We have a really big summer of wrestling ahead of us, folks. It doesn’t matter what promotion is your favorite, or if you’re a fan of everything… there are some big, big shows coming. By the time this column goes live to the world, Forbidden Door 2 will have come and gone, essentially kicking off said big summer. As I type this sentence, we’re still a few days away from Forbidden Door taking place, but to say I have high expectations for the show would be a major understatement.
Next up after Forbidden Door is Money In The Bank, coming to us from The O2 Arena in London, England. There will be nearly 18,000 rowdy fans in the building that night, watching an event that is getting a bigger and bigger spotlight by WWE every year. The fact that this show is taking place in London is proof positive of that. I want to take a closer look at Money In The Bank right now. To be specific, I want to take a closer look at the Money In The Bank Ladder Matches that we’re about to witness.
Let’s have some fun and look at the competitors that will be in those two matches, from who should be viewed as the favorites to win, as well as who I would love to see emerge with those briefcases in their possession. I’m going to start with the men’s match for the simple fact that the field for that match is already set. I’m typing this before Raw, so there’s still one qualifying match for the women’s match, and Bayley is putting her spot on the line against Shotzi on Smackdown. Once Smackdown is over, I’ll be able to finalize the women’s match section of the column, but for now, let’s go ahead and take a look at the men’s side of things.
This is, perhaps, the most intriguing set of competitors in men’s Money In The Bank history. It will be the 24th time we’ve seen the men fight for the briefcase. In the previous 23 matches, there was at least one former main roster World Champion involved, and yes, I’m counting WWE’s version of ECW, because WWE counts that as a “World Title” after all these years. The closest we’ve seen to this happening was 2013, when Jack Swagger, a one-time ECW Champion, was the only member of the World Heavyweight Title MITB match to reach that level. Shinsuke Nakamura is in this year’s match, and he’s a former NXT Champion, but again, that wasn’t won on the main roster. That means we might be one step away from seeing someone crowned a World Champion for the first time in their WWE career at some point over the next year. Exciting times. Here are this year’s competitors, listed in no particular order…
Shinsuke Nakamura: Could we be on the verge of another push for the three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion? We’ve seen him receive pushes before, but obviously, they never truly went anywhere. No matter what he’s involved in, live crowds continue to support him. I have zero doubts about the reaction he would get if he pulls that briefcase down and wins the match. While I remain a huge fan of Nakamura, I can’t help but wonder if his time fighting at the top of the WWE mountain has come and gone. He’s more than good enough in the ring, and as I said, he remains over in everything he does, but I still feel there was a lot of damage done to him when he failed to take the WWE Title from AJ Styles in four matches over the span of 70 days in 2018. That was rough. I wouldn’t complain if he won the match, but I’m not looking for it to happen here.
LA Knight: See, now this is where things get really interesting. If you’re going by crowd reactions alone, Knight is the odds-on favorite to win here. He has, for all intents and purposes, become the new age People’s Champion, as the WWE Universe has chosen to back him, even when he was losing regularly… and even when he wasn’t even getting to have matches on television at all. It has been downright fascinating to watch him get elevated to this point, when he was losing left and right in NXT a little more than a year ago. The pop that he would get for winning this match would be one of the year’s biggest, but is that win going to happen? We know that Triple H has been a fan and supporter of LA Knight, but that hasn’t exactly translated to much of a sustained push. Does that mean Vince McMahon is calling more of the shots? This is one of those “believe it when I see it” type of situations. I simply haven’t been given any reason to think WWE is ready to push LA Knight to this type of level. Even if people are feeling, and saying, that he’s the betting favorite… I just have a difficult time imagining the trigger being pulled on a push that big for LA Knight at this time. Shit, even if I watch him pull that briefcase down and hear his theme music to signify that he has won the match, I’ll probably just squint my eyes and wait for something to happen.
