Last night, I was pulling double duty when it came to sports. On my iPad, Money in the Bank was playing, and the Raptors top the Buck in a Game 3 double overtime thriller. With All Elite Wrestling debuting their product next Saturday with Double or Nothing, the WWE was on full display. Money in the Bank have been my favorite PPV ever since they made it one of their PPVs. For the second consecutive year, both the men and women had a ladder match. Seth Rollins defended the Universal Championship against A.J. Styles in a dream match. Kofi Kingston put up the WWE Championship against Kevin Owens. Becky Lynch defended both of her titles in the same night. Lynch defended her Raw title against Lacey Evans. She also put up the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair. Let’s see how things turned out last night.
We kicked things off with the Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Coming into the match, Alexa Bliss was removed due to injury and Nikki Cross replaced her. Let me say that this year’s ladies ladder match was much better than last years. Coming into this match, my picks were either Nikki Cross, Mandy Rose or Ember Moon. Carmella won the first ladies MITB match, so she wasn’t in the running for me. Natalya is the veteran who doesn’t need the briefcase. Bayley was a longshot and Dana Brooke actually did better than expected and have improved a lot. Ember Moon hit the biggest move when she hit the Eclipse on Natalya from the outside ladder while she was in the ring. Sonya Deville almost helped Rose to win, but Bayley met them on top of the ladder, push them off and grabbed the briefcase. Women’s Money in the Bank Winner: Bayley
Match Rating: 3.5/5- Really fantastic way to start off the PPV.
We had Samoa Joe defending his United States Championship against Rey Mysterio. These two have been going at each other before WrestleMania. Samoa Joe continues to go after Mysterio and his son, Dominic. The actual match was short as it seems like Joe broke his nose earlier in the match. Mysterio rolled up Joe and pinned him to become the United States Champion. Winner and New United States Champion: Rey Mysterio
Match Rating: DUD- There have been conflicting reports onto why the match ended early. It could have been Joe getting hurt or Mysterio injured his shoulder. Either way, Joe attacked Mysterio on the ramp after the match and Joe continued to taunt Dominic.
We had Shane McMahon battling the Miz in a steel cage match. These two have been battling ever since Shane turned on Miz at the Fastlane PPV. They fought at WrestleMania 35 and during that match Shane attacked Miz’s dad. After WrestleMania, these two have still been at each other and it led to this steel cage match. Miz controlled the match for the most part and he beat the hell out of Shane with a chair. Miz also beat on Shane on top of the cage. Miz looks to hit a big superplex from the top of the cage now. Shane hangs on but Miz keeps trying with half of Shane’s body hanging over the other side of the top of the cage. Shane slips out of his shirt and falls to the floor to win the match. Winner: Shane McMahon
Match Rating: 2.75/5
Finally, we had the Cruiserweight Championship being defended on the main card for a change. Tony Nese put the championship on the line against Ariya Daivari. If you haven’t had the chance to check out 205 Live, you’re missing out on some great action. The champion Tony Nese won the title from Buddy Murphy at WrestleMania 35. These two put on a display and it’s unfortunate that the WWE doesn’t do a better job promoting them because the crowd wasn’t too much into it. In the end, Tony Nese with a hurricanrana and the big running knee to the face for the pin to retain. Winner and Still Cruiserweight Champ: Tony Nese
Match Rating: 3.25/5
Becky Lynch defended her Raw Women’s Championship against Lacey Evans. Lacey Evans haven’t wrestled much since coming to the main roster. As we all know, Becky Lynch have been one of the hottest wrestlers in the world since turning on Charlotte. Evans have targeted Lynch right after WrestleMania and she’s connected on a couple Women’s Rights. Coming into the match, Evans didn’t sell me on her skills in NXT and was skeptical about her opportunity. Leaving the match, Evans impressed the hell out of me and think she’ll be someone to look at in the future. In the end, Lynch locked in the Disarm Her to retain the Raw Women’s title. Winner and Still Raw Women’s Champ: Becky Lynch
Match Rating: 3/5
As Becky Lynch was celebrating with the fans, the music of Charlotte Flair hit. Flair walked by Lynch and talked some trash then went to the ring. As soon as the bell hit, they both went at each other and Lynch didn’t show signs of her previous match. Flair goes for a Natural Selection on the apron, but Becky hangs on to the rope and Flair lands hard on the floor. Lacey Evans runs down and decks Becky with a Woman’s Right while the referee is looking at Flair. Flair tries to take advantage, but Becky counters and rolls her up. Flair comes right back with a big boot for the pin to win the title. Winner and New SmackDown Women’s Champ: Charlotte Flair
Match Rating: 3.5/5- After the match, Flair taunted Lynch and Becky left the ring and attacked Lacey Evans. Flair attacked Lynch from behind and she attacked Becky with the help of Lacey Evans. They tossed her in the ring and continued to beat her up. Bayley’s music hit and she ran to the ring to help out Becky Lynch. Flair attacks Bayley from behind and Flair puts boots to Becky again. Flair ends up going down in the corner. Bayley stands up and fans chant for her to cash in. Bayley picks up the briefcase and looks at it. She hands it to the referee and says she wants to cash in. Bayley hit an elbow drop, pins Charlotte and becomes the new SmackDown Women’s Champ. Winner and New SmackDown Women’s Champ: Bayley
My Thoughts: Loved everything about what went on right here. Having Becky being on both shows would’ve gotten stale after a while. On Raw, she can continue her feud with Lacey Evans as they fought after the match. On SmackDown, Bayley and Charlotte can feud for the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
We had Roman Reigns taking on Elias as both claimed to be the biggest acquisition on SmackDown during the Superstar Shakeup. While Reigns was walking towards the ring, Elias knocked him down with a guitar shot. Elias hit the ring and done his thing and was leaving, but Reigns met him in the aisle. Reigns tossed him in the ring. The bell rings and Roman Reigns immediately nails a Spear on Elias and covers for the pin to win. Winner: Roman Reigns
Match Rating: Squash- Look, I’m a huge Roman Reigns fan, but this would have been a perfect time to push Elias as a new star. Instead of having him squashed, he could’ve beat Reigns after attacking him in the back.
