WWE Money in the Bank 2019
Hartford, CT - May 2019
CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, Seth Rollins is the WWE Universal Champion, Kofi Kingston is the WWE Champion, Becky "2 Belts" Lynch holds both the RAW and SmackDown Women's Championship, the Raw Tag Team Champions are Curt Hawkins and Zach Ryder (somehow), the SmackDown Tag Team Champions are Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan, the United States Champion is Samoa Joe, and the Intercontinental Championship is held by Finn Balor. Finally, the 205 Live Champion is Tony Nese.
COMMENTATORS: Saxton, Graves, Young, Cole, Phillips, McGuinness, Vic Joseph, English
The show kicked off with the Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match. SmackDown was represented by Naomi, Mandy Rose, Ember Moon, and Carmella, while RAW's representatives were Bayley, Nikki Cross, Natalya, and Dana Brooke. Like most every one of these matches, there were some ups-and-downs, positives and negatives. Dana Brooke held her own in her first big match in forever (if you could consider being one-of-eight a "spotlight"), taking a big bump onto the ladder early and getting a face full of one later. Naomi showed off her agility multiple times, including pulling off an impressive split to avoid being sandwiched between two ladders. Ember Moon stole the match, though, with a stunning (pun intended) Eclipse from a ladder outside of the ring onto Nattie. It drew a deserved "Holy Shit" chant. Less impressive was Mandy Rose, who was surprisingly given the task of having to get over multiple key moments in the match - first with an awkward phony injury spot with Carmella, later with a risky Dana Brooke briefcase attempt that saw her hanging from the rafters, and finally with the finish (which was a bit anticlimactic). I'm not sure she was the right talent to burden with every turning point in the match when there were more experienced workers that could've been used in the role. My only other major criticism was the use of Carmella. While her absence wasn't necessarily missed in a match this loaded with performers, kayfabing injuries is not only an overdone, unnecessary trope, its also one that has becoming increasingly patronizing to the audience and even the other workers. Matches like this are dangerous and risky, so there's really no need to oversell it with a phony injury angle. Interestingly enough, Sasha Banks was mentioned in the post-match interview, making me wonder if she is indeed coming back. (3/5)
Samoa Joe defended his United States Championship against Rey Mysterio in the next bout. These two guys have been feuding since before WrestleMania, where Joe won in basically a total squash. Here, I expected they'd get at least 7-8 minutes to tell a story, but instead it was Rey who got the flash pin. I'm not opposed to continuing building tension in this feud, but I do fear the WWE losing interest sooner than later and dropping the storyline altogether based on a Vince whim. Its hard to rate a match like this, but you've gotta give at least a little love to Joe getting some color and the post-match beatdown. (1.5/5)
After we cut to Braun Strowman searching for Sami Zayn backstage, we got the night's next stipulation match - a cage match between Shane McMahon and The Miz. At WrestleMania, these two put on a solid Falls Count Anywhere match and, thanks to a good pre-match video package, I was fairly excited about this one once the bell sounded. Shane went for an escape immediately, but Miz stopped each attempt, going after the "Best in the World" with a series of punches and kicks. Shane gained the upperhand, though, countering one of Miz's kicks into a powerbomb against the cage wall. A "CM Punk" chant broke out, followed by a faint "AEW" chant - which is a bit disappointing considering that this is one of the few feuds going on in the WWE that has actually delivered in terms of build and matches. I would've liked to see Shane cheat a bit more early on as it always rubs me the wrong way when he goes move-for-move with more credible wrestlers. Then again, I'm not sure how "credible" The Miz has ever been. Miz applied a figure four, but Shane crawled his way over to the door and the two milked the struggle for the next minute or so. Shane brought a chair back in with hi, though, the crowd really waking up as Miz unloaded on the Chairman's son. Shane took a Skull-Crushing Finale and, for some reason, Miz made a count...but Shane put his foot on the rope...which shouldn't have mattered because there is no DQ in a cage match...and the crowd erupted in a huge "Bullshit" chant as the commentators ripped apart what the ref had done. I'm not sure if this was a scripted part of the match or a botch or what, but it made no sense. Miz attempted another Finale from the top rope, but Shane countered it and Miz took more of the punishment. Shane went to climb, but Miz grabbed him as he straddled the cage wall. They exchanged punches on top of the wall, Shane O-Mac eventually getting pulled back inside the ring with a pretty much tremendous bump. Miz hit a splash and went for another pinfall - which is perfectly legal in a cage match, but not really a finish that anyone expects in a match like this. Shane retalliated with a triangle choke, but Miz wouldn't submit. Shane went for the door and cage again, but Miz kept stopping him, eventually trying to maybe end his career (and more) with a superplex from on top of the cage. Shane was able to hold on, though, eventually falling to the arena floor by slipping out of his tee-shirt. Like at WrestleMania, McMahon's victory was far from convincing...but, unlike WrestleMania, where Shane escaping defeat through dumb luck was novel and didn't hurt The Miz, I'm not sure the same could be said here. This wasn't great, but it wasn't as bad as some will probably make it out to be. (2.5/5)
Backstage, Triple H and an assortment of other personnel found Sami Zayn hanging upside down, knocked unconscious. I guess he's also out of the Money in the Bank match tonight?
