As we march toward the Money in the Bank pay-per-view event, the WWE has brought the show to the London faithful.
The show was filled with qualifying matches for a spot in the Money in the Bank match and, well, a bunch of useless matches, too.
In case you missed the show, don’t worry—below we’ll have a full recap of the show with personal thoughts on what transpired.
Roman Reigns In-Ring Promo/Kurt Angle Comes Out
The show kicked off with Roman Reigns cutting a promo addressing how Jinder Mahal “screwed” him in the week prior during his qualifying match with Finn Balor and Sami Zayn.
Reigns proceeded to then call Mahal to the ring, but to no avail. Instead, general manager Kurt Angle came out to address Reigns.
Angle informed Reigns that Mahal would not be coming out to the ring and mentioned he had his own qualifying match later on in the night against Bobby Lashley and Elias.
Reigns asked for a fatal four-way, but Angle said that he was told by WWE management that Reigns would not be getting any more qualifying opportunities.
Reigns didn’t like Angle’s answer. He went backstage, found Mahal and after a small back-and-forth, Reigns got the best of Mahal.
The altercation was soon broken up by referees and random guys in suits after the fight bled on to the entrance ramp.
Analysis: Man, I just can’t get past how robotic all of these promos sound. The angle here is to clearly try to get Reigns over as the babyface by using WWE management as who is to blame. However, the fans will never get behind Reigns as a face. For whatever reason, they just don’t like the guy when he’s one of the most believable guys on the roster. At least there was some backstage elements to this segment—something that seems like a lost art this day and age. Also, the announcers did a poor job selling anything here. They were mostly silent throughout.
Seth Rollins (c) vs. Kevin Owens
As part of his Intercontinental championship open challenge, Kevin Owens answered the call. However, none of this was done in-ring and from the announcers.
Seth Rollins would prevail after hitting Owens with the curb stomp.
Analysis: Not a huge fan of either of these guys in their current roles (or Owens whatsoever), but at least they’re doing something will the open challenge. Wish it was done in the ring, though.
Kurt Angle Backstage
We find Angle backstage talking on the phone hyping up the Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax RAW Women’s championship match at the Money in the Bank event. This match was announced prior to the show.
As he was on the phone, he was interrupted by Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas.
They asked Angle for a championship match and asked to be referred to as the B-Team, which in their minds stands for “Best Team”.
Angle tells the team they’ll be in action later in the night if they leave Angle alone, which they agree to.
Analysis: This was stupid, quite frankly. I have no idea why Axel isn’t used properly. He’s Mr. Perfect’s son for crying out loud. And who came up with “B-Team” for “Best Team”? Horrendous writing and about a two on a scale of 1-10 in terms of creativity. Horrendous segment.
No Way Jose vs. Bobby Roode vs. Baron Corbin
This was another Money in the Bank qualifying match.
Bobby Roode ended up going over in the match.
Analysis: I’m sorry, but I can’t talk about this match. It just infuriates me that No Way Jose is an Adam Rose clone and that Roode is the most miscast character on the show—he’s a natural heel. When I think about his old TNA stuff, I can’t help but think of the total incompetence the WWE has when handling him. Moving on.
Another Kurt Angle Backstage Promo
Walking backstage, Angle is sought out by Owens.
Owens asks for a rematch for the Intercontinental championship, which Angle declines.
Owens then threatens to call Stephanie McMahon and the two go away from one another.
Angle then heads into a side room where Mahal is being attended to after his altercation with Reigns.
Mahal asks for the match be postponed, Angle says it cannot. Mahal says he will “overcome adversity again” and compete.
Analysis: I like Mahal.
“B-Team” vs. Fashion Police
So this was the action they got.
The B-Team went over the Fashion Police here.
Charly Caruso came in for an in-ring interview and the team tried to get “B-Team” over with the crowd.
Analysis: Don’t care. Like at all.
Ember Moon/Sasha Banks/Natalya vs. Riott Squad
Natalya submitted Mandy Rose with the sharpshooter.
Analysis: Pointless match. Filler. That’s all it is. Typical house show stuff. Moving on.
Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler Snapchat Promo
So no, I’m not actually sure that it’s Snapchat, but it sure as heck looks like it.
The duo addresses the state of the WWE roster more and asserts their dominance.
Analysis: These guys shouldn’t be in a tag team. They deserve single’s competition. They’re both excellent.
Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy vs. The Revival
Wyatt and Hardy (obviously) go over here. B-Team watches the match from the back.
Analysis: There’s really nothing to talk about. More filler nonsense. We knew who was winning before the match even started.
Sasha and Bayley Backstage
Sasha wishes Bayley good luck for her upcoming Money in the Bank qualifying match against Alexa Bliss and Mickie James.
Analysis: Do not care one iota about this storyline.
Sami Zayn In-Ring Promo
We come back to the show with Sami Zayn in the ring. There, he addresses Bobby Lashley and his “vertigo” diagnosis being the reason why he wasn’t at the Greatest Royal Rumble event.
Zayn says he talked to Lashley’s three sisters over Facebook and that they will be on RAW next week to “expose the real Bobby Lashley”.
Analysis: At least there was an attempt to get viewers for next week. I just can’t stand Sami “Uber driver” Zayn. He looks nothing like a professional wrestler. However, he does play the annoying heel well. The sister angle from last week in Lashley’s interview makes more sense now—seemed totally random a week ago and made no sense. Now, we’ll see where it goes.
Alexa Bliss vs. Mickie James vs. Bayley
Another qualifying match. Bliss goes over.
Analysis: Bliss is one of the best females on the roster.
Mahal Backstage
Mahal is in visible pain backstage, gripping his side. Reigns comes out of nowhere and spears him through a wall.
Angle says the match still needs to go on and says he’ll find Mahal’s replacement.
Analysis: At least there was another backstage segment. That’s all I got.
Finn Balor and Braun Strowman vs. Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler
McIntyre and Ziggler go over after Ziggler trips Balor up on the top rope.
Analysis: It was nice to see Strowman and McIntyre in the ring together. It showed how big McIntyre is and starts to set up a potential future feud. Besides that, the match was totally pointless.
Angle Backstage
Angle is backstage on the phone talking about sending Reigns home and talking about how Mahal missing out on his opportunity is “too bad”. We learn Stephanie McMahon is on the other end of the phone and informs Angle that Owens will get another opportunity.
Analysis: Poorly done, but at least they’re trying to thread a storyline throughout the show.
Bobby Lashley vs. Elias vs. Kevin Owens
Here’s the second-chance Owens gets as a result of the McMahon and Angle conversation.
Owens goes over with assistance from Zayn.
Analysis: Expect Lashley and Zayn to carry over into next week even more with this happening. It’s the weirdest mismatch, though—in real life, Zayn would be absolutely murdered by Lashley. Let’s see what kind of comeuppance Elias and Lashley get after this.
