WWE's Money In The Bank 2020. A preview.
One of the most popular PPVs of the year, WWE presents Money in the Bank (MITB) one week from this Sunday, on May 10, 2020. Over the years this is one of the shows which is most looked forward to. The MITB ladder match was originally a gimmick match created for Wrestlemania 21 and was a yearly affair at the show of shows before becoming a PPV of its own in 2010.
Further the 2017 edition had the first ever women's MITB ladder match and that too has become a parallel match for people to look forward to every year as the show is being built up.
MITB ladder match is a ladder match to retrieve a briefcase hanging high above the ring. The briefcase contains a contract for the winner of the match who could cash in the contract for a guaranteed World Championship match or the Women's Championship match for either brands' top title of their choosing, valid for upto a year. The exciting aspect of the match is such that most of the winners have cashed in at opportune moments, capitalising on the championship holder's incapacity to defend themselves or after a major match with the MITB holder being fresh against a much tired defending champion. Majority of the winners of the MITB have been successful in cashing in their contracts to become champions because of this very reason.
With the pandemic scare all around, and no public gathering allowed anywhere, this year's edition of the MITB is scheduled to take place at the WWE Corporate HQ in Stamford, Connecticut, with the gimmick of superstars being finally able to "climb the corporate ladder". This seems real interesting, fresh off from seeing cinematic theatre style matches taking place at the Grandest Stage of them All, at WrestleMania 36 held earlier this year.
Here is the current card, as of May 2, 2020 with one week of Raw and SmackDown still remaining to fill the rest of the card.
1. Women's MITB ladder match: Asuka vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Nia Jax vs. Dana Brooke vs. Lacey Evans vs. Carmella
The night after WrestleMania is the most popular Raw of the entire year and features returning superstars and also superstars debuting from NXT on the main roster for the first time. This year, Nia Jax returned after a long time off from the WWE.
She has been an absolute monster in the ring ever since the time she first debuted in the sports entertainment business. She is also a former Raw Women's Champion.
This year's edition of MITB has 6 confirmed participants at the moment, Carmella, Shayna, Nia, Asuka, Dana and Lacey. Out of these 6, Carmella is a former MITB winner and former SmackDown women's champion, Asuka has been a former NXT and SD women's champion along with being one half of the former women's tag title holder, Shayna is fresh from NXT where she was a former NXT champion as well.
All these women are absolute forces in the ring and well decorated, as well as being fan favourites! Shayna's push recently got a little bump on the road at WrestleMania where she challenged for the Raw Women's championship but was not successful. Asuka too lost her tag title at the same event and as talented as she is, looks ready for the MITB ladder match. Carmella and Lacey have been lost in the mid card with no major storylines revolving around them in recent times.
Dana Brooke was booked as an absolute monster upon her main-roster debut and apart from a flexing segment in between commercial ads, quite a while back, she has not had any character development recently and is a wild card, or an under-dog as one could say entering into this match.
My pick for the winner of this match: Shayna Baszler!
No wild predictions here, I would need to stick with my gut for this one and despite her recent loss at WrestleMania, I have to predict her winning the MITB contract so as to make her eligible to cash in an unexpected Champion in the coming 365 days.
Shayna has been a monster coming in from NXT to challenge the Raw Women's Champion and even then she was never made to look weak as such. The build up was strong and the momentum is currently quite in her favour to win the match. Her MMA background and in-ring ability makes her the perfect person to dominate this match.
2. Men's MITB ladder match: Daniel Bryan vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Aleister Black vs. Baron Corbin vs. Otis vs. TBD
The night after WrestleMania is the most popular Raw of the entire year and features returning superstars and also superstars debuting from NXT on the main roster for the first time. This year, Nia Jax returned after a long time off from the WWE.
She has been an absolute monster in the ring ever since the time she first debuted in the sports entertainment business. She is also a former Raw Women's Champion.
This year's edition of MITB has 6 confirmed participants at the moment, Carmella, Shayna, Nia, Asuka, Dana and Lacey. Out of these 6, Carmella is a former MITB winner and former SmackDown women's champion, Asuka has been a former NXT and SD women's champion along with being one half of the former women's tag title holder, Shayna is fresh from NXT where she was a former NXT champion as well.
