May 18, 2019 - Evan Luebbe

2019 Money in the Bank Predictions

May 17, 2019May 18, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

Kevin Owens and Kofi Kingston gave a very passionate build-up to their match at Money in the Bank for the WWE Championship. It’s definitely something to keep an eye on when discussing the possibility of Sami Zayn somehow getting involved in the match to help his best friend win the WWE Championship. I can’t predict if WWE will elect to do this are not.

It’s a feasible scenario that Owens could walk out of Money in the Bank as WWE Champion and Zayn could walk out as Mr. Money in the Bank (talk about some interesting TV that would possibly improve ratings).
That would be interesting for sure, however my pick to win the match is still Drew McIntyre.
My pick to win the Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match is Ember Moon.
Often in the past, the winners of the Money in the Bank ladder matches have been relatively quiet in the weeks leading up to the match, and these two have exhibited that quality.
I fully assume that Vince McMahon likes to maintain an element of surprise when it comes to the winners.

Another potential alliance coming out of Money in the Bank that has money written all over it is Charlotte Flair as SmackDown Women’s Champion and Andrade as Mr. Money in the Bank. It also adds a completely new dynamic that these two are a couple in real life and they are engaged to be married. These two could become a true power couple in WWE, very similar to what Stephanie McMahon and Triple H were 20 years ago (it’s hard to believe it was that long ago). Charlotte may not be a McMahon, but the Flair name is still wrestling royalty. Vince McMahon also sees Andrade in a very favorable light, and how could he not with what he can do in the ring.

It is also reported, to the surprise of not very many, that Sheamus may look to end his in-ring career sooner rather than later. All one has to do to avoid being surprised by this is to look at his injury history. I am fully assuming that the decision would be to preserve his quality of life, with an ongoing spinal stenosis issue. To further add bodily insult to injury, he suffered a concussion at WrestleMania.

Congratulations Sami

May 17, 2019May 18, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

Monday Night Raw was live from the O2 Arena in London last night. It’s easy to get used to the Wild Card Rule because all it was (in reality) was the unofficial announcement of the brand split. With that out of the way, we can get to the most important part of the night: Sami Zayn earning Braun Strowman’s spot in the men’s Money in the Bank letter match.

Sami more than deserves it considering how great his work has been in the last month or so since returning from injury. It also makes sense for Braun Strowman because it has been publicized, in the fairly recent past, how Vince McMahon views him as more of a mascot for the company as opposed to a legitimate threat. This is history repeating itself because Vince viewed Big Show in a similar light. Going back to Zayn, it would be far from surprising to see him win the contract and be used in some interesting feuds in the coming months.

With Dominick being so heavily involved in the feud between Samoa Joe and Rey Mysterio, one has to question the possibility of him bypassing NXT and going straight to the main roster (as evidenced by the fact that Joe said on Raw that someone needs to teach Dominick how to be a man and he’s the one to do it).

Bray Wyatt seems to be much more optimistic about his new gimmick than I am as I still contend WWE needs to capitalize on this gimmick rather quickly by having him win a title. A gimmick such as this may go stale sooner rather than later cited by the fact that Vince McMahon has struggled to properly book gimmicks like this in the past (remember Mordecai?). An appearance in the Money in the Bank ladder match may not be out of the question.

I think I, along with the rest of the WWE universe, forgot exactly how good Cesaro is in the ring. It’s simply unheard of for someone as big as he is to be that well-versed in Lucha libre. Before he retires, he is deserving of a major push and a world championship title. Vince McMahon cannot overlook someone like him who has given his heart and soul to the business.

A Roman Reigns- Shane McMahon rivalry down the line appears to be where we’re headed, and it feels redundant. It feels like WWE is trying to re-create the magic that Vince McMahon was able to produce with various top superstars in the Attitude Era as opposed to attempting to create something brand-new. The creative team seems to be struggling for ideas just a bit.

I’m still praying WWE builds up Mojo Rawley a little in preparation for a potential Gronk debut and subsequent Tag Team Championship victory. This would be a huge contribution towards the effort to improve TV ratings.

