Fort Worth, TX - July 2021
CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, Roman Reigns was the reigning Universal Champion while Bobby Lashley held the WWE Championship. The United States Champion was Sheamus, the Intercontinental Champion was Apollo Crews, the RAW Women's Champion was Rhea Ripley, and the SmackDown Women's Champion was Bianca Belair. The RAW Tag Team Champions were AJ Styles and Omos and the Mysterios - Rey and Dominick - held the SmackDown Tag Team Championships. Finally, the Women's Tag Team Champions were Natalya and Tamina.
The show begins with (what else?) the Women's Money in the Bank match - Alexa Bliss vs. LIv Morgan vs. Nikki "Almost Super Hero" Cross vs. Natalya vs. Tamina vs. Zelina Vega vs. Naomi vs. Asuka. Before the match began, most of the attention was on Alexa Bliss, the camera cutting to her after nearly every entrance, but there were also some nice video packages highlighting certain talent's previous accomplishments, specifically Asuka (last year's winner) and Naomi (who defeated Bliss for her first SmackDown Women's Title at Elimination Chamber 4 years ago). The bell rang and 7 of 8 went looking for a ladder while Bliss continued to just stand on the ropes before, with a smile on her face, she skipped around the ring and then hinted that she could use her super powers to merely summon the briefcase down. Asuka cut her off, though, and from here we got the type of action these matches are built around - rapid successions of violent moves, with and without hardware involved. Tamina got the most negative reaction of anyone in the ring, unsurprising, while the crowd rallied huge behind Liv Morgan on her first attempt. In another non-shocker, Asuka got huge pops for beating up Tamina and knocking Natalya off the apron with a sick hip attack and then, minutes later, a hip attack in Snuka that sent her into the guardrail. Back in the ring, Alexa Bliss took over and inexplicably set up a ladder despite teasing that she didn't need one earlier. But Zelina Vega met her at the top...only to get transfixed and hypnotized into climbing back down the ladder! Ridiculous. Natalya broke it up and the action continued, eventually leading to a cool spot where Liv Morgan attempted a head scissors onto Naomi only to get powerbombed onto Vega (who was on a ladder). Tamina and Natalya tried to team up on Naomi but she took them out with a springboard kick and then a double stunner. She then slammed Nikki onto a ladder and finished her off with a split-legged leg drop. Natalya tried to climb the ladder but Vega jumped onto her back to weigh her down. Some insane strength right there. Natalya reached for the briefcase but Vega choked her out. Morgan climbed up the ladder and dragged both women down as the crowd erupted into huge, well-deserved cheers. As 6-of-8 women brawled inside, Nikki set up a ladder on the outside and hit a big splash on all the other women. Boy is that spot overdone. On the plus side, it did lead to a Bliss and Nikki showdown...but it was a moment that they inexplicably didn't milk, even as the crowd reaction made it clear they should. Again, the Women's Tag Team Champions played spoiler, taking out Bliss and burying her under a stack of ladders. With all the women distracted by burying Bliss, Morgan set up the ladder in the center of the ring and looked to have the match one before Tamina stopped her. She hit a hurricanrana on Tamina, though, sending her into the corner. Natalya came in next and set up 2 ladders for some reason. Again Morgan came back, though, driving Nattie's head into the steel. A third ladder was set up because why not and Morgan took out Asuka. Morgan climbed back up, but Naomi met her at the top as all 7 women made their way up the ladders. Again, we've seen this before multiple times but usually it leads to something big. Instead, Nikki basically snuck her way up the ladder and grabbed the briefcase as everyone else just threw fists. Wow. That was very, very unexpected. I really liked this match, but found the finish a bit flat as the crowd was definitely way more behind Morgan and, to a lesser extent, Bliss and Asuka. Then again, I'm a Nikki Cross fan even with this awful gimmick. A better ending would've probably nudged this into "must see" range for me. (3.5/5)