Butch: As Pete Dunne, this was a spot many fans dreamed of for the former WWE United Kingdom Champion. Things have changed since his name was changed to Butch, though. He’s still a fantastic in-ring worker, without a doubt, but he’s not exactly having an overly successful main roster run. Before qualifying for Money In The Bank, it had been two months since he won a match on television, and you have to go all the way back to the week before Survivor Series 2022 to find the last time he won a singles match on television. It’s not like we’ve never seen a journey like that before. While it was a slightly different situation, The Miz defeated Otis to win the Money In The Bank briefcase that Otis won, but before that match, Miz hadn’t been on the winning end of a match in five-and-a-half months, and hadn’t won a singles match in nine-and-a-half months. The beautiful thing about Money In The Bank sometimes is that a winner doesn’t have to be hot going in, but they have a year to get hot after the fact. While it SHOULD matter that Butch loses a bunch of matches, it really doesn’t, because the company can give someone the win, and then build them up for a certain amount of time before having them cash in. I don’t think that’s what will happen here for Butch, but it’s still worth pointing out.
Santos Escobar: Here’s yet another person who, until very recently, was losing matches on television quite regularly. Escobar has been on the winning end of three consecutive televised matches. The last time he won three straight matches on television was all the way back in July and August 2021, when he won three straight in NXT. Prior to this three-match win streak, he lost his last 11 matches on television or pay-per-view, with his last win coming on the first episode of Smackdown in 2023. The LWO, as a whole, is riding a wave of momentum these days, and Escobar has been very beneficial because of it. He has proven himself to be a world class in-ring performer for years now, and he is finally getting a chance to show that to the WWE Universe. With his new momentum, as well as Rey Mysterio’s presence and Bad Bunny’s headline-making appearances for the LWO, could that be enough to make Escobar Mr. Money In The Bank? I’ve seen much stranger things in my years of watching wrestling, that’s for sure.
Damian Priest: If I’m going to be completely honest with all of you, this is the person who I would probably choose as the winner of the match if I was the one in charge of those types of things. The catch there is simple… if I was in charge of the decisions in WWE, I would have Priest as the winner, but I would also have Priest enter Money In The Bank with a lot more momentum than we’ve actually seen him have. As a matter of fact, after his loss to Bad Bunny at Backlash, I would’ve had him use the anger, pain, and embarrassment he felt in Puerto Rico, and use it as his motivation. We would’ve had a meaner, darker, angrier, more physical version of Damian Priest, and that would’ve been fun, in general, but even more fun leading up to a match like this where he’s the biggest, strongest competitor in a match that thrives on danger and inflicting pain. He has taken four losses since Backlash, but to be fair, those losses have been to the likes of Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn, so it’s not like he’s out here being pinned by some nobodies. Priest has been doing such a good job for such a long time, and the fact that the company trusted him enough to have that match with Bad Bunny says so much to me. Even if he doesn’t win here, I think we’re going to see some big things from him in the rest of 2023 and even later.
Ricochet: A few months back, I mentioned that Ricochet was going to be an early dark horse pick to win Money In The Bank, and now we’re here, with the man qualifying for the match. The list of people on the planet today who can do what Ricochet does in a wrestling ring is short. Very short. Putting a man with his skillset in a match involving ladders all over the place? He’s going to put on a show, and he’ll be part of video packages and highlight reels for decades. If he had more natural charisma and confidence in his promo ability, not only do I think he would be more of a favorite to win this match, but I think he might have already reached the top of the WWE mountain at this stage of his career, because again… there aren’t many people who can do what he does in the ring. Giving him a win here… and potentially giving him the World Heavyweight Title or the Undisputed WWE Universal Title… is going to put him in a position where he will need to cut considerably more promos, and of a longer variety, than he has ever had to do. That concerns me. If WWE can find a way to accentuate his positives and, as much as possible, creatively hide his negatives, Ricochet would be a very interesting choice for a Money In The Bank winner. His offense is precisely the type that can strike anyone at any point, and that’s what makes for exciting times, especially during the cashing in of a MITB briefcase.
