Money In The Bank has established itself over the years as the modern day answer to the Royal Rumble. Not in the sense of surprise entrants or historical moments, but the fact that given the nature of the prize on offer, it gives us all a wink and a nod towards who could be the next guy, or girl, to be the top name in WWE. Over the years we have seen some amazing cash ins, some awful ones, and always at this PPV lots of drama… so… here’s my latest go. For one of these matches I had it planned out for some time what I wanted to do, who the winner would be and how their cash in will go, the other I have decided upon fairly late on… but lets see how it all plays out shall we. After my first PPV saw me crown a new WWE Champion, here is all my build up and the show itself of my second PPV of my WWE 2K23 Universe Mode; Money In The Bank!
RAW – JUNE WEEK 1
MITB Qualifier: Kevin Owens defeated Bobby Lashley (Finn Balor interference costs Lashley)
Bianca Belair backstage interview – she lays out a challenge to Damage CTRL
MITB Qualifier: Rhea Ripley (with Dominik Mysterio) defeated Dana Brooke
Johnny Gargano backstage interview – on the KOTR tournament, and on tonight!…
‘RK-Bro’ (C) defeated ‘Viking Raiders’ to retain the Raw Tag Team Championship
Carmelo Hayes backstage interview – on KOTR and next week (vs Finn Balor)
Austin Theory (C) defeated Johnny Gargano to retain the United States Championship (Miz interference costs Gargano)
‘Judgement Day’ are all backstage, they are feeling happy and very smug… Cedric and Shelton are seen looking on in the background…
(Mustafa Ali is in the ring before his match, and he cuts a self promo in which he turns heel…)…
MITB Qualifier: CODY RHODES defeated Mustafa Ali
Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins in-ring promo… he talks about being the new WWE Champion… eventually AJ Styles interrupts…
‘Damage CTRL’ defeated Bianca Belair, Asuka & Alexa Bliss – Iyo Sky pins Alexa Bliss
SMACKDOWN – JUNE WEEK 1
ROMAN REIGNS (and the rest of The Bloodline) come out to the ring for a promo segment. They are eventually interrupted by Sheamus (and the rest of The Brawling Brutes). They all go back and forth on the mic, before Drew McIntyre comes out too, and as the babyfaces march down to the ring, and an inevitable brawl ensues, Reigns and Heyman quickly dip…
MITB Qualifier: Drew McIntyre defeated Santos Escobar
(ANGRY) Roman Reigns in locker room… Adam Pearce eventually enters, and the main event is made…
Rey Mysterio backstage interview
Karrion Kross defeated Rey Myserio in a Backstage Brawl
‘Imperium’ backstage interview, Rick Boogs then interrupts and then Shinsuke Nakamura (who stares off with Gunther)…
Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez are backstage, with ‘Toxic Attraction’ looking on…
MITB Qualifier: Liv Morgan defeated Sonya Deville
LA Knight comes out for an in-ring promo, Sami Zayn interrupts and they go back and forth, before…
Ricochet (with Sami Zayn) defeated LA Knight (Zayn stops Knight running away mid-match)
Charlotte Flair in-ring promo, Shotzi eventually comes out… they go back and forth on the mic, with Flair being particularly passionate, before she disrespects and then SLAPS Shotzi, Shotzi is left 😦 , as Flair smugly leaves…
Santos Escobar is backstage with Cruz del Toro and Joaquin Wilde. He hammers them about not being out there for his match, and he fires up when talking about where LDF will go now…
Sheamus (with Ridge Holland & Butch) defeated Jey Uso (with Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa) to earn a title shot against Roman Reigns – Drew runs off attempted interference by Solo and Jey mid-match with help from Ridge and Butch)
Reigns and Heyman are seen watching on from the locker room… Heyman looks worried, Reigns just looks focused and angry!
RAW – JUNE WEEK 2
Cody Rhodes in-ring promo, he calls out Kevin Owens, which leads to a huge pull-apart brawl…
Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander (with Bobby Lashley) defeated Dominik Mysterio & Damian Priest (with Finn Balor & Rhea Ripley)
AJ Styles backstage interview, he talks about and is then interrupted by Austin Theory, who then says he’ll put his US Title on the line in their match tonight!
