Results, Recap, Review of WWE Money in the Bank 2019

Tonight was annual Money in the Bank pay-per-view, which usually determines who future champions are going to be and building towards the future. Traditionally, Backlash is the pay-per-view after Wrestlemania but this year the schedule has been altered. There is no more Backlash due to WWE Super Showdown in Saudi. I actually like that Money in the Bank is the PPV after Mania because it feels like the start of a new season and starts up the build towards next Wrestlemania. Before I start with my thoughts on tonights event, here are the results of Money in the Bank:

-Kickoff Show: The Uso’s defeated Daniel Bryan and Rowan in a Non-Title Match
-Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Bayley wins the Money in the Bank Briefcase
-Rey Mysterio defeated Samoa Joe to become the new United States Champion
-Steel Cage Match: Shane McMahon defeated The Miz
-Tony Nese defeated Ariya Daivari to retain the Cruiserweight Championship
-Becky Lynch defeated Lacey Evans to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
-Charlotte Flair defeated Becky Lynch to win the Smackdown Women’s Championship
-Bayley cashed-in the Money in the Bank Briefcase on Charlotte Flair to win the Smackdown Women’s Championship
-Roman Reigns defeated Elias
-Seth Rollins defeated AJ Styles to retain the WWE Universal Championship
-Kofi Kingston defeated Kevin Owens to retain the WWE Championship
-Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Brock Lesnar wins the Money in the Bank Briefcase

The first match of the evening was the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match. I found this match interesting because the major players like Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax and Sasha Banks weren’t in because they either had matches or off TV for one reason or another. This match was absolutely nuts and the women actually killed it in this match. It seemed that Carmella may have been injured during the match, but she came back out to try and fight off Mandy Rose. In the end, Bayley fought off Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville and captured the Briefcase for a future Women’s Title Match. Following this amazing ladder match we got a United States Champion between Samoa Joe and Rey Mysterio, which was a rematch from Wrestlemania. I was really hoping for a classic contest, but this was an absolute blood and botch-fest of a match. After the match was over, Samoa Joe assaulted Rey in-front of Dominic and showed that this was far from over.

One feud that needed to end was The Miz vs. Shane McMahon. I really think the The Miz should been on to bigger and better things then this feud. This was a decent match that had a very terrible ending. I really want this feud to end for everyone’s sake because it’s not doing anyone any favors. After the match, the cameras cut to Sami Zayn who was assaulted presumably by Braun Strowman. This left me wondering who would take Sami’s place in the Ladder Match. Before we could get to that, we had a Cruiserweight Title Match that actually took place on the mains how for once. Tony Nese defended against Ariya Daivari in a very fantastic and under-appreciated match. The Cruiserweights on 205 Live don’t get the credit they deserve. This was an incredible match and I hope they continue to be put on the main show of pay-per-views.

Becky Lynch put herself in a pretty impossible position with defending both titles. Her first match was for the Raw Women’s Championship against Lacey Evans who has been making an immediate impact since she’s come up to the main roster. This was a really good match, but once again the officiating really messed up this match. I am not sure if these are planned botches or not, but regardless it really hurt the quality of the PPV. I thought Lacey Evans deserved better, but that’s just my observation. Once Lacey Evans exited, Charlotte immediately entered to try and take advantage of a weakened Lynch. It seemed to me that Lynch was holding her own until Evans interfered and helped Charlotte win the Smackdown Women’ Championship. Flair’s celebration and reign was very short lived. Bayley came to the aid of Lynch and cashed-in on Flair. I firmly believe Bayley winning it all tonight is very much a political move to spite Sasha Banks and to keep Bayley happy. I just hope other women like Dana Brooke, Ember Moon and Mandy Rose get the opportunities they have worked hard for.

Before Roman Reigns could make his way to the ring, Elias attacked him backstage with a guitar shot. Elias had a concert then as he was about to leave he was greeted with a Superman Punch. The match started and it lasted under a minute. It was pretty self explanatory and almost pointless to an extent. Following that pointless encounter, Roman’s brother in The Shield Seth Rollins put up the WWE Universal Championship against AJ Styles. This match lived up to the hype and more. These two proved how far they have come from their first match over fifteen years ago. Even though Rollins won the match, they both proved why they should be the main event of every show they are on. I really hope this is not the last of AJ Styles and Seth Rollins. I will be curious to see what AJ Styles does now due to Rollins defending the title against Lesnar in Saudi Arabia.

The WWE Championship Match was another match that I had high expectations for because of how great of a heel Kevin Owens is. The story of Kofi Kingston has been absolutely amazing and he deserved to be in the spotlight after all of his hard work in WWE. These two told such a great story in the ring. For all of the knocks WWE gets these days, the two major championship matches had great storytelling and wrestling action. I am glad that Kofi is getting more than a one month title reign. I honestly was fearful of how they would book him a WWE Champion. The Main Event was the Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match. Originally Braun Strowman was suppose to be in the match, but then Sami Zayn took his place. Earlier in the night, someone took out Sami and left a spot open for the match. The match started with seven competitors, which took the wind out of the sails for me. I was really expecting someone to fill the 8th spot and have it be someone big. At the end of the match, Brock Lesnar made his way to the ring and became the eighth competitor in the match. Within thirty seconds of his arrival, he became Mr. Money in the Bank.

Money in the Bank had a lot of really rough moments, but also had a couple of bright spots. I think the major matches delivered but the under-card really struggled due to botches by officiating. Whether or not they were planned is not even the issue. The issue is that they made the presentation look terrible. I am going to give Money in the Bank a 6 out of 10. The effort was there but the botches and booking made me question what direction is heading in. WWE has Super Showdown and Stomping Grounds in June. These next two shows are really going to shape up what the rest of the summer is going to be like. Heading into Summerslam in August they better be running right on all cylinders, because I consider Money in the Bank a major show and they dropped the ball hard tonight. Championships were decided, briefcases were captured but did WWE make the right investments for the future? I’ll let you be the judge.