All these women are absolute forces in the ring and well decorated, as well as being fan favourites! Shayna's push recently got a little bump on the road at WrestleMania where she challenged for the Raw Women's championship but was not successful. Asuka too lost her tag title at the same event and as talented as she is, looks ready for the MITB ladder match. Carmella and Lacey have been lost in the mid card with no major storylines revolving around them in recent times.
Dana Brooke was booked as an absolute monster upon her main-roster debut and apart from a flexing segment in between commercial ads, quite a while back, she has not had any character development recently and is a wild card, or an under-dog as one could say entering into this match.
My pick for the winner of this match: Shayna Baszler!
No wild predictions here, I would need to stick with my gut for this one and despite her recent loss at WrestleMania, I have to predict her winning the MITB contract so as to make her eligible to cash in an unexpected Champion in the coming 365 days.Shayna has been a monster coming in from NXT to challenge the Raw Women's Champion and even then she was never made to look weak as such. The build up was strong and the momentum is currently quite in her favour to win the match. Her MMA background and in-ring ability makes her the perfect person to dominate this match.
On the men's side, we have Otis, Aleister Black, Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio and King Corbin entering the match with another person yet to be decided. As of the current moment, Otis, Aleister and Corbin look like they are on a roll with their respective victories at WrestleMania and the character development in recent times.Daniel Bryan and Rey Mysterio are veterans with Bryan being a former MITB winner in 2011 and both being former multiple-time world champions. As much as I like both of them, I would discount them from the match since they have nothing to prove to anyone anymore. And winning the MITB contract does nothing for either of their characters in the long run. They are majorly helping out the rest of the younger talent to carry the match and would provide the best spots during the match, guaranteed!King Corbin has played the roll of a heel (villain) perfectly in recent times and is the only heel among the other 4 babyfaces heading into this match. This makes him in a unique position where if the situation does not change he could well become a 2-time MITB winner! The last time he won the contract was in 2017, and his character was too raw for the audience and it did not work, he lost his championship match which he cashed in on an unexpecting WWE Champon of the time, Jinder Mahal of all people! Quite unlike that time, this year is the perfect opportunity for Corbin to shine, and no matter which champion he chooses, he is the top heel in the company and the storyline would be picture-perfect!Otis and his romantic involvement with Mandy Rose has pissed off Dolph Ziggler and Sonya Deville. The story is still being told, with the latest match in the saga between Dolph and Otis being for the MITB match participation. I am smelling revenge having a critical role to play in this match, with interference from these 2 as well as Mandy making things harder for Otis to concentrate on the match. Aleister is the wild card in this one, he debuted on the main roster just a year back and ever since then he has been a major force to reckon with. He is yet to feud with any top-tier talent which is the only thing missing from his resume till now but we can all be sure, that winning the MITB contract would place him in the perfect mix, winning a mid card championship in the coming year and challenging for the world title later in the year if he happens to win this match!My pick: TBD. As of the current 5 contenders, I would have to pick King Corbin.
3. WWE Universal Championship match: Braun Strowman (c) vs. Bray Wyatt
So this is a weird one, with the Black Sheep of the Wyatt family, Braun Strowman (he used to wear a black sheep mast while being a part of the Wyatt family), going head to head against the head of the Wyatt family himself, Bray Wyatt.
Braun Strowman was the last minute replacement for Roman Reigns in his match against Goldberg for the Universal title which he won, well deserved ofcourse. Took him a long long time, and after going against Brock Lesnar numerous amount of times a couple of years ago, he could never conquer the beast.
The monster among men (Braun Strowman) has a well established resume over the years and even though he seems like a transition champion, until he eventually has to drop the title to Roman on his long awaited return, we cannot discount the Fiend, Bray Wyatt. He is a former Universal Champion himself having dropped the title only recently to Goldberg.
This seems like an interesting match, and will be one to look forward to in this year's event. Would love to see the monster among men, going against his former family member and mentor, Bray Wyatt.
