WWE pay-per-view event
The 2011 Money in the Bank was the second annual Money in the Bank professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. It took place on July 17, 2011, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. This was the last Money in the Bank held under the first brand extension, which ended in August, but was reinstated in July 2016.
Seven matches were contested at the event, including one broadcast as a dark match. In the main event, CM Punk defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship and thus, Cena was fired in storyline. In other prominent matches, Christian defeated Randy Orton by disqualification and as per stipulation, he won the World Heavyweight Championship, Alberto Del Rio won the Raw Money in the Bank ladder match for a future WWE Championship match at a time of his choosing, and in the opening contest, Daniel Bryan won the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match for a future World Heavyweight Championship at a time of his choosing. 
Money in the Bank was broadcast globally and received positive reviews from critics, with the main event receiving the most praise. For pay-per-view buys, 195,000 customers paid to watch the event compared with 165,000 for the previous year.
Production.
Background.
In 2010, WWE established Money in the Bank as a gimmick pay-per-view (PPV) and it was held in July—in April 2011, the promotion ceased going by its full name of World Wrestling Entertainment, with "WWE" becoming an orphaned initialism. The concept of the show came from WWE's established Money in the Bank ladder match that was originally held at WrestleMania from 2005 to 2010. The match features multiple wrestlers using ladders to retrieve a briefcase hanging above the ring. The briefcase contains a contract that guarantees the winner a match for a world championship at any time within the next year. For 2011, two Money in the Bank ladder matches occurred. One was exclusive to wrestlers from the Raw brand while the other was exclusive to those from SmackDown. Raw's match granted a contract for a WWE Championship match while SmackDown's granted a World Heavyweight Championship match contract. The event took place on July 17, 2011, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. It was the second event under the Money in the Bank chronology and the last to occur under the first brand split, which ended in August. Tickets went on sale in May 2011 through Ticketmaster with prices ranging from US$25 to $300.
Storylines.
The professional wrestling matches at Money in the Bank featured professional wrestlers performing as characters in scripted events pre-determined by the hosting promotion, WWE. Storylines between the characters were produced on WWE's weekly television shows "Raw" and "SmackDown" with the Raw and SmackDown brands—storyline divisions in which WWE assigned its employees to different programs. These storylines provided the background to the 2011 event, which continued the storylines from the previous event in WWE's 2011 pay-per-view schedule, Capitol Punishment.
The main event featured John Cena defending the WWE Championship against CM Punk. Punk defeated Cena in a non-title match on the June 13, 2011 episode of "Raw" (after a distraction from R-Truth on Cena), and then became the number one contender by winning a triple threat Falls Count Anywhere match against Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio on the June 20 episode of "Raw". After the match, Punk revealed that his WWE contract would expire at midnight on July 17, immediately after the Money in the Bank PPV ended; Punk vowed to win the championship and leave the company with it. On the next episode of "Raw", Punk cost Cena a tables match against R-Truth, then delivered a worked shoot promo saying that he, rather than Cena, was "the best in the world"; he also berated WWE for not promoting him properly. Punk called Cena an "ass-kisser" and insulted WWE management—including chairman Vince McMahon and executive John Laurinaitis and saying that Dwayne Johnson was main eventing next year's WrestleMania that made him sick. In addition to saying that he was breaking the fourth wall by talking to the camera, Punk proposed that he could defend the WWE Championship by wrestling in other companies such as Ring of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) after leaving the company with the title. As a result, Punk was given a storyline suspension and stripped of his championship match. Cena confronted McMahon and threatened to walk out on him and return the WWE Championship if Punk were not reinstated. McMahon relented on the condition that if Cena lost the title, he would be fired. On the following episode of "Raw", McMahon tried to persuade Punk to sign a new contract to ensure the WWE Championship would stay in WWE; McMahon agreed to Punk's demands and apologized to Punk before Cena interrupted the proceedings. The segment resulted in Cena punching Punk, so Punk tore up the agreed contract teasing a face turn for Punk.
The main feud from SmackDown was Randy Orton defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Christian. The storyline started on the May 6 episode of "SmackDown", when Orton defeated Christian to become the champion less than a week after Christian had won the title. Christian would then invoke his rematch clause against Orton at Over the Limit, in which he lost. At Capitol Punishment on June 19, Orton defeated Christian to retain the title again by pinning him, after the referee failed to notice his foot under the bottom rope. On the June 24 episode of "SmackDown", Christian demanded another attempt at the title from SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long; his demand was granted with the proviso that he could defeat Kane. Christian lost the match against Kane by disqualification after interference from Mark Henry. Long then made a tag team match for later that same episode, pitting the team of Christian and Henry against Kane and Orton with a similar stipulation, where Henry pinned Orton to win the match. Afterward, Long offered Henry an attempt at the championship if Henry could defeat Orton again. Henry lost the match by countout after Christian engineered a distraction. This set up a match between Orton and Christian for the title at Money in the Bank. On the July 8 episode of "SmackDown", Christian's lawyers in the storyline added a stipulation to the match that if Orton was disqualified or there was "poor officiating", he would lose the title to Christian.
