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Money In The Bank.
A concept created by Y2J Chris Jericho in 2005 where mid-card superstars would compete in a ladder match for a briefcase at Wrestlemania. The winner of the match would win an opportunity for a World Championship match any time, any place for up to one year.
The match and concept became so big over the years that WWE decided to replace the annual Wrestlemania match with its own Pay-Per-View(PPV) in 2010. It is now arguably a Top 5 PPV of the year after Wrestlemania, Summerslam, Royal Rumble and Survivor Series.
Money In The Bank has helped launch the careers of superstars such as Edge, CM Punk, Jack Swagger, The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins. Some of those superstars like Del Rio and Swagger did not pay off in the long run, but they were given their big break because of Money In The Bank.
In 2017, women were finally given the opportunity to compete for the coveted briefcase. There have been three matches overall for the women and two winners. The first one took place at the Money In The Bank PPV in 2017 and is considered null and void by WWE because the winner, Carmella, used her then manager James Ellsworth to her advantage, having Ellsworth retrieve the briefcase for her. Carmella would win the contract officially in the second ever women’s Money In The Bank match twelve nights later on Smackdown Live.
Alexa Bliss would end up winning the match last year, cashing in on the same night on Nia Jax after Bliss interfered in Jax’s title match with Ronda Rousey.
In total, there have been 21 total Money In The Bank ladder matches. 17 out of the 21 winners have cashed in there contract to become champion. That is a 81 percent successful cash in rate.
However, this night is not always about the Money In The Bank matches. Who could forget the infamous CM Punk vs John Cena match for the WWE Championship in 2011? Of course, we also can’t forget about A.J. Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura’s Last Man Standing match from last year, or Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins’ classic ladder match for the WWE title in 2015.
This year’s PPV is taking place in WWE’s backyard in Hartford, Connecticut, and it has potential to be a memorable one. There are so many good wrestling matches on paper I cannot see how this PPV can be terrible. Yes, WWE TV has been stale lately, but in the opinion of this author, their PPV’s have been anything but stale this year. Let’s hope Money In The Bank continues that trend.
*NOTE: This preview does not include Tony Nese(C) vs Airya Daivari for the Cruiserweight Championship. I do not watch 205 Live, so I can’t make a prediction.
Seth Rollins(C) vs A.J. Styles. Universal Championship
The dream match!
For the first time in professional wrestling, Seth Rollins and A.J. Styles, two of the best, if not, THE best two wrestlers of this generation going one-on-one, and it takes place inside a WWE ring! Five years ago, nobody thought this was possible, but here we are. Since coming over to RAW in the Superstar Shakeup, Styles has hunted the “Beast Slayer”.
I think these two put on match of the night in the main event. I have gone back and forth on this as I think WWE could go either way, but in the end, I do not think they take the belt off Rollins in his first title defense.
Kofi Kingston(C. W/Xavier Woods) vs Kevin Owens. WWE Championship
Kofi’s first PPV title defense will come against a prized fighter. Owens is looking for his first WWE Championship reign, and his first championship since 2017. This all came about when Owens turned on The New Day after filling in as an honorary member for Big E after he went down with an injury.
This will be an entertaining match, and I believe Kofi’s run as the top guy on Smackdown continues after hitting Owens with a Trouble In Paradise.
Men’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match(Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn, Baron Corbin, Finn Baylor, Ali, Andrade, Randy Orton)
Say it with me…
He is a former Acting General Manager of RAW.
A former Golden Gloves Boxing Champion.
A former Money In The Bank winner.
A former United States Champion.
The man who defeated Kurt Angle in his farewell match at Wrestlemania.
And Hartford’s favorite son, BAROOOON CORBINNNN!
HOT TAKE ALERT: I like Baron Corbin. I believe he has the tools and the potential to be a future Universal Champion and major player in WWE. Right now, I think he is RAW’s top heel, and he’ll prove it by retrieving the briefcase Sunday. There’s lots of other deserving superstars in this match such as Sami Zayn, who replaced Braun Strowman Monday on RAW after defeating him in a Falls Count Anywhere match thanks to McIntyre and Corbin, McIntyre, Baylor, Ali and Andrade, but the guy who deserves it the most is the formal constable to Stephanie McMahon.
Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match(Nikki Cross, Natalya, Ember Moon, Bayley, Dana Brooke, Naomi, Mandy Rose, Carmella)
Considering my favorite women superstar in the entire industry Alexa Bliss was replaced in this match by Nikki Cross because of a concussion, I guess I will have to settle for being happy if Mandy Rose wins the women’s contract. Dana Brooke would be interesting, considering she’s from my hometown of Cleveland, and the Money In The Bank would shoot her status to the moon, but I do not think WWE officials see her as championship material. None of the other women interest me with the briefcase, but there all good workers, so I think the match will deliver.
The Miz vs Shane McMahon. Steel Cage
Miz and McMahon put on a fun, match of the night contender bout at Wrestlemania. That supplex spot off the platform showed there not afraid to take bumps even at their ages. I still don’t know how Shane does it!
I do think the Best In The World feud ends here with a Miz victory by escaping over top of the cage. There will probably be interference from Bobby Lashley and the B-team to try to keep Miz inside the cage, but The Awesome One will find a way out of McMahon’s grasp, earning his first big singles victory as a face since 2013 while getting revenge on McMahon for bullying his father.
Becky Lynch(C) vs Lacey Evans. RAW Women’s Championship
Before “Becky Two Belts” puts her Smackdown Live title on the line vs Charlotte Flair, she’ll defend her RAW Women’s title against the “True Lady” of WWE in Lacey Evans. I think Evans has potential to be a mega heel in WWE, but her time is not now, especially considering my plan for Becky’s other title match.
Becky Lynch(C) vs Charlotte Flair. Smackdown Live Women’s Championship
If I was booking this PPV, I would book both of Lynch’s matches back-to-back. I think Evans beats up Lynch enough to allow Charlotte to pick the bones of a vulnerable champion like the true heel she is. While we have seen Charlotte as champion too many times too quickly, Becky does not need to be on Smackdown.
She needs to carry RAW as the division has been depleted since the Superstar Shakeup. A nice surprise would be the winner of the women’s Money In The Bank cashes in on Lynch here, but I do not think WWE wants the women’s Money In The Bank cashed in at the PPV for the second straight year, but then again this is the era of 50/50 booking, and a briefcase has never been cashed in at the PPV back-to-back years.
Samoa Joe(C) vs Rey Mysterio. United States Championship
This has been a lackluster build centered around Rey’s son Dominick, who we all remember from Rey’s classic rivalry with Eddie Guerrero from 2005. I’m assuming there doing this Wrestlemania rematch because this is the match they were supposed to have at the “Showcase Of The Immortals” before Mysterio got injured, and the match had to be turned into a Joe squash. I think Joe walks out the champion, but here’s to hoping Dominick turns heel on his dad!
Roman Reigns vs Elias
Mr. McMahon proclaimed Elias as the “biggest acquisition in Smackdown history” during the Superstar Shakeup, which led to Roman Reigns coming out, superman punching the Chairman, spearing Elias and spearheading this match. My ideal booking would be to have Reigns squash Elias, and both of these talents move on to bigger and better things. Elias made his name on RAW by singing and taking a dump on whatever city he was in that night, but he has not done that since the move to the blue brand, and he needs to get back to that if he wants to save himself from getting lost in the shuffle on Tuesday nights.
Daniel Bryan and Rowan vs The Usos(Kickoff)
Bryan and Rowan beat The Usos two weeks ago on Smackdown Live to win the vacant Smackdown tag titles after The Hardy Boyz had to relinquish them due to Jeff suffering a bad knee injury at the hands of Lars Sullivan. This should be an above average kickoff match, and I got “The Planet’s” tag champs winning this non-title match, sending the Usos back to RAW to do comedy skits with the Revival while Bryan and Rowan move on to probably face Heavy Machinery.
Brandon Lewis is the Web Director for blacksquirrelradio.
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