This is one of the dream matches that many people couldn’t wait to see. Seth Rollins defended the Universal Championship against A.J. Styles. Outside the ladder matches, this was the match that intrigued me the most. This match had everything from high spots to technical wrestling. They battled and the fans were behind both of these superstars throughout the match. After going down, they get up and trade shots in the middle of the ring as fans do dueling chants. AJ unloads with strikes and an enziguri. Rollins avoids the Pele kick and kicks AJ in the face. Rollins goes for the Stomp, but AJ turns it into the Styles Clash. Rollins barely kicks out in time. AJ can’t believe the kick out as we get a replay. Fans rally for both Superstars again. AJ springboards in from the apron but slips a little. Rollins takes advantage and hits the Ripcord knee and a superkick to the face. Rollins gets back up and hits the big Stomp for a pop. Rollins crawls over and makes the cover to retain. Winner and Still Universal Champ: Seth Rollins
Match Rating: 4.5/5- Awesome Freakin Match
We had Kofi Kingston defending his WWE Championship against Kevin Owens. This feud came about when Kevin Owens turned on Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods. This happened when Big E went down, and Owens offered to be an honorary member of New Day. Owens ended up attacking both men and have done it ever since. This was another great match as both of these guys delivered also. Things picked up when Kofi blocks the Stunner and hits Trouble in Paradise, but it knocks Owens out of the ring. Owens is laid out on the floor as the referee counts. Kofi brings it back into the ring, but Owens kicks him and nails the Stunner. Owens covers but Kofi gets his foot on the bottom rope to save it. Owens removes Kofi’s custom kicks and tosses them. Owens goes to the top for a big Swanton Bomb, but Kofi gets his knees up and Owens lands bad. Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise for the pin to retain. Winner and Still WWE Champion: Kofi Kingston
Match Rating: 4/5- Great match between these two.
In the main event, we had the Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Coming into the match, Orton and Balor didn’t need the briefcase and it was too early for Ricochet. Corbin, Ali, Andrade and McIntyre all had chances to win the briefcase to me. Earlier in the night, Sami Zayn was taken out and Triple H thought it was Braun Strowman. Before going any further, I’m hoping the WWE paid Balor extra or promised him a world championship run because he took a lot of major bumps. This match was awesome as all the guys played a big part in the match. We were surprised in the end when Brock Lesnar’s music hit while Ali was standing alone on the ladder. Lesnar hit the ring, took out Ali and climbed the ladder to retrieve the briefcase. Men’s Money in the Bank Winner: Brock Lesnar
Match Rating: 4.25/5- What a surprising way to finish the PPV. For me, it makes sense as to why Zayn was laid out in the back of the arena. In the long run, we’ve heard rumors that Lesnar will challenge Rollins for the Universal Championship at Super Showdown. I’m thinking Lesnar will eventually cash in the briefcase on Kofi Kingston and head to SmackDown Live when they move to Fox.
Overall Rating: 7/10- This was a damn good PPV and one that I enjoyed very much. In addition to having two great championship matches, the two MITB contests were really good also. Both of the women championship matches were good and served their purpose. Below are my top 3 matches from the 2019 Money in the Bank PPV.
- Seth Rollins© vs. A.J. Styles
- Men’s Money in the Bank Match
- Kofi Kingston© vs. Kevin Owens
What did you think about the 2019 Money in the Bank PPV? What was your favorite match of the night? What was your favorite moment of the PPV? Leave some feedback about anything related to the Money in the Bank PPV below.
