WWE MONEY IN THE BANK

 

Las Vegas

LIV MORGAN vs. ALEXA BLISS vs. ASUKA vs. BECKY LYNCH vs. LACEY EVANS vs. RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ vs. SHOTZI "MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH" (16:35): AEW just had an excellent PPV, Forbidden Door, and a wild "Blood & Guts" match on Dynamite. Your move, WWE. This show was probably supposed to be a much bigger deal when they first announced it. They were going to have the show at the football stadium in Vegas and even started selling tickets. Apparently the ticket sales weren't good so they moved the show to the MGM Grand Arena. And while Money in the Bank is my favorite WWE PPV of the year, the reason is because usually you not only get title matches but you also get two ladder matches. This year, though, there was no men's title match and the two women's titles matches were extremely weak for a PPV. The show entertained me but nothing was spectacular except for the last five minutes or so of the Uso's match. Thankfully the WWE didn't have pre-show matches so this wasn't a 5 hour show or anything ludicrous. The show went a little over 3 hours mostly because, thanks to Peacock, there's commercials between matches which stretches the show out. Watching this women's ladder match made me realize how fucking awesome and skilled The Young Bucks really are. They won the tag titles a few weeks ago on Dynamite in a ladder match against Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus. Everything the Bucks do with a ladder works and looks seamless. In this match it was the exact opposite. Raquel Rodriguez had a spot where she was supposed to pick up a ladder where two of the women were laying on. I guess they didn't practice it because she could only lift half of the ladder up and it made her look weak and pathetic. Shotzi tried to run up a ladder perched in the corner to give Raquel a DDT but Shotzi slipped the first time on the ladder then slipped again on the ropes trying to correct herself. Alexa Bliss fell on a wobbly ladder when it crashed onto the ropes when it wasn't supposed to. The whole match wasn't sloppy, but it just made you realize how great some wrestlers truly are in ladder matches, like The Hardy's, Edge & Christian, etc. I do remember one of the Young Bucks tripping on the ropes and crashing head first onto a ringside table in that crazy All Out ladder match against Penta and Fenix, so they're not perfect. But watching this match just made me scared to death one of these women were going to break their neck. The big ladder in the center of the ring was broken and couldn't stand still and it took them forever to finally move it and use another one. The big moment was Becky Lynch climbing a ladder at ringside to jump butt first onto Asuka who was laying on a ladder bridge. Unfortunately, that looked more painful than thrilling, unlike Matt Riddle's two awesome top of the ladder spots later in the evening. So this more entertaining than a typical WWE women's match...but not by much. Liv Morgan won and got a good pop, which is shocking, because they seem to have buried her six feet under with their booking the past year. **1/2

BOBBY LASHLEY vs. THEORY (11:05): What a stupid fucking name. "Theory." Jesus Christ, who writes this shit? Vince and co. want their next big star to be named Theory? They have to realize how stupid that is, right? Is it too late to change it? While he's a better in ring wrestler than The Miz, Theory is basically The Miz because he's being pushed when no one in the audience wants him to and are baffled as to why it's happening. The Miz is good on the mic, so at least there's that. Theory is young and good looking. Not like there's a bunch of fat, old people running around the locker room, though. But that's the reason he's being pushed as a superstar. The only reason he lost the U.S. title here is because they're moving him to the main title picture. Which makes little sense because he got beat clean here. Match was decent and they seemed to work well together. **

BIANCA BELAIR vs. CARMELLA (7:10): Carmella is still around? I suppose Vince thinks she's pretty or something, because the fans don't like her, she's annoying, and she can't wrestle. This should not be a PPV title match. This is like a throwaway Smackdown match at best. Bianca won. Match sucked. Carmella beat up Belair after the match. 1/2*

THE USO'S vs. THE STREET PROFITS (23:00): This was the best match on the show, although it went too long. The last five minutes or so were great with some exciting near falls and the crowd in a frenzy. One of The Street Profits reminds me of the some of the AEW guys because he does a lot of high spots, including jumping over the ring corner onto The Uso's during this match and delivering a great, high Frog Splash that got a near fall. Fun match but there were like ten minutes in the middle where it was a boring beat down by The Uso's. ***

RONDA ROUSEY vs. NATALYA (12:30)/ LIV MORGAN vs. RONDA ROUSEY (0:35): This was another title match that had no business being on a PPV. Natalya? Really? Is she still even in WWE? And she's a heel now? What? Match sucked. It was boring. Ronda isn't typically in great matches, though, is she? At least since being back she seems to be kind of bland. Maybe that's why they decided to take the title off her when Liv cashed in her contract. Natalya had weakened Rousey's knees by doing the Sharpshooter and Rousey was selling her leg. Rousey put Liv in the Ankle Lock for a few seconds but Liv got out and did whatever her finishing move is and pinned her to win the title. A cash in is exciting and gets the crowd on their feet, but I think cashing it in so early kind of defeats the year long, suspenseful drama. Liv is cute and seems like she likes wrestling and it's her dream job and all that so her winning was cool, especially considering they've buried her endlessly. I think I'd rather have seen her win the title by actually winning for the first time in a long, hard fought match than just here in fluke like fashion. **

THEORY vs. DREW McINTYRE vs. MADCAP MOSS vs. OMOS vs. RIDDLE vs. SAMI ZAYN vs. SETH ROLLINS vs. SHEAMUS "MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH" (25:25): They announced that Theory was joining this match for no reason...which made it kind of obvious he was going to win. Riddle couldn't win because he lost a title match to Roman Reigns on Smackdown a few weeks ago with the stipulation that if he lost he could never face Reigns for the title again. After that match, Brock Lesnar came out, setting up a Brock vs. Roman match at Summerslam. Yes, they announced the Summerslam main event before this show. Kind of made this show pointless. I realize that Roman Reigns signed a new contract that gives him limited dates...but they really should have put the Riddle vs. Reigns title match on this show. Riddle is one of the most over wrestlers in WWE (Reigns and Orton are the other two). Why is his title match on a random Smackdown episode? And why are they pushing Theory more than Riddle? I'm not sure who the genius is coming up with wrestler's names...but they need to be fired. Matt Riddle is a good name. Riddle is not. Austin Theory is a good name. Theory is not. Madcap Moss is not a good name. They all sound like morons. As for this match...it was a pretty forgettable ladder match to be honest. Riddle did two awesome spots, though, which were the highlights. He actually stepped on the very top of the ladder to do a flip dive down onto all the wrestlers. And he did an RKO from the top of the ladder. Why Matt Riddle is not the champion of this company is beyond me. At one point they all threw ladders onto Omos at ringside to get him trapped. Then he appeared in the ring later without ever showing him escaping his predicament. Everyone also picked up Omos and put him through the announce table. That got a big pop. Sami Zayn took a sick bump on the back of his head being slammed on a ladder wedged on the ropes. It was entertaining, though with Theory winning at the end, you kind of went home depressed. Way to go, WWE! ***