Network PPV Reviews #006: Money In The Bank 2021

Combing the WWE network one Pay Per View at a time

18/07/2021 - A truly special show here: coming out of Fort Worth, Texas, it’s WWE’s first pay per view with a full crowd since the COVID pandemic kicked off. This is the first show I’m recapping that I definitely watched the first time around, and some of the matches come back to me during the opening video. It hypes the money in the bank concept, though I have to think there hasn’t been a good winner in several years. The other big bout is Edge vs Universal Champion Roman Reigns.

The crowd are packed in to quite an uncomfortable extent, what with COVID essentially still in full swing. Michael Cole and Pat McAfee (in a nice cowboy shirt) welcome us to the show. There’s a lady in a “JESUS LOVER” shirt in the front row. 

Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match

Alexa Bliss enters, at the height of her Spooky Child gimmick. This was terrible stuff, though I think she was well into it and the crowd are fairly keen. Liv Morgan gets a decent pop. Nikki A.S.H next - I forgot about that awful character. Alexa stands stock still on the ropes which I like. Natalya, Tamina, and Zelina Vega enter. None of them are going to win obviously. Naomi does her UV entrance. I almost feel like that entrance is too good, like once it’s over the fans go oh ok. Asuka finally. That’s more like it. 

Everyone bar Bliss runs to get ladders. The spooky Alexa skips to the middle of the ring and tries using magic powers to summon the case. I remember thinking that was class; it really baffles the audience. I wish they’d had the balls to go through with it. Everyone takes everyone else out one by one. Tamina holds a ladder which Liv tries to scramble up, then Asuka and Tamina tangle in satisfyingly stiff fashion. There’s the usual tugs of war over ladders. Liv gets trapped in a corner and Alexa creeps towards her before doing a crazy laugh. I’d love a 10 year ban on crazy laughs in wrestling. Alexa and Zelina both climb a ladder. Alexa hypnotises Zelina into mirroring her actions. The crowd don’t like this one bit, and nor should they. After the fact, Pat keeps going on about it while Cole tries to change the subject.

Naomi takes control for a bit, with a double stunner on Natalya and Tamina and a world’s strongest slam to Nikki onto a ladder. Nikki sells this a lot, it looks pretty painful. Natalya puts paid to this. She starts the climb; Zelina leaps on her back and locks in a sleeper but she keeps going. Liv then gets into the mix. They all just tumble off - I think something a bit more exciting was probably supposed to happen. Nikki does one of those big splashes to the outside where everyone waits to catch her, a bete noire for many wrestling fans. Eventually Alexa is buried in ladders to write her out of the match, which the fans don’t like. The finish sees six of the women fighting on the ladders (with Liv the crowd favourite) only for Nikki to scurry up and grab the case. Pretty big pop! 

Verdict: There are some not good bits in this but it mostly hangs together. Liv and Naomi really shine and, taken in isolation, the winner’s a good choice, surprising but not stupid. **½ 

Nikki celebrates on the stage. It’s a mostly popular choice. She’d go on to a really poor title run, due in no small part to the awful gimmick. We see a pretty annoying advert for the WWE shop. It’s just the wrestlers dancing a bit; it feels like they’re marketing heavily to the younger fans. Pat talks about a big cow he saw in Fort Worth. 

We see highlights of the kickoff show, in which the Usos won the SmackDown tag titles from Mysterio Jr and Sr. Wild that the Bloodline has barely got going at this point. I’m pretty sure Jimmy says “yeet” a few times, which would go on to become Jey’s catchphrase (no idea why). Roman’s not quite nailed it on the mic yet but he’s decent. We’re reminded of the Viking Raiders’ feud with the Street Profits in which they competed at various sports. Gosh I hated that. Jimmy Smith is on commentary - I forgot about that chap. 

Raw Tag Team Championship: Viking Raiders vs AJ Styles & Omos (c)

The AJ/Omos team was quite fun, though it didn’t seem to do too much to season the big man. AJ and viking Erik immediately tag in their partners. Viking Ivar is great news. The Nigerian giant runs through the Norseman. AJ hops in to tackle his weakened opposition but they soon get the better of him. He’s shoulder tackled in the corner then deadlifted impressively by Erik. When he finally gets the hot tag to Omos, the two vikings are sent to the outside. Omos launches his little pal over the ropes, with AJ catching Erik in a hurricanrana. It’s such smooth stuff, made more important by the fact Styles is in his mid-forties. 