My pick: Braun Strowman.
As difficult as it is, I really hope Braun Strowman wins this one because its finally his time to shine on the main stage. Stripping him of the title so soon after he won it would be a waste of him being crowned the champ.
I would like to add though, the character of the Fiend needs to be protected here and him getting an easy defeat would not be #BestForBusiness. I am excited to see how they go about with this match and the storytelling inside the squared circle.
On the men's side, we have Otis, Aleister Black, Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio and King Corbin entering the match with another person yet to be decided. As of the current moment, Otis, Aleister and Corbin look like they are on a roll with their respective victories at WrestleMania and the character development in recent times.Daniel Bryan and Rey Mysterio are veterans with Bryan being a former MITB winner in 2011 and both being former multiple-time world champions. As much as I like both of them, I would discount them from the match since they have nothing to prove to anyone anymore. And winning the MITB contract does nothing for either of their characters in the long run. They are majorly helping out the rest of the younger talent to carry the match and would provide the best spots during the match, guaranteed!King Corbin has played the roll of a heel (villain) perfectly in recent times and is the only heel among the other 4 babyfaces heading into this match. This makes him in a unique position where if the situation does not change he could well become a 2-time MITB winner! The last time he won the contract was in 2017, and his character was too raw for the audience and it did not work, he lost his championship match which he cashed in on an unexpecting WWE Champon of the time, Jinder Mahal of all people! Quite unlike that time, this year is the perfect opportunity for Corbin to shine, and no matter which champion he chooses, he is the top heel in the company and the storyline would be picture-perfect!Otis and his romantic involvement with Mandy Rose has pissed off Dolph Ziggler and Sonya Deville. The story is still being told, with the latest match in the saga between Dolph and Otis being for the MITB match participation. I am smelling revenge having a critical role to play in this match, with interference from these 2 as well as Mandy making things harder for Otis to concentrate on the match. Aleister is the wild card in this one, he debuted on the main roster just a year back and ever since then he has been a major force to reckon with. He is yet to feud with any top-tier talent which is the only thing missing from his resume till now but we can all be sure, that winning the MITB contract would place him in the perfect mix, winning a mid card championship in the coming year and challenging for the world title later in the year if he happens to win this match!My pick: TBD. As of the current 5 contenders, I would have to pick King Corbin.
So this is a weird one, with the Black Sheep of the Wyatt family, Braun Strowman (he used to wear a black sheep mast while being a part of the Wyatt family), going head to head against the head of the Wyatt family himself, Bray Wyatt.
Braun Strowman was the last minute replacement for Roman Reigns in his match against Goldberg for the Universal title which he won, well deserved ofcourse. Took him a long long time, and after going against Brock Lesnar numerous amount of times a couple of years ago, he could never conquer the beast.
The monster among men (Braun Strowman) has a well established resume over the years and even though he seems like a transition champion, until he eventually has to drop the title to Roman on his long awaited return, we cannot discount the Fiend, Bray Wyatt. He is a former Universal Champion himself having dropped the title only recently to Goldberg.
This seems like an interesting match, and will be one to look forward to in this year's event. Would love to see the monster among men, going against his former family member and mentor, Bray Wyatt.
My pick: Braun Strowman.
As difficult as it is, I really hope Braun Strowman wins this one because its finally his time to shine on the main stage. Stripping him of the title so soon after he won it would be a waste of him being crowned the champ.
I would like to add though, the character of the Fiend needs to be protected here and him getting an easy defeat would not be #BestForBusiness. I am excited to see how they go about with this match and the storytelling inside the squared circle.
4. WWE SmackDown Women's Championship match: Bayley (c) vs. Tamina
Bayley, oh what do I say about her. I still mark out every time I see her debuting on the man roster, being introduced by none other than the Hardcore legend, and then GM of Raw, Mick Foley. I have loved her over the years from being a fan favourite and a hero to all the little girls - NXT through Raw, she followed her best friend, Sasha Banks while being drafted to SmackDown in 2019. After a change of haircut and attire, she refreshed her character, turning HEEL for the first time in her career.
