Money In The Bank (2018)

Last Sunday night, the WWE held its annual Money In The Bank event live on the WWE Network at the Allstate Arena. It was the ninth event under the Money in the Bank chronology. I’m thrilled to say that WWE is back to monthly PPV shows rather than the oppressive twice a month schedule. That said I’ve cut WAY back on my wrestling viewing for a variety of reasons including being just too damn busy and quite frankly wrestling has sort of sucked lately. I’m happy to say this was a pretty damn good show over all.

After our traditional Father’s Day activities, Mark and I got together for the first time since WrestleMania to watch the show. Here we go.

(All photos courtesy WWE.com)

The Bludgeon Brothers Defeated Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson To Retain The WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship

We didn’t watch the single match on the pre-show match but it doesn’t sound like we missed much. Sounds like the Bludgeons are being built super strong. I just have to wonder who’s going to be the team to finally step up and challenge them. Time will tell.

Daniel Bryan Defeated Big Cass

This was a decent enough way to start the show, but keep in mind that Cass was in the match so that really limits it. This “feud” really seems like a waste of Daniel Bryan’s talent and really shows Cass as over his head. Throughout the 16+ minutes there was never a doubt in my mind that Bryan would walk out with the win here no matter how much they tried to give Cass the upperhand. Bryan wins with a legit heel hook in a definitive manner. Nothing against Cass but I can only hope that marks the definitive end of this program so Bryan can move on to bigger and better things.

Bobby Lashley Defeated Sami Zayn

This completely felt like a Raw match I’d be fast forwarding through. I’ll admit I’ve not been watching regular weekly programming and this one may have had a bit more steam if I had been. That said, based solely on what I’ve seen of this matchup it’s not one I want to see any more of. Lashley is a legit beast but doesn’t have the presence of Brock Lesnar. Sami Zayn is great in the ring but continues to remind me of a slight in shape cab driver. For a PPV that is supposed to give us the best of Raw and Smackdown this was neither.

Seth Rollins Defeated Elias To Retain The WWE Intercontinental Championship

Seth Rollins continues to be a shining spot in nearly every PPV I watch him in. This was 17 minutes of outstanding wrestling where both guys got in their offense, had high spots and worked really well off one another. Elias has the crowd behind him, especially for his pre-match schtick, but Rollins is just too good right now. They did do a sort of weird thing where Rollins injured his knee mid way through the match that never paid off. Not sure if they were trying to show him as vulnerable for the next match in the series or what. Either way the best singles match of the night by far.

Alexa Bliss Won The Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match

These are always tough matches to critique cause there’s just so much going on. In addition to Alexa Bliss we had Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Ember Moon, Lana, Naomi, Natalya, and Sasha Banks. All the ladies worked super hard here and there was some really impressive (and dangerous) looking spots throughout. I love Bliss leading the division so I was super pumped to see her get the win here though I was a tad bit surprised. Lana is the one gal that still feels over her head in there but I have to say she’s making some great strides and I did appreciate the nod to her man as she locked in his finisher.

Roman Reigns Defeated Jinder Mahal

I have to preface this by saying a couple of things. I’ve always been a big fan of Roman Reigns despite the idea that he’s been rammed down our throats for the better part of three years now. Secondly, I’ve never been a big fan of Jinder Mahal despite him being jammed down our throats as champ. That being said, this was boring as fuck. The crowd didn’t care and neither did I. Just like I never thought Cass had a chance against Daniel Bryan, there was no chance in my mind that Jinder would win here. And while I’ve been a big fan of Roman’s his matches are growing very stale and super boring. Not sure how many times we can see him wrestle from behind the entire match only to pull out a miraculous victory at the end. Meh.

Carmella Defeated Asuka To Retain The WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship

This was fun. I’m sure wrestling nerds will be super pissed that Asuka lost again but I couldn’t care less. The character of Carmella is a throwback heel and having her win through shenanigans with Elsworth coming out was perfect. I’d guess we’ll get a rematch down the line here shortly and Asuka will get a title eventually but until then I’m happy with Carmella holding the title. The match itself was good and Carmella is absolutely progressing as a performer. Asuka was clearly carrying the in ring stuff but it came off very well. Definitely not the bathroom break match it could have been and a nice “twist” to keep the title on Carmella.