Back in the ring, AJ takes a huge back body drop. When Omos gets back in, the vikings just can’t knock him off his feet. Omos shouts “this is my house” quite a lot. AJ again demands a tag when Ivar is down and again takes a beating. Erik hits a Dan Bryan-style running knee and launches his own partner into a downed AJ. AJ with his Pele kick and brings Omos back in. Omos impressively military presses Ivar and drops him to the mat. That’s some fall, that. The one foot pin doesn’t do the job. With AJ back in the ring, the Vikings hit their double team move, but Omos shoves Erik onto the pin to break it up. It’s nicely timed stuff. Omos returns to the ring and catches Erik with a tree bomb for the three.

Verdict: The whole thing’s fun but the closing stretch is very good, save for a slightly slow finish. Omos doesn’t do a lot; he never goes all the way to the ground, and you sense he fears he wouldn’t be able to get back up if he did. He’s a spectacle though ***

Kevin Patrick interviews Drew. He treats himself to a cheap pop from Fort Worth. He says he never wants to see the Thunderdome again. It’s funny how more than a year of wrestling footage is basically unusable now. He’s nowhere near as good on the mic as he is these days. 

WWE Championship: Bobby Lashley (c) vs Kofi Kingston

The story here is that Bobby’s been living the high life and having too much of a laugh, and has gone soft as a result. He’s paired with MVP, which was really effective. Bobby’s got too kind a face to fully convince as a heel, though he was great during this time. The video package is so daft. MVP just keeps inviting a load of girls to hang out with them until Bobby has to put his foot down. “You try to cheer me up with champagne and women,” Bobby says.

Great pop for Kofi, who’s only two years removed from his WrestleMania triumph. The camera lingers on some white dude in a suit dancing for ages. Presumably he’s someone noteworthy. Bobby rushes Kofi, who tries to use his pace to evade, but it doesn’t work for long. Bobby strikes and prowls as MVP works the crowd. Bobby with a huge spinebuster. He bungs Kofi outside, hoists him up and runs him into the post a few times. Back in the ring he locks in the Hurt luck. Kofi escapes eventually. Bobby grabs him for a fallaway slam. It almost goes wrong but Bobby shows exceptional strength to get the job done. Some ground and pound action, then three Dominators on a now-limp Kofi. Bobby locks in his submission again and Kofi either taps or passes out, it’s not entirely clear. 

Verdict: Gets the job done. It’s just a squash, but Kofi’s the right guy for the job as no one wants to see such a likeable chap get such a pummelling. **

We see that same WWE shop advert before a package for Charlotte Flair vs Rhea Ripley. Ripley won the belt at WrestleMania but as I recall the match wasn’t great and you can tell the office isn’t quite sure she’s ready for the big time. The build involves both women pretending they’ve got busted knees, then fighting with crutches. I remember this being pilloried I think, but it’s impressive how hard they’re swinging for one another. 

Raw Women’s Championship - Rhea Ripley (c) vs Charlotte Flair

Rhea gets a decent pop; within three years she’d be exponentially bigger, of course. Flair’s entrance is always good. Plenty of strikes and kicks from both women to start us off, while Flair targets Ripley's knee. They fight on the apron. A basement dropkick sends Charlotte to the floor, then Rhea misses a senton to the outside, which looks hardcore. These two are great together because each can believably physically dominate the other. Flair suplexes Rhea and rags her around in a sleeper. Charlotte continues to work the knee but gets dumped outside by Rhea, who takes control with clotheslines and headbutts while maintaining a grip on her opponent. A big bridging suplex and a German from Rhea, but a missed dropkick allows Charlotte to lock in the Boston Crab. Rhea powers out and evades the Figure Four. 

Something goes a little wrong at one point and Rhea is forced to power Charlotte up for a suplex - it looks like remarkable strength on her part. Charlotte absorbs some chops and launches Rhea in an enormous backdrop. On the outside, Charlotte hits her great moonsault and tries for Natural Selection back in the ring to no avail. Charlotte counters Rhea’s weird cloverleaf submission for a pin and a two count. Rhea’s Riptide is countered into a super smooth DDT. Charlotte’s crying for some reason (it’s not really clear who’s face and heel in this match which isn’t helpful). They exchange punches and elbows as it breaks down into a brawl. A Natural Selection from the top draws a two. The crowd is fired up. Rhea escapes from another submission - they spill to the outside and Charlotte manages to trap Rhea’s leg between the post and ring steps. She kicks the steps repeatedly. Inside, she locks in the Figure Eight and Rhea taps.

