Welcome to POST Wrestling’s coverage of the WWE Money in the Bank show from the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.
We will be live for Double Double, Iced Capp and Espresso members of the POST Wrestling Café immediately after the show. You can watch the show and call in. The podcast version will be posted late tonight.
The kickoff featured Jonathan Coachman, Charly Caruso, Sam Roberts and David Otunga on the panel.
Sarah Schreiber interviewed Becky Lynch backstage and that was followed by Lacey Evans. Evans called her “Becky Big Mouth” and compared her to trash.
Schreiber interviewed Kevin Owens and he kept referring to her as “Renee”. He might break Kofi Kingston’s hands so he can’t clap or throw out pancakes.
Nikki Cross did a selfie promo and said Alexa Bliss treated her like somebody and likes Bliss. She wants to be just like her and win the briefcase tonight.
Beth Phoenix and Sonya Deville joined the panel midway through the kickoff. Deville listed off all the matches Mandy Rose has been a part of. Zelina Vega interrupted and got into a screaming match with Deville and totally threw off Coachman. This was a bit of a mess, but the upside was that it felt like a normal argument and not the typical WWE version where it’s rehearsed and inauthentic.
DANIEL BRYAN & ROWAN VS THE USOS IN A NON-TITLE MATCH
The Usos cut a promo calling them SpongeBob and Patrick. This promoted a “SpongeBob SquarePants” chant.
Rowan had the advantage of Jey and drove his fists into his temple. Bryan came in and stomped down on the knees of Jey. Bryan missed Jey and allowed the tag to be made to Jimmy.
Rowan hit Jimmy with a jackhammer for a two-count. Rowan proceeded to hit a double superplex to The Usos. Bryan attacked Jey with kicks, Jey came back with a superkick and went for the top rope splash and was caught and put into the LeBell Lock. Jimmy broke up the submission.
The Usos superkicked Rowan on the floor and took out stereo suicide dives. Bryan was superkicked from the floor, they hit Double Uce and pinned Bryan.
WINNERS: The Usos at 11:10
The announcers explained that the Wild Card rule has “opened up pandora’s box” and now a Raw team like The Usos can challenge the SmackDown tag champions.
The match got over well to the live crowd and was a very good opener.
NAOMI VS NATALYA VS DANA BROOKE VS NIKKI CROSS VS EMBER MOON VS BAYLEY VS CARMELLA VS MANDY ROSE IN THE WOMEN’S MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH
The women were holding the ladders as Naomi ran across them and kicked Rose into the corner. They tried to sandwich Naomi, who did the splits and avoided the ladders. Carmella was taken out on the floor and was tended to by the officials.
Rose and Natalya put Bayley between a ladder and closed it on her. Naomi followed with a split-legged moonsault onto Bayley on a ladder.
Brooke and Rose fought on the ladder, Brooke grabbed onto the cable and hung over top. Cross, Naomi, and Bayley all tried to climb, and Natalya tipped the ladder. Moon then leaped off a ladder from the floor and hit the Eclipse onto Natalya and the place went wild.
Rose was alone in the ring, Carmella limped back down the aisle and attacked Rose and began to climb. Sonya Deville ran in and yanked Carmella off. Deville helped Rose back in and started climbing with Rose on her shoulders. Bayley climbed up and sent both off and took the briefcase.
WINNER: Bayley at 13:51
There were some creative elements to the match, especially with Naomi, who stood out. Bayley told Charly she was proud of what she did with Sasha Banks but is here to show people what she can do and came off as Bayley having more an edge.
SAMOA JOE VS REY MYSTERIO FOR THE UNITED STATES TITLE
Dominic is watching backstage.
The match didn’t even go two minutes with Mysterio catching Joe out of nowhere. Even though the match was short, Joe still managed to get his nose busted open. They aired the replay and pointed out Joe’s shoulder being off the mat.
WINNER: Rey Mysterio in 1:39 to win the United States title
Dominic celebrated with Rey until Joe returned and attacked Rey while Dominic watched from the floor. Joe hit Rey with a uranage and senton. Joe said, “it’s only just begun”.