MITB Qualifier: Bayley defeated Alexa Bliss (Iyo Sky interferes to help Bayley win)
The Miz backstage interview…
Johnny Gargano defeated The Miz in a Backstage Brawl
Damage CTRL backstage…
Carmelo Hayes backstage interview… Cedric, Lashley and Shelton all wish him luck…
MITB Qualifier: Finn Balor defeated Carmelo Hayes
Street Profits backstage segment… American Alpha… Dirty Dawgs… RK-Bro all come into the segment as it goes on…
MITB Qualifier: Asuka defeated Dakota Kai (Iyo Sky tries to interfere, but Bianca comes out to stop her)
Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins backstage interview
Austin Theory (C) vs AJ Styles for the United States Championship (DQ finish – Seth on commentary, and as AJ is about to win, Rollins costs AJ so Theory retains)
Raw closes with Theory running away with the US title belt, and with Seth stood over Styles holding the WWE Championship up high.
SMACKDOWN – JUNE WEEK 2
Brawling Brutes (Ridge Holland and Butch with Sheamus) defeated Los Lotharios (Angel and Humberto)
‘The Bloodline’ locker room: Paul Heyman is on the phone, Usos and Solo are looking on, Heyman says “Your Tribal Chief will deal with Sheamus, but he wants YOU (The Usos) to deal with Ridge Holland and Butch
The New Day are backstage, hyping up Big E, before Karrion Kross attacks E from behind and lays him out…
MITB Qualifier: Raquel Rodriguez (with Liv Morgan) defeated Xia Li (Morgan stops Toxic Attraction from interfering)
Shinsuke Nakamura & Rick Boogs defeated Imperium (Giovanni Vinci & Ludwig Keiser with Gunther)
Rey Mysterio is backstage in the locker room, Santos Escobar approaches (with Wilde and del Toro), and he berates Rey… Mysterio is held back by other babyfaces in the lockers room…
MITB Qualifier: KOFI KINGSTON (with Xavier Woods) defeated Karrion Kross (with Scarlett)
LA Knight backstage interview.. he is FURIOUS with Sami Zayn… “YEAH!”…
Shotzi defeated Charlotte Flair
RAW – JUNE WEEK 3
AJ Styles in-ring promo, Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins comes out after (main event set up for later…, tag with partner of choice…)
Bianca Belair defeated Dana Brooke (after Damage CTRL come out… Iyo Sky challenges Bianca for MITB! They then try to attack Belair, but Asuka comes out to make the save)
Lashley & Cedric & Benjamin backstage promo, challenge made to Judgement Day for MITB!
Johnny Gargano defeated Mustafa Ali (after Gargano cuts an in-ring promo, Miz comes out and he’s not happy, he accuses Gargano of trying to steal his spotlight, challenges him for next week, Gargano says he has a better idea in that he has a friend who will… show Miz THE WAY… Miz says that’s fine, as Gargano doesn’t have any friends left…)
Street Profits defeated Dirty Dawgs (Alpha Academy on commentary, RK-Bro watching on from backstage)
Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins backstage interview, introduces his tag partner for the main event… Austin Theory!
Finn Balor defeated Shelton Benjamin in a Backstage Brawl
Alexa Bliss is backstage, very stoned faced and seeming absent… Belair and Asuka seem puzzled and unsure if Bliss is OK… Bliss seems to ignore them both when they ask if she’s ok… Bliss just walks away…
MITB Qualifier: Indi Hartwell defeated Carmella
Cody Rhodes backstage promo
AJ Styles &… CARMELO HAYES defeated Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins & Austin Theory (Styles pins Theory)
SMACKDOWN – JUNE WEEK 3
Butch (with Ridge Holland & Sheamus) defeated Jimmy Uso (with Jey Uso & Solo Sikoa) – After the match… Solo attacks Sheamus and Butch, Usos join to attack Ridge Holland too, Drew McIntyre comes out to make the save and The Bloodline flee, standing on the entrance ramp and posing with the ‘ones up’…
Rick Boogs and Shinsuke Nakamura backstage interview, Imperium interrupt and the official challenge is made for two weeks time… Gunther v Nakamura for the IC title!