The RAW Tag Team Championships were on the line next as The Viking Raiders, who I didn't even know were still on the roster, challenged AJ Styles and Omos. Styles got a massive response for his entrance, the live crowd obviously very happy to see him. I wasn't expecting this match to get the amount of time it did but was pleasantly surprised by what we got. Styles was the clear MVP and proved he still has plenty to offer in the ring, Omos absolutely shined and got huge reactions for his power moves (which all looked terrific, if a bit sloppy), and I was also a bit surprised at how good Ivar and Erik came across. Again, as I haven't been a weekly viewer of Raw in many, many years, I'm not sure if the Raiders have been having good matches on TV that I haven't seen but they absolutely used their minutes here to make a strong case that they're worthy of their spots on the roster. Some great nearfalls and cut-offs throughout, this match felt like something that should've been on the preshow but ended up making me hopeful that the Raiders would be drafted over to SmackDown this fall so that they could work with some fresh teams and that Styles and Omos continue their dominant partnership for months to come. An overachiever of a match. (3.5/5)
Kofi Kingston challenged Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship next. When Kofi Kingston lost the WWE Championship to Brock Lesnar in a squash match a couple years back, fans were rightfully pissed off that KofiMania came to such a sudden end in such a one-sided match. This bout was, in my estimation, what that match should've been. It was still very one-sided, still practically a squash, but at least Kofi got to show some toughness in this match, withstanding quite a bit of punishment before eventually falling prey to his much larger, much angrier opponent. I haven't checked Reddit but I'm guessing many fans were upset at Lashley's dominant performance but is there a better option to be at the top of Raw's food chain right now? Roman Reigns' Head of the Table gimmick has paid off on the Blue Brand and Lashley is the only regular performer left on Raw that carries the same aura. This wasn't a Match of the Year or anything, but I still found it to be a captivating performance from both men and hopefully a sign that Lashley has been entrusted to hold the title for a good while longer. (3/5)
Going from the WWE Championship to the RAW Women's Championship, Rhea Ripley defended her title against rival Charlotte. Again, I didn't have to go to Reddit to know that this match was going to be met with lots and lots of criticism - criticisms that I don't share. Ripley's pseudo-heel turn over the past few months has made her nearly impossible to root for or to really root against (as Charlotte is just so much more naturally "hateable"). To paraphrase Bret Hart during the end of his WWE run in 97', you can either be the top babyface or the top heel, and when you go from being one to the other and then to neither, you're in a tough position where the crowd isn't really sure how to react to you. In this match, the crowd reacted by loudly and clearly demanding Becky Lynch. Still, in terms of action, these two obviously have tremendous chemistry that is impossible to ignore. Their sequences may not always be the prettiest and, sometimes, the positioning of their throws makes it seem like they don't necessarily care how the other is going to land, but that's the kind of realism - however dangerous - that makes this rivalry feel so genuine. Charlotte's dramatic facial expressions may not be everyone's cup of tea but I'm still a fan of the intensity and the drive. She does not come across to me as someone "playing wrestler." Note that even after the match, Flair didn't just leave the ring - she made one of the cameramen hold the ropes open for her. Its that attention to detail that I really dig. Another thing I loved? The finishing sequence. Flair took a big german suplex to the corner but didn't quite catch her head on the buckle, still sold it by rolling out of the ring, and then went nuclear by bashing Ripley's head into the post. It looked brutal - as did her follow-up move, pulling Ripley's knee into the steps and smashing it against the post too. She locked in the Figure 8 and Ripley was forced to tap, but because the finish was so well-executed, it was a believable end that didn't bury Ripley at all. I'm not sure I'd consider this "must see" just because of the pseudo-heel/pure heel dynamic, but they won the crowd over by the end and the right person won. It will be interesting to see who Flair's next challenger will be as both Banks and Lynch seem like logical choices - though I wouldn't be opposed to adding someone new into the mix, specifically if Liv Morgan were to come over in the draft. (3.5/5)