Logan Paul: Of course, after I typed my intro about starting with the men’s match because the field was already set, we got a new entrant announced during Raw. The addition of Logan Paul to this match has social media going nuts, and rightfully so. He’s going to bring in a ton of mainstream media attention to Money In The Bank, but imagine the attention that the company will get if he wins here. Now, close your eyes and imagine the attention they’ll get if he wins and then successfully cashes in to become a World Champion. I’m on record saying that he could be a future World Champion if he were to make more of a commitment to the sport, and not just wrestle five matches in a calendar year. What if he has made that commitment? I know, I know… the odds of that are slim at this point, but still… what if? Logan is in a weird spot right now. He’s still a “special attraction” wrestler, but he’s also still in the early stages of his training, unlike most of the wrestlers in that category, who have been in the business for decades. He doesn’t wrestle much… five matches in a year… but he also hasn’t been on the winning side of a match since SummerSlam last year. We’re coming up on a full year since he won a match. If he doesn’t win Money In The Bank, that will be four losses in a row for him. At what point do you go from praising his potential and making him look like a whiz kid to capitalizing on that potential and whiz kiddery by having him pick up some wins?
Now, let’s switch from talking about the men to talking about the women, and then I’ll get to my final thoughts on the matches.
Zelina Vega: Come on now… let’s be honest with each other… this isn’t going to be a win for Zelina. First of all, she’s going to need the biggest ladder ever used in pro wrestling to provide her with the capability of reaching the briefcase. More importantly, though, she has been given multiple opportunities to compete for titles, and other than the people of Puerto Rico going nuts for her because she’s Puerto Rican, fans didn’t buy her as a threat in the slightest. In those matches, she actually did a good job with what she was given to work with, but when you’re booked to look a certain way 99% of the time, it doesn’t really matter what you look like the other 1% of the time. Her 99% is spent way, way down on the card. She’ll probably be good for a high spot or two in this match, though, because every Ladder Match needs someone like that involved.
Zoey Stark: From the time she debuted in NXT, I was saying that she was set for big things in her future. Even if you weren’t a fan of her work, it was crystal clear that she was being protected in her losses, and she was made to look good in a lot of matches that went a lot longer than the average women’s match in NXT was booked to go. Now, fast forward, and after only three main roster matches since officially being called up, she’s wrestling on pay-per-view in a high profile match like this. Even with all of that said, it would be an incredibly huge upset if she won Money In The Bank this early in her main roster tenure. She’s involved here to continue the storyline with herself, Trish Stratus, and Becky Lynch. That’s fine. Don’t be surprised if she looks great in a losing performance, though.
Becky Lynch: She is one of the biggest stars that women’s wrestling has ever seen, as well as one of the most decorated, both with titles won and history made. Because of that, I’ve seen a lot of people complaining that Becky is even in this match, as they feel the spot could go to someone who needs it. That point sticks out even more because of the field in the men’s match. Could WWE have gone with Becky vs Zoey at MITB, then Becky vs Trish at SummerSlam, putting three other women in this match? Yes, they could. Should they have done that? Probably. Did they do that, though? No, so here we are. Becky winning the Money In The Bank briefcase would be one of the more pointless victories in the history of the match. She absolutely, positively doesn’t need to win this, as she always seems to be involved in a title picture, no matter what. I get that there’s a desire to give certain wrestlers everything for historical value… and with six World Titles, a Women’s Tag Title reign, and a Royal Rumble victory, this is about all that’s left for her… but it would be a mistake if she won. Like I said, she’s here to continue her feud with Trish and Zoey, so look for that to happen, but not much else. Hopefully.
Iyo Sky: If LA Knight is the people’s choice to win the men’s match, Iyo is the people’s choice to win the women’s match. It makes sense. She was mega over in NXT, and people have been wanting to cheer for her on the main roster, but she turned heel during her debut and hasn’t looked back since. With Dakota Kai out of action after tearing her ACL, Damage CTRL seems to be on its last legs, and we’ve all seen the tension between Iyo and Bayley. That has been more than enough for fans to begin cheering for Iyo, and she has repaid them with some great performances, including her match with Bianca Belair at Backlash. I would love to see a solid singles face push for Iyo, but… and just hear me out… what if the face turn isn’t going to be hers? What if it’s Bayley who is going to turn face? Not necessarily a 100% return to the old “Hugger” days, but a face turn nonetheless? We’re seeing Iyo get more and more frustrated with Bayley, so what if she takes that frustration and turns it into an overly vicious attack on Bayley? That’s not a prediction or anything. I’m just throwing it out there. I think a face turn for Iyo is much more likely, but Bayley did just do an interview on WWE’s weekly recap show, The Bump, where she admitted that the NXT version of Bayley is still inside of her somewhere, motivating her and helping to push her forward when she sees that there are people out there who still don’t believe in her. That wasn’t mentioned on accident. For now, though, I think we could be on the verge of seeing a win for Iyo Sky, face turn or otherwise.
