WWE Money In The Bank 2019: Analysing and grading each match

#9 Universal Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs. AJ Styles

Storyline background: Seth Rollins defeated Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 35 to become the new Universal champion, while AJ Styles won a one-night tournament on Raw to set up this 15-years-in-the-making title match.

Match summary: This was a typically high-tempo match between two of WWE's top male Superstars. Styles attempted an early Styles Clash off the ring apron but Rollins escaped and landed two dives through the ropes. Rollins went on to hit a Buckle Bomb and a splash but he struggled to put away Styles, who reversed a Stomp into a Styles Clash at one stage but only managed a 2-count. In the end, after a must-see sequence in the last couple of minutes, Rollins followed up a kick to the face with a Stomp to get the 1-2-3. Post-match, Rollins reluctantly accepted a handshake from Styles.

Verdict: Expectations for this match were low, at least for me, after so many disappointing 'dream' matches in recent years. This one definitely lived up to the hype, though. It would be an exaggeration to say that the Stomp-to-Styles Clash reversal was as good as the Stomp-to-RKO reversal, but it was second-best to that! The added drama with the post-match handshake was a nice storyline development, too.

Grade: A

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Short segment: Lars Sullivan brutally attacked Lucha House Party before a six-man tag match (the opponents were not announced). He headbutted Kalisto so hard that he cut his own head open – at least that's what the commentators said – but Kalisto later claimed that it was his punches that caused Sullivan's head to be bloodied.