Reverse Hipster's Reviews
Butch vs. Nakamura vs. Santos Escobar vs. Damien Priest vs. Ricochet vs. La Knight vs. Logan Paul, Money In the Bank Match 9.2/10 A
This match was a little different from some other Money in the Bank matches. It wasn't constant craziness, but the wrestling moments were well crafted, and when the wrestlers did go for the big spot, it hit every time. Everyone did well and were good candidates to win, but Ricochet was the MVP of this match. He hit a Spanish fly through two tables and a 450 splash onto two wrestlers on a ladder.
Also, what more do you want from Logan Paul? He carried the most heat of the entire match, performed well, and put his body on the line multiple times. The Spanish Fly into the two tables, and the splash to the ladder were not celebrity spots; they were wrestling spots. Also, the crowd went crazy for LA Knight, and WWE seems to know how big a star he is because they did tons of teases that LA Knight was going to win.
Ultimately Damien crushed the dreams of many and threw LA down, and won the match. I think Damien was the right winner. Damien has the size, look, and a sneaky big fanbase, but he's also great in the ring, as he showed here. However, LA Knight is on fire with the fans. Maybe he can win the Royal Rumble.
Ronda & Shayna vs. Liv & Raquel Undisputed Women's Championship Tag Team Championship 8.4/10 B
This match started out hot. Raquel and Liv were bouncing all around, taking the fight to Ronda and Shayna, and Ronda and Liv did an excellent job injuring Liv, cutting off the ring, and dominating Liv. To Liv's credit, she looked like a former SmackDown Women's World Champion. She hung in there and took so much punishment without giving up, and she held her own.
This match was so good. The competitors wrestled an excellent match that could have easily been rated higher if not for the booking. It feels like WWE has continually and purposefully undercut the Women's Tag Championships. When Sasha and Naomi left, they left because they wanted to focus on the women's tag division and refused to devalue their belts. Fast forward to now, where Shayna betrayed her partner during a match and walked out on a tag title match as the champion.
Well, after wiping out the NXT Women's tag division, WWE decided that the first Undisputed Women's Tag Champions should lose in their first defense, and even worse, WWE decided to have Shayna basically forfeit the belts by sabotaging her partner as if the Tag Team Title didn't mean anything. It also makes the new champs look weak because they didn't really beat the old champs. WWE could have easily done the Shayna turn after the match, but they wanted to devalue the belts. Plus, once again, Ronda and Shayna link up, and WWE totally wastes them by doing nothing with them. Their breakup was lightning fast, making it hard to care about.
Riddle vs. Guther Intercontinental Championship 8.2/10 B
Riddle and Gunther wrestled a pretty solid match. Both are excellent wrestlers, and they showed it here. Riddle had an ankle injury but still brought the fight and nearly beat Gunther. In the end, Gunther used that ankle to make Riddle tap out, which was super impressive. A big star like Riddle tapping out is not an everyday occurrence. However, the match would have been better if Riddle didn't have to sell the ankle and could go full speed ahead.
The Drew Return at the end of the match was huge. Drew road in and beat up Gunther. Drew very well could be the guy to end Gunther's title reign.
Dominik vs. Cody Rhodes 7.5/10 C
I just couldn't get into this match. The action was fine, but I never felt like Dominik was going to win. I never felt like Dominik was on Cody's level. Cody beat Dom, and Rhea got in his way a bit, but for the most part, Cody didn't break a sweat.
JOHN CENA RETURNS TO ANNOUNCE UK MANIA +
It's not a match, but John Cena announcing Wrestlemania in the U.K. was a massive moment at MITB. At one point, it seemed like WWE would never consider a Wrestlemania in the U.K., but that has changed, and it's the right choice. The U.K. crowd is rabid and engaging, just like a WWE crowd should be. Also, John Cena giving Grayson Waller a rub was cool of him. Grayson Waller, our rising star of the year, is the future of WWE, and you can see it in spots like this.
This segment completely hit, so I will adding to the final score of this PPV thanks to this segment.