Trish Stratus: I’ll say it again… I think Trish is only in the match to further the storyline between her, Becky Lynch, and Zoey Stark. We’ll just have to accept that. It will be crazy to see Trish in this type of match, though. I’m picturing her having a Sting-like performance here, where she is doing all kinds of wild dives from tall heights and turning the clock back again and again, and it makes me smile. As a matter of fact, the idea of Trish winning this match makes me laugh altogether. The odds of her winning certainly aren’t the longest of any of the women in the match, but I’m not sure anyone is truly thinking she’s walking out of this with the briefcase in her hands.
Bayley: Vince McMahon strikes again. Bayley qualifies for Money In The Bank, only to be challenged for her spot by Shotzi, leading Iyo Sky to accept the challenge on behalf of Bayley. The match between Bayley and Shotzi is promoted all week long, even on the day of Smackdown… and the match simply never happens, because Vince McMahon’s brain is turning into tapioca pudding and he has no fucking idea what he’s doing, so he rewrites Smackdown on the fly. Well, I guess Bayley is still going to be in this match. It’s for the best. There aren’t many wrestlers alive today who are more dangerous than Shotzi, both to herself or to her opponents, and you’re only asking for injuries when you put her in a match with ladders. Anyway, back to the point… Bayley… she’s in an interesting spot here. This is going to sound weird because of everything she has accomplished in her career, including winning Money In The Bank in 2019, but she could really use a win. Things have just been off since Damage CTRL was formed. She remains an important part of the roster, earning plenty of television time, but that hasn’t come with a ton of victories in big matches. She lost two Raw Women’s Title matches to Bianca Belair in the last few months of 2022, then lost two (one with Dakota Kai, one with Iyo Sky) WWE Women’s Tag Team Title matches, to go with losses at WrestleMania 39, the 2023 Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series War Games last year. She hasn’t won on pay-per-view since Damage CTRL beat Bianca, Asuka, and Alexa Bliss at Clash At The Castle, which was almost ten months ago. A second Money In The Bank victory could do wonders for her, putting her back at the heights she once was. I just think it’s an uphill climb (no pun intended) for her with what looks to be happening for her stablemate.
A funny thing happened as I was typing more of this column. Even as I was working on the women’s section, I was thinking about the men’s field and who could/should win the match. I went back and watched WWE programming over the last few weeks, YouTube clips, social media posts, and so on… and I think I’ve changed my mind about LA Knight winning. Earlier, I said that I just couldn’t see him winning because I haven’t been given a reason to believe that WWE was ready to push him like that. Now, I think the WWE Universe is going to help WWE make their decision. LA Knight is just so over. So, so over. He survived Smackdown being rewritten by Vince McMahon, going on to score a pinfall victory over Rey Mysterio. It might be his time.
As for the women, the “boring” pick is Iyo Sky because it seems like everyone is choosing her to win. It’s happening for a reason, though. Things seem to be clicking for her now, after a lengthy stretch in her early main roster run where she almost seemed nervous.
I’m sorry if you were wanting some wacky picks, but I’m going as close to “chalk” as can be here… LA Knight and Iyo Sky as the winners of this year’s Money In The Bank matches.
Weekly Power Rankings
Kenny Omega vs Will Ospreay: I thought it would be incredibly difficult for them to top their match at Wrestle Kingdom back in January, but I’ll be damned… they did top it, in my opinion. An absolute piece of pro wrestling art.
