WWE’s Money in the Bank 2018 emanates live from the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois. It’s the first pay-per-view since WWE tossed out the old brand-exclusive format, so we’ve got both the Raw and SmackDown brands combining for what has essentially become one of the “big five” shows of the year. It’s a stacked card, but the main roster has quite the show to follow after another awesome NXT TakeOver special the night before. So, let’s dive right in.
Kickoff Show
SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The Bludgeon Brothers def. The Good Brothers – Big fan of the Bludgeon Brothers, and while the build up for this match has been utter shit on television, the back and forth between Karl Anderson and Harper on Twitter has been phenomenal. Two awesome, veteran teams here. Should be a solid kickoff match.
Harper and Rowan deliver a double dropkick on the outside of the ring on Luke Gallows, and I still can’t fathom why you’d ever go for a dropkick on the concrete. But, hey – maybe that’s why I’m sitting here writing and not wrestling.
Abs Anderson is on his own as Gallows is still down on the outside. Them Bludgeons are just slowly and methodically wearing Anderson down. Gallows is miraculously healed and receives that hot tag, delivering boots to all the faces. The Good Brothers go for the Magic Killer, but Rowan throws his body at Anderson, breaking it up.
Rating: 6.5/10. Physical, hard-hitting contest, but man – they didn’t get a whole hell of a lot of time. Hopefully, there will be a rematch down the road.
Money in the Bank 2018
Daniel Bryan def. Big Cass (Submission) – I may be in the minority here, but I’m actually sneaky in on this Bryan-Big Cass program. The first match was good enough. I think it helps get both guys over and presents an interesting new matchup. Sue me. Bryan takes some big impactful bumps early on, including getting launched from the ring apron into the barricade. But, I still haven’t shaken that reaction to cringe when I see it.
Bryan dodges a lot of Cass’ offense but ultimately gets slammed. Classic “big guy vs. little guy” stuff here, but the crowd’s eating up. Chicago hates Cass and loves Bryan – that simple. Bryan starts delivering kicks to Cass’ legs in an effort to chop the big redwood down. Bryan hits a big splash off the top rope to the outside and the crowd breaks into a hearty YES chant.
Chicago rains down with “Big Cass sucks” chants, who simply smiles and hits a fallaway slam off the middle rope. Big fan of Cass hitting the old school torture rack, too. Chicago is FIRMLY behind Bryan, who gets the W after locking in the Heel Hook.
Rating: 7/10. I liked it. It was just good, old-fashioned storytelling. Bryan showed some ramped up aggression. Big Cass showing frustration that he couldn’t just muscle his way to a victory. That said, it’s time to close the book on this program. They’ve gotten Big Cass over as a heel, he’s had some work with one of the best in the world, let’s move on.
Lashley def. Sami Zayn (Pinfall) – This is a match that happened. The build was probably some of the worst shit WWE has put on in the last several years. Lashley gets the win after a delayed vertical suplex. Rating: 5/10. It really wasn’t all that bad a match…I just didn’t care about it. Now, let’s move on.
Intercontinental Championship: Seth Rollins def. Elias (Pinfall) – A lot of folks calling this one the show-stealer. The match started off surprisingly slow. Elias gets aggressive early after countering an attempted kick and dropping Rollins on his neck on the apron. Elias hits a beautiful DDT and is suddenly in firm control of the match.
Rollins leapfrogs Elias from the top rope, but the impact causes his knee to buckle. That leads to a knee strike to the face from Elias and a near-fall attempt. Awesome spot.
Rollins is really selling the left knee in what I imagine is an attempt to further get him over as the #FightingChampion. He goes for the frog splash, only to fall right onto Elias’ knees. Quick roll-up from Elias, but Rollins kicks out again, showing some real grit here. Nice Falcon Arrow, but Elias kicks out as the fans respectfully applaud.
Rollins goes for The Stomp (is that what we’re calling it now?), but Elias moves, rolls outside, and sidesteps Rollins diving through the ropes. He throws him into the stairs a couple of times and hits a beautiful elbow drop, but Rollins kicks out. I thought for sure that was it. Rollins gets the win after dueling roll-ups. How often do you see that for a finish?
Rating: 8/10. That was an awesome contest that got Rollins over as the #FightingChampion and made Elias look like a formidable contender. Plus, points for the surprising finish.
Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Alexa Bliss wins – Well, this one certainly feels wide open. The action gets going quickly. Ember Moon looking strong, delivering a springboard cross body to Sasha Banks on a ladder that knocked the breath out of my lungs. Lana gets a few moments to shine before Natalya comes in guns a blazing – props to Lana for taking that damn body slam onto the ladder.
Naomi hits a blockbuster off the apron to the outside on Banks, who is for some reason getting the shit beat out of her so far. Becky Lynch climbs the ladder as Naomi and Moon hold it up. This sure is some frenetic action, folks.
Can I just say I like Lynch’s new tights? Do they make that in men’s swimwear?
Nice moment with Lynch and Flair atop the ladder, duking it out before Alexa Bliss pushes the ladder over. Naomi getting some nice shine in this match.
Bliss is left all alone and climbs the ladder to get the briefcase.
Rating: 7/10. An exciting fast-paced match loaded with action, but there were parts of it that felt clunky and awkwardly timed. I’m happy with Bliss getting the win here.
Roman Reigns def. Jinder Mahal (pinfall) – A lot of poo-pooing going on from the Chicago crowd, but I actually thought this was a pleasant surprise. I always got the sense that this was about still trying to get Reigns over, but Mahal is the one who comes out looking like a million bucks. For all the shit he gets, Reigns is one of the best wrestlers in the E, but Mahal very well held his own in a straight up battle. Props to these guys for putting on a banger despite the Chicago crowd vocally eviscerating it.
