(Originally Posted Jun 2018)
Well, getting 3 PPVs in a month certainly made the 6 week wait for this one feel longer. I can’t say that the build’s been great, especially on the Raw side, but hopefully we should get some entertaining ladder matches out of it. Before we get there though, let’s go through the tradition of predicting the winners for every match.
Daniel Bryan vs Big Cass
It really feels like both of these guys should’ve been in the ladder match, but instead they’ve been put in a throwaway rematch that probably won’t deliver. Their match at Backlash was perfectly fine, but it was nothing special, and I don’t expect any more out of them this time, especially considering it’s arguably the least notable match of the card; which is quite the travesty when you consider that one of the participants is Daniel Bryan.
As for a winner this pretty much just feels like a way for Big Cass to get his win back, which is fine. Daniel Bryan seems like he’s beyond being “damaged” by constant losses at this point, although we’ve been wrong before…
Seth Rollins(c) vs Elias
(Intercontinental Championship)
I genuinely can’t believe that this is Elias’ first championship match sicne coming up to the main roster, he’s been here forever, you’d think he’d have at least gotten some meaningless title shot at some point down the line. I seem to be finding it harder to call this one than I should, logically I think it’s got to be Seth Rollins, but there’s just seems to be so much more to it than that. There were rumours that he might be facing Brock at Summerslam, but those rumours were quickly debunked and there’s also the fact that management seem to have taken a liking to Elias this year and given him some pretty high-profile spots; Also I just really like Elias.
I think I’m going to go with my heart over my head here and say Elias picks up the title from Rollins here, and maybe the two of them will hot potato the belt for a little while.
Bobby Lashley vs Sami Zayn
Honestly, I can’t even pretend to care about this match. The build has been terrible and pointless, they brought Bobby in as a big powerhouse that could match strength with the likes of Braun Strowman. Then they decided to have him talk about his family for 10 minutes and then sit idly by for weeks barely reacting while Sami made jokes about it. Then Sami brought out men in drags pretending to be his sisters in a segment reminiscent of “Bayley: This is your life” and “The Old Day”, and any remaining interest I had in this feud vanished.
Since this just seems like a feud designed to kill time until either man has something meaningful to do, I’ll pick Bobby Lashley and hope that this ends soon.
The Bludgeon Brothers(c) vs The Club
(Smackdown Tag Team Championships)
While I’m all for The Club getting a push, this feels like a really weird direction for them to in with the Smackdown Tag belts. I get that The Bludgeon Brothers have done all they can with The Usos but surely you’d have them move on to someone they were more directly involved with like The New Day, or hell even The Bar. Instead, they plucked The Club up from almost fading into obscurity and stuck them in this feud where everyone knows they don’t really stand a chance.
Pretty straightforward here, The Bludgeon Brothers keep the belts and move on to the next team to squash.
Roman Reigns vs Jinder Mahal
Wow, this show really is just “Throwaway Feuds: The Musical” huh? So this all started when Jinder cost Roman his Money in the Bank qualifying match for…..some reason, and Roman responded by trying to kill him and then constantly complaining about management keeping him down despite no actual evidence to support that claim. Roman is just going to carry on with feuds like this until Summerslam when I pray we can finally just get this over with, and as such, I’d be quite surprised if Reigns took any kind of major loss between now and Summerslam.
Once again, there’s no doubt in my mind that Roman Reigns walks out of this one the victor.
Carmella(c) vs Asuka
(Smackdown Women’s Championship)
I don’t really have a whole lot say about this feud really, mostly because this feels like the start of a long road. So far there’s just been a few petty insults thrown back and forth, and we’re yet to get into the meat of this. You’ve got to think they can’t hold Asuka down forever right? Regardless of what you think of Charlotte ending her streak at Mania, you can’t deny it’s made this match a lot harder to predict; Asuka isn’t untouchable or immune to any WWE brand bullshit anymore.
As a result, I think Carmella is going to heel her way to win here, and this feud will likely carry on till Summerslam.
Nia Jax(c) vs Ronda Rousey
(Raw Women’s Championship)
I’m pretty excited for this one if I’m honest; Ronda’s debut match at Wrestlemania was arguably the best on the show and I’m really looking forward to seeing how she will do in a one on one match, and I think Nia could be a really good person for her to work it against. Much like Carmella vs Asuka, this feels like the start of a multi-month feud, although in this case, Ronda might not actually wrestle again until Summerslam; this sure has been a funny kind of “full-time” contract she was apparently signed to.
As for the result, this one is really quite hard to predict for me and I’ve flip-flopped on it a lot this past week. On the one hand it feels a bit too early to put the title on Ronda, but on the other, WWE want nothing more than to do just that right now. I feel like there’s more to it though, on Raw the past few weeks it’s become clear that Natalya is going to play some sort of crucial role in this, and I’m going to go out on a limb and say Natalya will cost Ronda this match.
Still not very confident in my pick, but I’ll say Nia Jax retains her title thanks to Natalya.
Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Well at least there’s very little chance of a man winning it this year.
This match needs to make up for last year, the match was very underwhelming and it was won by a man. So there’s a lot riding on it and looking at the participants, I’ve got pretty high hopes. As for predictions, I’m going to talk about what kind of chance I think each woman has.
Lana – Zero.
Natalya – It could be kind of interesting to have Ronda win the title and then Natalya win the briefcase, but I don’t think that’s going to be the case. She’s going to be very intertwined with the Nia vs Ronda story going forwards, and it’d be best if the Money in the Bank briefcase wasn’t tied up in all of it.
