Seth Rollins climbed the ladder and came away with his WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Money in the Bank tonight, once again coming away the winner in his storied rivalry with Dean Ambrose. Though it wasn’t the ending that most of the WWE Universe wanted, Rollins put up a respectable effort and earned the result.
The match itself was back and forth from the get-go. Performing in his home state, Ambrose was not shy about using the ladder as a weapon against Rollins, his former Shield teammate who betrayed him just over a year ago. He stuck to more conventional moves in the beginning, obviously trying to wear out Rollins before getting the ladder and starting the climb. But Rollins had other ideas as he nailed Ambrose’s knee with a steel chair.
The rest of the bout was a full on brawl, with Rollins continuing to take advantage of Ambrose’s knee before Ambrose made his comeback and powerbombed Rollins onto a ladder bridged from the announce table to the apron. Ambrose and Rollins also attempted to climb the ladder multiple times before spilling out into the crowd and Ambrose countered Rollins’ attempted Pedigree with a Dirty Deeds on the Spanish announce table.
But then the real pursuit of the belt began. While Ambrose recovered from a hard fall, Rollins made what can only be called a hardcore pit as he put a bunch of steel chairs near a ladder before dropping Ambrose on top of them with a sit-down powerbomb. He then got into the ring to climb the ladder and appeared to be close, but Ambrose made yet another comeback and met him right at the top. Both men grabbed the belt at the same time, but then the belt’s snaps gave way and both men fell to the floor of the ring. When the dust settled, Rollins had his arms around his belt and was declared the winner.
All in all, it was a great match without a satisfying result. Rollins was able to prove he could retain the championship on his own without the help of The Authority, be it Kane or J&J Security, but there’s no denying that people were waiting for some sort of twist in the last few minutes. Maybe Reigns could have come out and helped Ambrose, or turn heel on him, but chances are that his brush with Bray Wyatt earlier in the night rendered him incapacitated. Or maybe Sheamus could have come out and tried to cash in, only to be thwarted by Reigns or maybe Randy Orton.
Either way, Rollins has a big target on his back now and his heel heat is off the charts. Brock Lesnar, the man he defeated at Wrestlemania when he cashed in his own Money in the Bank briefcase, will be coming back soon, and chances are Ambrose will want another shot after just barely missing out this time.
The long and short of it is that while the match was fantastic, more could have been done with the ending. That’s all for Money in the Bank. Onto Battleground, set to occur in St. Louis on July 18!
