Money in the Bank is next Sunday. Despite being the second Pay Per View in three weeks for WWE (at least on the WWE Network), the show has traditionally done well in the past based on the gimmick for the show. The fans get their first peek at who the future of the company will be, as Money in the Bank winners typically succeed in their cash-ins. So this is one of the bigger “B shows” of the year.
The card currently has Dean Ambrose challenging Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a ladder match for the main event. The Money in the Bank Ladder Match currently features Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, Neville, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, and Kane. Also on the card is John Cena vs. Kevin Owens in a rematch from Elimination Chamber, and the New Day (Xavier Woods and Big E) defending the WWE Tag Team Championship against the Prime Time Players. Two matches were added on Raw: Ryback defending the Intercontinental Title against The Big Show and Nikki Bella defending the Divas Championship against Paige.
There are a lot of predictions for the outcomes of the matches on this show, but this column will take a look at the 10 things that absolutely must happen on this show for it to be a success booking-wise.
10. The Money In The Bank Ladder Match Must Open The Show
Last year was the first Money in the Bank Pay Per View since its inception in 2010 that didn’t kick off the show with a Money in the Bank ladder match. This might be because it was the first Pay Per View to only feature one ladder match for the briefcase (even though the main event was also a multi-man ladder match. Instead, the show opened with a fantastic 2 out of 3 falls tag team match between the Usos and the Wyatt Family. The Money in the Bank ladder match took place in the dead middle of the card, making the rest of the show seem a little uneven.
This year, without a fantastic tag team match that’s guaranteed to get the crowd going, the matchmakers need to go back to their bread and butter of starting the show with a huge spotfest and the unofficial crowning of a future World Heavyweight Champion.
Plus, there’s the added tension all show long of whether or not the Money in the Bank winner will cash in that night, as Kane did in 2010.
9. Neville Must Hit The Red Arrow Off The Ladder
Aside from Kofi Kingston, Neville has the least chance of actually winning the Money in the Bank ladder match. He’s just too new and hasn’t had a full-fledged rivalry in the WWE yet (the extension of the NXT rivalry with Bo Dallas doesn’t count).
But Money in the Bank ladder matches have never been about making every participant a possible contender to win the match. Some wrestlers are simply in the match to do amazing spots in a losing effort. Let’s call it the Shelton Benjamin memorial spot in the match. That spot has been occupied by dynamic high-flyers like Evan Bourne, John Morrison, and Kofi Kingston. This year, that spot will be occupied by Neville, and he should dazzle the crowd by hitting the Red Arrow off the ladder.
8. Kane Must Not Win The Money In The Bank Ladder Match
Ever since Wrestlemania, there’s been a little subplot going on with Seth Rollins. His opponent at the Extreme Rules and Payback Pay Per Views took a bit of a backseat to Kane, as he kept teasing leaving the Authority out of a blatant dislike of Seth Rollins. In fact, both title matches had the open question of whether Kane would help Seth Rollins retain the championship.
Leading up to Elimination Chamber, it looks like they dropped the story of animosity between Kane and Rollins, but by having Kane announced as the seventh member of the Money in The Bank ladder match, the chance of that story being brought back is very real, as is the threat of Kane being the won to win the Ladder Match, leading to a story of Rollins constantly looking over his shoulder at his own stablemate. It would be a cool story…if there was a better person in Kane’s role. Kane really shouldn’t’ be in a position near the main event as a babyface when there are younger, hungrier guys like Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns who are more deserving of that spot.
7. Bray Wyatt Must Make His Presence Known… Somehow
Has anybody been as aimless over the past few months as Bray Wyatt? After making a strong showing at the Royal Rumble (before being unceremoniously dumped out by Big Show and Kane), his feuds have consisted of him making cryptic threats to an unknown person, who turned out to be The Undertaker and later Ryback. Wyatt won the latter feud but lost the former. Other than that, he seems to be wandering around without any sense of purpose.
Bray is too good of a talent to be wasting away like this. He must make his presence known at the Pay Per View in some fashion, whether it be announced as a surprise eighth participant in the Money in the Bank ladder match, or attacking Ryback after his (supposed) match with The Big Show to continue that feud and possibly put him in line for an Intercontinental Title run. It’s really head-scratching how one of the most interesting characters in the WWE can’t inspire any creative direction from the writing team.
6. Ryback Must Retain
Speaking of Ryback, it was a very surprising choice to have him as Intercontinental Champion after Daniel Bryan forfeited the belt, but it was a pleasantly interesting one. He had started to connect more with the crowd as a babyface by showing he has more promo ability than just screaming, “feed me more.” Ryback will defend the Intercontinental Championship against The Big Show, who returned on Raw last week and interrupted Ryback’s match against The Miz.
