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What an interesting PPV this turned out to be. I would have to say Money in the Bank was full of botches till halfway through the show. It certainly showed that WWE has a lack of consistency in their product.
There were good moments in some parts of the PPV, although the ending will surely go down as something extremely controversial. It does make you wonder at times whether WWE really is trying to improve the product or just continuing to phone it in.
On a better note, it seemed that Vince McMahon was not there tonight or he was keeping himself off camera (to be in the gorilla position). It certainly made a nice change seeing The Game acting as the Authority figure on camera.
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Due to how much of a mixed bag the show was, I am going to discuss 3 things I liked and 4 that I disliked about the PPV. As usual, leave your feedback in the comments.
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#3 Liked: The correct winner for almost every match
As strange as this sounds, I was actually very impressed with how WWE booked this pay per view. The winner for almost every match was actually the correct choice, with only two that I was seriously questioning why the outcome was different.
While this PPV had its moments of controversial things, WWE did the right thing in having Bayley win MITB, then cash in on Charlotte later on. It's about time Bayley got back on top of the mountain and proved she can be a top player. It seems WWE may have wanted her to become the first Women's Grand Slam Champion.
Personally, I don't think it was done to get at Sasha Banks. Sure, WWE may have rubbed salt into the wounds by mentioning Banks during the post-match interview, but I think Bayley was trying to pay The Boss respect for helping her along the way. WWE is aware of their need to create more top female athletes and Bayley is a top performer.
There is no Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax, Ronda Rousey or Sasha Banks there to contend with, so WWE is trying to build up the talent they have finally.
It just needs better execution by building several superstars up at once such as Ember Moon, Asuka, Naomi and Nikki Cross. This way, there will be women constantly ready to challenge for the Women's championship on either brand.
Also at the PPV, Becky Lynch retaining the Raw Women's title over Lacey Evans, Seth Rollins retaining the Universal title over AJ Styles and Kofi Kingston retaining the WWE title over Kevin Owens, were all the correct outcome of these respective matches.
Roman Reigns defeating Elias in a squash match was the correct choice, only because The Drifter isn't a credible threat to anyone yet. Tony Nese retaining his Cruiserweight title was the right decision also.
Other winners were The Usos defeating Daniel Bryan and Rowan on the preshow, Shane McMahon beat The Miz, and Brock Lesnar won the Mens MITB briefcase and Rey Mysterio beat Samoa Joe.
Most of the outcomes here (except the Men's MITB match) were good. I believe that their is a reason behind these things happening. We are sure to learn what the reasons are exactly over the next few weeks on WWE TV.
#4 Disliked: Brock Lesnar stealing another title opportunity
So this is WWE's go-to strategy every time ratings are going downhill, bring back Brock Lesnar.
No, I'm not going to go overboard with my criticism of WWE or Brock Lesnar in this article, but the booking should have been better. It was literally one of the best ladder matches I'd watched in quite some time, until The Beast won the match in the manner he did.
The other performers in this match were out there 20 minutes tearing each other apart, until Brock Lesnar just appeared, climbed up the ladder and stole the victory.
Why have Brock Lesnar in this match, instead of having him confronting Seth Rollins after his match with AJ Styles?
WWE really need to sit down and focus on what they are doing. Logical booking, proper investment in young talent who care about the business, proper build up and consistent character development are what is needed to fix the issues the company has currently.
Any chance the company has of rebuilding Superstars back up are put on hold when part-timers are around. Sure, they bring nostalgia value and experience to WWE, but the company needs new and fresh stars. They don't need former Superstars that are well past their prime and just there to collect a paycheck from WWE.
It really is mindboggling to try and understand why Mr. McMahon continues to invest huge amounts of money in Brock Lesnar.
Many people are tired of his presence and want him to stay away from WWE. His victory at MITB really destroyed the momentum of the PPV. This was certainly a missed opportunity to crown a new star by WWE.
#2 Liked: The Universal Title Match between Seth Rollins (c) and AJ Styles
This match was quite easily the best match of the night. It certainly exceeded my expectations, given how restricted superstars are in WWE with their move set.
