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Another week, another poor showing from the red brand. This has unfortunately become so routine that you have to expect it at this point. If Money in the Bank is truly supposed to be one of the "big five" pay-per-views of the year, the build to the event sure hasn't felt like it, especially on Monday nights.
It instead feels more like we're building up to Fastlane, Backlash, or Extreme Rules. The company is certainly acting on autopilot, and unfortunately, it's unlikely to improve until the build to SummerSlam starts next month.
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Nothing felt like it mattered last night, and as a result, why should any of the fans get into the show? Despite this lack of investment, did anyone walk away from last night's show in Houston with more excitement behind them? Or did the entire show drag in mediocre monotony?
Winners: Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns
After a standoff between the two competitors in the upcoming Intercontinental Championship match, Elias and Jinder Mahal beat Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in a tag team match last night. The win was dirty, seeing the use of a chair. In WWE's usual 50/50 booking formula, this means Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns will win their respective matches at Money in the Bank, because that's what they do.
The match was fine enough, but the booking is lazy, repetitive, and doesn't do much to add any excitement for a pay-per-view that, while it's supposed to be a big event, just feels like another iteration of Backlash.
This was far from the best way to capitalize on the popularity of Seth Rollins, especially when he and Elias could have a far more interesting kind of feud than WWE's booking formula usually permits. Do something different!
Loser: Baron Corbin
So Baron Corbin is apparently going to start some kind of rivalry with Curt Hawkins, who suffered his 200th loss last night thanks to the Lone Wolf.
Yeah, you heard that right.
As if there was any less of a reason to care about Baron Corbin, this is what we've been served up? It's really starting to feel like he has heat backstage and the bookers are doing everything they can to bury him.
Losers: Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey
Ronda Rousey remains terrible on the microphone. The magic of her WrestleMania debut has all but dissipated at this point, and she'll need to do something equally magical to be anything other than boring.
Nia Jax, meanwhile, is suddenly a babyface concerned about Natalya now, when she was seemingly injured in their match. I suppose we aren't supposed to remember that Nia Jax played the bully last week.
What's going on here? This whole thing is an absolute mess. WWE often defies logic, but this is just something else. If this is the way the company wants to build excitement for Ronda Rousey's first singles match, they've done a terrible job from the start.
Winner: Braun Strowman
Despite months of meandering, Braun Strowman remains one of the most popular and entertaining characters in the entire company. He crushed Bobby Roode with little effort. He did the same with a ladder that Roode set up as well, causing even the rather tepid crowd to pop. It shows just how valuable he is.
While I've said that it's Seth Rollins' year yesterday, no one would exactly complain if Braun Strowman gave Brock Lesnar those hands and brought the Universal Championship back to Monday nights.
Winners: Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre
Sure, they didn't win, the "B team" won, but the duo completely decimated the other teams in the contest. No one expects the "B team" to be anything other than a comedy act heading into Money in the Bank that will lose decisively.
It all ultimately put Ziggler and McIntyre one step closer to the tag team titles, and we should expect the belts to be around their waists by the time SummerSlam is over. In a division of comedy acts, these two were the serious team.
Losers: Bobby Lashley and Sami Zayn
Another week, another horrible Bobby Lashley and Sami Zayn segment.
Seriously, end this feud. I don't think a single person wants to see this match at Money in the Bank. If this makes the main card and neither of the tag team championship contests do, something is incredibly wrong.
