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Many people (including myself) call Money In The Bank the "Fifth Major" of WWE pay per views. That means that Money In The Bank belongs in the upper echelon of the "Big Four" of WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series.
Last night's edition of Money In The Bank was no exception as it provided some major moments including a contract cash-in, a 30-minute war for the WWE Championship, and a Monster In The Bank.
The landscape definitely changed after last night's pay per view, and it will be interesting to see what direction certain feuds go as we head towards Extreme Rules next month and SummerSlam in August.
Overall, Money In The Bank was a very solid pay per view. There were only a couple of matches that didn't quite make the grade; while there were some surprising matches that excelled including the opening match.
As always with the report card, the best grade a match or segment can earn is an A+. On the flip side, the worst grade a segment can earn is an F.
Let's kick things off with a rematch that was much better than the first...
Daniel Bryan d. Big Cass
When I saw that a rematch between Daniel Bryan and Big Cass would be on the card for Money In The Bank, I got worried for a couple of reasons. One, their match at Backlash was subpar at best and two, I was afraid Cass would win to set up a rubber match that nobody was asking for.
Fortunately, neither of my fears came true in this opening match. Not only did Daniel Bryan come out victorious in the rematch against Big Cass, it was a pretty decent match too.
There was some good psychology in the match with Bryan working on Cass' knee again, and that came into play throughout the match. There were some great moments where Cass had nearfalls as well.
In the end, Bryan had worked over Cass' knee so much that Cass had no choice but to tap out when Bryan applied the heel hook in the middle of the ring.
GRADE: B
Seth Rollins d. Elias to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship
Next up was the WWE Intercontinental Championship match between Seth Rollins and Elias. Though the feud has been short (three weeks), it has been spectacular, and the match they had at Money In The Bank ranks up there as one of the three best matches of the evening.
The WWE Universe in Chicago loved the match too as it was the first time that "this is awesome" echoed through the Allstate Arena.
I figured that Elias would get the win here since Rollins is poised to join the WWE Universal Championship picture sometime soon, but when Rollins surprisingly cheated to win by pulling the tights, I expect this great feud to continue.
Elias will probably demand a rematch, and win at either Monday Night Raw tonight or Extreme Rules next month.
GRADE: A
Alexa Bliss wins the Women's Money In The Bank Ladder Match
Next up on the card was the second ever women's Money In The Bank Ladder Match. Last year's match was pretty good, but this year's match was one of the best of the night. I'd go as far as to say this was the best match of the night, actually.
The women did a great job of improvising and innovating moves that involved the ladder. One such move that was spectacular was the following painful sequence provided by Natalya on Naomi:
The end of the match saw Becky Lynch have a clear path to the briefcase only to have Alexa Bliss tip the ladder over. Though Alexa was the smallest woman in the match, she would set up the biggest ladder to enable her to pull down the briefcase in a great 18-minute match.
Though it was odd that they put the briefcase on someone who just lost their title at WrestleMania, instead of someone who hasn't won the title in some time like Becky Lynch, it didn't take away from the fact that this was a great match.
GRADE: A
AJ Styles d. Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the WWE Championship in a Last Man Standing Match
A friendly rivalry turned into a bitter feud at WrestleMania when Shinsuke Nakamura turned heel by delivering a low blow after their match.
After the next two WWE Championship matches ended without a definite winner, we come to Money In The Bank where they had an excellent and lengthy Last Man Standing Match.
As I stated, it was a lengthy match, coming in at just over 31 minutes. And to say this was an all-out war would be an understatement. Both Styles and Nakamura pulled out all of the stops to try to keep their opponent down for a 10-count.
The last moments of this match were completely insane as Styles hit the Styles Clash from the steel steps to the floor on the outside. Take a look at that brutal move below:
Nakamura BARELY made it to his feet with the help of the announce table and would do his patented COME ON to taunt AJ further. AJ would then punt brutally Nakamura down low then hit a Phenomenal Forearm sending Nakamura through the table, where he couldn't answer the 10 count.
GRADE: A
Ronda Rousey d. Nia Jax by DQ in the WWE Raw Women's Championship Match
Thanks to the challenge of Nia Jax, Ronda Rousey's first singles match in the WWE was for the WWE Raw Women's Championship. I wasn't sure what we were going to get with this match, but one thing is for sure, Ronda silenced any of the haters after a tremendous performance.
Nia also had a tremendous performance in this match as the two women worked really well together in the ring. It's great to see a hardcore fanbase like Chicago truly get invested in this match, it says a lot for both women here.
Rousey had a bevy of impressive moves in this match, including a flying cross body from the top rope. We didn't see Ronda go to the top rope at WrestleMania.
There was a struggle at the end of the match where Nia was trying to prevent Ronda from applying the armbar. The expression on Nia's face when Ronda broke her hands apart and was about to apply the move was excellent.
Just as Ronda was going to wrench back, Alexa Bliss came in from out of nowhere to attack Rousey with the Money In The Bank Briefcase and cause the disqualification.
GRADE: B+
After the match, Bliss would attack Rousey some more and then throw her over the announce table. Once she disposed of Rousey, Bliss would cash in her contract just a couple of hours after winning it.
Other matches on the Money In The Bank pay per view
The Bludgeon Brothers d. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows to retain the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships
This was a short seven-minute match where Gallows and Anderson had a couple moments where it seemed like they would pull off the upset such as when they had set up for the Magic Killer. Rowan stopped that attempted; which led to him and Harper landing a tandem powerbomb for the win. GRADE: D+
Bobby Lashley d. Sami Zayn
This was a terrible feud and the match that will hopefully close out the feud wasn't much to write home about either. The match took less than seven minutes and ended with three delayed vertical slams. Nothing interesting to note here at all. GRADE: D
Roman Reigns d. Jinder Mahal
This match was a tough one to grade because the Chicago crowd rejected the match the second it began with random chants, beach balls, and waves. It was a solid match that may have went a few minutes too long with this crowd. Both men worked really hard, but the crowd was too distracting to see that. GRADE: C
Carmella d. Asuka to retain the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship
The only thing good about this match was the return of James Ellsworth, as I believe he didn't deserve to be released last year. Carmella is great at being an annoying heel, but it doesn't translate to being good in the ring. It was was a shame that she pinned Asuka, who should be booked to have another winning streak, not losing to Carmella. GRADE: F
Braun Strowman wins the Men's Money In The Bank Ladder Match
The main event of the evening was the men's Money In The Bank Ladder Match, and boy did it deliver.
We finally learned which member of The New Day would be in the match, and it was the Money In The Bank veteran, Kofi Kingston who joined Braun Strowman, Bobby Roode, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Rusev, and The Miz.
There were many amazing spots in the match, but there was no doubt which one was the craziest. Samoa Joe and Rusev were looking to recreate the moment from last week's Monday Night Raw when Kevin Owens nailed a frog splash from the top of a ladder. This time the plan didn't go so well as you can see in the video below:
The end of the match saw Balor ever so close to grabbing the briefcase when Strowman came up from the other side. Kofi would spring off of the ropes and land ring on Strowman's back in a great spot.
In an amazing feat of strength, Strowman climbed the ladder with Kofi on his back! He disposed of Balor and Kofi and was able to grab the briefcase in a fun ladder match.
GRADE: A