It was a pure wrestling clinic from start to finish. The quality of the match is something you would see in NXT or on the Independent scene. Both men literally brought their A game to this match.
Seth Rollins seemed to have a new found aggression to him and was slightly outperforming Styles for the majority of the match. If you look closely at the match, you will see Rollins got in a lot more offense. The Phenomenal One seemed to take a lot of superkicks from Rollins, which rocked him throughout the match.
I'm sure that the reason many of us didn't keep our hopes up too high was probably because of the dream matches WWE has ruined in the past ( Styles v Nakamura at WrestleMania 34). How very wrong we all were on this occasion.
I think both were allowed some creative freedom on this match to make sure it would turn out into the classic it was.
Triple H would have had enough faith in these two Superstars to create a masterpiece. If this was the case then it was the correct call to make.
Not everything in WWE should have to be scripted down. If WWE allowed more creative input from performers, maybe several previous dream matches would have lived up to the hype.
Everybody who watched the PPV found out why these two men are considered two of the best wrestlers in the world. Styles is in his early 40's and he is still Phenomenal in the ring. Seth Rollins, on the other hand, has become the best in-ring performer in the WWE today. He is literally a cardio machine and always delivers good matches.
#2 Disliked: The officiating by the referees
It was a bad night for the referees, with countless mistakes and blunders in many matches throughout the night.
Samoa Joe and Rey Mysterio suffered badly in their match, as the referee didn't even acknowledge the Samoan Submission Machine's shoulders weren't on the mat. It was something that he literally could not miss in his vision, yet he still did, which infuriated Joe.
What made it frustrating was trying to understand why it was done. It could have been ignored by the the official because Joe got busted open accidentally by Mysterio and could possibly have a broken nose.
Mr. McMahon also might have decided to change the finish during the match for his this reason or perhaps he had another reason. Whatever the case is, Mysterio does deserve to be United States champion, but at a later PPV like Extreme Rules.
Inside the steel cage match, Shane McMahon and The Miz didn't escape the poor refereeing either. Shane held on to the ropes and the count was broken in a match that was under No Disqualification rules.
Either this was done on purpose because Shane had no energy to kick out, or the referee literally forgot the match stipulations. It really does make WWE look bad with these mistakes.
#3 Liked: The WWE Championship match between Kofi Kingston (c) and Kevin Owens
I'd have to say that the WWE title match was better than expected in many ways. Obviously not on the same level as Seth Rollins and AJ Styles, but it was still a decent match.
Kofi Kingston proved beyond all doubt that he is worthy of carrying the title, and he certainly brought his A game to this match.
Even though Kevin Owens put up a good fight, he could not get the job done again last night. For his part though, he did great with being the heel.
I found it hilarious how he kept telling the crowd to stop clapping, which the crowd did to give Kofi a boost. KO continues to evolve as a performer and certainly knows how to annoy the fans.
I found the match length was certainly accurate and gave both superstars time to tell a great story.
What I did enjoy was the different emotions involved in this match. KO had gained the trust of Kofi and Xavier Woods a few weeks earlier, all just to stab New Day in the back the next week and get a WWE title shot.
Going into the bout, it seemed Owens had the mental edge over the two New Day members. Kofi Kingston however, proved that theory false by retaining the title against Owens.
I certainly believe this rivalry will continue past this PPV. There is still more of a story to be told with these two athletes. Exploring that could help both performers grow in the storytelling department, while it can also help both athletes gel better in the ring.
Kofi will be facing challengers of all shapes and sizes if he has a long title run, so this will help solidify his championship run even further. KO is a former Universal champion, and it has to give Kofi added credibility knowing he can beat somebody like Owens.
KO does benefit by staying in this rivalry for longer, as it can legitimize his heel turn. There is the chance that Owens may win the WWE title at another PPV, should this rivalry continue.
#3 Disliked: The number of botches in the entire PPV
Not only was it the referees making mistakes, but the Superstars themselves were making many. Most of the matches had numerous botches, except maybe one or two. The Women's Money in the Bank match was full of botches from start to finish. It did make it difficult to watch at times.