Verdict: these two always deliver. Super physical, could maybe have done with a bit more knee stuff. Taken on its own it’s a scorcher; in the grand scheme of things, there was no reason for Charlotte to win this, and it probably sets Rhea back a year and a half. ***½ 

Rick Boogs and Shinsuke Nakamura hang out backstage. Riddle pops up to talk some nonsense. He bigs up his pal Randy Orton, who’s injured. “Randy despises pants,” he says. Boogs plays Orton’s theme while Riddle sings and Nakamura does the pose. Kevin Owens shakes his head at the whole thing. Nice dumb fun. 

Men’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match

Owens out to a good pop, followed by Riddle (whose forename has been confiscated by Vince McMahon). I quite like his G-funk theme, that’s a nice touch. Here’s Boogs again to play Nakamura into the ring. Ricochet and John Morrison follow - two guys who obviously won’t win but might do something fun. Corey Graves tells us that he’s spoken to each of them earlier in the day. I hate when he does that. Good pop for Big E. Seth Rollins next, who has his current theme but no one singing along. He’s a bit lost in the shuffle. Corey spoke to Seth earlier, too. Busy bloke. Drew McIntyre comes in last. 

Rollins and Morrison both have gimmicks where they say “drip” a lot, so they argue about that. A huge dive over the ropes from Ricochet and a moonsault from Riddle. Big E and Drew take the ring. They lob out the smaller lads then chuck each other around a bit. Owens sets up a ladder. Shinsuke with an exploder on Owens onto the ladder. Owens is ridiculously willing to take gnarly bumps. Morrison climbs; the ladder’s toppled but he lands nicely on his feet. Seth and John team up to knock everyone else around with the ladder. They set up a ladder bridge between the ring and announce table. Back in the ring, the heel pair has another ladder. Owens his an asai moonsault onto it to stop them, which doesn’t make so much sense. They in turn double suplex KO onto a ladder on its edge. Oof. 

At last, Seth turns on Morrison. He tries to climb but is caught by Ricochet and E. He eats an RKO from Riddle. Nakamura back in, he has a nice little segment of strikes and counters with Big E. Drew wipes them both out with a Claymore. Ricochet tries to hit the poinsonrana, but McIntyre counters into an Alabama slam on the ladder. Drew pumps up and hits the big Undertaker dive to the guys on the outside. Back in, he hits a Claymore on Seth, but his climb is interrupted by Jinder Mahal and his boys. They drag Drew to the back. Ricochet walks the ropes and leaps onto the ladder. Then he’s pushed off, lands on the ropes, and bounces into a massive senton onto the assembled guys outside the ring. Unbelievably graceful stuff. Everyone eats finishers, with KO lastly hitting the pop-up powerbomb on Ricochet. He climbs but Seth catches him and powerbombs him through the ladder bridge. They manage to avoid the shot where you can clearly see it’s a fake ladder this time; it’s a scary spot all the same. Seth climbs but E gives chase. He lifts Seth with one arm and hits the Big Ending, which is a crap finisher but looks the business coming off a ladder. E ascends once more and grabs the briefcase! 

Verdict: Such a deserving winner even if the title run wasn’t great. It’s a fun match with, importantly, several potential winners. Not so many insane spots but a lot of fun ones. ***½

As E celebrates you can clearly see a sign that reads “My dad left when I was 2 weeks old”. E’s a super popular winner here, it seems no one has anything but good stuff to say about him. Early in the match, Drew throws him in almost exactly the same fashion that would later break his neck (albeit in the ring rather than on the outside) which is scary. E dances and flexes. Charisma for days.

We see that WWE shop advert for the third time. There must be some shit they really need rid of. An advert for SummerSlam. Some kid fucks around in the back of the shot. A backstage segment with Seth, who’s making annoying noises because he’s banged up. He bellows about how it was his destiny to win. He repeats the word “change” a lot and says he needs a new plan. Not his finest work by any means.

