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WWE put on their 11th annual Money in the Bank pay-per-view on Sunday night and the matches did not disappoint. The Money in the Bank concept has changed careers for many stars in the company.
Stars like Edge, Seth Rollins, Carmella, CM Punk, and many more have won the match and gone on to have multiple championship runs.
Sunday’s event was the first pay-per-view event with fans back in full attendance since the beginning of the pandemic. WWE had some exciting matches on the card, but being the first major event since the ThunderDome Era, this would have been the show to pull out all the stops.
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Some exciting moments took place and moments that are going to help boost storylines. The unexpected situation that took place was Nikki A.S.H. winning the Women’s Money in the Bank match, as well as Big E's well-deserved win over the competition as he won the Men’s Money in the Bank Match.
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Lashley's destruction of Kofi Kingston gave many similarities to many of Brock Lesner’s matches. Roman Reigns defeated Edge with the help of former Shield brother Seth Rollins. Not to mention, the return of John Cena!
All of these things were great but there were a few matches that WWE could have added to just spruce up the card a little bit more. Here are 3 matches that should have been on the Money in the Bank card:
#3 The SmackDown Women's Championship Match should have been on the Money in the Bank Card
Now, this match was a very exciting match on Friday Night SmackDown, but with Bianca Belair being one of the top stars on the roster, the match would have been a great addition to this card.
Originally, Belair was supposed to defend her championship in a match against Bayley at the show. Bayley was injured in a training exercise in preparation for the return of WWE’s touring schedule. This opened up the opportunity for Carmella to challenge Belair in a match for the Women’s Championship.
As great of a talent as Carmella is, this is still Bianca Belair’s time to shine. Since winning the championship in a match against Sasha Banks at WrestleMania, her career has been on fire. If this match was going to take place, it should have been on a PPV.
Carmella will be getting a rematch on this Friday’s SmackDown. If the plan was always for her to get a rematch, then they could have put the match on the Money in the Bank card and maybe had a smaller caliber match on last Friday’s show.
Either way, there is a great chance that the SmackDown Women’s Championship will be defended on the Summerslam match card.
#2 The Money in the Bank card could have featured a United States Championship Match
Neither a United States Championship match nor an Intercontinental Championship match took place on the Money in the Bank PPV.
WWE made a statement on SmackDown saying that Intercontinental Champion Apollo Crews will be back from his absence shortly. United States Champion Sheamus, on the other hand, has been represented on RAW.
Not only is he the United States Champion but he is a former World Champion, and he could have put on an exciting match at Money in the Bank.
He has been in multiple storylines since winning the US Championship, but there was a lot of time to build a proper match for him on this card. Sheamus started out doing the US Open Challenge concept, where anyone could appear and challenge him to a match for a chance at the championship.
Again, Money in the Bank was the first major show back with fans in attendance. It would have been a nice surprise for the fans if WWE were to bring in a star that the fans were not expecting.
Keith Lee has taken to Twitter to hint that he might be returning to the ring soon. He would have been a perfect fit for a match with Sheamus. It would have also been a chance to feature someone on a pay-per-view that is not normally featured.
Someone like Humberto Carrillo or Shelton Benjamin could also have had a great showcase here, despite the former having faced Sheamus a few times already. It could have been any NXT star as well, given that there are some rumored “call ups” happening soon.
It wouldn't need to be a long match given that Sheamus is a believable star with the capability of putting on a squash match.
Overall, a match featuring a huge star like the United States Champion Sheamus would have been a great addition to the Money in the Bank PPV if they wanted to add a bit more excitement to it.
#1. NXT Money in the Bank Ladder Match
While building up the Money in the Bank matches, WWE has said on multiple occasions that the contract can be cashed in on the NXT Championship. If this is the case, then why were only Raw and SmackDown stars represented in the Money in the Bank matches?
If they weren’t going to add them to the signature match then, adding NXT Money in the Bank matches to this card would have been a great opportunity to solidify them as a different brand.
Given that NXT powerhouses Raquel Gonzalez and Karrion Kross are the champions of the brand, it would have been a nice addition to their stories if they expected someone to cash in on them.
That element of surprise that the Money in the Bank contract adds would be an entertaining element on NXT TV. In addition, NXT Takeovers have proven that NXT stars are willing to give it their all in major match-ups.
Imagine the quality of the match if it were to have stars like Johnny Gargano, Adam Cole, Ember Moon, etc in the Money in the Bank match. It would make the event even more exciting while also making sure the theme of the show is represented more prominently.
It goes back to the idea that if the name of the pay-per-view represents a match then it should feature multiple matches with that stipulation. Though it does already feature two, this match stipulation is one that is exciting no matter how many times it is done.
If NXT is not going to be featured in the Money in the Bank match, WWE should consider adapting the concept and adding a similar match to an NXT Takeover event.