205 Live's Cruiserweight Champion Tony Nese defended his title against Ariya Daivari, who arrived in a Mercedes. To me, this one really, really suffered from the production around it. Instead of just kicking off and letting these two fly, we had extended entrances and the usual "commentator sound off," all things to clue the fans in attendance that this was a bathroom break instead of rushing to the action and seeing if these guys could "blitzkreig" the audience into caring with their ringwork. Instead, there was almost dead silence for this match despite both men doing some very impressive things. A disrespectful, faint "boring" chant could be heard at one point, which, to me, is much more of an indictment of how little the WWE has done with its 205 Live brand than it is of the actual wrestlers. The fact is, 90% of this audience had no idea who these guys were and, unlike in mid-90s WCW, where these sorts of matches were juxtaposed with the work of Mike Enos and The Gambler, the action just doesn't stand out as much. Nese tried to finish Daivari with a 450, but it was not enough. Daivari then rallied, hitting a frog splash and then an absolutely ridiculous hammerlock lariat move. Nese somehow got the upperhand, though, and hit a running knee in the corner to retain his title. This was a good match, but the finishing stretch seemed very disjointed to me, with both guys hitting their big finishers - but neither one selling them (especially Nese, who seemed to shrug off Daivairi's best offense completely). (1.5/5)
Backstage, Triple H confronted Braun, accusing him of attacking Zayn. Braun denied that he was the one responsible, but Triple H kicked him out of the arena anyway.
We then got a commercial for WWE Super Showdown, hyping the first ever Goldberg/Undertaker match. It was hard not to notice there was no mention that this show is hailing from Saudi Arabia.
Becky Lynch defended her RAW Women's Championship against Lacey Evans in the next contest. A loud "Becky 2 Belts" at the start of the match showed that Lynch is still plenty over. Lynch controlled early, but Evans showed some impressive bumping and selling, moving a bit like Charlotte Flair at times. While her offense wasn't as flashy, it was executed well; Evans working with more confidence and poise than I expected from someone in her first major match. Evans took a brief break in the match to pull out a handkerchief, a nice touch of character work. Becky took the opportunity to get some offense in, eventually hitting her trademark series of clotheslines before landing a Becksplex. Becky attempted a dropkick that didn't look too hot - but also wasn't captured very well by the cameramen anyway. Becky went to the top rope again, but missed whatever it was she was trying, allowing Evans to come back and hit her with a springboard stunner followed by a nasty kick to the skull for 2. Becky attempted a Disarmher, but Lacey reached the ropes. In a bizarre finish, though, Evans seemed to roll up Becky for a full 3 count...as the ref did nothing. It was jarring (and Corey Graves spotted it during the replay to make sure the viewers at home noticed it too). Lynch escaped and locked in the Disarmher again for the win in a match that started out good, meandered too long without a real story, and then finished in horrendous fashion. Is the poor ref'ing on tonight's show the start of an angle or something? Another not-so-good match. (1.5/5)
UNFORTUNATELY...My Chromebook did not save the rest of this PPV review so I'm going to rewrite the paragraphs and paragraphs of my original draft in a more succinct fashion.