Time for the main event. I remember Roman vs Edge genuinely feeling like a big deal. I think they bottled doing this at WrestleMania as they weren’t sure Edge was going to be as popular on his return as he turned out to be. The story is that Edge knows he can beat Roman, having made Roman tap (unbeknownst to the ref) at ‘Mania. Roman’s decent on the mic but will get heaps better. 

WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs Edge

A huge pop for Edge. “Give it to me!” he shouts. The match is sponsored by Applebee’s. McAffey says the pop Edge got was comparable to Applebee’s’ sharing platter. Roman has just the one belt here. I think he spends the next year having pretty great matches, but the Bloodline story really kicks into gear the following autumn. He takes four minutes to get to the ring. Edge no-sells all this pomp; I don’t know how useful that is. Roman does a good bit of business where he flaps the belt strap around as though it’s his cock. 

Some jawing off and looking at the crowd to start. Edge is muscled into the corner and pie faced. They look at the crowd again. Now Roman’s muscled into the crowd and slapped. Three minutes in and they’ve just done the same thing twice. They’re desperate for this to be a big, big match. They fight and jaw jack in and out of the ring. Edge works Roman’s left arm, and Roman takes to the outside for a pep talk from Paul Heyman. The Wise Man tells Roman to teach Edge about his (Roman’s) father, wild Samoan Sika. Roman quickly snatches Edge for a Samoan drop - clever! Back in the ring, Roman starts to dominate. He slaps on a chinlock. Edge tries to scrap out of it, but he can’t. “I am the only man here, I will lay on this little bitch all night long,” Roman yells. Edge fights back to his feet, but one uppercut downs him again. Roman ges a two count off a drive-by, then preps the Superman punch. Edge counters, and they hit simultaneous big boots. It doesn’t really need a slowdown spot at this point. They trade blows before Edge hits a flapjack and his elevated DDT, the Edge-u-cator or whatever. There’s one dweeb in the crowd who’s in head to toe Roman Reigns merch. 

Roman gets caught in a tree of woe, the Edge locks on a pretty bad STF. It’s not much better than Cena’s. Roman reaches the ropes. Edge preps the spear but Roman catches him in a guillotine. It doesn’t really make sense why Roman wouldn’t still be affected by the spear but that’s wrestling logic. The guillotine was a really handy move. They spill outside and Roman smashes through a barricade. He loved doing that. Edge then spears him through another barricade. Impressively he picks Roman up and carries him back into the ring. A late kickout from Roman, who then hits the Superman punch. There’s a ref bump involving Edge spilling into Charles Robinson’s knee. It’s quite inelegant. Roman gets a chair and snaps the bar off. For some reason they’re obsessed with stuffing the bars of chairs into each other’s mouths at this point. 

Edge headbutts his way out of the chair-assisted crossface. He does his daft intense faces. He catches Roman with the chair-assisted crossface. Roman’s selling is superb. The Usos rush the ring but they’re waylaid by the Mysterios. It’s mad to see Dominic just being Rey’s son at this time. Seth Rollins then dashes to the ring to kick Edge in the head. Roman does his build up for the spear, but he eats the same move from Edge. Another late kick out. Seth tries to get involved again. He’s booted by Edge, but the distraction allows Roman to hit a spear of his own for the three. 

Verdict: Being kind you’d call it deliberately paced; being less kind you’d say it’s just quite slow. It is nicely put together, though, with Roman getting better and better each time out. ***

Seth hops back in to continue to assault on Edge. I think the story’s just that he’s annoyed he’s not getting a match. Edge gets back to his feet and brawls with Seth into the crowd. The trilogy of matches they’d have are probably the highlight of Edge’s WWE return (aside from the 2020 comeback itself). Roman takes the mic and demands the whole world acknowledge him. Cena’s music hits! I remember legitimately popping for this. He’s been away for a year or more. The kiddies are going ape. He holds up his divvy little cloth. He rushes the ring. He does the you can’t see me thing at Roman. That’s yer lot. They’d go on to have a perfectly serviceable match at SummerSlam. 

Verdict: Not much to complain about here in-ring and a couple of matches well worth watching, Charlotte/Rhea especially. The main difference between then and now is the presentation - so much goofy shit here, and the commentators don’t sound like humans as they’re parroting McMahon’s nonsense. We’ve come a long way. B