One of the more interesting points in the Women's MITB match, was when Mandy Rose hurt Carmella's leg accidentally. What was more visible was Carmella trying to push Rose away and trying to say that she was hurt. The Golden Goddess appeared completely lost after Carmella's injury. It seemed that Mandy couldn't fathom was next after that.
Several women forgot their spots during the match. The women had to call spots on the fly due to Carmella's injury. This resulted in the match suffering even further. Most of the problem appeared to be misqueue's and poorly rehearsed sequences.
Luckily for WWE, it pays having people who are good ring generals like Natalya and Bayley in the match. These two Superstars are able to help call spots which helped make the match passable.
Another match that had a couple botches was Lacey Evans versus Becky Lynch. It was mainly coming from Evans' end from inexperience, which isn't necessarily her fault.
Lacey Evans was thrust into this match, due to WWE having no other credible heel challengers for Becky Lynch.
There was a point during the match where Becky was on the second rope to deliver a move. It seemed that Becky had to improvise on the spot, as Lacey didn't appear to be in the correct position. This wasn't the only moment such a thing happened. Lacey was out of position several times and sold moves that barely connected.
It was clear that The Man was helping to guide The Southern Sassy Belle in the match. You could visibly see Lynch saying things to Evans throughout the contest.
It still turned out to be a good match, with more experience, Evans will continue improving. She performed well considering this was her first PPV match. She is slotting into her heel character nicely also.
The other matches on the PPV didn't necessarily suffer from multiple botches. There was a slight botch from Hartford's favorite son Baron Corbin.
It happened when he took a Claymore kick from Drew McIntyre. You could see was clearly blocked by Corbin's hands, however he sold the move.
I think the other matches suffered from something else which I will cover in my next dislike. It is an extension from this point.
#4 Disliked Poor in ring flow and chemistry during matches
Last night, the quality and flow of most matches on the PPV was extremely poor. What really surprised me, was the match quality of the cruiserweight title.
It was actually hard to be interested in, which is strange to say as they are usually high octane matches. Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari just didn't seem to click at all throughout the match.
Daivari just didn't seem like he was ready for such a stage as a PPV yet. The match was stagnant because of all the counter moves both men made on each other.
It competely sucked the energy out of the match. The only interesting part was the usual Running Nese right knee in the corner to Daivari
There was nothing too fancy about this match. The cruiserweights are usually just there to show high quality matches. The bad thing is, they receive very little in terms of character development. It certainly would make the talent feel like filler content.
The steel cage match between Shane McMahon and The Miz was another hard match to watch. There was little in terms of in-ring flow during the match. Shane and The Miz just don't have any chemistry at all in the ring.
The only good thing about it was Miz beating the tar out of Shane with a chair. The Miz has to work a lot harder on his offence if he is to remain a face.
His splash off the top rope is mediocre at best and his " it" kicks are equally as bad. Also, he needs to start getting wins before he loses credibility. His second clean loss to Shane has hurt Miz's standing greatly.
Both Samoa Joe and Rey Mysterio suffered a similar pattern to The Miz and Shane. Joe or Mysterio are not as agile and quick as they used to be 15 years ago.
If they were, the matches would be much better, however both men are veterans who may retire soon. Their current styles do not mesh together very well. Rey is more of a highflyer, while Joe is a submission and mat tactician. The size difference is also something which makes it not work.
It is unknown why the MITB PPV suffered from poor match quality. It came across to me like laziness and people getting too comfortable with their spot in the roster.
Certain people like Seth Rollins, Kofi Kingston, AJ Styles and Finn Balor stepped up to the plate. Others appeared underprepared and just seemed like they have stopped caring. It's understandable that the WWE has just gotten back from a two-week European tour. That means there is no time for talent to get complacent and to give up on WWE altogether.
The threat of AEW is very real for WWE. Vince McMahon might not be the easiest to work for. I think if any superstars on the roster really want to be seen as a big star, they will stick it out and put in 100% effort to be successful in WWE.
It's got to be more of a team effort from WWE management and talent, so we can get consistent and quality content. Money in the Bank 2019 certainly wasn't the best, nor the worst PPV they have produced. Lets hope the next PPV is better.
