly after winning a #1 Contender's battle royal on the August 1 edition of Raw. Kelly defeated Phoenix to retain her title at SummerSlam.
John Laurinaitis continued to appear on television after Money in the Bank. In October 2011, he was appointed Raw General Manager, replacing Triple H as the on-screen authority figure. During Laurinaitis' rule, he feuded with CM Punk and later John Cena, until he was fired in June 2012 in the storyline.
==Results==
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*Dark Match: Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov defeated David Otunga & Michael McGillicutty
*Daniel Bryan defeated Cody Rhodes, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, Kane, Sheamus, Sin Cara & Wade Barrett in a Smackdown Money in the Bank ladder match (24:33)
*Kelly Kelly (w/ Eve Torres) (c) defeated Brie Bella (w/ Nikki Bella) to retain the WWE Divas Championship (4:48)
*Mark Henry defeated The Big Show (6:00)
*Alberto Del Rio defeated Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston, The Miz, Alex Riley, Evan Bourne, R-Truth & Jack Swagger in a RAW Money in the Bank ladder match (15:56)
*Christian defeated Randy Orton (c) to win the World Heavyweight Championship (12:22)
*CM Punk defeated John Cena (c) to win the WWE Championship (33:45)
:*Cena lost the title, so he is fired from WWE
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
*Jerry Lawler
*Michael Cole
*Booker T
;Ring announcer
*Justin Roberts
*Tony Chimel	
;Referees
*Charles Robinson
*John Cone
*Charles Robinson
*Mike Chioda
*Scott Armstrong
==See also==
*List of WWE pay-per-view events
*World Wrestling Entertainment/Event history
*Money in the Bank
*Event gallery
==DVD release==
* Money in the Bank 2011 on DVD
==External links==
* Money in the Bank 2011 Official Website
* Money in the Bank 2011 at CAGEMATCH.net
* Money in the Bank 2011 at Online World of Wrestling
* on WWE Network
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:2011 pay-per-view events
Category:Money in the Bank (PPV)