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What's the story?
An official announcement has been made by the Allstate Arena in Chicago regarding the 2018 Money in the Bank event. Chicago will host the huge weekend including both NXT: Takeover, Chicago, and Money in the Bank.
The WWE event was slated to be the fifth dual branded PPV, until news broke last month that all PPVs would now feature superstars from both brands.
In case you didn't know...
The announcement confirmed that the event would feature a Men's and Women's ladder match with superstars from Raw and Smackdown Live.
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It went on to list the names of the Superstars appearing at the event from both brands including Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman, AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura.
The heart of the matter
The announcement would indicate both of the Men's and Women's matches will be made up of superstars from both brands. This is the first time since 2016 the ladder match featured stars from both brands, as the event in 2017 was a SmackDown Live exclusive PPV.
It is currently unknown if the Money in the Bank briefcase will be eligible on both shows, or only the show that the superstar predominantly features on.
What's next?
The 2018 Money in the Bank event takes place only two short months after WrestleMania. The Money in the Bank is often used to elevate a star to the next level, whilst presenting the winner with a storyline and focus heading into the summer and eventually WrestleMania the following year.
As we get closer to the event, there will be a much more unpredictable build to the event, as the matches now appear to feature stars from both brands.
Author's take
Given the fact the WWE announced all PPV events will now be dual branded, it comes as no surprise that the ladder matches will again be made up of stars from both brands. This concept makes the match and the qualifying for the match a lot more interesting and harder to predict.
This is certainly a good thing and will make the event feel much more impactful to the WWE landscape. It is interesting as this does fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at is, appear to be one step closer to ending the brand extension.
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