In tonight’s WWE Money in the Bank pay per view, the clock may be a deciding factor in the CM Punk fiasco. With more “hype” surrounding it since WrestleMania, I wonder just how much of that hype is real.

Take a look at the RAW’s surprising 2.9 rating. Was it due to the baseball home run derby? Did fans not realize Punk was going to be on the show? Was this a hold-over from the previous week’s holiday and folks getting caught up to real life after returning from vacation? Or does the average fan just not care about the particular storyline?

As much hype as this show has, it may be one with a surprisingly low buy rate. Hardcore wrestling fans are rejoicing in this storyline, with Punk’s mentions of ice cream bars, Colt Cabana, and “WHAT A MANEUVER!”, but as I watch I can’t help think of Chris Jericho and Steve Austin from 10 years ago. Heck, Punk was even inexplicably wearing a Steve Austin t-shirt when he delivered his first promo “heard ’round the world”.

Going back ten years, Jericho was here to save the WWE and Steve Austin was there to undermine authority. Watching Punk I could see the BIG ANGLE simularities. Let’s go outside of the norm, the writer’s say. Can we say this? How about this? Vince MacMahon must be worried about the business today to give Punk this much free reign. Then again, this is almost a blow by blow re-enactment of Punk leaving Ring of Honor a few years back, except when he ran the title in his last match there he stuck around for a few more months.

In case you didn’t know, Punk’s WWE contract expires tonight, the same night he faces John Cena for the World title. If Punk wins, he says he’ll leave and take the WWE belt with him, perhaps to Japan or ROH. Also if he wins, MacMahon says he will fire Cena. You know, like he did last year when Cena didn’t miss any shows.

Just watch the clock.

Lets go over each match and try to get a grasp on how much the WWE is panicking after a 2.9 rating. As usual, I’ll guess the order of the matches.

Match #1 — SmackDown’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Participants: Kane vs. Sin Cara vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Justin Gabriel vs. Heath Slater vs. Sheamus.

The winner of this match will win a Money in the Bank briefcase which they can use to cash in ANYTIME and ANYWHERE against the World Champion.

But wait… is it just me or do two names not belong here. Justin Gabriel? Heath Slater? As part of the breakup with the Corre, they can be the fodder for Wade Barrett, and the three eliminate each other. That gives Daniel Bryan, Kane, Sin Cara, Sheamus and Cody Rhodes the advantage.

- Sheamus is getting a moderate push on SmackDown, and probably feels like he deserves a title shot after being part of the Orton/Christian feud.
- Sin Cara is there just to do some flippy do’s.
- It will be mentioned about 200 times that Kane won last year and cashed in on the same night against Rey Mysterio to win.
- Cody Rhodes is at the highest level he’s ever been. Great on the mic. Good to great matches. Got the crowd hating him. Will the WWE pull the trigger and push him past the glass ceiling? Or…
- Will it be Daniel Bryan’s turn to get the push he deserves, being able to showcase why he was one of the greatest wrestlers in the world?

WHO SHOULD WIN – I’m torn between Sheamus, Rhodes and Bryan, but believe the man who would do the most with the briefcase is Daniel Bryan. The man deserves a huge push, and could be part of something or another later in the show.

WHO WILL WIN – Sheamus. He’s still a great wrestler, great on the mic, and is a heel who would deviously cash in the briefcase at the most opportune time… like every other heel who won before him.

Match #2 — Big Show vs. Mark Henry

I love seeing matches between two big men out to hit each other really hard. They’re not there to “wrestle”, they want to hurt each other, like they have in the weeks leading up to this match. Henry has been displaying his strength left and right, and is being pushed as the World’s Strongest Man. Big Show has looked more energetic than he has in a long time, and it’s nice to see him not smiling for once. He’s not a happy giant, he’s the giant with a thorn in his foot. So the match will probably start off with a tie up, followed by a few headlocks and arm wringers.

WHO SHOULD WIN – Mark Henry. The man is in line for a title shot, like has every other year at this point before being snuck back into obscurity. After paying him so much over the past 15 years, he’s like the circus freak the WWE brings out every once in awhile to show how scary he can be. Of course this means Henry isn’t given much motivation. At one point he was working towards a Scott Steiner-like physique, and other times he’s looking like Bastion Booger.

WHO WILL WIN – Mark Henry. A heel needs to be pushed on SmackDown. Big Show may have Kane run out to help him, which backfires and leads to the 564th feud between the two.

Match #3 — RAW’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Participants: Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Alex Riley vs. R-Truth vs. The Miz vs. Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger.

Winner gets the Money in the Bank briefcase for a shot against the World Champion anywhere at any time.

Many of the biggest angles in the WWE have revolved around the men in this match. There are no names that don’t belong, but some people could argue about Alex Riley, the man who’s been beating Miz each week, getting huge reaction from the crowd. Let’s go over each man in this match.