The Raw Money in the Bank competitors were announced on the June 27 episode of "Raw" with no qualifying matches; these were Alberto Del Rio, Alex Riley, Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, R-Truth, and The Miz. The SmackDown Money in the Bank competitors were announced on the July 1 "SmackDown" as Cody Rhodes, Daniel Bryan, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, Kane, Sheamus, Sin Cara, and Wade Barrett.
The feud between Big Show and Mark Henry started on the June 17 episode of "SmackDown", when Big Show was forced to face Henry in a match. Big Show knocked out Henry before the bout began, creating a rivalry between the two. Henry interfered in Big Show's matches with Alberto Del Rio at Capitol Punishment and on the June 27 episode of "Raw" in a steel cage match. Henry versus Big Show was later announced for Money in the Bank.
When Brie Bella lost her Divas Championship to Kelly Kelly on the June 20 episode of "Raw", a title rematch was announced for Money in the Bank. Kelly had been feuding with the Bella Twins (Nikki and Brie Bella) since May 2011.
Event.
Preliminary matches.
The event, featuring commentary by Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and Booker T, began with the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match. During the bout, Sheamus slammed Sin Cara through a ladder propped between the ring apron and the announcers' table with a powerbomb. The ladder was bent in half and Cara was stretchered away from ringside. Near the end of the match, Barrett, Rhodes and Bryan were the only three in the ring. Bryan put Rhodes in a guillotine choke submission hold on top of the ladder in the middle of the ring while Barrett sneaked up the other side of the ladder. After Bryan knocked Rhodes off the ladder, Barrett got Bryan onto his shoulders and tried to throw him off. Bryan countered with repeated elbow strikes to Barrett's head. Bryan then kicked Barrett in the head and unhooked the briefcase to win the contest.
In the show's second match, Kelly Kelly defeated Brie Bella to retain the Divas Championship. Kelly won the bout after performing her "K2" maneuver on Brie.
In the show's third match, Mark Henry defeated Big Show. Henry gained a two-count after a "World's Strongest Slam" on Big Show. Henry then performed the move again and two running splashes for the pinfall victory. After the match, Henry wrapped a chair around Big Show's ankle and jumped on it, causing an injury to Big Show.
The next match was the Raw Money in the Bank match, where all the wrestlers brought ladders. During the match, Evan Bourne performed his signature "Air Bourne" aerial maneuver, diving from a ladder and landing on the other wrestlers at ringside. Bourne and Miz went for the briefcase but Del Rio toppled their ladder, and Miz was taken backstage with a knee injury. The seven remaining wrestlers simultaneously climbed four ladders in the ring, but fell off one by one. With nobody left in the ring, Miz hopped down to the ring and climbed the ladder with one leg, but Mysterio stopped him by slamming him off the ladder with a sunset flip powerbomb. As Mysterio and Del Rio battled on top of the ladders for the briefcase, Del Rio distracted Mysterio by unmasking him and then pushing him onto another ladder, which tipped over and sent both wrestlers to the mat. Del Rio regrouped and unhooked the briefcase to win the match.
In the show's fifth match, Randy Orton defended his World Heavyweight Championship against Christian, with the stipulation that Christian would win the title if Orton was disqualified or if there was poor officiating. Christian opened the bout by bringing a steel chair into the ring and trying to goad Orton into getting himself disqualified. Orton balked and threw the chair to the floor. Christian performed his signature "Killswitch", but Orton kicked out of the pin at the two count. As Orton was prepared to perform his signature "RKO" move, Christian spat in his face. An enraged Orton kicked Christian in the groin and in the process, a disqualification was called on Randy. As per the pre-match stipulation, Christian became the new champion. Afterwards, Orton viciously attacked Christian and gave him two more "RKOs" onto the announce table.
Main event match.
The final match was for the WWE Championship between Champion John Cena and CM Punk. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon had threatened to have Cena fired if he did not retain the title. During the match, two separate signature Attitude Adjustment moves by Cena failed to score the victory. More than 30 minutes into the match, Punk performed his "Go To Sleep" maneuver, striking Cena's ribs and causing Cena to fall out of the ring. As Punk rolled Cena back into the ring, McMahon and John Laurinaitis emerged from backstage and distracted Punk, resulting in Cena placing Punk in the "STF" submission hold. Punk did not submit, but McMahon signaled the referee to award Cena the match and sent Laurinaitis to ring the bell. This was reminiscent of the Montreal Screwjob in 1997, where a conspiracy orchestrated by McMahon led to Bret Hart losing his WWF Championship to Shawn Michaels by submission despite Hart never submitting.
Not wanting a tainted victory, Cena broke the hold and attacked Laurinaitis. As Cena returned to the ring, Punk performed a "Go To Sleep" on Cena and pinned him to win the WWE Championship. McMahon ordered the winner of the Raw Money in the Bank match, Alberto Del Rio, to cash in his contract on Punk. When Del Rio ran out and tried to cash in his contract for an immediate WWE Championship match, Punk performed a roundhouse kick on Del Rio before he could do so. After blowing a kiss to a distraught McMahon,