Promoting WWE on the Outside

May 17, 2019May 18, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

It’s a smart business decision for WWE to have Paige appear on the show Fair Game with Kristine Leahy on Fox Sports 1 (FS1) to introduce Fox fans to WWE superstars before SmackDown’s big move to Fox in October.

I am still waiting on a WWE superstar to appear on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, who is one of my own personal favorites because he is so authentic and that is what WWE specializes in. He will be able to connect with superstars in a profoundly human way. Someone like Seth Rollins or Roman Reigns who are extremely literate about sports should debut, as Colin will grill anyone who doesn’t know their stuff.

Final Countdown to MITB

May 17, 2019May 18, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

All I have to say about Becky Two Belts is she’s going to get an excellent night of sleep on Sunday night. She will most likely lose one of her titles and keep the other. My bet is that she will lose the SmackDown Women’s Championship to Charlotte Flair (and she will become a nine-time Women’s Champion) and retain the Raw Women’s Championship against Lacey Evans. Evans simply isn’t ready and is too inexperienced to become a champion so early in her career.

With Flair on the other hand, there is never a bad time to make her champion. It will also make the storyline with Becky Lynch more interesting if her edgy and somewhat cocky mentality gets the best of her and costs her one of her titles.

This will be a major test for Elias this weekend at Money in the Bank when he goes one on one with Roman Reigns. Elias has only been tested to this degree once in his career. It was a pay-per-view and that was at Money in the Bank last year when he had a match with Seth Rollins (Rollins won and was able to hold onto his intercontinental Championship, but Elias showed that he could hold his own in the ring with one of the best in the world). Vince McMahon will be able to find out this weekend if he is indeed the real deal.

Percy Watson Acting

May 17, 2019May 18, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

This was a light week for NXT, but a couple of notable things still happened. The Street Profits will get an NXT Tag Team Championship match after an amount of time that was more than sufficient. In all honesty, they probably have a very good chance to win to allow the Viking Raiders to devote their full tension towards ensuring their success on the main roster. And it is shocking that Percy Watson has elected to leave the NXT commentary table and bet on himself by starting a brand-new endeavor in the acting industry. Even now I am sad to see him go, I wish him all the best.

What about Rey Mysterio’s son Dominick?

May 17, 2019May 18, 2019 by Evan Luebbe

Rey Mysterio’s son Dominick, who is a trained wrestler, seems to have signed a contract with WWE. This is very exciting as it ensures that Rey’s lineage will continue to live on for quite some time considering how young Dominick is. He might be best suited starting out in NXT and getting fans acclimated to his style. We all had to realize, on some level, that he was not being used in the rivalry between his father and Samoa Joe for nothing.

It was reported this week that Daniel Bryan may have suffered from a concussion at WrestleMania, and this is very disconcerting news considering his history with head injuries which is well documented. It is also assumed that WWE will not hesitate to pull the plug on Bryan’s in-ring career if he suffers from a significant amount of these injuries. This is most likely the reason why WWE would not say anything regarding his injury because it was probably in the back of Vince McMahon’s mind that Bryan may have to take a hiatus to recuperate. Fortunately, it can’t be too serious because he is back pretty quickly and will presumably defend the SmackDown Tag Team Championships along with Rowan at Money in the Bank. Daniel Bryan’s health, however, never strays too far from my mind and he is always in my prayers.

Vince McMahon should also consider a Roman Reigns heel turn to boost TV ratings because the Wild Card Rule, while it may help, won’t do it alone. Vince has been extremely bullheaded about this since the start of Reigns’ singles push in June 2014. It might do something for Reigns similar to what it did for Stone Cold Steve Austin in ’96. Let’s face it – it probably would not work that well, but it will give fans a fresh take on his character. It would be a little bit shocking to see this after his recent triumph in his battle with leukemia, and this shock may be a good thing as it would spark a huge amount of interest in the product. It may get a similar reaction to Dean Ambrose’ heel turn on Seth Rollins on the same night as Reigns’ announcement of his illness returning. The work he did towards the beginning of his career as a heel (before the formation of The Shield) was surprisingly good stuff, and WWE should experiment a little more with that and see how far it can take them because the TV ratings cannot get that much worse, can they?