Big Show is still hanging around after 20 years in the wrestling business. He’s a solid hand, but is a little stale as a character. It would make absolutely no sense for him to beat Ryback for the belt at Money in the Bank, as it would derail any momentum Ryback has gained, while not giving Big Show much of a rub. Much like Kane, Show should be firmly in the position of getting younger talent over.
5. The New Day Must Retain
It’s incredible what one loud smark crowd can do for a talent or group of talents. Specifically, the crowd at Raw the night after Wrestlemania. In 2012, they were single-handedly responsible for the rise of the Yes Movement. In 2013, they made “Fandangoing” a thing. This year, they may have single-handedly been responsible for saving The New Day’s jobs. The gimmick was headed for the trash heap, until the smark crowd in San Jose chanted “New…Day Sucks!” along with the group’s signature clap.
What has transpired since then has basically been a career resurgence for Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods, and it led them to the tag team championships. Their role as the overly positive heels is very refreshing, especially for Kofi, who needed a bit of a reboot after years of playing a babyface which was going nowhere. With all due respect to The Prime Time Players, who work much better as a team than as individuals, they are not the team that should be taking the straps from New Day.
4. Nikki Bella Must…Retain???
Yes, it’s not a popular opinion, but Nikki Bella should retain the Divas Championship against Paige. She’s starting to put together a very long reign, and the announcers put it over on Smackdown last week saying that she is the longest reigning current champion in the company.
The one who should end her reign as champion should be Charlotte, if and when she gets called up from NXT. Charlotte is ready for the main roster, and isn’t doing much in NXT, so a call-up seems inevitable. Much like Paige in 2014, Charlotte can make an immediate impact by ending a long Divas Championship reign. So even though Paige is a cult favorite, she shouldn’t win the Divas Championship from Nikki Bella. A feud with Charlotte over the belt will be fantastic.
3. There Must Be A Big Spot In The Seth Rollins/Dean Ambrose Ladder Match
Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose have had an excellent series of singles matches over the past year, including a wild lumberjack match at Summerslam, an even better Street Fight the next night on Raw (where Rollins put Ambrose out for a couple months), and a Hell in the Cell match which saw both men take a bump off the cell onto the announce tables.
Unfortunately, their WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at Elimination Chamber was the worst of their series, which is more of a testament to the high quality of their previous matches than it is an indictment of this match. The two just work better when they’re going crazy.
The ladder match stipulation allows for this kind of craziness, so it will definitely be expected that there is a huge spot in the match, preferably at the very end. Let’s just hope that they both come out of the match seriously unharmed.
2. Seth Rollins Must Cheat To Retain
As for who should win the match, there is a groundswell of support for hotshotting the belt to Dean Ambrose (with Rollins possibly to win the belt back at the July Pay Per View Battleground before facing Brock Lesnar at Summerslam), given how much fun it’s been watching Dean with the belt. However, the super matchup with Brock at Summerslam will mean more if Rollins has been champion since Wrestlemania, so Rollins retaining is the better scenario.
Still though, a clean win for Rollins will hurt Dean Ambrose more than it will help Seth. He’s built up a reputation as an undeserving champion who cashed in a contract to win the belt and has been cheating ever since to keep it. That will build up the story for Summerslam where his proverbial chickens will come home to roost. Ambrose has had a nice couple of weeks at the top of the card, similar to last fall as the WWE was waiting for Roman Reigns to come back from injury. Let’s hope that Ambrose doesn’t get shoved down the card in the next couple months like he was after the Bray Wyatt feud.
1. Kevin Owens Must Beat John Cena Again
The biggest and most pleasant surprise at Elimination Chamber was Kevin Owens cleanly defeating John Cena. It was a star-making performance from Owens and it couldn’t have happened if Cena hadn’t developed a reputation as being near-unbeatable, at least cleanly.
So naturally, WWE wants to capitalize on the success of the first match by having a rematch at the next Pay Per View. The prevailing theory is that this rematch is set up for Cena to “get his win back,” and defeat Owens, possibly leading to a rubber match either at Battleground, or at Summerslam, or both.
Having Cena hand Owens his first loss (he’s never lost in NXT) would kill the aura surrounding Owens. He’s been built as a guy who talks a lot of trash and can back it up, unlike Rollins who is playing a chicken heel. Now, that’s not saying that Cena can neverbeat Owens, but at Money in the Bank, so soon after the first encounter, having Cena even it up would be a huge mistake. Owens must win again.