Braun Strowman was in the back, wreaking havoc and looking for Sami Zayn.
SHANE McMAHON VS THE MIZ IN A STEEL CAGE MATCH
Shane immediately tried to exit the cage and Miz stopped him. Shane took over, set up Miz in the corner and attempted the coast-to-coast but was caught and put into the figure-four. Shane got out and tried to exit through the door.
A chair was brought into the ring, Miz grabbed it and Shane begged off and was hit with it. Miz closed the door onto Shane’s head. Miz hit him with chair shots and then delivered the Skull Crushing Finale onto the chair, but Shane got his foot onto the rope.
Shane climbed the cage and was hit with a chair to the leg. The two sat on top and traded strikes. Miz ran him into the cage and he fell into the ring. Miz hit a horrendous looking splash. Shane applied the inverted triangle and Miz broke out of it.
Shane tried to climb over, Miz grabbed him and attempted to suplex him into the ring, Shane let go and slid out of his shirt and fell to the floor to win.
WINNER: Shane McMahon at 13:09
It wasn’t a pretty match but was still better than I anticipated because my expectations were very low. The finish suggests that Shane McMahon will ultimately have a showdown with Roman Reigns.
Mick Foley will be on Raw Monday night to announce a new title belt.
In the back, Sami Zayn was hanging upside down as everyone was scrambling for help.
TONY NESE VS ARIYA DAIVARI FOR THE CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE
The audience wasn’t into the match but the two worked a good match.
Nese hit the Fosbury Flop and a 450 splash for a near fall. Daivari came back and hit the hammerlock clothesline for a big near fall that the announcers sold.
After surviving the move, Nese made his comeback and ended with the running Nese to pin Daivari.
WINNER: Tony Nese at 9:25 to retain the Cruiserweight title
Paul Levesque confronted Braun Strowman, who denied attacking Sami Zayn and he was told to leave the building. It felt like a tease for a future program and also the mystery of who attacked Zayn.
BECKY LYNCH VS LACEY EVANS FOR THE RAW WOMEN’S TITLE
Evans came out with a giant sombrero and two guns that shot money out of them.
The audience was cheering loudly for Lynch and singing her theme song. Evans attacked the left arm and stomped her hand.
Lynch fought back, she hit a missile dropkick that didn’t fully connect, and Evans rolled to the floor. Evans caught her out of the corner and appeared to be going for a stunner off the corner and didn’t land it well.
Evans went for the roll up and they had a big issue with the referee not counting and went to the reversal where Lynch turned it into the Disarmer for the win.
WINNER: Becky Lynch at 8:40 to retain the Raw women’s title
This match had a lot of sloppy elements to it and didn’t click.
As Becky was going to leave, Charlotte Flair came out and their match is next.
BECKY LYNCH VS CHARLOTTE FLAIR FOR THE SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S TITLE
This had a lot of heat from the start. Charlotte applied a Boston Crab early on and then attacked Becky with slaps.
Evans ran down and attacked Becky with the Woman’s Right. Becky recovered and cradled Charlotte for a near fall and the place went nuts. Charlotte got up and missed the running boot by a mile, but pinned Becky to win the title.
WINNER: Charlotte Flair at 6:12 to win the SmackDown women’s title
They were on their way to having a strong match but then Evans got involved and it ended out of nowhere. I thought this match would be longer.
Afterward, Becky attacked Evans on the floor and would appear that is the program coming out of the show.
Charlotte and Evans attacked Lynch together.
Bayley came out with the briefcase, she attacked Charlotte and Evans and then got knocked down. Charlotte missed for a spear and went into the turnbuckle and was down. The audience cheered for Bayley to cash in and she did it.
CHARLOTTE FLAIR VS BAYLEY FOR THE SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S TITLE
Bayley landed an elbow off the top rope and pinned Flair.
WINNER: Bayley at 0:21 to win the SmackDown women’s title
There was a lengthy celebration with Bayley and they put over the title switch big.
Roman Reigns was walking backstage and attacked by Elias with a guitar shot to the back. Elias then walked out for the match.