Kazuchika Okada vs Bryan Danielson: There hasn’t been a bigger “dream match” for me in a long, long time. I’ve been waiting to see these two face off for well over a decade. They did not disappoint me. The only problem was that they were never going to top what Omega and Ospreay did, so if the Omega and Ospreay match was put together that way, it should’ve been the main event. On paper, this deserved the main event spot, but Okada and Danielson didn’t have any favors done for them here.
Seth Rollins vs Bron Breakker: There was a lot to like about this one. It was a big match, and it was treated as such, given a good amount of time to work with. Both men got to look great, but especially Bron, who looked like he belonged in the ring with the World Heavyweight Champion every step of the way. If there’s any sort of “negative” to take away, it’s that maybe Bron shouldn’t have taken a loss via pin. Disqualification or count-out? That’s fine. You could’ve even had Finn Balor attack Seth to end the match, giving Bron a reason to go after Balor, too. Ultimately, the loss won’t destroy Bron’s career or anything, but it might’ve been nice to keep him looking stronger coming out of this, especially after losing to Carmelo Hayes two times in a row.
The Elite, Eddie Kingston & Tomohiro Ishii vs Blackpool Combat Club, Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino: So much physicality. Takeshita was the star here, though. He looked like every bit of the future AEW World Champion I’ve been referring to him as since he first arrived in AEW. While he was already such a great in-ring performer, this heel turn has allowed him to crank it up a bit when it comes to his aggression and physical offense.
CM Punk, FTR & Ricky Starks vs “Switchblade” Jay White, Juice Robinson & The Gunns: It already looks like Punk is going to be one of the workhorses on Collision, and that’s perfectly fine with me, especially if it leads to more matches like this. Yet another six or eight-person tag match in AEW that was full of action from bell-to-bell, with a hot crowd and a good booking decision being the icing and extra icing on the cake.
Von Wagner & Mr. Stone: Like an RKO, this one came out of nowhere. Wow. What an emotional vignette, with Wagner talking about the difficulties he’s faced in his life, including dealing with trigonocephaly, which caused his skull to grow differently than other babies. He talked about how he had to go through surgery when he was only 15 months old, and that doctors didn’t know if he would survive it. Even after he was able to make it through, it only led to years of bullying, staring, and parents pulling their children away when he was around. Wagner was believable, vulnerable, and raw as he told Stone about his life, and Stone, to his credit, came across as a human being hearing another human being talking, not a wrestling character hearing another wrestling character. There might be something to build on here, as this is the type of thing that can really help live crowds connect with both men.
Roman Reigns: He officially passed Pedro Morales for fifth-place on the list of longest World Title reigns in company history. When you’re able to read this column, Roman will be on his 1,030th day as the Universal Champion. Next up on the all-time list is Bruno Sammartino’s second reign, which lasted 1,237 days.
Orange Cassidy vs Daniel Garcia vs Zack Sabre Jr. vs Katsuyori Shibata: I really liked that they were able to have some comedy in the match, but almost all of it took place in the early moments, getting it out of the way, allowing all four men to bust their asses. OC’s title reign continues, giving him 25 successful title defenses, breaking the AEW record of 24, set by Jade Cargill during her TBS Championship reign. Jade had her 24 defenses take place inside of a 508-day reign, while OC had his 25th successful defense on his 256th day as champion.
Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs The Judgment Day: When you put Cody, KO, and Sami together, you know the crowd is going to be red hot for everything. That’s exactly what we got here. The match itself got better as it went on, building to a really well done finish. Good stuff, but damn, I really wish Damian Priest wouldn’t be on the losing end of so many matches these days.
Andrade El Idolo vs Brody King: A little while ago, I said I had no issues with CM Punk being one of the workhorses on Collision moving forward. I feel even stronger about Andrade being one of the workhorses on the show. He looks like a million bucks since his return, and that’s a great thing for AEW, as a whole. If handled correctly, they have a future World Champion on their hands here.
Sheamus vs Solo Sikoa: Sure, the finish was overly silly, but these two went out and had themselves a banger of a match. They beat the hell out of each other, and frankly, I appreciate that.
Wes Lee vs Tyler Bate: The match itself was a lot of fun, but the star was Mustafa Ali as the Special Guest Referee. He was purposely terrible at his job, and it was simultaneously entertaining and intriguing, because it left you wondering what was going to happen next.
