Money in the Bank is usually one of WWE’s most unique and exciting pay-per-view events of the year, but this year, given the prevailing circumstances, it’s set to be even more unique, as 12 WWE Superstars will literally climb the corporate ladder inside WWE Headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. Hope you’re ready for some crazy shenanigans, because this event may rival WrestleMania 36 in stretching the format of professional wrestling to its limit. Let’s break down the card:
The New Day (c) vs. The Miz & John Morrison vs. The Forgotten Sons vs. Lucha House Party for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship
WWE
Peter: Honestly, this is a hard one. I was leaning toward Forgotten Sons but while they were a strong tag team in NXT they are not coming out of the gate with the force needed. It seems too quick for Miz/Morrison to take the titles back. I’d love to see Lucha take it but let’s be honest, they’re only sort of coming out of jobber status. I’ll have to go with New Day.
Winners: The New Day
Forrest: In normal circumstances, I could see WWE taking the title off the New Day here. But these are not normal circumstances. The New Day, even down quantity one (1) Xavier Woods, is the company’s tag team mainstay, and what SmackDown — among many other things at WWE right now — needs is stability. New Day is safe, secure, and endlessly entertaining (see Big E celebrating with a cooldown workout after their recent win). Give a big win to one of the other teams, preferably Lucha House Party, at the next PPV audiences can attend.
Winners: The New Day
Jason: Boy, if you put those dime belts on the Forgotten goddamn Sons I will…probably complain on the AIPT Slack channel a whole bunch and not much else. I think there are enough bodies between Kofi and E that they can squeak out a clever win by pinning Miz or a Lucha partier, only for the hirsute trio of Tampa biker dads to somehow find their way into contention for one on one title shot at whatever passes for SummerSlam this year. That way Woods can return to even the odds and make the save, and we can Forget that these guys are on the roster once again.
Winners: The New Day
Shane: I just don’t see the New Day losing the titles anytime soon to any team other than the Usos. And with Jimmy’s recent injury, I really don’t see it happening. While I think The Forgotten Sons could win, I think it’s too early for that. Besides that, we all know Lucha House Party won’t win.
Winner: The New Day
Bayley (c) vs. Tamina for the SmackDown Women’s Championship
WWE
Peter: I see absolutely no way Tamina wins this one. Bayley has had the title for a while but she’s going strong with it so far and I would be fine with her holding it for at least up until SummerSlam. Besides, whether or not she loses to Sasha when that match inevitably happens, I can’t see WWE not making it a title match in order to make it as high stakes as possible.
Winner: Bayley
Forrest: I don’t have anything against Tamina, but this match seems kind of out of nowhere. Naomi had a huge pop at Royal Rumble, Carmella has the thrice vetted friendship angle with Bayley, Bayley has herself really embraced the heel turn after a rocky start, and Sasha is the obvious long game. Tamina is just biding time, and in the, unfortunately, least entertaining way in that it doesn’t get her anymore over while people, WWE creative chief among them, are fixated on the more entertaining angles in the periphery here.
Winner: Bayley
Jason: Boy, if you give that women’s belt to Tamina goddamn Snuka in the year of our lord 2020…actually, the way this dumpster fire of a year has been going, maybe now is the time to go through with a Tamina title win. It won’t happen, of course. The Bayley/Sasha match is what they really want, and Tamina, as always, is window dressing. Expect Bayley to try and make Tams look strong en route to a sneaky win, and Tamina to be placed back on whatever shelf she sits on between these brief “monster” pushes she gets every couple of years.
Winner: Bayley
Shane: I almost see them giving Tamina the belt here as a parting gift before she inevitably ends up on injured reserve again. She’s the last remnant of the Divas Era who hasn’t won a single Women’s Championship, even though she was around when everyone was a champion (remember Alicia Fox?). But, I think because Bayley has been such a strong champion and they are obviously building up to Bayley vs. Sasha Banks down the road, I’m going to give the victory to Bayley here.
Winner: Bayley
Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship
WWE
Peter: I actually am going to go with Rollins on this. I feel like conventional wisdom would say McIntyre, but Seth’s current gimmick would be absolutely useless if he were to lose here. Besides, while McIntyre has been built up the past couple of months, I feel him dropping the title right away to The Monday Night Messiah would allow for a good revenge story to play out over the year.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Forrest: Drew has really come into his own since Mania (mostly because they let champions actually have character) and while Seth is the perfect detestable heel, I don’t think a win for Rollins here is advantageous for either of them ultimately. Rollins benefits from acting as a kind of broken wannabee martyr, and Drew from being a charismatic dominant force, especially recently with Zelina Vega and her coterie. What’s to be gained from upsetting that so soon? Very little, comparatively. This is a good feud, but it is not Drew’s last as we move onto the likes of AJ Styles, likely angling for one final run before retirement with a Money in the Bank cash-in.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Jason: Mac’s got this. Willing to bet this is the first of many clashes between these two guys over the WWE title, and taking the strap off Drew would be hella premature, TV numbers be damned. You need to let Drew get at least a couple of months with the belt before AJ Styles cashes in on him at the end of whatever rematch with Brock Lesnar materializes. Expect Seth to get a non-title win here and there over the next few weeks, but I think Drew’s keeping that strap till at least August.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Shane: I think this is another case of it being too early to take the belt off the champion. WWE’s track record with Rumble winners winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania also makes me think Drew is holding on to the title for a while longer, probably till around SummerSlam. I also don’t see this being the last time these two lock up — their feud is just beginning.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Braun Strowman (c) vs. Bray Wyatt for the Universal Championship
WWE
Peter: I would be shocked if Wyatt didn’t win. Strowman was obviously just a replacement for Reigns at WrestleMania who needed to get the title off of Goldberg right away. Honestly, whoever it was going against Strowman I would bet against. The Fiend doubly so.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Forrest: They turned this accident into a pretty good little angle! I laughed out loud at the absurd comedy of Braun discovering the black sheep mask nobody in the ring noticed until that moment, and I would gladly go for a few more of those bits since Braun and Bray are such diametrically opposed performers. It’s all deservedly over as they right their Super ShowDown wrong, though.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Jason: I’m gonna break from convention here and say that Braun is retaining here. I don’t think it’ll be The Fiend he faces (though another Firefly Fun House match would certainly break up the monotony of the Empty Arena Era), so I think Braun leaves with the Universal Title still over his shoulder. It’ll be more angle than match, but Bray will have to wait a few more weeks before he takes that title back from Bran Strongman.
