The COVID-19 pandemic has hit WWE hard and forced the company to shift WrestleMania 36 to the Performance Center and the PPV will be staged over two days with no live audience. Another PPV that seems to be hit by the pandemic is Money In The Bank as things aren't looking too bright for the PPV this year.
Back in March, our very own Tom Colohue spoke on the possibility of the annual PPV getting canceled during an episode of Dropkick DiSKussions - you can check out that episode here:
Well, now it appears that other sources are getting that same vibe, too.
As reported today by the WrestleVotes Twitter account (a consistently reliable source), it looks like WWE is planning on ditching the event altogether.
According to Wrestling Inc. (and a h/t to them for this story), it's possible that we may see the match take place at the Performance Center, although Florida's current Shelter-In-Place order might make that a little difficult. Even if they were able to get around that, the MITB match itself involves a lot of people all at once- that's also problematic considering the current CDC guidelines.
Money in the Bank was scheduled to be the first Pay Per View following this weekend's WrestleMania 36 and is usually one of the more high profile events. The first PPV after WrestleMania usually sets up stories that carry on until their next 'Big 4' event, SummerSlam. That event is scheduled for August in Boston, MA. However, with the state of flux the entire world - much less the wrestling industry - is in right now, it's hard to say how Money in the Bank (or lack thereof) will affect 'The Biggest Party of the Summer.' In fact, the party might not even happen at all.
The PPV has presented us with a lot of interesting storylines over the years. Last time around, WWE threw a major swerve our way when they let Brock Lesnar walk out of the event with the MITB briefcase.
There's a good chance we'll have a better idea of WWE's status following the Raw after WrestleMania which, like 'Mania itself, has been pretaped. If the company goes on a temporary hiatus, there's a good chance we'll see not only Money in the Bank but the following event, Extreme Rules, shut down as well. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.