Reported by Mike Siciliano of WrestleView.com
On Saturday, March 15, 2008 at 11:41 AM EST

When you're two weeks from Wrestlemania, and it is the biggest one of the year, the one thing that has to be done is there has to be a preview of the biggest ladder match of the year, the one match in WWE that only happens once a year, their version of TNA's King of the Mountain, the Money in the Bank ladder match.

The past couple of matches have provided some incredible spots, from Shelton climbing the ladder to fly on to his opponent like Superman to Edge's initial victory and beyond, the match is pretty much a foregone conclusion to be one of the highlights of the Citrus Bowl card come March 30th. Let's talk in depth about the participants, and what may have been, had one of the participants not made the mistake that could potentially have cost him the most dramatic push in his entire career.

First, the participants.

Carlito
If I had to guess, this was one of the carats that WWE dropped in Carlito's lap when Carlito whined about not being used properly and wanted to leave the company. WWE balked, negotiated, and Carlito stayed. Dollars to doughnuts, this was one of the conditions of Carlito staying with WWE. While I don't discount his participation in this match, as his resume does show he has propencity in this match, the chances of him coming out the victor, I would believe, is pretty slim. There's no real direction for him to go in with any of the current champions or future world champions coming out of Wrestlemania. His last touch of gold has been so long ago that I would seriously doubt that he'd be in the line for a world title shot sometime soon. If I had to guess, and I know this is harsh, Carlito is one of the filler members of the ladder match.

Shelton Benjamin
Shelton's sheer athleticism can bring him to victory in this match, without question. I would suspect that if Shelton were to come out of this match with the contract, he would use it to challenge for the ECW strap once it eventually falls from Chavo's waist, which is definitely possible come the end of March 30th. One thing is a guarantee, when you look at this competitor in this match. You're going to see a spot that you're not going to believe. Whether it's Shelton climbing the ladder like an acrobat, or being forced to eat sweet chin music (figuratively) from midair, something will happen with this former Intercontinental champion that will make the crowd ooh and aah like maniacs. Guaranteed.

Mr. Kennedy
The former Money in the Bank winner from last year is back in the match as possibly a correction to last year's debacle. Kennedy won the match, got hurt, got misdiagnosed, and was forced to drop the contract to Edge in a match later on down the line, leading to another world title reign for the Rated R Superstar. Kennedy is, even money, back in the match to put the error from last year in some perspective. However, Kennedy's status within WWE is probably still tainted from the steroid scandal from a while back, and I would not be the least bit surprised to see Kennedy on the floor in a heap when this match comes to an end. I don't see him in line to challenge for world titles unless an unthinkable scenario happens, but I won't mention that yet until the preview column in a few weeks.

CM Punk
I would consider Punk a potential favorite in this match. One, for his experience, as he will be competing in his second straight money in the bank, and two, because I would see him as a potential contender for a world championship. Truth be told, as I have read lately, I believe the biggest obstacle holding Punk back from regaining world title gold is backstage politics. It appears some agents in the back have some beefs with Punk, and may be the ones holding him back. However, with his participation in this match, he has a one in seven shot of gaining a major advantage in regaining the world gold he lost to Chavo a while back, and personally, I would lower that ratio to 1 to 5, and I'll explain that later. Is Punk a bigger favorite than Benjamin? I doubt it, I would say something to the effect of even odds.

WWE Tag Team Champion John Morrison
I liked a lot the fact that Smackdown last night had Morrison and Miz fight for the last shot at the ladder match. However, I am bothered immensely by the fact that champions are involved in this match. While I did hear last night that the WWE Tag Team Champions are set to defend the belts against Jesse & Festus next week, I am doubting that a title change is going to happen a week before Wrestlemania, which means we're not going to have a tag team title match involving the WWE straps. That screams against the atmosphere that is Wrestlemania, and puts a major league disadvantage, I believe, for the Shaman to come out of this match with a contract, because if he still comes out with gold, whether or not that the company lets him defend it or not, I believe they seriously frown on double champions, or champs holding the briefcase. I know it's happened before, but I believe when it did, it was kind of a fluke.

WWE Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho
The 8 time and new IC Champion, relishing off of Jeff Hardy's fall from grace, (figuratively speaking), comes in to the match with a ton of experience, TLC matches, and countless other high stakes high stip matches, but he's still new coming out of his "2nd run" in WWE, and I wonder if his stamina is truly ready to handle a match of this magnitude and severity. I believe truly that Jericho could be a favorite to win the contract, from experience, but with just being the victor for the IC title, I have to believe that somewhere in the near future, someone is going to rise up from the Raw roster to challenge for the gold. It's so bad that WWE is making these titles so non-existent, but I have to say that there's a shot somewhere that the titles will regain their prestige, even without being defended on the grand stage.

WWE United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter
I really thought that MVP was going to drop the United States title to Batista last night. It made all the sense in the world. It would put the extra oomph in to the brand supremacy match with Smackdown being able to say they're bringing a champion to the contest, and then, if the spoiler is true, the controversial finish would've led to a hell of a feud on Smackdown for the US strap. But, of course, MVP won, he's got the title, and goes in to the ladder match looking to secure another double shot. He was a former tag team champion while holding the US strap, and I could potentially see him coming out of this match with the contract, as his reign as US champion has been a stellar one to say the least, going through the competition he's been forced to go through.

I truly thought this match was Jeff Hardy's to win. Even with his defeat of the IC title to Jericho, had he remained in the match, I would have considered him a lock on favorite to be the winner of this match, based on his push. Now, with the Rainbow haired warrior out, due to mitigating circumstances of his own accord, and not one, but three champions in this contest already, it's a virtual crap shoot who comes out of this with the contract. I would tend to want to say Punk, because I'm a Punk fan, and he's definitely a pick I would consider to be a future world champion again, yet however, Shelton, MVP, and Kennedy all have some parts of their resumes that would lead me to think that there's a chance they come out of this the victor as well.

Another potential inclusion in this match could be the result of Miz. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see WWE pull a jealousy card out of the hat, regardless of what happens next week, and have Mizanin interfere in the match, deterring Morrison from getting the contract, and helping whomever. One way or another, that would eventually lead to a good feud on ECW, which, we all know, desperately needs some content to keep its show going.

However way you slice it, this match is probably the most wide open Money in the Bank ladder match since its inception. One way or another, whatever you think of WWE's product up to now, you cannot discount the fact that this match will definitely be worth the price for the fans. Question though is, is it worth the price for the talents? Only time will tell.

Thank you for reading.

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