WWE Money in the Bank review: Roman Reigns gets pinned

Money in the Bank this year ultimately served as a backdrop for SummerSlam next month. And the biggest example of that was in the main event.

For the first time in three and a half years, Roman Reigns was pinned. Granted, it was in a tag match. But it happened! And it immediately sets up the title match for SummerSlam, where Jey Uso will likely challenge Reigns. The match itself started off real slow, but eventually started to heat up towards the end of the match. And when Reigns was pinned, the place went wild. It was a big moment and, as it should be, was pushed hard.

Jey Uso’s win was the highlight of Money in the Bank. Everything else was fine, or in some cases just plain forgettable. It wasn’t a bad show by any means, but take away the main event and this was an exceedingly average show.

IYO SKY and Damian Priest ended up winning the two Money in the Bank matches, which I’ll get into in a bit. Both have interesting storylines going on. SKY and Bayley have been teasing dissention, especially the finish where she climbed over Bayley to win the briefcase. But the two got along fine at the press conference, so the split hasn’t happened yet. Damian Priest later inadvertently cost Finn Balor the World Heavyweight title, getting up from a chair at ringside that distracted Balor. 

In terms of cashing in, it feels right to do an eventual feud between Priest and Rollins, though I don’t know when that will take place or if they’ll do a Balor-Priest match beforehand. SKY cashing in is even more of a mystery, as right now they seem interested in splitting up Damage CTRL.

Both Money in the Bank matches were good, but I don’t think they were great. Both had dangerous spots, as one would expect, but they also felt very patterned, with everyone lining up to take a dive, the splash off the ladder, getting driven through a table, those tropes were all in both matches. The problem with ladder matches these days is that there are so many across so many promotions, the big spots don’t feel as big, even as people are out there killing themselves. There’s only so many unique spots you can do with a ladder that causes people to react. 

John Cena was on this show, for some reason. He just happened to be in London, I guess? He pushed the idea of a London WrestleMania hard, then got into a confrontation with Grayson Waller, eventually laying him out. Based on how strong he pushed the idea, one would think that it’s happening somewhere down the line. And it makes all the sense in the world considering WWE probably doesn’t like the idea of AEW breaking records with their own Wembley show later this summer. However, Triple H downplayed but didn’t totally dismiss the idea at the press conference after the show. In hindsight, a really weird, random appearance.

Based on the build, I was expecting more out of the World Heavyweight Championship match. It was good, but not great or memorable in any way. In fact, writing about this, I’ve forgotten a lot of the match. The finish had Priest getting up from a chair on the outside as Balor was going for the coup de gras, ultimately distracting Balor and allowing Rollins to pick up the win.

Some of the undercard didn’t get a ton of time. Cody Rhodes got a quick win over Dominik Mysterio, basically a fodder match to set up the Brock Lesnar destruction of Rhodes on Monday and the SummerSlam match in a few weeks. Gunther and Riddle did not last long either, a disappointment considering on paper this had the ability to steal the show. Instead, the match was a backdrop to a Drew McIntyre return, where he will likely be challenging Gunther.

The Women’s Tag Team Championship match was also a backdrop to an angle, where Shayna Baszler randomly turned on Ronda Rousey, allowing Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez to regain the titles they never lost. This turn came out of nowhere, and there were no real teases to the split in the weeks leading to the match. I am guessing there’s another story here we don’t know yet.

SummerSlam is up next on WWE’s schedule, and we seem to know most of the big matches based on Saturday’s booking: Reigns/Jey Uso, Gunther/McIntyre, and perhaps Baszler/Rousey. I’d also guess on a three way with Asuka, Charlotte, and Bianca Belair based on what went down at SmackDown. It’s shaping up to be a hot card, and with the show taking place at Ford Field in Detroit, it needs to be!