Rey Mysterio – Champion from last year who lost his title to Money in the Bank winner Kane. He’s been very good on RAW lately, however quietly. The crowd is still behind him, but he almost seems like an afterthought. This may be Mysterio’s last MITB match.

Alberto Del Rio – It’s his destiny to win this match, to win the championship, and to be the biggest star in WWE history. He won a three-way to become the #1 contender and a match against Cena at this show.

Kofi Kingston – Another man lost in the mix who will do some flippy-dos, something stupid, and possibly hurt himself.

Alex Riley – Getting a huge push after beating the Miz here and there, most recently at Rummy while on the jet to Chicago. However, this is one of those moments where he gets crossed out with…

The Miz – Then again, Miz could be rewarded with helping get Alex Riley over with a win here. Or he and Riley will take each other out. This is a man who should not be an afterthought.

R-Truth – One of my favourite characters in wrestling in awhile, he recently “defeated” John Cena in a tables match a few weeks ago on RAW. Shouldn’t he be getting a title shot because of that?

Evan Bourne – Flippy do’s. Sorry Evan. Was nice meeting you in Vegas and all, I and I loved your line about “Hookers don’t count”.

Jack Swagger – He’s won the Money in the Bank before, didn’t he?

WHO SHOULD WIN – Alberto Del Rio. Everybody should be picking him for this match. But although I think he should win, he’s not going to. You heard it here first. Unless somebody stole my notes.

WHO WILL WIN – The Miz. Bear with me here. More on this later.

Match #4 — World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton defending against Christian. Again.

Hey, these two are going to have a good match no matter what, right? How about if they have a match that actually isn’t good? How about they not have much of a match at all? If Orton gets DQ’d or the referee makes a “bad call” it will be decreed that Christian will automatically win the title. So how about the match goes 5-10 minutes and Christian does something to get Orton DQ’d, quickly winning the title for him?

WHO SHOULD WIN – Christian. See above.

WHO WILL WIN – Sigh, Randy Orton. I’ve said before how much I’m against Orton’s title reign, and how this feud has seemingly hit a brick wall. But Christian has ran out of chances here, and it’s time to give somebody else (like Mark Henry… sigh) a shot.

Match #5 — WWE Diva’s Champion Kelly Kelly defends against Brie Bella

Kelly x 2 won her very first championship a few weeks back, and is enjoying the title as much as she can. She’s probably even sleeping with it.

WHO SHOULD WIN – Kelly Kelly. She’s the perennial babyface, and would be nice to build her up as a champion before feeding her to a big, bad heel. Is anybody still reading this part?

WHO WILL WIN — Let’s say Kelly Kelly. Why not?

Match #6 — WWE Champion John Cena defends against CM Punk.

If Punk wins, he says he’s taking the belt with him. If Cena wins, because he demanded this match with Punk, he’s going to be “fired”. *cough*

Watch the time.

I’ve talked about this match a bit above, but I have NOT been reading other’s predictions on what would happen. I would actually like to be surprised to see where this goes. Sure, Colt Cabana says he’s going to be there. But he’ll be in the crowd, right? Want to hear some of my predictions? You asked for it.

It’s all about the time.

1. Punk wins. He celebrates before Vince McMahon comes out and demands that one of the MITB winners from tonight comes down to bring the belt back to the WWE. Miz comes out first. The Chicago could would love that. Punk defeats Miz. Crowd eats it up. McMahon demands the other MITB winner come down. Here comes Daniel Bryan. Bryan vs. Punk for the championship. Draw your own conclusions.

2. Cena wins. He celebrates while getting pelted with trash from the fans in Chicago. Suddenly Daniel Bryan’s music hits. Crowd reacts in kind. Cena vs. Bryan. Draw your own conclusions.

WHO SHOULD WIN – CM Punk. They can’t have done all of this buildup for nothing, could they? If Punk loses and then leaves the company, could he re-sign and possibly bring in some folks from ROH?

WHO WILL WIN – CM Punk. Although I do like the idea of Bryan vs. Cena, there is too much of a build-up for Punk not to lose. But if he does, I actually have faith — you heard it here first — I actually have faith that the WWE is going to make this exciting and interesting.

FINAL THOUGHTS – I’m more excited for this show than I was for WrestleMania. I like to see things shaken up. And I love it when there is so much POTENTIAL out there.

Yes, potential. This could be the turning point for the WWE.

I’d love to hear any of your thoughts on my predictions above. Do you think I’m putting too much stock into this show? Am I going to walk away disappointed?

Let’s find out…

There’s always good stuff. Sometimes, you just have to dig. Alan, Duan, myself, and Stevie J from Angry Marks have listed our picks for our awards. Also, we have Big D making his return to the site for “One Night Only”, giving his thoughts as well. You can find D at Superfriends Universe.