Trish Stratus vs. Zoey Stark vs. IYO vs. Bayley vs. Becky vs. Zelina
Money In the Bank 8/10 B-
The Woman's Money in the bank wasn't as smooth as the men's. Also, the woman had less OMG moments. However, Zelina is the MVP for this matchup. Her sunset powerbomb on the ladders was insane. Iyo was the winner, and I think she is a World Title caliber athlete. However, I think it was a big miss to avoid giving Trish the briefcase.
Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balot WWE Championship 7.4/10 C
This matchup was a little stale from the start. We had already seen this match in the past, and unlike the first one, the fans knew exactly who was going to win. The action throughout the match was very average relative to the two in the ring. However, this match still could have ranked a little higher if not for the ending.
Balor lost because he was distracted by Damien Priest. I didn't like this for several reasons. The first of which was that, once again, Finn has a distraction/act of god moment that cost him a championship. Last time the rope broke against Roman, and this time it was Damien walking toward the ring. What was Finn even worried about? What was Damien going to go into the ring and do exactly?
Roman & Solo vs. Usos Bloodline Civil War 9/10 A-
This match started slow, and that phase lasted longer than you would think. However, that's my only mark against the match. Once they kicked it into high gear, the match was as advertised. At one point, they had the crowd screaming bullshit when it looked like they were going to have the Usos get stacked and pinned, but the Usos roared back, and I popped just as hard as the crowd did.
The Usos took Roman and Solo's best shot, a Spear and Samoan Spike, and they ate it. Also, there were other great moments, like Jimmy powering out of Roman's Guillotine that knocked him out at Hell in the Cell, and caused Jey to submit to Roman. Plus, when the Usos got their euphoric win over Roman and Solo, Jey pinned Roman. This match was the perfect way to end Money in The Bank, and it's another great chapter added to the book of The Bloodline.
Rob’s Money in the Bank Review
Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match
It didn’t dawn on me until the men all entered, but WWE did a great job building for this ladder match. I had no clue who would win between LA Knight, Shinsuke Nakamura, Butch, Logan Paul, Ricochet, Santos Escobar, and Damian Priest. The crowd was hot and made the match way more fun. There were a few sloppy moments like Paul and Ricochet’s Spanish Fly through the table and some crazy high spots, but other than that, it was a pretty standard Money in the Bank match. Unfortunately, because we’ve seen so many of these now, they have to get really creative to surprise us. The crowd was crazy for LA Knight, who looked like he might win before Priest pulled down the briefcase. Paul and Ricochet should get a single’s spotlight at Summerslam. Priest was a great choice to win because he has shined in every opportunity, and it makes an interesting angle for the Judgment Day both later in the night with the championship match and as time goes on under leader Finn Balor.
Final Grade: 7/10 Good
Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez (WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship)
The women were put in a challenging spot, following up a multi-man ladder match with a straight-up tag match. I think they did a good job putting on something different, and even though it never hit full throttle, it was fun. Shayna Baszler attacking Ronda Rousey came out of nowhere, but that made it kind of fun too. Even though it was underdeveloped, it came as a true shock, and it’s a story that the women’s division desperately needs. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez can be given a chance to be good champions, and if rumors are true, Rousey can put over Baszler on her way out of WWE.
Final Grade: 6/10 Above Average
Gunther vs. Riddle (Intercontinental Championship)
This match did not live up to what I expected at all. Riddle has not heated back up to his previous levels since his return. What I expected to be a potential match of the night turned into a quick match where Gunther targeted Riddle’s injured foot and retained. Gunther is the right choice to win, as Riddle isn’t nearly hot enough. This felt like more of an excuse to bring back Drew McIntyre, though McIntyre has already faced Gunther too.
Final Grade: 3/10 Bad
Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio
This continued the trend of the night to settle into a more slow rhythm after the ladder match. This match was perfectly serviceable, but I was disappointed to see Dominik Mysterio wasn’t featured more. Of course, Cody Rhodes had to win, but the match was just okay.