After besting Lacey Evans, Charlotte made her way down the aisle to challenge Lynch for the SmackDown Women's Championship. I wasn't looking forward to this match originally, but watching it, it is obvious how much chemistry these two have and, at this point, you're not going to get a truly bad match out of them. While Evans had a pretty good debut performance with some of her shtick even evoking Flair, watching them work back-to-back, Flair exudes that much more confidence, executes her offense with that much more bite, and works the crowd that much better. I don't recall any big spots in this one - just kind of your standard Flair/Lynch match - leading up to Lacey Evans costing Lynch her SmackDown title. If I recall correctly, there was a questionable ref moment in this match too, but I might be confusing it with another match on this show. (2.5/5)
Not happy with just winning the SmackDown Women's Championship, Flair taunted Becky during the post-match and, with help from Lacey Evans, beat her down while the crowd chanted for Bayley to make the save. I disliked Bayley's music hitting before she made her arrival, but whatever - that's the WWE. Anyway, Bayley came out, took out Evans, and then, after dodging a spear, cashed in her briefcase and won the gold in one of the better "feel good" moments I can recall. The crowd was hugely behind Bayley, which just shows that despite 50/50 booking and stop/start pushes for her, she still has tons of support. Interestingly, they mentioned Sasha Banks in her post-match interview - which makes me wonder if she is coming back after all. Time will tell...(+1)
Backstage, Elias took out Roman Reigns with his guitar and then walked to the ring, confident that the Big Dog would not be able to make it to their match. Classic Heel Idiocy there. Reigns ended up coming out and squashing him in under a minute. There was a time people thought Elias could be a bit of a breakout star, or at least a credible challenger for the US/IC Title. While that is still probably true, it's only because those titles are usually tossed around willy-nilly and have a fraction of the prestige they had 25 years ago. What's even worse than how this made Elias look, this match (and whole rivalry) has cooled off Reigns even more (and, let's be honest, the build to his Mania match didn't exactly capitalize on him BEATING FRIGGIN' CANCER all that well either). Reigns would be better off not on the show rather than being in matches with glorified jobbers. (0/5)
Before the next title match, the Lucha House Party showed up for a non-advertised 6-man tag match. Before that match could begin, Lars Sullivan came out and destroyed them in swift fashion. I'm tempted to take a point away from the show for this trash, but I'll be generous. There was just so much wrong here.
Seth Rollins defended his Universal Championship against AJ Styles in the next bout. I came into this desperately wishing that AJ Styles would leave with the title but 100% positive it wouldn't happen. Kudos to the WWE for, at the very least, making me wonder if they just might throw a curveball in there when Styles countered a Curb Stomp into a Styles Clash. Aside from that spot, though, I was not a fan of this match as it was too much of a "spirited exhibition" rather than an actual match with a story. The lackluster build didn't help anything either as Styles hasn't been "chasing" the Universal Championship for more than a couple weeks and the idea of this being some sort of "passing of the torch" match is laughably absurd when, in terms of WWE history, Rollins has actually had a longer tenure as a top guy than Styles has. In fact, one could argue that because Styles has never been "The Man" on RAW, he's never been truly the WWE's top guy. Had one of these men opted to wrestle with even a slight heel character it may have helped things, but this was a "Have A Good Match for Good Match's Sake" bout and there may be nothing I like less about the current product. A match like this has too much good execution and BIG MOVEZ to be a total dud, but just because its well-executed filler doesn't mean its not filler. (3/5)
The next match, for the WWE Championship, was also underwhelming as Kofi Kingston took on Kevin Owens in a match that wouldn't have been out of place on any random episode of SmackDown from the past 4 years. Unlike the previous bout, this match at least had a clearly-defined face taking on an unlikable heel. Unfortunately, the crowd was zapped from the previous bout and Kevin Owens seems like he needs to go back and watch his own work from 2014 and before to remember what made him an interesting "must see" performer back then. Where was the nasty jawing? Where was the crowd-baiting taunts? What happened to the inventive vicous offense that Owens used to use to not only defeat his opponents, but potentially maim them? Kofi showed good fire here...but he's always showed good fire and while his performances from earlier this year seemed like star-making performances, this one didn't pack the same punch. (2.5/5)
