Here Comes the Pain: The Good, The Bad, The Brock. By Sterling Jeffries

The Good:

Bayley: The Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match was better than expected and was an early candidate for match of the night. From Ember Moon hitting an Eclipse on Natalya after being perched on a ladder outside the ring, to Sonya Deville carrying Mandy Rose in an attempt to help Mandy win the briefcase, every woman in this match had an impressive showing. Most impressive woman in the match was Bayley, becoming Ms. Money in the Bank for the first time in her career which is an accomplishment every WWE superstar wishes to achieve in their career.

Shirtless Shane: This feud added another chapter and unexpected turn in its storyline as, ‘The Best in the World’ Shane McMahon came out on top. Shane continues to prove that he is one of today’s top heels and somehow a pretty decent in-ring competitor for being 49 years of age and never being a full-time wrestler. The Miz also continued to prove that he is one of the top superstars on the roster with his ability to work different kinds of matches while continuing to evolve his craft. The ending of the match was unexpected but exactly what this feud needed as Shane escaped the cage by slipping out of his shirt as Miz tried to pull him back in.

Cruiserweights make the Card: Since the birth of 205 Live, the cruiserweights never got the respect they deserved on WWE TV. This year’s Money in The Bank PPV finally gave the cruiserweights a platform to showcase the athleticism that is on display week in and week out on 205 Live. Only words to describe this match is, “go watch it” as ‘The Premier Athlete” Tony Nese defended his title against Ariya Daivari.

The Man, The Lady, and The Queen: Becky Lynch hasn’t failed living up to being The Man in WWE up to this point as she had the tall task to defend the Raw Women’s Title against Lacey Evans, and the Smackdown Live Women’s Title against Charlotte Flair. Lacey Evans wasn’t given much of a chance to even compete with Becky Lynch, especially since she was Becky’s first match of the night. Lacey Evans continued to do what she did in NXT and that is to show why she’s going to have a bright future in WWE with showing prowess in multiple in-ring abilities. However, Becky’s experience came in to prove to be too much for Evans as Lynch got the victory. As Lynch, made her way back up the ramp to the locker room, The Queen’s music hits, making her way to the ring for her respective title shot. As cocky and confident as ever Flair took the ring taunting Lynch as if Becky would back down and try to make a plea to defend the second title later in the night. Although, Becky just endured a 10 minute bout she still gave it her all and almost came out on top until Lacey Evans got involved and help Flair get the win, becoming a 9 time women’s champion.

The Cash-in: Charlotte Flairs Title reign lasted all about 3 minutes as Bayley cashed in her Money in the Bank contract, defeating Flair for the Smackdown Live Womens Title. Bayley cemented her legacy as the first ever Grand-slam Women’s champion as she has held the NXT, MITB briefcase, Raw, and now SD Women’s championship. The extensive celebration in the crowd was well deserved.

Championships: If don’t have the WWE network, it’s highly advised that you subscribe for only $9.99 a month to see the Universal Title match and the World Title match. Seth Rollins and AJ Styles tore the house down in a 20 minute 5-star classic for the Universal championship. Then right after Kofi Kingston and Kevin Owens proceeded to do the same. This will be a smart $10 and 35 minutes spent.

Sunset Flip Powerbomb: The Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder match contained a plethora of breathtaking spots keeping the fans on the edge of their seats. Randy Orton tossing the other competitors into the ring announcers, Corbin and McIntyre wreaking havoc, Mustafa Ali and Ricochet doing what they do best by literally flying around, and not to forget the massive Sunset Flip Powerbomb that Andrade hit on Finn Balor on a ladder descending from fighting atop of another ladder. These superstars did not disappoint as the MITB match is always an exciting one year in and year out.

The Bad:

The Refs: In the Us title match, Samoa Joe lost his title to Rey Mysterio by way of a rollup pin where Joe’s shoulders weren’t on the mat for the entire 3 count. In the Raw Women’s title match, Lacey Evans had Becky Lynch pinned for a count of almost 6 as the ref made a thorough check to see if Lynch’s shoulders were on the mat (as they were). This gave Becky enough time to reverse the pinning predicament and put Evans in the Dis-Arm-Her to retain one of her titles.

Planet’s Champions: The WWE can’t make up it’s mind with the decision they make. First the Smackdown Live tag Titles were set to be defended, presumably on the main show. However, the match ended up on the preshow, a place the USOs are all too familiar. Then the all of a sudden the titles weren’t on the line when the USOs beat Danial Bryan and Erick Rowan for the belts, meaning, “The USOs are contenders for the SD Live Tag titles”, according to Byron Saxton. Which is also confusing due to the fact that the USOs are Raw superstars. As this is one of the problems with the new wild card rule, we must wait and see how things play out throughout each show.

Botches: WWE superstars are some of the best athletes in the world, however they’re still human and make mistakes. The live PPVs can be nerve racking for the superstars as they’re ask to put on some of their best matches of the year during these events. During MITB there were a handful of what seemed to be botches: from the whole US title match to Carmella seeming to have suffered a knee injury in the Womens MITB match.

The Brock:

Unexpected Challenger: WWE likes to use both MITB matches to begin to establish superstars, helping them make the leap from obscurity to championship status. Early in the show the 8th member of the men’s MITB match, Sami Zayn was attacked and not in shape to compete, fans were left wondering which superstar will get the chance. From guys that deserve a push like: Cesaro, Rusev, EC3, to guys looking to return or make a debut such as: Aleister Black, Bray Wyatt, or Luke Harper. All of which are talented superstars that are overdue for a respectable push in WWE. Towards the end of the match it looked like that guy would be Mustafa Ali as he was all alone in the ring at the top of the ladder with his hands on the briefcase as, Brock Lesnar’s music hits. WWE fans around the world were left in shock as rumors stated Brock was done with WWE ever since his Title reign of terror ended at Wrestlemania to the hands of Seth Rollins. The very last person anyone would think would win the men’s MITB ladder match made his return Sunday night all we are left to do is assume that Brock will win back the Universal title just to show up 6 times a year to defend it.

Results:

Non-Title Match: The USOs defeated Daniel Bryan and Rowan

Women’s MITB: Bayley defeated Naomi, Carmella, Natalya, Ember Moon, Dana Brooke, Mandy Rose, and Nikki Cross

US Title Match: Rey Mysterio defeated Samoa Joe

Cage Match: Shane McMahon defeated The Miz

Cruiserweight Title Match: Tony Nese defeated Ariya Daivari

Raw Women’s Title Match: Becky Lynch defeated Lacey Evans

Smackdown Live Women’s Title Match: Charlotte Flair defeated Becky Lynch

Smackdown Live Women’s Title Match: Bayley defeated Charlotte Flair

Roman Reigns defeated Elias Samson

Universal Title Match: Seth Rollins defeated AJ Styles

World Title Match: Kofi Kingston defeated Kevin Owens

Men’s MITB match: Brock Lesnar defeated Finn Balor, Andrade Almas, Mustafa Ali, Ricochet, Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre, and Randy Orton

Show Rating: 7/10

-Sterling Jeffries