WWE Money In The Bank 2011 Roster: Where Are They Now?
6 years on, where's everybody at?
Yesterday marked 6 whole years since CM Punk beat John Cena to become WWE Champion in his home state of Illinois at Money In The Bank 2011. What has changed since then, you ask? Oh, just a few things. For a start, everyone to win a match that evening (aside from current part-timer Mark Henry) is no longer on the active roster.
Then, there's the shifting focus on female wrestling. That wasn't the case back in 2011 when Kelly Kelly met Brie Bella though. No no, those girls were 'Divas' and more of a slight distraction between major matches than a major selling point for the show; there was no 'female revolution' 6 years ago, that's for sure.
2192 days on from one of the most historic pay-per-views in modern WWE history, just where is everybody now? A lot can change in just 6 years, just ask the guy who left the Allstate Arena by blowing a kiss to Vince McMahon and walking out with the WWE Title...
SmackDown Money In The Bank Ladder Match
The field for the opening SmackDown MITB Ladder Match included Kane, Sin Cara, Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, Sheamus and Daniel Bryan. Only Slater, Sheamus and Bryan regularly appear on programming today, 2 as wrestlers on Raw and the other as SmackDown's GM, but what about the others?
Barrett agreed to an early release from his WWE contract in May, 2016 and is now working on starting an acting career in between occasional appearances for companies like WCPW as a special guest. Similarly, Rhodes requested his release from WWE the same month as Barrett, and following extensive work for numerous companies (including TNA, WCPW and other independents) now works primarily for ROH and NJPW.
Things didn't work out for the original Sin Cara in WWE, so he left in 2014 and returned to Mexico to play the Carístico character (an extension of his previous Místico guise). As for Gabriel, the former Nexus member has found work in Lucha Underground as PJ Black after a brief stint in TNA.
Kane is one of the most interesting to examine, because Glenn Jacobs (the man behind the fearsome character) took time off from wrestling in 2016 to pursue a career in politics. The WWE stalwart plans to run for mayor in Knox County, Tennessee.