Main event time - The Men's Money in the Bank Match between Andrade Almas, Ricochet, Ali, Corbin, McIntyre, and Orton. I must admit that my original review of this match got lost when my blog didn't save, but I remember believing this to be one of the better ladder matches in a good while thanks to some incredible bumps and spots by Ali, Ricochet, and Balor (who took a nasty, nasty back bump onto the edge of a ladder at one point and, on top of that, got sunset flip-powerbombed into a ladder by Andrade). Not to be outdone, Ricochet also took a crazy bump through a ladder on the outside of the ring while Ali got tossed around a bunch too. The finish got shit on by many fans, but personally, I dug it. As tonight's two World Championship matches showed, there is very little buzz at the top of the card and Brock Lesnar coming back and (hopefully) reclaiming the Universal Championship is, sadly, the only way that Vince seems to know how to inject any life into it these days. In a perfect world, Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston would have a number of well-developed, interesting challengers for their championships, but right now, none exist and the WWE seems allergic to the idea of creating them. Brock Lesnar, at the very least, is credible, gets big reactions, and brings a "big fight feel" to his matches. With a bunch of memorable spots and a shocking twist ending, this year's edition of the Money in the Bank Ladder Match delivered what it needed to. (3.5/5)
With a Kwang Score of 2.25-out-of-5, Money in the Bank 2019 was a sub-par show bookended by two solid matches: the Men's and Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Matches. While Bayley's big title win as a great moment, the title matches were lackluster, the Elias/Reigns match was the definition of filler, and the Cruiserweight Championship match was one of the weakest bouts the WWE has put on PPV this year. If you're like me, you watch the WWE's biggest shows almost out of obligation more than enjoyment these days, but if you're looking for a fun way to spend 3+ hours, look elsewhere.
FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver
UNFORTUNATELY...My Chromebook did not save the rest of this PPV review so I'm going to rewrite the paragraphs and paragraphs of my original draft in a more succinct fashion.
After besting Lacey Evans, Charlotte made her way down the aisle to challenge Lynch for the SmackDown Women's Championship. I wasn't looking forward to this match originally, but watching it, it is obvious how much chemistry these two have and, at this point, you're not going to get a truly bad match out of them. While Evans had a pretty good debut performance with some of her shtick even evoking Flair, watching them work back-to-back, Flair exudes that much more confidence, executes her offense with that much more bite, and works the crowd that much better. I don't recall any big spots in this one - just kind of your standard Flair/Lynch match - leading up to Lacey Evans costing Lynch her SmackDown title. If I recall correctly, there was a questionable ref moment in this match too, but I might be confusing it with another match on this show. (2.5/5)
Not happy with just winning the SmackDown Women's Championship, Flair taunted Becky during the post-match and, with help from Lacey Evans, beat her down while the crowd chanted for Bayley to make the save. I disliked Bayley's music hitting before she made her arrival, but whatever - that's the WWE. Anyway, Bayley came out, took out Evans, and then, after dodging a spear, cashed in her briefcase and won the gold in one of the better "feel good" moments I can recall. The crowd was hugely behind Bayley, which just shows that despite 50/50 booking and stop/start pushes for her, she still has tons of support. Interestingly, they mentioned Sasha Banks in her post-match interview - which makes me wonder if she is coming back after all. Time will tell...(+1)
Backstage, Elias took out Roman Reigns with his guitar and then walked to the ring, confident that the Big Dog would not be able to make it to their match. Classic Heel Idiocy there. Reigns ended up coming out and squashing him in under a minute. There was a time people thought Elias could be a bit of a breakout star, or at least a credible challenger for the US/IC Title. While that is still probably true, it's only because those titles are usually tossed around willy-nilly and have a fraction of the prestige they had 25 years ago. What's even worse than how this made Elias look, this match (and whole rivalry) has cooled off Reigns even more (and, let's be honest, the build to his Mania match didn't exactly capitalize on him BEATING FRIGGIN' CANCER all that well either). Reigns would be better off not on the show rather than being in matches with glorified jobbers. (0/5)
Before the next title match, the Lucha House Party showed up for a non-advertised 6-man tag match. Before that match could begin, Lars Sullivan came out and destroyed them in swift fashion. I'm tempted to take a point away from the show for this trash, but I'll be generous. There was just so much wrong here.
