5 Missed opportunities from WWE Money in the Bank 2018

Still the Champ that runs the camp, but what now?
Still the Champ that runs the camp, but what now?

The 9th Annual Money in the Bank is now in the history books, and it surely was WWE's best pay-per-view outing since Royal Rumble. With 10 matches scheduled for the card and 11 taking place, Money in the Bank was actually one of those events that had more than two great matches that, more or less, overshadowed the shortcomings.

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Ronda Rousey shone, while Styles and Rollins again stamped their authority as the best in the business right now. From Daniel Bryan's victory to Kevin Owens infamous fall from the ladder, there were a lot of feel-good moments that were made even better by the raucous Chicago crowd.

Even the female Superstars managed to shine when the spotlight was blazing on them. However, no show is free from low points and missed opportunities, and Money in the Bank was no different. Here are the five missed opportunities from Last Night's event.


#5 Failing to Rebuild Asuka

This match did more bad than good for the Empress.
This match did more bad than good for the Empress.

Asuka's stock took a big hit after her undefeated streak came to a crashing end at 'Mania 34, and Money in the Bank was the best possible place to bring back some legitimacy to the character of the Empress. She had been impressive in the matches leading up to the event and from an in-ring perspective, she had a far inferior opponent standing in front of her on Sunday.

You can not find a better scenario to rebuild a Superstar, right? Well, not if you are working for the WWE. While the return of James Ellsworth was a nice feel-good moment and might prove helpful for Carmella in the future, it did no good for Asuka.

Instead of having her cheated out of the title due to disqualification, She was made to stand there in awe looking at her own body double before getting pinned in the middle of the ring, Clean. Even though it was done to prolong the rivalry, all it did is make Asuka look like a big fool.

#4 Roman Reigns vs Jinder Mahal

Babyface Roman has hit Abyss now.
Babyface Roman has hit Abyss now.

Oh Boy! This was a complete train wreck. The character of Roman Reigns is sinking into an abyss as a babyface, and it is not helping his opponents as well anymore. The whole storyline of Roman being 'The Uncrowned Universal Champion' is only garnering more and more negative reaction from the crowd, and while the situation was not as bad as the main event at Backlash, the same can not be said about the cringe-worthy contest.

Reigns might be a good in-ring performer, but he can only have satisfactory matches with wrestlers who are equally good, or maybe even better and Jinder Mahal is light years away from being that wrestler. In what should have been a sub-10 minute demolition of The Maharaja, we witnessed a horrendous 16-minute drooling contest full of chin locks and punches.

The crowd didn't even care about the contest as they continuously chanted everything unrelated to the match. Roman Reigns is now in an inescapable territory as a babyface, and WWE's booking of this match only added more to that.

#3 Making Alexa Bliss the champion

What a huge waste of opportunity.
What a huge waste of opportunity.

Okay, seriously... what was the need of all this? Money in the bank is used to give an opportunity to someone who hasn't been in the title scene for some time, and here WWE gave the win to a person who has held the Women's title for 14 months in the last 18 months.

While both the Women's Money in the Bank Ladder match and Raw Women's Title match were stunning, the aftermath was something that a lot of people are not happy about. Although a heel holding the Money in the Bank is always a fun thing, why give someone like Alexa Bliss the briefcase when she was going to cash it on later that night.

Instead they could have given it to someone else, like Sasha or Becky or Natalya, which could have initiated a heel turn for either of them and produced some interesting story in the future. Alexa might be good on the mic and as a character, but her matches are awful and we have seen enough of her as the champion. WWE wasted a huge opportunity there of bringing back a different superstar to the main event level in the division

#2 Why Braun?

Good Sight, but something that was not needed at all.
Good Sight, but something that was not needed at all.

There is clearly no doubt that Braun Strowman is probably the biggest Superstar on the active roster in WWE. The man is capable of decimating every superstar on the roster on any day, and garners a reaction from the crowd that is second only to maybe only a handful of superstars in the WWE.

So, Why make his Mr. Money in the Bank? While the match had its moments from time to time, it was less of a multi man match and more of a 7-on-1 contest. All the Superstars were collectively trying to keep Strowman down, and his dominating victory literally deems all the other superstars incapable of defeating Braun in the future as well.

All this was done so that the Monster Among Men can drop the title to someone and still look strong, but what about the other Superstars in the match? Strowman was, in any case, getting back to the title scene eventually, but a win for The Miz, or maybe Kevin Owens, could have been a lot more interesting and useful than what we got. Although Strowman standing tall was a good sight, it was something that was not needed at all.

#1 WWE Title again in mid-card

Finally a fantastic match between these two legends.
Finally a fantastic match between these two legends.

Does this bring back the weird memories of 2011 and 2012? Following the footsteps of the likes of Randy Orton, Christian, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, the feud between Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles ended without the duo ever main eventing a pay per view despite fighting for the WWE Title.

After the blunder that the company made at Backlash, everyone was expecting this grudge, feud ending match, to close the show in Chicago because, well, it was for the company's top title. However, the company again robbed the fans and these two decorated Superstars of a much deserved main event match just to give Braun Strowman another glory moment in exchange of having not given him the Universal Title.

Styles vs Nakamura IV was everything that we were expecting from these two - a slugfest with the face champion winning the match after full 32 minutes. Yet, these two were not considered good enough to main event even when their match was the most-promoted match. It also took away the suspense of a surprise cash in later in the evening. Braun might be high on the management radar, but it was Styles and Nakamura's night to close the show and end their feud on a fantastic note.


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