Pro-wrestling star James Ellsworth recently spoke with Sportskeeda about the first ever women’s Money In The Bank ladder match back in 2017, a bout that ended in controversial fashion when Ellsworth grabbed the briefcase. This led to massive online backlash and a rematch occurring a week later on SmackDown, which Carmella won herself.
During the interview Ellsworth reveals that there was always a second match planned, and that Vince McMahon is actually a genius for the idea because it got he and Carmella heat, and also popped a rating on the ensuing SmackDown. Highlights are below.
Says that there was always a plan to do a second MITB ladder match and the first was to just get heat on Ellsworth and Carmella:
“It worked. And what I mean by work is people, maybe your self included, think that they did that second Money in the Bank ladder match two weeks later on SmackDown because they got so much backlash – which is not true at all. They knew they were going to do the second one before we ever did the first. It was Vince’s idea, Vince goes, ‘We got to get some heat on Carmella and Ellsworth,’ because, at the house shows we were getting cheered – me and Carmella.”
How the decision got more people to watch the match on SmackDown:
“So the way we get the heat was Ellsworth climbs the ladder, he gives her the briefcase, and then we’ll get a lot of backlash for it but then we’ll pop a rating on SmackDown because we’ll have another one, where she kind of grabs that herself, but this will be like her big moment. And he [Vince McMahon] was right. He was right about it all. That was the most talked about moment from that pay per view. And then the Smackdown, that we did a week or two later, and that second one 600,000 people more watched that Smackdown than the week before. He’s a genius whenever he feels like being a genius.”