The Rundown Slam: WWE Money in the Bank 2021

07/30/2021 12:11:38 AM

John Cena and Roman Reigns (Photo from WWE, obtained via CBS Sports)

After a year and a half, World Wrestling Entertainment has finally ditched the all-virtual ThunderDome welcomed back live events and its crowd—aptly called WWE Universe—into its fold.

And the first thing out of the bat was the 2021 reiteration of WWE Money in the Bank, one of the top and most exciting non-Big 4 events that featured an upcoming title shot at their convenience. All it takes is to climb the ladder and grab the Money in the Bank briefcase containing a contract for a championship opportunity at their choosing at any time within a year.

Seven matches were slated for the event, including one in the kickoff show. Over 14 thousand were in attendance inside Dickies Arena in Forth Worth, Texas—considered a soldout feat in today's still-riddled-by-pandemic era.

And just like how they managed to win their tag team match on SmackDown, the Usos got away with the tag team championship against the father-and-son tandem of Rey and Dominik Mysterio. It is pretty much to say that the Samoan Bloodline has gotten all belts so far. As for the Mysterios, it was quite fair to end a short run.

Meanwhile, the Women's Money in the Bank ladder match kicked off the show. It wasn't able to sustain the goodness as compared to the previous iterations of this contest. But, Nikki ASH winning the entire thing maybe a bit less favorable opinion among the seven competitors. I almost lose my hopes in her when she didn't cash in later that night, though, but it's fine when she did the night after.

The Raw Tag team championship match seems decent, and at least for Omos. Another strong showing for AJ Styles tag team partner-slash-henchmen. I mean, how far can this behemoth go now, despite having a similar get-up to Shaquille O'Neal when he's wrestling around?

Then, the WWE Championship match—oh sorry, squash—is back to the middle of the program. I must say, this has been the most dominant championship match I have ever seen since SummerSlam of 2014. While Kofi Kingston managed to show some offense at the start, it was All Mighty Bobby Lashley from there to the finish with a couple hurt locks, a trifecta of dominators, and an overall showing of monstrosity inside the ring and out. 

Moreover, this showed another piece of storytelling that Bobby Lashley is all serious and time for jokes are over as he continues his reign as the king or RAW. 

The RAW Women's Championship match also took place, and as much as I hate Charlotte Flair's getting another number of championship reign under her name, Rhea Ripley isn't that well as its champ either. She was supposed to be the brutal one among the division. But, no, that wasn't the case. Probably a right move for Flair to hold on to that belt, even for at least 24 hours. 

Big E has won the men's Money in the Bank ladder match, and I think it's about time—even before his stint as a member of the New Day. I mean that brute has been perceived as one of the potential top guys since the mid-2010s. Though it's gonna be a tough one since he could continue the story of New Day's collective struggles against Bobby Lashley or he could end the reign for the Head of the Table. Speaking of the devil...

Roman Reigns defeating EDGE for the Universal Championship is probably the second most predictable finish here at MITB. While the Rated R Superstar has all the momentum of being the ultimate opportunist – err, underdog, there's no way that the former SHIELD guy would be defeated by anyone yet. This main event is probably the culmination of a nearly six-month saga between these two Spear-headers (see what I did there?). 

Of course, the chaos between Usos and Mysterios was evident, and the budding rivalry between Edge and Seth Rollins has already taken a step beyond its opening salvo. While there's also a highly-anticipated main event for SummerSlam for SmackDown's top championship belt, it still surprised us. Yes, no matter how you either love him or hate him, you can't deny how John Cena managed to establish himself as the franchise player for Vince McMahon's promotion for so many years. And despite being more on the movies than a wrestling ring, well, he still had done it. That probably washed out the main event nor the entire show as a whole. 

All in all, Money in the Bank has been a good show — a fitting one to welcome back the crowd in a typical WWE fashion. Just quite unlucky for the lagging problems among the US viewers with Peacock.

The verdict: 8.7/10

P.S.

You can check out the MTG podcast as I joined Angelo Penera there to share my takes for this event. 

Author: slickmaster | © 2021 The SlickMaster's Files