Satoshi Kojima vs CM Punk: Punk really helped make this match a lot more fun than I was expecting because he seemed to enjoy playing the heel here, working with the crowd’s reactions. Kojima, to his credit, looked great, and not like a man staring at his upcoming 53rd birthday.
Orange Cassidy & Katsuyori Shibata vs Zack Sabre Jr. & Daniel Garcia: I know that he’s been back for a while now, but I still love seeing Shibata back in action after what everyone thought was a career-ending subdural hematoma in 2017 caused him to collapse after a match and rushed to the hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. He missed four-and-a-half years because of it, but he’s back, and that makes me happy. As a fan of the sport, I always enjoy seeing people return from injuries, but especially ones that were initially thought to be career-enders.
Sanada vs “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry: There wasn’t a single person on the planet who thought JB was going to win this and become the top guy in New Japan. At least the match was good, though. What wasn’t as good was the post-match heel turn by JB. The man has ONE thing working for him with his presentation, and that’s the “sing along” entrance he has, which you have to assume will be taken away now. His mic skills aren’t anywhere near strong enough to make him a believable heel of any kind, but we’ll see where it goes.
AR Fox, Darius Martin & Action Andretti vs Chris Jericho, Minoru Suzuki & Sammy Guevara: Let’s see… six people involved in the match, and it happened on an AEW show. I’m a broken record here, but it was action-packed from beginning to end, and that made for a super fun watch.
Trent Beretta, Chuck Taylor, Rocky Romero & Yoh vs Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher & Swerve Strickland: Broken record time again. Eight people involved in an AEW match? Sure enough, it was action-packed from beginning to end, and it made for a super fun watch.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Swerve Strickland: Two in-ring appearances for Swerve Strickland on this week’s list. and he has a match on the Forbidden Door pre-show, so he very well could end up being here again. He’s on a roll, and he continues to prove that he deserves a bigger push than what he has been getting.
Matt Riddle vs Ludwig Kaiser: The other day, I was watching some random wrestling-related videos on YouTube, and ended up on a video that spent a lot of time focusing on the RK-Bro pairing. It made me realize just how much Matt Riddle has been hurt by Randy Orton’s absence. He is still capable of having good matches, and he usually does just that, but a lot of his connection with the WWE Universe was built around and based on his relationship with Orton. “The Viper” has been gone for over a year now, but with Rev Theory (the band who perform Orton’s entrance music) recently releasing a clip of a remixed version of “Voices” online, there is all sorts of speculation on a return for Orton happening soon. Riddle could really use that right now.
Tommaso Ciampa: After being out of action for nine months, the man who won the NXT Championship on two occasions made his return to the company. Sure, he was initially set to return to answer Seth Rollins’ open challenge for the World Heavyweight Title until Vince McMahon did some last-minute changes to Raw, but he’s back nonetheless. Returning to the DIY days with Johnny Gargano would behoove both men, as there are many, many tag teams they could have some great matches with right now.
This Week’s Playlist: “LOUDER” by G Perico… “Celebration (One Shot)” by Common Kings… “Ugly Sweater” by Sada Baby… “The Industrialist” by Fear Factory… “Recharger” by Fear Factory… “New Messiah” by Fear Factory… “Virus Of Faith” by Fear Factory… “Passing Complexion” by Fear Factory… “Holy Water” by Sevendust… “Shock Tactics (1000v) by To The Grave… “Anti-Fetish” by VEXED… “What Would U Do?” by Tha Dogg Pound… “U Better Recognize” by Sam Sneed & Dr. Dre… “Can’t Knock The Hustle” by Jay-Z & Mary J. Blige… “Politics As Usual” by Jay-Z… “Dead Presidents II” by Jay-Z… “Whatever” by Ideal… “Gimme The Light” by Sean Paul… “Like Glue” by Sean Paul… “Get Busy” by Sean Paul… “I’m Still In Love With You” by Sean Paul & Sasha… “We Be Burnin” by Sean Paul… “Give It Up To Me” by Sean Paul… “Temperature” by Sean Paul… “Riot” by Sean Paul & Damian Marley