Final Grade: 5/10 Average
John Cena Returns
John Cena returned out of nowhere, and it was a genuine shock for the UK crowd that went crazy. He got the loudest reaction of the night talking about the possibility of WrestleMania in the UK. Grayson Waller interrupted, and he got the rub by interacting with Cena and teased a future match I’d love to see. That part of the segment went on just too long and kind of undid what they did with the surprise, but it was still fun.
Final Grade: 7/10 Good
Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Like the Men’s match earlier, it was a pleasant surprise to realize that the Women’s Money in the Bank could be pulled down by any of Bayley, Becky Lynch, Zelina Vega, Iyo Sky, Trish Stratus, or Zoey Stark. I think the Women just edged out the Men in quality by having better storytelling and working together better. It looked like Bayley cost Iyo the match by pushing over her ladder, but Iyo surged back, handcuffing Bayley and Lynch together to climb the ladder and pull down the championship. The crowd went crazy, and it was a great payoff from Iyo’s performance at Backlash. Iyo has always been the one with the potential to break out of Damage CTRL better than she went in. Now, they have the story to tell of Damage CTRL’s breakup and Iyo’s rise to the top.
Final Grade: 7.5/10 Good-Great
Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor (World Heavyweight Championship)
Another PPV, another Seth Rollins match. Unfortunately, to me, Rollins's matches are starting to feel more formulaic, with a lot of the same moves and babyface tropes. Finn Balor looked good in this match, but it never quite got there for me, maybe because the result felt predictable in the infancy of Rollins’s reign. The most exciting part was Damian Priest coming out and feigning, turning it into a triple threat. However, his pump fake to cash in when Balor was about to hit the coup de grace makes no sense. It seemed to intentionally cost Balor the match, but Priest got no benefit from it- he didn’t cash in, and there were far better times in the match to think about cashing in if that’s what it was going for. It reminded me of when Demon Balor tripped on the ropes against the Fiend. Just a little convoluted WWE booking for you.
Final Grade: 5/10 Average
Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa vs. the Usos (The Bloodline Civil War)
Like a lot of Roman Reigns matches, this match was slow and methodical, with a lot of storytelling. Reigns is doing that type of wrestling at a higher level than maybe anyone ever. Likewise, the Usos are decade-plus veterans that can put on a tag team match like no other. Solo Sikoa didn’t seem that out of place here, despite debuting on the main roster less than a year ago. The result was a worthy main event, and the crowd ate it up. Working up to the false finishes with the Usos, the crowd went crazy. When Jey Uso finally pinned Reigns, they had done what they set out to do. There was a beauty to the years-long story they told, dating back to Jey losing to Reigns at Hell in a Cell and standing in line. It took the Usos on the same page, working together, to finally pin Reigns for the first time in years. It had to be him, and now we know Reigns is beatable.
Final Grade: 8/10 Great
Rob's Final Thoughts
WWE Money in the Bank mirrored a lot of what we loved about WWE Backlash. Because of the hot London crowd, I think it’s fair to say each match went up one grade from their responses. Like a Money in the Bank show should, this show featured crazy matches and fun surprises. The two winners of Money in the Bank say a lot about WWE’s direction moving forward. They rewarded two of their workhorses who have shined in every opportunity. The Money in the Bank should be used as a vehicle to move worthy midcard stars to the main event, and we may see that with Damian Priest and Iyo Sky this year. The Bloodline story keeps going, and I’m willing to say it’s the best story in wrestling this century. Even if the matches don’t have the workrate of AEW, we have some exciting stories going into the biggest party of the summer.
Final Grade: 7/10 Good
Reverse Hipster's 2023 Money in the Bank Review Final Grade 8.3/10 B
the 2023 Money in the Bank Review is in, and it turns out the PPV was a solid, fun PPV, I think WWE could have taken the IC and Dominik vs. Cody match off the PPV and put in World Championship matches from the women. The Seth match didn't live up to the hype, but you had to put that on PPV. There were definitely booking flaws in this PPV, but overall, it was good, and I think most fans walked away from this PPV with a smile.
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