The New Day (Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston with Big E) defeated Los Lotharios (Angel & Humberto)
Sami Zayn backstage interview… LA Knight interrupts, and the challenge/match is made for next week!
MITB Qualifier: Solo Sikoa defeated Ricochet (Drew McIntyre on commentary, and stare off after the match between him and Solo)
Toxic Attraction backstage interview
Legado del Fantasma in locker room – Rey Mysterio appears and goes nose-to-nose with Santos Escobar, but then Karrion Kross jumps Rey from behind, and afterwards stands over him (with Scarlett)… “TICK TOCK”
MITB Qualifier: Aliyah defeated Gigi Dolan (with Jacy Jayne) – Liv and Raquel cost Jayne the win (or more they stop her and Gigi from cheating)
Shinsuke Nakamura & Rick Boogs & Braun Strowman defeated Imperium (Gunther & Giovanni Vinci & Ludwig Kaiser) – Nakamura pins Kaiser
Charlotte Flair – Shotzi in-ring segment (contract signing for MITB title match), eventually a brawl breaks out, and the show ends with Shotzi having got the better of it, Charlotte retreating, and Shotzi standing tall!
RAW – JUNE WEEK 4
Street Profits defeated Alpha Academy – then Street Profits call out RK-Bro
Bianca Belair and Asuka backstage interview
Austin Theory in-ring promo… Carmelo Hayes!
Carmelo Hayes vs Austin Theory (C) for the United States Championship – ‘Bullshit’ finish, So Theory retains
AJ Styles – Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins ‘contract signing’ – CHALLENGE MADE FOR NEXT WEEK!…
Judgement Day in-ring promo (Rhea Ripley leads) – MVP comes out and challenges them…
MVP (with Cedric Alexander & Bobby Lashley) defeated Dominik Mysterio (with Finn Balor, Rhea Ripley & Damian Priest)
Damage CTRL backstage promo
Damian Priest defeated MVP in a Backstage Brawl
DEXTER LUMIS (with Johnny Gargano) defeated The Miz
Cody Rhodes calls out Kevin Owens (in-ring promo)… and they set their match up for next week
Dakota Kai & Iyo Sky (C) (with Bayley) defeated Bianca Belair & Asuka to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship (Iyo pins Asuka)
SMACKDOWN – JUNE WEEK 4
Roman Reigns (and the rest of The Bloodline) come out for an in-ring promo, eventually they call out ‘Brawling Brutes’ and Drew McIntyre, they come out, and the huge main event is set for tonight!
MITB Qualifier: LA Knight defeated Sami Zayn
Shayna Baszler seen backstage on the phone… she’s laughing…
Toxic Attraction are FUMING… “BULLSHIT”… they then make the challenge to Liv and Raquel for next week, a tag match with BOTH their MITB spots on the line!
Rey Mysterio comes out, and then calls out Karrion Kross!…
Karrion Kross (with Scarlett) defeated Rey Mysterio – Legado attack Rey after, New Day come out to make the save
Tamina is found attacked backstage, Natalya finds her and is shocked, Tamina tells Nattie to take her place in her match…
MITB Qualifier: Shayna Baszler defeated Natalya
Braun and Boogs give Nakamura a ‘pep talk’ backstage ahead of next week’s IC title match…
Shotzi defeated Sonya Deville – Charlotte appears on the titantron after the match, and cuts a very personal promo on Shotzi
Brawling Brutes (Sheamus & Butch & Ridge Holland) & Drew McIntyre defeated ‘The Bloodline’ (Roman Reigns (with Paul Heyman) & The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) & Solo Sikoa) – (Sheamus pins Jey)
RAW – JULY WEEK 1
Judgement Day in-ring promo… Lashley, Alexander and then MVP and Benjamin (both injured) make their way out to interrupt… MVP says they (him and Shelton) may not be able to make it to MITB, but we (him and Lashley) have ‘done a little business, that’s gonna put some HURT on you’… that’s when OMOS comes out, and we get a huge brawl!
