Now, this pay per view had so much potential and a lot of it was wasted. The matches were not bad in the slightest, but they were not jaw-dropping either.
The New Day vs The Lucha House Party vs Miz and Morrison vs The Forgotten Sons
This match was nothing special. Lucha House Party and Morrison were fun to watch, but this is still nothing you won't see on an average Friday Night Smackdown. Big E hit the Big Ending on Lince Dorado and pinned to retain. I honestly was not at all invested. The story arc was alright, but the only team that could possibly have beaten the New Day was Miz and Morrison, as Lucha House Party are not champ material, they were just in the match as someone had to be pinned and we could not have any of the other three teams looking weak and the Forgotten Sons are too new for the gold just yet.
Overall Rating: 5.7/10
Reason: It was nothing special, something one can expect to see on Smackdown
MVP: John Morrison, due to his consistency of being a fun to watch wrestler
R-Truth vs MVP
So this was advertised as these two men facing each other, but somehow Bobby Lashley is the winner. The promo at the beginning is the biggest waste of time just to get Bobby Lashley into the match. They really need better promos. After R-Truth accidentally slapped Bobby, pissing him off, Truth was speared and lost in under two minutes. Then a weird segment backstage where he convinced himself he had beaten MVP.
Overall Rating: 3.5/10
Reason: Promo was pointless, and R-Truth's gimmick is just bloody annoying at this stage.
MVP: Bobby Lashley, for somehow being the better wrestler out of all three.
Bayley versus Tamina
Another cookie-cutter, completely expected match. I would have liked Tamina to win. Most people love the new Heel Bayley, but personally equate her to a moody teenager whos "parents don't understand her and that its not a phase." Insert other cliches for moody teenagers here. Bayley won, thanks to obvious interference from Sasha Banks and I know they have sacrificed Tamina to build up Banks eventually turning on Bayley, and they say history doesn't repeat itself, but please pull the trigger already.
Overall rating: 4.8/10
Reason: Tamina and Bayley now look weak, this match did nothing for either wrestler
MVP: Tamina, for being the sacrificial lamb to build to the Sasha, Bayley fight.
Braun Strowman vs Bray Wyatt
This was definitely a match where WWE sat down and tried to book it where the Fiend is protected, but Braun still retains. Wyatt does get a little of offence in, throws Braun out of the ring, Braun comes back in as the Black Sheep, Bray hugs him and it looks like Braun may rejoin Bray then Bray is blindsided. Braun wins after hitting Bray with a running power slam.
Overall Rating: 6.3/10
Reason: The good story booking, however the match itself was definitely better on paper
MVP: Braun Strowman, for playing mind games of his own.
Drew Mcintyre vs Seth Rollins
Many people I have talked to rather enjoyed this match, I thought it was alright. Once again, this a constant theme for this pay per view excluding the final matches, nothing special. Drew retains after hitting a Claymore Kick. The main point from this match was seeing after the match Seth and Drew shaking hands so possibly hinting at a Seth Rollins face turn, which I am hopeful for. This Monday Night Messiah character he has right now is kind of bad. Yes my opinion is controversial and I agree Seth does his best work as a heel but he did a lot better with his previous heel run.
Overall Rating: 6.5/10
Reason: Nothing special, but the ending was good.
MVP: Mcintyre for good sportsmanship despite beating his opponent.
Ok, now comes the duo main events. I will address them together than separately later.
Money in the Bank
The start was peculiar, everyone got their own entrances. It felt rather awkward as the weird banter happened and everyone waited for all the wrestlers to join. Now I had Syles to win the men's and Bazler to win the women's. It was just absolute chaos, but I thought was rather fun. Also, there were good cameos. The matches mainly consisted of people running up and down corridors, I would have paid to have one of those Scooby-Doo scenes, with an occasional punch every now and then.
Women's Money in the Bank
There was a weird scene where the men and women's matches met, then a food fight in which Carmella was put through a table never to be heard from again. Dana Brooke slipped on a wet floor and I believe that was the last time we saw her. Shayna Bazler was taken out by Nia Jaxx and Lacey Evans. Finally, the women got to the roof. This leaves us with three women. Lacey was knocked off the ladder onto Nia Jaxx, by Asuka. Baron Corbin shows up and for some unknown reason starts fighting with Asuka when the briefcases are very evidently different. Asuka kicked him off the ladder to collect the Money in the Bank briefcase. While I did want Shayna Bazler to win, I was happy with Asuka taking it as it puts her back in the main event, where someone of her talent belongs.
Overall Rating: 6.6/10
Reason: Just chaotic fun and a deserving winner
MVP: Asuka, for now joining the main event scene, where she belongs and the weird but funny elevator dance
Men's Money in the Bank
The highlight had to be Bryan and Styles brawling into Vince Mcmahon's office, Vince kicking them out, both coming back to fix the chairs they had knocked over and then leaving again. My condolences to Rey Mysterio and Aleister Black's families as Baron Corbin murdered them both by throwing them off the bloody building. Now this ending was horrific. Styles and Corbin both unhook the briefcase and fighting over. Elias pops up from out of nowhere, hits Corbin with a guitar, Corbin lets go of the briefcase, Styles loses his grip and the briefcase drops into Otis's hands. What the bloody hell just happened. Ok first off, I have never read the rules but is the rules you need to have it under control, I thought it was just the first person to unclip the briefcase, if not feel free to correct me. Also, this is the perfect example of WWE booking themselves into a corner. The current champions are Drew Mcintyre and Braun Strowman with the number one contenders are the Fiend and possibly Seth Rollins. How the hell is Otis going to beat any of these people. There are more believable contenders like Black, Bryan and Styles all of whom would have excellent matches with them. Otis just feels like a bad joke. All the main eventer could kill him and as stated they are more deserving people for the main event then Otis.
Overall Rating: 4.5/10
Reason: While having some fun moments its really bad finish also the fact we witnessed murders.
MVP: Aleister Black and Rey Mysterio for giving their lives for the match.
This pay per view was alright but could have been a lot better.
Overall Rating: 5.3/10
Best Match: Women's Money in the Bank
MVP: Asuka
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