Next up - the Men's Money in the Bank Match, pitting Riddle vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Ricochet vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins vs. Big E vs. John Morrison vs. Kevin Owens. This was a non-stop spotfest with some very, very good moments. John Morrison received a loud "Johnny Drip Drip" chant when he hit some dazzling aerial work early. Morrison and Rollins teamed together, a pairing I'm not sure we've seen before but oddly worked. Owens took two nasty, nasty bumps - one a suplex onto the edge of a ladder and, later, a powerbomb through a ladder on the floor. McIntyre got taken out by Jinder and his goons, which was a good way to write off a guy who received a somewhat mixed response from the live crowd. Speaking of responses, I was expecting Big E to be the clear fan favorite but Morrison had his fair share of fans, Owens was obviously very over, and Nakamura got a big welcome during his entrance. Ricochet got his time to shine too, hitting a ridiculous springboard from the ladder to the top rope and into a bunch of bodies on the outside. Why this guy isn't more prominently featured is beyond me because he really is an insane flier. The finish saw Big E hit the Big Ending on Rollins off the ladder before securing the briefcase. I wondered why they didn't opt to end the show with this...until I got to the end of the show and it made total sense. Anyway, a very good match, but not necessarily a "Must See." My biggest issue with it was that while the right guy won, the match didn't really showcase him from beginning to end like I wish it had. (3/5)
Main event time - Edge challenging Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship. Before the match began, Seth Rollins all but guaranteed that he would be interfering in an unnecessary backstage segment. This essentially spoiled his interference later in the match after the Usos failed run-in. But anyway...An okay, not great match for these two. Reigns and Edge obviously wanted to deliver something very different than the go-go-go action of the previous few matches, but by taking things so slow, Edge didn't feel like much of a real challenge and basically just got mauled for minutes on end to start. On the positive side, Reigns being in control for the first third of the match allowed him to get in plenty of trash talk. As the match went on, Edge finally got some meaningful offense in and things evened up but didn't necessarily get any more interesting or suspenseful. Reigns eventually grabbed a chair and broke the bottom metal bar off of it while referee Charles Robinson was knocked loopy. This led to a clusterfucky last few minutes involving the Usos, Rey and Dominick, and Seth Rollins (no surprise there). Edge still managed to get off a big spear after getting superkicked by Rollins but only got a 2 count with it because the substitute ref didn't make it to the ring on time. From there, Rollins distracted Edge yet again and Reigns hit his own spear to get the W in a match that went close to if not a full 30 minutes. I think I would've liked this match a little bit more if they had edited it down by a good 4-5 minutes. I understand that Edge wants to work these lengthy epics (see his feud with Orton and his last Rumble appearance), but this just felt a little too long and all the best moments really were just Reigns' character work and the dramatic ending. (2.5/5)
Before the show goes off, John Cena makes his 100% unexpected return to a huge pop. This surprise appearance is obviously setting him up as Reigns' next challenger and the reaction he gets in this "moment" is good enough for me to bestow an extra point on the show. (+1)
All in all, Money in the Bank 2021 was a strong show out of the WWE featuring some great performances from the usual great performers - Reigns, Charlotte, Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles - but also some good moments from unexpected places in the Women's Money in the Bank match, Omos, and the Viking Raiders (whose gimmick I find to be one-note, but whose in-ring skill can't be denied). Unfortunately, what the WWE's biggest issue right now - and for the past few years - is not the wrestlers' talent or abilities. A show like this proves just how many amazing athletes and personalities they have. What is hurting the WWE right now is that they are struggling to use them in intriguing ways and, while the wrestling may be uniformly "good" (and often great), the storylines are uninteresting and few wrestlers have any real momentum or purpose beyond just being there (Ricochet, Zelina, Naomi). It is "hamster wheel wrestling" or "McDonalds wrestling" in the sense that you know exactly what you're going to get when you turn on a show like this. Its not that its outright terrible from beginning to end, but nothing will wow you either. With a Kwang Score of 3.33-out-of-5, I'm going with a...
FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Your Hand On A Remote
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