RK-Bro (C) defeated Street Profits to retain the Raw Tag Team Championship
AJ Styles backstage interview
Austin Theory comes out to the ring and cuts a promo before his match… Carmelo Hayes comes out, and he eventually introduces… EDGE!
MITB Qualifier: Edge defeated Austin Theory
Bianca Belair – Iyo Sky in-ring segment
Bayley (with Dakota Kai) and Rhea Ripley backstage… Asuka and Indi Hartwell elsewhere backstage…
Cody Rhodes defeated Kevin Owens in a No Holds Barred match
Finn Balor (with Priest and Dominik) is FUMING backstage at the ‘BULLSHIT’ with Omos joining the Hurt Business, but that he doesn’t care and it doesn’t matter that he has to compete twice in one night at MITB… He says that ‘Judgement Day is coming, for ALL of WWE’…
Rhea Ripley & Bayley defeated Asuka & Indi Hartwell (Rhea pins Indi)
Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins backstage interview
Dexter Lumis (with Johnny Gargano) defeated Elias – Afterwards, The Miz appears on the titantron and cuts a fiery promo, he teases a surprise for Gargano next week, and says that ‘no one will survive…’
AJ Styles vs Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins – BS finish, the show closes with a brawl between the two, and AJ Styles standing tall holding the WWE Championship belt up high.
SMACKDOWN – JULY WEEK 1
The Bloodline arrives at the arena. Roman Reigns tells Heyman and Solo to go on ahead, but stops The Usos and tells them “I just want you two to know, before anything goes down tonight or in Vegas, if you two lose those titles, I don’t wanna see y’alls faces around here anymore”… “Don’t let me down”…
MITB Qualifier: Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez defeated Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolan & Jacy Jayne)
Shayna Baszler backstage interview, she just smirks and walks away when she’s asked about MITB… she also shoulder barges Aliyah (who is walking nearby) out of the way…
Gunther (C) defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the Intercontinental Championship
The New Day and Rey Mysterio backstage segment…
The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) & Rey Mysterio defeated Karrion Kross (with Scarlett) & Legado del Fantasma (Santos Escobar & Joaquin Wilde & Cruz del Toro)
The Usos are backstage, they both look stressed, with Solo Sikoa just looking on… Heyman enters the room, acting very condescending, and he tells The Usos to ‘follow The Tribal Chief’s lead… if you can…’
LA Knight in-ring promo…
LA Knight defeated Tyler Breeze
Charlotte Flair defeated Shotzi in a Backstage Brawl
The Bloodline all come out to the ring, Roman Reigns cuts a promo… he talks up Solo, and is… hmmm… towards The Usos, he talks down on Sheamus and Drew, and The Brutes… he then talks about himself and how great he is … (obviously)…
that’s when…
Drew – Sheamus – Butch – Ridge all enter via different parts of the crowd and a huge brawl breaks out. Roman Superman punches Ridge, Solo does the spike on Butch, Drew Claymores Solo, and SHEAMUS BROGUE KICKS ROMAN REIGNS! The show closes with The Brawling Brutes and Drew standing tall… (after Sheamus and Drew have pulled Butch and Ridge to their feet), The Usos look on, worried and beaten up, from the entrance ramp, Solo looking angry and holding his jaw, Heyman looking shocked, and a FUMING Roman Reigns, as Heyman cradles the World Championship belt. The babyfaces pose and the show closes with the camera looking at the triumphant heroes, and then the camera pans back to the downtrodden heels looking back at them…
MONEY IN THE BANK – Las Vegas, Nevada (Sunday, July Week 1)
I decided, with my logic that a Money In The Bank match should main event the MITB PPV, to open in the biggest way possible…
Roman Reigns (C) (with Paul Heyman) defeated Sheamus to retain the World Heavyweight Championship
I was so happy with this match and how it turned out. It went back and forth and the nearfall from Sheamus’ Brogue Kick was a great spot. But of course, the REIGN of the Tribal Chief continues!