Sunil Singh was sneaky the best part of this match. I kept rooting for The Dudley Boyz to show up and wheel him off the stage through a stack of tables. Singh gets out of his wheelchair and tries to push Reigns into the ring post.
Reigns hits a Superman Punch that Singh sells terribly. He hits one on Mahal and then spears Singh into the afterlife. Mahal tries to capitalize with a rollup but Reigns kicks out and hits the Spear for the 1-2-3. Nice match.
Rating: 8/10. Thought this was every bit as good as the Intercontinental Championship match. A nice old school battle. @ me.
SmackDown Women’s Championship: Carmella def. Asuka (Pinfall) – It’s hard to buy in on Carmella winning a one-on-one straight up, but they’re doing a nice job of selling it. Carmella screaming, “I’m not afraid of you, Asuka” and just acting generally heelish kind of stalled from actual action. Carmella gets a couple of submissions hooked in and keeps Asuka grounded. It’s effective strategy, and the only way you’re going to keep Mella Money in the match. But, by the same token, it’s kind of boring.
Asuka finally gets up and starts striking and the crowd is awake again. Nasty spot where Carmella kicks Asuka off the ring apron and she just bumps on the floor. Carmella dives through the ropes and regains control of the match. She throws Asuka back into the ring and goes for the pin but Asuka kicks out.
Suddenly, a wild second Asuka appears. Spoiler alert: it’s James Ellsworth. He distracts Asuka, and Carmella kicks her in the face. Ball game. Rating: 5/10. It was what it was. Super pumped to see Ellsworth again as this shtick works with Carmella as champion. But, the match wasn’t anything special.
WWE Championship Last Man Standing Match: A.J. Styles def. Shinsuke Nakamura – This rivalry just hasn’t been what it could have been. But, it’s not like the matches have been bad. I expected this to be the best one yet, and I wasn’t wrong. But, I’m just going to leave this here:
NAK LANDED DIRECTLY ON HIS ASSHOLE, THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS#MITBpic.twitter.com/5lLbulyFgc
— Robbie Fox (@RobbieBarstool) June 18, 2018
Some brutal looking stuff in this match, but for the most part, they’re executing well. I’m not usually a fan of submissions in matches like this, but the use of the Calf Crusher was excellent. When Nakamura answers the 10 count, Styles kicks him right in the leg. Folks, that’s smart wrestling. Can’t stand up if ya dang legs don’t work.
Nakamura hits the Kinshasa on the outside and I would’ve sworn A.J. Styles just died for our sins. That was amazing. Styles gets up. Leaps off the announce table and connects with a Phenomenal Forearm, then the Styles Clash off the stairs to the floor. Is this a live murder? Did I sign up to spend my Sunday evening watching people die?
Nakamura answers the count, but Styles kicks his damn balls to the moon. Then, he leaps on the top rope and delivers a Phenomenal Firearm through the announce table and that does it. Rating: 8.5/10. Hell of a match, ladies and gentlemen, and this is more in line with what we were expecting at WrestleMania. Now, it’s time to move on with our lives.
Raw Women’s Championship: – The buildup to this match has been pretty terrible. I almost wish they’d just throw the strap on Rousey and call it a day. But, the bell rings and here we go.
Holy shit, did Rousey just straight up fall out of the ring?
This has been a better match than the buildup dictated. They’re really selling Jax’s strength and power hard, as she pretty well dominated the match early on. Rousey gets her second wind and goes up top, making everyone hold their breath. But, she drops a beautiful cross body on Jax.
Rousey showing exactly what she can do and I think it was a smart move on WWE’s part to not have her just come in and win a bunch of minute-long matches.
Alexa Bliss shows up, hits both women with the briefcase, cashes in, and she is now the Raw Women’s Champions. Rating: 7.5/10. This whole thing was much better than I expected and I love the surprising outcome of Bliss cashing in. Jax and Rousey both still look strong, and it sets up a nice little direction for the future.
Men’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Braun Strowman Wins – Here we go. Main event time! Kofi Kingston is announced as the New Day’s representative in this match, and I have never in my life been more behind Kofi in my life. The field gangs up on Braun Strowman and bury him in a pile of ladders. Meanwhile, The Miz sneaks away and attempts to climb the ladder. Samoa Joe catches it and stops him, but excellent spot nonetheless.
Awesome spot where Kofi goes for the trust fall off the turnbuckle, but they catch him, only for Finn Balor to come flipping over the top rope. He goes to get a ladder, but unfortunately he happens to pick the ONE LADDER that was holding Strowman down. Strowman has risen!
Samoa Joe dives through the ropes to hit him with a nasty flying forearm. He, Rusev, and Kevin Owens team up on Strowman, and convince Owens to climb a 50-foot ladder. Problem is, Strowman shakes them off. He climbs the ladder and throws Owens off. He dead.
Strowman runs roughshod over everyone, and folks – I can’t keep up with it all. At one point, Strowman ran through a ladder being held by Bobby Roode and Balor.
Balor hits the Cous de Gras on Roode from the ladder. Strowman climbs the ladder with Kofi on his back, knocks Balor off, shakes Kofi, and grabs the briefcase. Rating: 8/10. Pretty fun ladder match – definitely shocked by Strowman winning, but if this gets Strowman the Universal Championship, I’m all for it.
Overall: 70.5/100 (7/10). Pretty fun show, with a handful of excellent matches. See y’all in a few weeks.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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