Seth Rollins defended his Universal Championship against AJ Styles in the next bout. I came into this desperately wishing that AJ Styles would leave with the title but 100% positive it wouldn't happen. Kudos to the WWE for, at the very least, making me wonder if they just might throw a curveball in there when Styles countered a Curb Stomp into a Styles Clash. Aside from that spot, though, I was not a fan of this match as it was too much of a "spirited exhibition" rather than an actual match with a story. The lackluster build didn't help anything either as Styles hasn't been "chasing" the Universal Championship for more than a couple weeks and the idea of this being some sort of "passing of the torch" match is laughably absurd when, in terms of WWE history, Rollins has actually had a longer tenure as a top guy than Styles has. In fact, one could argue that because Styles has never been "The Man" on RAW, he's never been truly the WWE's top guy. Had one of these men opted to wrestle with even a slight heel character it may have helped things, but this was a "Have A Good Match for Good Match's Sake" bout and there may be nothing I like less about the current product. A match like this has too much good execution and BIG MOVEZ to be a total dud, but just because its well-executed filler doesn't mean its not filler. (3/5)
The next match, for the WWE Championship, was also underwhelming as Kofi Kingston took on Kevin Owens in a match that wouldn't have been out of place on any random episode of SmackDown from the past 4 years. Unlike the previous bout, this match at least had a clearly-defined face taking on an unlikable heel. Unfortunately, the crowd was zapped from the previous bout and Kevin Owens seems like he needs to go back and watch his own work from 2014 and before to remember what made him an interesting "must see" performer back then. Where was the nasty jawing? Where was the crowd-baiting taunts? What happened to the inventive vicous offense that Owens used to use to not only defeat his opponents, but potentially maim them? Kofi showed good fire here...but he's always showed good fire and while his performances from earlier this year seemed like star-making performances, this one didn't pack the same punch. (2.5/5)
Main event time - The Men's Money in the Bank Match between Andrade Almas, Ricochet, Ali, Corbin, McIntyre, and Orton. I must admit that my original review of this match got lost when my blog didn't save, but I remember believing this to be one of the better ladder matches in a good while thanks to some incredible bumps and spots by Ali, Ricochet, and Balor (who took a nasty, nasty back bump onto the edge of a ladder at one point and, on top of that, got sunset flip-powerbombed into a ladder by Andrade). Not to be outdone, Ricochet also took a crazy bump through a ladder on the outside of the ring while Ali got tossed around a bunch too. The finish got shit on by many fans, but personally, I dug it. As tonight's two World Championship matches showed, there is very little buzz at the top of the card and Brock Lesnar coming back and (hopefully) reclaiming the Universal Championship is, sadly, the only way that Vince seems to know how to inject any life into it these days. In a perfect world, Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston would have a number of well-developed, interesting challengers for their championships, but right now, none exist and the WWE seems allergic to the idea of creating them. Brock Lesnar, at the very least, is credible, gets big reactions, and brings a "big fight feel" to his matches. With a bunch of memorable spots and a shocking twist ending, this year's edition of the Money in the Bank Ladder Match delivered what it needed to. (3.5/5)
With a Kwang Score of 2.25-out-of-5, Money in the Bank 2019 was a sub-par show bookended by two solid matches: the Men's and Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Matches. While Bayley's big title win as a great moment, the title matches were lackluster, the Elias/Reigns match was the definition of filler, and the Cruiserweight Championship match was one of the weakest bouts the WWE has put on PPV this year. If you're like me, you watch the WWE's biggest shows almost out of obligation more than enjoyment these days, but if you're looking for a fun way to spend 3+ hours, look elsewhere.
FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver
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