I would then cut to the backstage locker room area, where a number of officials find that Aliyah has been taken out. Adam Pearce is informed by the on-scene medical staff that she has no chance of being ready to compete in the women’s MITB match later in the night… and we see Pearce then go on his phone and make a call…
The next match may appear to be a filler, but a very fun one at that… and one that’s relevance will become apparent going forward…
Bobby Lashley & Omos & Cedric Alexander defeated Judgement Day (Finn Balor & Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio)
This went long, but it was pretty decent as well. And most importantly I got the exact finish I wanted.
So next up it was time for the women’s MITB match… this is what would be advertised…
But as it turned out…
RONDA ROUSEY won the women’s MITB ladder match
Yep, I went there! Rousey returns to WWE and immediately climbs her way to the top (this was my plan all along, sorry Aliyah but needs must)!
After that shocker, we have our first match to decide who COULD be someone Rousey has her eye on going forward…
Charlotte Flair (C) defeated Shotzi to retain the SmackDown Women’s Championship
This was what it needed to be. Shotzi has been a more than compatible opponent for Charlotte in this feud, but it’s simply not her time. AND STILL…
Next up, it’s time for the biggest prize in WWE to be put on the line…
Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins (C) defeated AJ Styles to retain the WWE Championship
Of course, this was a BANGER! Styles falls short, but he won’t be hurt too much in losing such a good match, and of course Rollins marches on as WWE Champion… lets see what the summer has in store for him…
With one member of The Bloodline having successfully defender the family’s honour earlier, time for The Usos to try and keep their spot beside The Tribal Chief…
The Usos (C) defeated The Brawling Brutes to retain the SmackDown Tag Team Championship
This was solid, maybe in a tough spot coming right after a WWE Title match, but I liked the match a lot. The finish was cool as well with one Jimmy Uso distracting Ridge Holland, allowing for ‘Main Event’ Jey Uso to get the win.
Next is a match that we recently saw take place for real. And whilst mine wasn’t quite as good, it was still decent…
Binaca Belair (C) defeated Iyo Sky to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
Whilst Iyo presents a good challenge for the champion, this run with Belair as champion (in my WWE Universe anyway) has a little bit to run still just yet…
Next up… I would have the following vignette air (pretend you can’t see the title of this video, just concentrate on the footage…)… (with ONE exception… I would not have a certain masked… FIEND… pop up for that brief moment in the video… With me airing this vignette at this point in my story, I wouldn’t want to give anything away just yet…)
Hmm… stay tuned to see what this ‘Uncle Howdy’ does in my WWE Universe going forward…
ANYWAY… it’s finally time, for our MAIN EVENT!!!
I put a lot of thought and planning into the 8 participants for this match. With my women’s match, I had my winner planned out for a while, and it was then just about working around that (in terms of who else would be in the match). I wanted all 8 to have a realistic, or more be a a realistic winner of the match and subsequent MITB holder. In my mind all 8 would have built in stories should they win in pursuit of a world title… (between me and you, I changed my mind on my winner 3 times, but I am very much happy with the eventual winner)…
FINN BALOR won the Men’s MITB Ladder match
What a wild and action-packed match that turned out to be! With Finn taking the win here, it adds a little more spice to the weeks and feuds ahead, plus he has history with BOTH of my current world champions. I think one of the biggest W’s of the irl WWE era since HHH has been booking is Judgement Day. In years gone by on previous games, I’ve tried to push Finn as one of the top guys, and so this time, I am ADAMANT I’m going to do right by him. And it starts here, with your NEW Mr Money In The Bank, FINN BALOR!
And THAT was my Money In The Bank ppv, and WHAT A SHOW it was! My next few blogs are going to be big time indeed, as I begin the build to SUMMERSLAM… and I introduce a few more faces to my WWE Universe…
Josh.
NobodyisReady.com 