Alexa Bliss – I really doubt Alexa’s going to win this, she’s only just left the title scene after being in it for about a year and its way too soon to insert her back into it, especially while Nia is still champion.
Charlotte – Similar story to Alexa really, I’d argue Charlotte has much better odds than Alexa but I still don’t think she’s going to go straight back into the Smackdown Women’s title scene.
Ember Moon – One of the more likely candidates in my eyes, the only thing that causes doubt for me is how new she is, I’m not sure WWE would be ready to give her that push just yet, they probably want to take some time to build her up a bit more before giving her something like this.
Becky Lynch – It’s really hard to tell with Becky, they tend to leave her in the dust for ages, not really doing a whole lot with her, but it also feels like she could be pushed back up into the title picture at any moment, as such, I’m going to tentatively say that she’s my pick to walk out with the briefcase.
Naomi – Naomi is a weird one, because I can’t really think of a reason why she will win, but I also can’t think of a reason why she won’t. You’d think winning the Wresltmania Battle Royal would make her a prime candidate, but the men’s Battle Royal has shown us that it’s entirely meaningless. So I wouldn’t really be surprised if she won, but I’m not expecting her to.
Sasha Banks – Originally – at the start of the month – Sasha was my prediction to win, but now I’m not so sure, all year it’s seemed like this Bayley/Sasha thing has been leading somewhere, but it’s been stagnant for months now, and really feels like the kind of thing they’ll eventually just drop entirely. I’d say she’s still a prime candidate, but not as likely as Becky in my eyes.
Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Wow, seeing them all in a row like that really makes me realise how similar some of their faces are…
Weird observations aside, I think we’re really in for a treat with this one. I’ve found it quite difficult to call and I’m not very confident in my pick, so we could end up with a nice surprise; either way I think we’ll end up with a great match, so let’s look at the participants.
Samoa Joe – I don’t really feel like the Money in the Bank briefcase fits Samoa Joe; it’s not really his style. In addition to this, he actually climbed the ladder and unhooked the briefcase on an episode of Smackdown recently, which is basically WWE’s way of saying “This guy’s not going to win on the PPV”, so I don’t really like Joe’s chances in this one.
Kevin Owens – Owens is another one of those guys who could easily be shot up into the main event at any moment, and this could be one of those times. I’ve always thought Owens would be perfectly for the briefcase, but unfortunately, I just think there are people in the match this year who could do better with it.
Bobby Roode – Roode however, is not one of those guys. The only way I could see him winning this match is if a heel turn was coming VERY soon, happy smiley Bobby Roode is a bore to watch, and apparently Vince is starting to sour on him as a result. Which means sadly, I don’t think he’s winning here.
Braun Strowman – One of the things I’ve always wanted, is for an absolute monster like Strowman to win Money in the Bank. The briefcase is normally used opportunistically, to strike when the champion is down and out, but Strowman could easily destroy anyone while they’re at 100% and it would be awesome to see a champion absolutely shit their pants when Strowman’s music hits. I believe Strowman is one of the most likely to win this, even though with Brock or Roman as champion my scenario won’t happen, but it would be a great way to eventually reignite his feud with Reigns, this time over the title.
The Miz – Hands down, my pick to win this one. The Miz absolutely deserves another chance at a run with the World title after his pretty crap run in 2011, and now is the perfect time. Ever since the brand split a couple of years back, WWE have been slowly building to Daniel Bryan vs The Miz, and what better way to do it than over the title? Obviously it won’t be for a good 6 months at least, but it would be absolutely awesome and I hope it happens.
Rusev – Sadly, much like his wife, also Zero. Rusev is so over with the fans, and Rusev Day is a great gimmick, but WWE management just refuse to get behind it, they’re still trying to make him a heel and he’s not won a major match in ages, and that trend is going to continue on Sunday I’m afraid.
Finn Balor – This could be a good chance to get justice for Finn, he was the first Universal Champion for quite literally a day, and since coming back, WWE just don’t want to get behind him like they did originally. I feel like he’s going to get back to the top one day, but I still feel like there’s a way to go on that road just yet. Also, much like Joe, he climbed the ladder and grabbed the briefcase on Raw, which pretty much bottoms out his chances.
A Member of the New Day – It’ll probably be Kofi, Battle Royals and Ladder Matches are what originally made his name; and while it would be cool to see the New Day Freebird rule the briefcase, and eventually the title, it doesn’t really feel like it would work with a world title, a middcard title sure, but not a world one.
AJ Styles(c) vs Shinsuke Nakamura
(WWE Championship, Last Man Standing)
I don’t understand this stipulation at all, their last match ended in a draw because neither man could answer a 10 count, so now they’re doing a match which could very well end in a draw when neither man answers the 10 count? I’m pretty fed up of waiting for these guys to have a 5 star match, so I think it’s time to go big or go home with this one; the magic is gone. But, this could quite easily keep going till Summerslam, so I honestly have no idea.
I’m going to do my best to be optimistic here and say Shinsuke Nakamura finally picks up the title and we can all move on, hopefully to a feud with Daniel Bryan. But if this match ends in a draw, I called it.
Well there you have it! I’m feeling optimistic about this show, and I’m looking forward to what we get after it moving toward Summerslam; but until then, please share this around and follow me on Twitter @10ryawoo, and follow @lauren_cmonster aswell who makes these articles read in actual English, as opposed to the crap I come out with.
Make sure to come back next week for my review of the show and I’ll see you soon!
The Strong Style Smark 