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Four female Superstars from Raw and four female Superstars from SmackDown Live will take part in the largest women’s WWE Money In The Bank ladder match to date this Sunday in Chicago.
Alexa Bliss, Ember Moon, Sasha Banks and Natalya will be looking to win the briefcase from the red brand, while Lana, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Naomi will represent Team Blue in the match.
There has been plenty of speculation this week that Natalya will win the briefcase, setting up a possible rivalry with Ronda Rousey, but WWE has been known to spring surprises at MITB events in the past, so a Nattie victory is far from certain.
In this article, let’s take a look at five potential ways that the eight-woman ladder match could be decided.
#5 Alexa Bliss sneaks the victory
Looking at the current situation in the Raw women’s division, almost every female Superstar on the roster has a ready-made storyline waiting for them after Money In The Bank – except Alexa Bliss.
If Natalya doesn’t win, her alignment with Ronda Rousey will still continue; if Sasha Banks doesn’t win, perhaps she’ll get involved in the Bayley vs. Riott Squad storyline; and if Ember Moon doesn’t win, she’s still new to the roster and will fit in well in any of the current stories.
However, “Little Miss Bliss” has no business involving herself in Bayley’s rivalry with Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan, while her chances of getting a one-on-one Raw Women’s Championship match so soon after her title reign ended are extremely slim.
Alexa’s heel character is based on having something to brag about, hence why she’s been a champion for 15 of the last 20 months, so if WWE wants to keep her relevant while she doesn’t have any obvious opponents, maybe there’s a chance that “The One True Goddess” will claim the Money In The Bank contract on Sunday.
If it happens, expect the four-time women’s champ to steal the victory in typical Bliss fashion by throwing a babyface off the top of the ladder – say, Becky Lynch – before unhooking the briefcase.
#4 James Ellsworth interferes and Natalya wins
PW Insider reported this week that James Ellsworth could return to WWE and get involved at the Money In The Bank pay-per-view in some capacity.
Realistically, “The Chinless Wonder” could appear in either the SmackDown Women’s Championship match, in which his former ally Carmella will face Asuka; or the women’s MITB ladder match, which he controversially ‘won’ for Carmella last year.
If WWE goes down the latter route again this year, fans will not be happy (to say the least!) but, as long as Ellsworth doesn’t unhook the briefcase himself, there won’t be anywhere near as much backlash as 12 months ago.
Perhaps he could simply cost Becky Lynch – the person who, from a storyline perspective, effectively kicked him out of WWE – from winning the contract, allowing Natalya to climb the ladder and get the victory.
#3 Bayley helps Sasha Banks get the win
As we previously mentioned, Bayley has recently been involved in a rivalry with The Riott Squad, but let’s not forget that she still has plenty of unfinished business with Sasha Banks.
“The Boss” eliminated “The Hugger” from the Royal Rumble in January and followed that up by turning against her at Elimination Chamber in February, only for Bayley to get some revenge by eliminating her friend from the Women's Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34 in April.
The two frenemies are seemingly on the same page again after Bayley interfered in a six-woman tag match to help Sasha on Raw last week (albeit the win was reversed), so does that mean she’ll get involved again at Money In The Bank to try to help her buddy win the match?
Granted, this possible finish is a long shot, but Sasha has been without a meaningful Raw Women’s Championship storyline since her title rivalry with Alexa Bliss came to an end 10 months ago, so Sasha winning MITB isn’t totally out of the question.
#2 Becky Lynch finally gets her moment
Becky Lynch summed her character up to perfection on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live, admitting that she is fed up of saying she was the first female draft pick on SmackDown and that she was the first SmackDown Women’s champion.
It’s been clear for a long time that “The Irish Lass Kicker” is one of the blue brand’s best in-ring talents, yet her greatest accomplishments happened a long time ago and she hasn’t been involved in a meaningful storyline for well over a year.
If there’s such a thing as a “people’s champion” in this eight-woman match, it’s Becky – and nobody would receive a better crowd reaction from the Chicago fans if they won than the former SmackDown Women’s champion.
If Becky wins, the most likely outcome would have to involve Charlotte Flair, her best friend, and a possible scrap at the top of the ladder between the two ladies, with “The Queen” ultimately failing to claim the briefcase ahead of her fellow tea-drinker.
#1 Natalya wins fair and square
Given the relatively even win ratios of all eight participants heading into the women’s Money In The Bank ladder match, it wouldn’t be that much of a surprise to see any of them (except Lana… sorry, Lana fans) emerge with the briefcase on Sunday.
However, this year’s hot favourite is clearly Natalya, not just because of her alignment with Ronda Rousey but also because she has appeared on television a lot more than expected in recent months, which suggests WWE has a big storyline planned for her.
We’ve predicted all kinds of wacky and wonderful finishes to the women’s match in this article, but the most likely outcome is for Natalya to climb the ladder when everybody else is down and, as simple as it sounds, unhook the briefcase to get the win.
Not every multi-person ladder match can have a crazy finish, like Seth Rollins jumping up the ladder at the Greatest Royal Rumble or James Ellsworth winning the match for Carmella last year, so perhaps we’ll see “The Queen of Harts” claim the contract by winning fair and square.
Who do you think will win the 2018 Women's Money In The Bank ladder match? Tell us in the comments below!
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