Recap and Review of WWE Money in the Bank 2021

For only the second time in seventeen months, the WWE had a live audience in attendance to witness a night that alters career and has done so for sixteen years since the Money in the Bank Ladder Match first came to the WWE. With a crowd back, you knew it was going to be electric. Here’s what went down at Money in the Bank.

-Kickoff Show: The Uso’s defeated Rey and Dominik Mysterio to become the new Smackdown Tag Team Champions
-Nikki A.S.H. wins the Women’s Money in the Bank
-AJ Styles and Omos defeated The Viking Raiders to retain the Raw Tag Team Championships
-Bobby Lashley defeated Kofi Kingston to retain the WWE Championship
-Charlotte Flair defeated Rhea Ripley to become the new Raw Women’s Champion
-Big E wins the Men’s Money in the Bank
-Roman Reigns defeated Edge to retain the WWE Universal Championship.

The kickoff show featured two families looking to cement their legacies. The Mysterio’s are the first father-son tag team champions and The Uso’s have been on top of the tag team division for quite some time. Rey and Dominik have been feuding with the Bloodline over the last months and they have also gotten involved with Edge going after Roman Reigns. With how great this match was, it should have been on the main card. Both of The Uso’s are finally buying into what Roman Reigns is doing and saying, and because of that they are the new Smackdown Tag Team Champions. They are now seven-time tag team champions. As for the Mysterio’s, I don’t think this is the only time they will hold the tag team champions. I love that there are families and long-time friendships intertwining together in this current story, which is a story I believe is far from over.

The opening match of the Money in the Bank was the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match. All eight women put on a good showing, but the standouts in the match for me were Naomi and Alexa Bliss. Naomi is always great because of her athleticism and Alexa has been fun with her mind games. All the women eventually ganged up on Bliss then climbed up three ladders. In the end, Nikki A.S.H. shocked everyone and grabbed the briefcase while six of the women were fighting for position. This is a huge break for the career of the former Nikki Cross. After her and Alexa split from each other, she was very much lost in the shuffle. I will be curious to see what she does with the briefcase with her current character.

Next up, the Viking Raiders challenged AJ Styles and Omos for the Raw Tag Team Champions. Styles and Omos have been a formidable team since they started teaming together. I still feel they’re rhythm and timing are off for some reason. The War Raiders have years of experience of teaming together, whereas Styles and Omos don’t have near the experience that other teams do in the company. I’m really not sure what the long-term goal is for Styles and Omos, but I hope they get some clear direction really soon.

Two years ago, Kofi-Mania was such an organic success story that many people were thrilled with. However, his six-month reign ended in ten seconds and he never got a rematch for the WWE Championship. It’s been really great to see Kofi back in the championship picture again. His work ethic and performances are worthy of being in the main event. However, ever since Lashley has been champion he’s been very dominant and tonight that didn’t change. He absolutely obliterated Kofi’s dreams of becoming WWE Champion again. With Drew out of picture and Kofi being steamrolled, it will be interesting to see who steps up to Lashley going into Summerslam. I know what the rumor mill are saying, but I really hope they’re not true. If they are, I will be truly disappointed going into the biggest show of the summer.

Ever since Rhea Ripley won the Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania, the only challenger she’s had is Charlotte. This feud has been going on for three months, so going into tonight I was hoping it would come to an end for now.  With Charlotte Flair winning the championship, I have a feeling that this is not over due to Ripley getting a rematch. Rhea Ripley still has not had a singles victory against Flair, so one would have to think that victory is coming at some point. The Women’s Division on Smackdown has received an overhaul so one would have to think Raw might be getting some new faces there soon, which would be good for the Raw Women’s Championship scene.

The Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match was chaotic, crazy, fast and furious. Everyone in this match put everything on the line. This was the perfect blend of guys who do striking, submission, and high flying. There were so many great stories here. Rollins and Morrison working together. The striking battle between Riddle and Nakamura was amazing. You also had Ricochet continuing to step up his game with his crazy daredevil antics. Seth Rollins tried sneaking his way to a victory, but it was Big E who hit The Big Ending off of the ladder to win the match and secure himself a championship match at any time. Big E has been clawing and scratching his way to this moment for a very long time. He’s a multi-time tag team and Intercontinental Champion, who has continued to get better as his career has progressed. I will be curious to see who Big E cashes in on and how long he holds the briefcase. I have my theory on what he will do, but I will save that for another time.

In the main event, Edge finally got his one-on-one match against the Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Edge has been a thorn in the side of the Bloodline for several weeks now. I was considered with how little Edge has wrestled if he could hang with Reigns on-one-one, but he proved me wrong and had a solid match against the top guy in the company. This match had a lot of shenanigans with the Uso’s, Mysterios and Seth Rollins.  There were many times that Edge had the match won, but in the end, it was Rollins who cost Edge the match. Once the match was over, Edge and Rollins brawled all over the arena and as Reigns was celebrating, we got the return of John Cena. This is obviously setting up Summerslam with Rollins facing Edge and Cena facing Reigns.

The show in itself was solid. I would give it an 8 out of 10, because the crowd energy made it exciting to watch again. I think they did a great job of setting up Summerslam to be one of the biggest events in years. We are four weeks away from Summerslam, so there will be a great opportunity to build something special for the returning fans to WWE shows.