10 WWE Money In The Bank 2020 Impulse Reactions
Creative Bankruptcy.
WrestleMania came and went as both a victim of the empty arena era and a success story for it. The matches in the Performance Center weren't bad, and the ones outside of it were hugely well recieved. But then they advertised Money In The Bank and with it the crushing realisation that all of this would be happening again. 'The Show Of Shows' wasn't a season finale, but the opener for a grim new reality.
But then, after a revelation snuck into an episode of SmackDown, a double take from everybody that heard it, and a poster to confirm it, the post-Mania pay-per-view spring back to life. "Climb the corporate ladder", the mad b*stards in WWE said. Titan Tower was getting scaled.
It was quite the statement but it too was a multi-pronged success story - the pitch was so wild that it drew conversation away from the rather shocking administrative decisions the company had made days earlier and onto just how the remaining wrestlers would make the company headquarters their personal playground.
It got wilder still when we all saw the pictures of the briefcases hanging in the Connecticut night sky in roughly the same spot Shawn Michaels jumped towards during the oft-forgotten 1995 Monday Night Raw credits. This was actually happening, and the company went the trouble of peppering some regular matches in amongst the insanity too. If "insane" even covers it. But what else was there to expect from this show than what we got?
Well...
10. Jeff Hardy Vs. Cesaro
The commentary was big on "lasting impressions" and "final runs" as Jeff Hardy and Cesaro kept it timely and tight in a weird Kickoff opener.
'The Swiss Superman' performed similar duties for WrestleMania, and continues to suit the empty Performance Center even if his half-a*sed current push will probably be his only reward if and when the crowds are allowed back in buildings.
There was more to this pairing than WWE seemed keen to talk about, too. Hardy's recent return angle on SmackDown has centred around an eventual feud with Cesaro's former partner Sheamus, but the 'Celtic Warrior' was kept out of the narrative here in place of endlessly focusing on about Hardy's redemption. This itself reduced Cesaro to playing speedbump for the 'Charismatic Enigma' despite a couple of particularly gritty moments that saw King Corbin's new mate scrape off Hardy's face paint with an elbow and counter the railrunner spot with a catch-and-despatch.
It went too long for the lack of intriguing story, too. Far from a dynamic start to Hardy's last stand, this overextended sh*tkicking made it feel as though he'd never been away.