Before I even discuss the pay-per-view, it needs to quickly be addressed how the Viking Raiders demonstrated some selfishness by relinquishing the NXT Tag Team Championships rather than putting over a deserving team like Street profits. I could be dead wrong about this, however, and they could have been instructed by management to relinquish the titles rather than defend them at Takeover on June 1. It will definitely help the careers of Ivar and Erik by avoiding a loss and adding to their mystique (not like Undertaker). They will surely be a dominant tag team for at least several years.
To begin the discussion of MITB, the men’s ladder match was probably the greatest we have ever seen, capped off by the beast. First of all, Finn Balor deserves some extended time off after taking a brutal beating last night. Secondly, it was a good idea to replace Braun Strowman with Sami Zayn, and a fantastic one to replace Zayn with Brock Lesnar, because no one was expecting it, with Lesnar being a part-timer and all. As we wrestling fans know, Lesnar will be at WWE Super Showdown on June 7 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and presumably cash in the Money in the Bank contract for a Universal Championship rematch against Seth Rollins.
There will undoubtedly be a lot of pushback on this decision by WWE (there already has been a whole lot) considering the point of the Money in the Bank ladder match is to create new stars who win over with the crowd, and Lesnar clearly doesn’t need it. However, no one can refute that he is money. The same people who complain about him never being present for TV are the people who rush to watch him when he does decide to show up. WWE does absolutely need to get Lesnar out of the title picture within the next year, because they have more than enough potential champions who are not being used as top draws, as evidenced by the incredible in-ring work which was on display at the pay-per-view.
Kofi Kinston retaining his WWE Championship against Kevin Owens was a smart decision, although that one could have gone either way and WWE would have had a good story to work with no matter what. Kofi still will probably not hold the title past SummerSlam.
It’s also no surprise that Seth Rollins retained his Universal Championship against AJ Styles in a match that absolutely delivered. The post-match handshake was somewhat disappointing as AJ did not turn heel, as many members of the WWE universe thought he might. Becky Lynch also lost one of her championships which was expected. Charlotte Flair isn’t the story though, Bayley is. Now that she is away from Sasha Banks, she finally has an opportunity to prove what she is capable of doing on her own and management will be able to adequately determine whether she possesses any real drawing power.
Congrats to Rey Mysterio on winning the United States Championship from Samoa Joe. The conflict between him and Joe may culminate in a handicap match at SummerSlam pitting Joe against Rey and Dominic, since Joe has been trying to give Dominic advice and be intimidating at the same time. Joe could always find a partner too. Fans have to admit that, despite the fact that Shane McMahon is old (49 to be exact), he still has the ability to give a surprisingly good match. With some older wrestlers, there is a lot of lag time between moves because they need to catch their breath (Undertaker is a prime example).
Side Note: Aiden English is doing very well on commentary for 205 Live. Tony Nese is a great champion too by the way, not as great as Buddy Murphy, but very good. He struggles a little bit on the mic, but 205 Live is mostly about in-ring work anyway.
It’s also very sad that Alexa Bliss was unable to go to the pay-per-view presumably due to her concussion issues. Corey Graves had to be upset by that, and so was I. It was a little surprising to see no Bray Wyatt at Money in the Bank, but Firefly Funhouse will shortly air on Raw.
Mick Foley’s announcement of a new title coming to WWE will also be anxiously anticipated. I almost forgot to mention that Roman Reigns beat Elias in a squash match (I nearly forgot because it wasn’t very interesting). Reigns should return to the title scene very soon. Maybe he shouldn’t challenge Kofi Kinston right away (maybe someone like Ali could challenge him, or someone else too since there are a plethora of guys on the roster who are both deserving and who could give a phenomenal (no disrespect to AJ Styles) match. However, it seems as though WWE is trying desperately to postpone Reigns’ inevitable return to the title scene. WWE has some great behind-the-scenes photos for this event.
Here is the card for WWE Super Showdown as of now:
- Triple H vs. Randy Orton
- Undertaker vs. Goldberg (snooze, two old guys)
- 50 Man Battle Royal
- Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley
- Finn Balor (Demon) vs. Andrade for Balor’s Intercontinental Championship
- Roman Reigns vs. Shane McMahon
- Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler for Kofi’s WWE Championship
This last match is the only one that appears particularly interesting. At these Saudi Arabia shows, matches are not well thought out and it seemed to be scrapped together in order for WWE to gain international exposure.
Many stars from the past are also used because they are demanded by the people who run the show in Saudi Arabia. Andrade and Finn Balor are the only ones that garner any interest from me because these two actually have a little bit of history. Andrade beat Balor in a non-title match on the first night of the Superstar Shakeup before Balor moved to SmackDown and it appeared that Andrade was moving to Raw (which has since been reversed to keep him on the same brand as his fiancée Charlotte Flair.
WWE usually tries to keep couples on the same brand during each Superstar ShakeUp. There is also a very foreseeable scenario where Brock Lesnar cashes in his Money in the Bank contract on Seth Rollins for a Universal Championship rematch. I won’t be able to cover this event because it will be taking place while I am on vacation in Sedona Arizona.