First, he performed in the ring and told him that Vince McMahon texted him to say he can sleep at night knowing WWE is in good hands. Elias insulted Hartford and performed a song. He said he loves none of them and is leaving Hartford. On his way up the ramp, he did his pose, turned around and was hit by a Superman Punch.
ELIAS VS ROMAN REIGNS
He sent Elias into the ring and immediately hit the spear and pinned Elias in 0:09.
This was a perfect use of both.
SETH ROLLINS VS AJ STYLES FOR THE UNIVERSAL TITLE
They went back-and-forth from the start and it picked up as Styles attempted a piledriver on the edge of the apron, which Rollins blocked. Rollins hit a suicide dive, and both were down on the floor.
Rollins hit Styles with Kawada kicks, Styles responded with an Ushigoroshi. Rollins lifted Styles for a buckle bomb and hit a top rope splash for a two-count. Styles used a torture rack into a Blue Thunder Bomb. Styles was knocked off balance as he set up for the Phenomenal Forearm.
Rollins hit an inverted suplex off the top and rolled through and hit a reverse Bloody Sunday for a two-count. This looked amazing.
Styles hooked the leg and rolled into the calf crusher and Rollins kicked himself free.
Rollins hit a superkick, went for the stomp and it was countered into the Styles Clash for an amazing near fall.
Rollins hit the ripcord knee, a superkick and the stomp to win the match.
WINNER: Seth Rollins at 19:50 to retain the Universal title
This was excellent, nothing has come close to this tonight in terms of match quality.
Styles stood in the ring and they shook hands.
Charly interviewed Kofi Kingston, who was with Xavier Woods backstage. Kingston acknowledges Kevin Owens’ claims that he doesn’t know if he would be here without New Day, Woods assured him he would. Woods is going to respect his wishes and stay in the back.
Lucha House Party came out and were attacked by Lars Sullivan. During the brawl, Sullivan’s head was cut open.
KOFI KINGSTON VS KEVIN OWENS FOR THE WWE TITLE
Owens ran Kingston into the post, and he landed right onto the cameraman, which made for a great replay.
Kingston went for a tornillo to the floor and was met with a kick to the body. Owens played the bully role and was trash talking as he was attacking.
Kingston blocked a stunner and hit the S.O.S. for a two-count. Owens applied a Boston Crab and Kingston made it to the rope. Kingston stopped a superkick and went for a Dragon sleeper, he was stopped and hit with a pop-up powerbomb for a two-count. Kingston hit the Trouble in Paradise and Owens rolled to the floor. They got back in the ring, Owens hit the stunner and Kingston grabbed the bottom rope.
Owens went for a Swanton off the top and landed on Kingston’s knees. Kingston got back to his feet and landed the Trouble in Paradise for the win.
WINNER: Kofi Kingston at 14:57 to retain the WWE title
They were in a tough spot following the Universal title match it struggled with the audience. I wouldn’t say this match reached the next gear but turned into a good match.
FINN BALOR VS RANDY ORTON VS ANDRADE VS ALI VS BARON CORBIN VS DREW McINTYRE VS RICOCHET IN THE MEN’S MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH
They announced Sami Zayn had been taken to the hospital and there are seven people in the match.
Orton dropped Balor, Ali, and Ricochet onto the announcer’s desk ringside.
Orton attempted an RKO to Corbin and was shoved into a Claymore kick by McIntyre and sent to the floor.
The first insane spot saw Andrade do a sunset bomb over the ladder and dropped Balor onto a horizontal one lodged on the middle rope.
Ali and Andrade fought on two ladders that ended with Ali landing a Spanish Fly.
Corbin choke slammed Ali through a table on the floor. Then, he entered the ring and choke slammed Balor onto the edge of a ladder. McIntyre hit Balor with a vertical suplex onto the ladder. McIntyre yanked Ricochet off the ladder and tossed him over the top and through a ladder on the floor that broke.
Orton returned and pulled McIntyre off the apron by the leg into an RKO.
Ali was alone and about to grab it when Brock Lesnar’s music hit, he ran down, knocked Ali off the ladder and climbed to take the briefcase.
WINNER: Brock Lesnar at 19:01
