The landscape of the 2014 WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture will be painted on Sunday at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view.

Two huge ladder matches, one to decide who will inherit the title stripped from Daniel Bryan, and another to determine who will get a future shot at the gold, are sure to shock and entertain in equal measure.

But what will they deliver in terms of results? Below, Sports Mole predicts who will triumph at the TD Garden in Boston.

Money in the Bank ladder match

It should be noted that there are three former Money in the Bank ladder match winners, all of whom cashed in to win a world title, in this bout. Let's start by ruling each of them out.

Rob van Dam's main event years are far behind him and his role within the WWE now should be to work with the younger talent who could one day be champions.

This has been well demonstrated since the 43-year-old's post-WrestleMania comeback, as he has stepped into the ring with the likes of Cesaro and Seth Rollins.

The ECW original's fondness for ladder-inspired carnage makes him a smart entrant, but expect RVD to be buried underneath a ladder at the end of the contest, not standing atop of one.

Jack Swagger's title run was one of the most ill fated of the Money in the Bank era, and his return to the major championship scene at WrestleMania 29 did not go too well either.

Giving him a third push back to the top of the card would make little sense considering that The Real American has only lost momentum since splitting from Cesaro a couple of months ago.

Swagger in fact played a significant role in the ruining of one of the most popular cash-ins ever, when his kick to the head left Dolph Ziggler with a serious concussion, which led to the World Heavyweight Championship being swiftly passed on to Alberto Del Rio.

All the WWE have to do with Ziggler is press the switch. The guy is a main-event talent who is extremely popular and certainly deserving of another title run, but someone in the back does not see it that way.

'The Show Off' would be a good choice to win, but won't, and neither will Kofi Kingston, whose career is destined to peak in the mid-card after the company failed to take the leap of faith with him back in 2010.

So that leaves three possible contenders, and with former Shield brethren Rollins and Dean Ambrose embroiled in their own personal rivalry, which is likely to conclude with a one-on-one match at SummerSlam, Bad News Barrett may be pulling down the briefcase this weekend.

The Englishman has been on a roll since being repackaged and capturing the Intercontinental title, and has been championship material for many years.
He has the moves, the verbiage, and now he has the gimmick to go with it.

His only problem could be that he might not be competing in the match, after reports confirmed that he had suffered an injury during a match with Swagger on Wednesday. The Swagger curse strikes again!

Prediction: Bad News Barrett, or Seth Rollins should BNB not be fit to compete.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship match

This is a match that the WWE wish that they did not have to make.

Bryan was red hot having finally succeeded in his long pursuit of the WWE title at WrestleMania XXX, only for neck surgery to stop him in his tracks.

There cannot afford to be consecutive pay-per-views without a championship match, and therefore Bryan was forced to vacate the gold.

They are now faced with the dilemma of safely putting the strap on one of five experienced waists, or hoisting it onto the shoulders of one of a trio of superstars who may not be ready to carry the weight of the company.

Roman Reigns is one of those young studs and is clearly earmarked for big things in the coming months, considering his Survivor Series and Royal Rumble performances and the attention that he has had in this storyline.

The former Hound of Justice ended Monday's pre-MITB RAW standing tall, and booking logic indicates that is a spoiler for him falling short on Sunday.

Internet murmurs seem to suggest that he is on course for a SummerSlam clash with Triple H, and while it isn't out of the question that the title could be involved, it does not need to be to generate interest in the rivalry.

Reigns will have his time, and it will come sooner rather than later, but not at Money in the Bank.

The same applies for Cesaro and Bray Wyatt, who has been reliably compelling ever since debuting in June 2013, but they perhaps present too much of a risk with SummerSlam around the corner.

The main event at the Staples Center will need to be box office, and with Bryan or Brock Lesnar likely to be title challengers, the champion will need to be a bona fide star.

For all of his critics, John Cena is still the biggest draw in the business, and a rematch of last SummerSlam's showdown against Bryan, or a second meeting with Lesnar, would sell PPVs by the hundreds of thousands.

Putting the United States title on Sheamus, who badly needs a heel turn to refresh a stale character, conveys that the hierarchy do not see him as a main-event act at the moment, while Del Rio has been away from that scene for six months, and is unlikely to return imminently considering the talent above him.

Kane, a last-minute addition by Triple H, is probably included to play some role in the screwing of Reigns, while The Authority's other pawn, Randy Orton, feuded with Bryan throughout 2013 and is unlikely to go heel vs. heel with Lesnar.

Giving Cena a 15th world title reign would initially anger those marks desperate to see Reigns or Wyatt given a chance at the top, but the same people will no doubt watch excitedly when he faces Bryan or Lesnar in two months time.

It might not be a hugely popular decision at first, but that does not mean that it is the wrong one. Cena remains WWE's go-to guy.

Prediction: John Cena