Review by Adam Stephen Kelly
UK Certification 15 | UK RRP £17.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 174 minutes
It all started as a concept inside the mind of Chris Jericho back in 2005, and weeks later stole the show at WrestleMania 21 as a fully realised idea. Five years and dozens of 'Mania moments later, the infamous match was awarded its very own pay-per-view. It is of course the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, one of the most exciting, thrilling and physical bouts in WWE history. A staple of the granddaddy of them all since its inception, Money in the Bank proved worthy of its very own mega event when both of its signature matches absolutely stole the show and had the hearts of fans in their mouths a plethora of times throughout the night. To this day, months after the shocks and surprises of the night, it remains as one of the best pay-per-views of 2010, and here's why. 
Now this is how you open a pay-per-view. What a match. This is a prime example of how you kick off a gimmick match pay-per-view event the perfect way. No underwhelming CM Punk vs. The Undertaker match like at Hell in a Cell, but a four-star start to Money in the Bank. The SmackDown opener put the Ladder Match at this year's WrestleMania to absolute shame, and almost all of the previous matches for that matter. And having Kane tear through Kofi Kingston, Drew McIntyre, Christian, Matt Hardy, Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, and The Big Show to take possession of the briefcase? Brilliant. Kane has been overdue a title shot, and to go on to win the World Heavyweight Championship on the same night, and then to get a lengthy title reign, really was deserved. His Money in the Bank victory was a sweet conclusion to an awe-inspiring battle among a plethora of steel ladders. There were almost too many brutal moments to count, including Kofi Kingston's Boom Drop from the top of a ladder onto Drew McIntyre right through the Spanish announce table. You could cut this match up and make one hell of a highlight reel. Amazing.
Divas Championship: Alicia Fox (c) vs. Eve Torres ??
While far from a good match, this Divas match was somewhat short and sweet and in the spate of recent women's bouts, this one seemed like a world away from the seemingly endless amount of one-star duds that we've seen as of late. At least these two showed their technical abilities.
Unified Tag Team Championship: The Hart Dynasty (c) vs. The Usos ??
Yet another tag team conflict between the title-holding Harts and the “Uso” brothers, better known as the sons of former WWE Superstar Rikishi. At this point I still didn't care about them and I still don't. I just don't like their immediate push to challenging for gold when they haven't made an impact. I much prefer a slow build when a tag team or wrestler aren't particularly monstrous. Although a fairly decent outing from these four no doubt talented athletes, their match wasn't as good as at Fatal 4 Way. I've given both the same rating as I just don't feel the two teams have much chemistry in the squared circle. I had a bad feeling that the Usos were going to get the win in this bout, but thankfully I was wrong. That would have been a nightmare – they're not ready.
World Championship: Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Jack Swagger ???
As I have mentioned before, I never had faith in Jack Swagger as World Heavyweight Champion. I felt he wasn't ready for it when he cashed in his Money in the Bank privilege in the record time of five days right after WrestleMania. He can go in the ring, but couple his relative inexperience with the fact that I'm not the biggest fan of his look, and I wasn't so ecstatic about his first World Title win. Therefore you can probably imagine my delight at his defeat at Fatal 4 Way, although I'd rather Mysterio hadn't taken home SmackDown's highest prize, but even so, following this decent one-on-one match that told an enjoyable story and concluded as a successful defense for the high-flying masked man, the shock of the night was about to occur...
World Championship: Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Kane ????
I can't give the match itself a star rating, but as a segment as well it was excellent, and so for both it gets four stars from me. Who could have expected Kane to cash in his Money in the Bank contract on the very same night as he won it? Marvelous stuff, a total surprise, and it couldn't have gone to a more longstanding, deserving member of the WWE roster. Kane has gone grossly unappreciated for the last few years, and I hope that when his feud with The Undertaker is over, he doesn't dwindle back down into obscurity.
Women's Championship: Layla (c) vs. Kelly Kelly ?
Can you say sloppy? That's all this match was. I'm not liking the “one half of the self-professed Women's Champions” deal one bit. You may as well skip this.
RAW Money in the Bank Ladder Match ????
Randy Orton, The Miz, Chris Jericho, Edge, Mark Henry, Ted DiBiase, John Morrison, and Evan Bourne all went airborne themselves in this excellent Ladder Match, the second of the night. While not as good as the opener, this steel-laden landscape of destruction proved to be thoroughly entertaining in its own right. Ladders were strewn everywhere, as were broken bodies. Orton was leaping high into the air with RKO after RKO, and Evan Bourne was doing a good job living up to his reputation as an aerial weapon of mass destruction who you can't take your eyes off. Death from above from Mr. Bourne. As for The Miz's victory, I say it's well deserved. Over the last year since he's really come into his own as a Superstar, I've become a big fan, and so seeing him with such an opportunity is pretty pleasing. I just hope he doesn't become the first Money in the Bank contract holder to unsuccessfully cash it in – because it's inevitable. I thought Jack Swagger was going to be the first to come up short with his title shot, but look what happened there.
WWE Championship Steel Cage Match: Sheamus (c) vs. John Cena
???The theme of Money in the Bank seemed to be steel – countless ladders and now a cage. And while the RAW Money in the Bank Ladder Match was for a WWE Championship opportunity, this bout, the main event of the evening and the inaugural Fatal 4 Way pay-per-view, was for that very title – the richest prize in the game. A decent, enjoyable championship battle, it didn't quite live up to the hype and was unnervingly slow at times, a pace which was detrimental to the match seeing as how it followed a fully-charged, thrill-a-minute bash. The finish with Nexus was a good way to end the event and further that particular storyline, being their second consecutive disturbance of a pay-per-view. It's been interesting seeing the stable rise from hungry rookies on NXT's first season to a dominant “third party” faction the likes of which we haven't seen since the ECW/WCW invasion angle of 2001, and even the New World Order, I'd go as far as to say. This was the kind of conclusion to a pay-per-view that got me pumped for the next night on RAW, and when that's naturally the objective of any such event, it's a mission accomplished.
EXTRAS ? Home video exclusive interviews with Kane and Nexus from backstage at Money in the Bank.