Most Outstanding Wrestler Of The Year

Alan – Chris Hero

Career year for Metropolis’ finest. He tore it up in NOAH, PWG, ROH, EVOLVE and wXw during the course of the year, having one great match after another. Shined in both singles and tags (as part of the Kings Of Wrestling). His matches with Akira Tozawa, the Briscoes, Martin Stone and Davey Richards were crazy good.

Duan – John Cena

Another brilliant year for Cena. He delivered his best work when needed and remains the best reason to tune into WWE TV.

Stevie J – Tie between Daniel Bryan, Chris Jericho, Kofi Kingston and Davey Richards.

Big D – Daniel Bryan

Fake Fired, real fired, who cares? This guy got 4-5 paychecks in the summer, was the most talked about guy on the net, and has had consistently great matches all over WWE AND the indies! He is the alpha dog.

GG – Daniel Bryan

It’s odd that in a year that he probably had less great matches than any year, I choose him for this award. But being that I watch mostly WWE these days, he was the best thing on TV all year. From his really fun match with Kaval in FCW to his match on NXT with Chris Jericho, to his really strong matches with Miz, Dolph Ziggler, and John Morrison, he was the most consistent performer on WWE television.

Pro Wrestling Show Of The Year

Alan – PWG Seven

Jesus Christ, this show was ridiculous. A five star main event, a ****3/4 star semi main and a bunch of other great stuff on the undercard. When the worst match on a show is Danielson vs. Strong, that’s saying something.

Duan – WrestleMania XXVI

Several quality matches and an epic main event. It’s the one thing WWE gets right every year.

Stevie J – WrestleMania XXVI

Big D – WrestleMania XXVI

GG – WrestleMania XXVI

If you get the chance to see WrestleMania live, do it. It was my second year in a row of being there live, and this time, I got to experience it with my kids. We had a blast. The show never hit a lull and the main event was one of the top two best matches I’ve seen live.

Match Of The Year

Alan – Caballera Contra Caballera: Shingo Takagi vs. BxB Hulk (Dragon Gate – Pro Wrestling Festival In Kobe)

One of my favourite matches of all time. The culmination of a story that began when both men debuted 5 years ago. Amazing character work, storytelling and mindblowing action all in front of a white hot crowd of 10,000 people at their biggest show of the year.

Duan – Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker (WrestleMania XXVI)

It should have been impossible to follow last years effort, but some how they did it. Another classic and completely unique from the previous year’s effort.

Stevie J – Tie between Kevin Steen vs. El Generico (Final Battle), Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker (WrestleMania XXVI), and The Kings of Wrestling vs. The World’s Greatest Tag Team (Glory By Honor IX).

Big D – Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker (WrestleMania XXVI)

Benjamin/Haas vs. KOW came close but… this one was amazing because not only did they manage to have an unbelievably great match, they managed to follow-up one of the best ever and make it DIFFERENT. You can’t screw with these two.

GG – Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker (WrestleMania XXVI)

I still say that their rematch was better than the one at WrestleMania XXV. I saw both live. In the crowd, I never felt that Michaels was going win the first one. They managed to get me to believe that he had a chance in the second. It was probably the most content I’ve been watching a wrestling match ever.

Big Things In ’11

Alan – Tetsuya Naito

Came back from Mexico a new man in January. Given a huge opportunity by feuding with Hiroshi Tanahashi, and he seized it in a big big way. I see no slowing down next year. An IWGP Heavyweight Title charge is surely on tap.

Duan – Dolph Ziggler

I’m not sure exactly where Dolph’s position is in the WWE hierarchy, but I think we will find out in 2011. He’s developing his character and his ring work is constantly improving. He’s going to be great for WWE next year. It doesn’t matter whether it’s as a midcarder or main-eventer.

Stevie J – Davey Richards

Big D – I predict bad things in 2011, including the buyrates and ratings still dropping and ROH fully going under.

GG – Dolph Ziggler

I completely agree with Duan. My wish for Ziggler this year was for him to be able to wrestle a much more athletic style because he has the goods. Athletically, he’s up there with the best of the guys they have going. I loved watching him excel in matches with other guys who embody an athletic style like Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan. I see him in the main event picture sometime late next year and at least by 2012.

Moment Of The Year

Alan – The DDT roster get serious and toughen up HARASHIMA so he can save their title from Daisuke Sekimoto.

Stevie J – Shawn Michaels “legit” retiring after another awesome match with Undertaker.

Big D – While HBK’s retirement is the most emotional, Nexus’ invasion had more people talking than anything and was the biggest “holy shit” moment of 2010.

GG – Even though we knew there was a good chance he’d show up, my favorite moment of the year was when Daniel Bryan came out as John Cena’s surprise man in the elimination tag match with Nexus.

Photo of Daniel Bryan shared via Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.