AJ Styles Defeated Shinsuke Nakamura In a Last Man Standing To Retain The WWE Championship

The problem in general with Last Man Standing matches is that they’re sort of slow by design. There’s a lot of time spent waiting to see if the wrestlers are going to answer the 10 count. That’s not to say this 31 minute affair was boring… far from it. But it was rather slow. If you’ve read any of my previous recaps you know that I’m just not a huge fan of Nakamura, at least not the way wrestling hipsters tell you I should be. He’s talented for sure but I’m not just not seeing what they’re seeing. Couple that with the fact that we’ve been getting this same feud since WrestleMania and I’m flat out bored with it (the feud, not the match). I’m hoping this is the last time we’ll see this pairing for a while and for a culmination to a feud this was a pretty great match. Their feud has been driven by nut shots so it only seems fitting that we got them here as well. I’m thrilled WWE didn’t take the title off AJ because it would have really been a step down to put it on Nakamura. Hoping it’s time for AJ to move on to something (someone) better.

Ronda Rousey Defeated Nia Jax By DQ – WWE Raw Women’s Championship

I wasn’t quite sure what we were going to get here, but I was pleasantly surprised. On one hand it’s too soon for Ronda to be in the title picture but on the other hand she’s such a big name it really doesn’t make any sense to have her anywhere else. She’s still super green in the ring but damn isn’t she already REALLY good at being an in ring professional wrestler. She was able to shine here with some legit Judo throws which to a gal the size of Nia Jax is saying something. That said, I was wondering how they were going to get out of this without making either Rousey or Jax look weak with a loss. Thankfully, they managed to do just that with what came next.

Alexa Bliss Defeated Nia Jax For The WWE Raw Women’s Championship

Bliss comes back mere minutes after winning the Money In The Bank match to cash in on Nia after beating both her and Ronda with the briefcase. This is a tremendous way to go as it keeps Ronda looking strong and doesn’t tarnish Nia too bad either (except for the fact they took the title off her so quickly after WrestleMania). Guessing we should get a nice feud or two out of these three women leading up to and possibly through SummerSlam. Very intriguing especially with me being a huge Bliss fan.

Braun Strowman Won The Money In The Bank Ladder Match

I think it’s fair to say that no one has been hotter of the last year or so than Braun Strowman. That said, he was sort of a weird pick in my mind to win the MITB briefcase cause he just doesn’t need it. He’s so over it’s not even funny. I can only hope this is setting up another match with Lesnar where The Beast will finally drop the title. I’m a Lesnar fan but I’m WAY bored with his act act this point as I feel it’s gone on for about two years too long. The fact that your main title holder is NEVER on TV is just really bad for business and a silly move. But back to this match that pitted Strowman against Bobby Roode, Finn Bálor, Kevin Owens, Kofi Kingston, Rusev, Samoa Joe, and The Miz. We got 20 minutes of chaos with some high spots, some comedy and Strowman continuing to do Strowman things which is delightful. The spot of the night goes to Kevin Owens for being thrown off the top of a REALLY large ladder by Strowman. This is one of those clips that you’re going to see in highlight reels for years to come. A great way to end an overall sold show.

Final Thoughts

Looking back over the card I think it’s safe to say this was a really entertaining and well booked show. It had some low points (Lashley vs. Zayn and Reigns vs. Mahal) but it had some really high points as well (the MITB matches, the IC title match and the Women’s titles). I’ve gone on record that the twice per month PPV schedule was far too often and I’m really thrilled we’re back to one. It’s a show like this, that feels special and “big”, every month or so that keeps wrestling fresh. When the shows were twice per month I really felt like I could skip Raw and Smackdown and just catch up with the pre-match recaps. After all, I’d only missed a couple of weeks worth of stuff. Now with this monthly format I’m not sure that’s the case. Couple that with the fact that they’ve got some really intriguing stuff coming out of this PPV and I don’t think I’ll WANT to miss WWE TV. See you next month for Extreme Rules!