Winner: BRAAAAAAAAUUUUUNNNNN!
Shane: Bray. Please, let it be Bray. I was really worried about the Fiend Character after the loss to Goldberg, but the Firefly Fun House Match at Mania gave me a little more hope for The Fiend character moving forward. I definitely see Bray winning here and holding onto the belt till he loses it to Reigns.
Winner: “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt
Nia Jax vs. Carmella vs. Asuka vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Lacey Evans vs. Dana Brooke (Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
WWE
Peter: Baszler needs to win. She should have beaten Becky at WrestleMania, but WWE is probably waiting to get crowds back before having Becky drop. Winning the MITB would allow Shayna to cash in whenever just for this.
Winner: Shayna Baszler
Forrest: Peter’s reasoning is sound here. I don’t know why they wouldn’t officially move Shayna up to the big roster (Triple H said as much) unless it was for something big. This is the perfect opportunity to keep that on track.
Winner: Shayna Baszler
Jason: I would’ve said Lacey, but in an era when no one is in the crowd (and hardly anyone is watching on TV), they’ve decided she’s a babyface, and babyfaces don’t win the MITB briefcase. That leaves Asuka or Shayna as the only viable options in the match and, well, Shayna sure seems to be the one most likely to sneak attack an unsuspecting champion and steal their title, doesn’t she? She’s the only opportunistic heel in the match that didn’t once injure Becky Lynch just in time to ruin the biggest match in Survivor Series history, so I expect the Queen of Spades to take this one.
Winner: Shayna Baszler
Shane: This is the hardest match for me to call. I’ve been bouncing back and forth with who I think is going to win this match and, ugh, I just don’t know. I know who it’s not going to be: it definitely won’t be Lacey Evans, Carmella or Dana Brooke. But I could really see it being any of the three remaining Raw heels. Auska has really proven to be the MVP of the women’s division since this COVID pandemic and could be a real viable threat to the whole roster with the briefcase. Nia just returned from injury and has been built as a serious threat as well. I also don’t feel that her initial run with the Raw Women’s Championship was nearly as dominant that it could have been because of Ronda Rousey. She deserves better. And then there’s Shayna Baszler who shouldn’t even be in this match because she should have won the darn thing at WrestleMania… I guess I talked myself into a winner after all.
Winner: Shayna Baszler
Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Aleister Black vs. Otis vs. King Corbin (Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
WWE
Peter: This one is harder to call than the women’s, but my money is on Aleister. He’s been pushed hard and he puts on amazing matches. Having him win MITB and then cashing it in to win the title would be the right choice in my opinion. But honestly, I wouldn’t be too surprised if anyone on here won it. Even Otis.
Winner: Aleister Black
Forrest: AJ adds ‘Mr. Money in the Bank’ to his list of accomplishments before retiring or really ramping down sometime soon. Neat! Hopefully they’ll rebrand him as “The Only One” or something, too, now that he’s weirdly the sole member of a “Club”.
Winner: AJ Styles
Jason: I guess I spoiled my pick earlier, but AJ Styles is the only real choice to win this thing. It’s a shame that poor Apollo Crews(‘ career) had to die to make it happen, but Styles is the one opportunistic heel with any momentum in this match. Otis is there for power spots, Corbin and Bryan cast doubt as they’re both previous winners, Rey Mysterio is there to get absolutely bodied in a stairwell or something, and Al Black gets to play the Cody Rhodes role of “guy who could use it the most but will lose the briefcase at the last second.” Previous winners of this distinction include Mustafa Ali, and of course the aforementioned Cody Rhodes (it happened to him twice). AJ will lord that briefcase over Drew for a few months and win the title off him sometime in the late summer.
Winner: AJ Styles
Shane: Before AJ Styles was added to this match, I was going to go with Aleister Black. But now… I think I’m going with AJ for a couple of reasons. #1: Drew is a babyface champion and heel Money in the Bank winners are almost always built strongly. #2: We already know that Wyatt is winning the Universal Championship and is going to go into a feud with Roman Reigns when he gets back. The SmackDown title scene is almost a guarantee for the latter part of the year. It only makes sense for a heel to win and the winning heel is the Phenomenal One.
Winner: AJ Styles
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