She won the MITB ladder match at this very PPV a year ago and cashed it on the same night to win this title and becoming the first ever women's Grand Slam winner! She has dominated her entire run as the SmackDown Women's champion having only dropped it in the middle of last year only to win it back again just 5 days later. That was the time she chopped off her hair and turned heel.
Tamina Snuka is a 2nd generation superstar and is the daughter of the legendary performer and WWE Hall of Famer, Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka. She debuted in the WWE in 2010, and even after 10 years in the company she is yet to win a women's championship (She is a former 24/7 champion!). Her run in the company has never been too interesting and despite being booked as a dominating BIG-WOMAN-MONSTER she has never come close to being a Women's/Divas Champion.
I would like to see her win the Women's Title sometime before she hangs up her boots, but she has never been booked very well and her injuries and time off from the company has rendered it difficult for anyone to take her seriously, although she is far off from her days flirting with Santino Marella!
My pick for this match: BAYLEY!
I would need to be careful whom to choose from among these 2, but Tamina has a stale character and there is just no reason for her to win over Bayley, unless...
There is always an element of Sasha Banks interfering in the match and going against her on-screen and real life Best Friend. Its only a matter of time now, before this epic betrayal takes place. and we just have to wait and watch. It is not going to happen in this match since the story telling aspect of it would hardly make sense ruining the monster heel character of Tamina. They could try reuniting TEAM B.A.D. though but even that seems farfetched.
Bayley deserves to retain in this match and keep building her dominant heel character and maybe dropping the title afterwards to the winner of the MITB contract (they say anything is possible in the WWE)!?
Just got to wait and watch for this one!
5. WWE Championship match: Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Seth Rollins
Talk of being an absolutely dominating character and the conversation would immediately turn to how well Drew McIntyre has been booked in his run with the WWE ever since he returned to the company a few years ago. His win at WrestleMania this past month was the culmination of all the years of hard work and the story telling from the Royal Rumble through WrestleMania was heart melting and won the audiences the world over.
Seth Rollins has refreshed his character once again, and turned heel for the first time since 2016 and went from being the absolute workhorse - Monday Night Rollins to Monday Night Messiah! This change was much needed for his character with the evolution of time and his rub on AOP and Buddy Murphy also got them the much needed airtime.
After winning his MITB contract and waiting for the perfect moment to cash in, the main event of WrestleMania 31 dethroning Brock Lesnar as the WWE Champion, he has been consistent as the face of Raw and as the title defender or contender over the last 5 years!
I really want to see what they give back to the WWE Universe sitting at home and tuning into this PPV which will be held inside closed doors without the presence of a single member of the WWE Universe. I wonder if these non MITB ladder matches will also be happening in the WWE HQ or at the WWE Performance Centre?
My pick for this match - Seth 'frickin' Rollins!
SURPRISE SURPRISE.
I am a big fan of both these superstars and the actual people behind the characters. Both are absolute workoholics and some of the hardest workers in the industry. It is extremely difficult to choose one among these two. My heart and brain picked Drew McIntyre but for some reason my hands typed 'S' and I thought who am I kidding, I got to choose Seth Rollins!
I genuinely believe WWE should have booked a less relevant character to face Drew at this stage of his run as the WWE Champion, although the tickets get sold on the name of the face, Seth Rollins and with no other superstar anywhere near the top title scene, it was obvious they had to book Seth Rollins here.
I would have loved a good long run for Drew with the WWE title after winning it with all the amount of hard work put in. I liked his character trajectory and a little back and forth with the title matches dropping and winning it back maybe a good way to protect it, if the WWE indeed plans to go this way with the booking.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
I wonder how they would plan the singles matches, since the MITB matches have already been scheduled at the WWE HQ. Would they happen at the same location or would those be filmed at the WWE PC?
Since the distance between the 2 locations is so much, how would a winner of a MITB match be able to cash in their contract on the same night?
I would have liked for Sasha Banks to be included in the women's MITB match and winning the contract and cashing in on her best friend on the same night. Or even better, cashing in on the Raw Women's champion after her match, making both of these BFFs top title holders!
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