Smackdown Recap: Looking at Money In The Bank
With the announcement of the first ever women’s money in the bank ladder match and Jinder Mahal’s wild rise to the top, there is a lot of interest towards Money In The Bank. The men’s ladder match is one of the most stacked ever featuring A.J. Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura in their first ever Money In The Bank ladder matches. Someone will gain major momentum going into next Sunday but Kevin Owens faces Shinsuke Nakamura tonight in the main event first…..
Shane McMahon opens the show to announce the 5 women competing in the women’s Money In The Bank ladder match. Carmella and Tamina seem to be the weak links, not getting much promo time. Funny moment when Natalya made fun of Charlotte for riding her dad Ric Flair’s coattails but Becky Lynch pointed out that Natalya always rips of her Uncle Bret Hart. Naomi comes out but is cut off by a debuting Lana to the women’s division. Lana tries to become the sixth entrant but Shane wants Lana to earn a shot at the title first, as all of the women howl in laughter at Lana. Lana is sent to the back which is interesting and we have a 6-Woman tag match.
Carmella, Natalya and Tamina vs Naomi, Charlotte and Becky Lynch.
Very solid tag match with The Welcoming Committee taking control for most of the match. Naomi is very good in her role and carries herself as a fired up champion in the ring. The Welcoming Committee is not quite working and James Ellsworth adds nothing really to any of these matches. Lana trips Naomi and Tamina wins with a superkick on Naomi. Looks like Lana is going to have her way, one way or another.
Result: 11 minutes. **
Light on great wrestling action but the babyfaces really got to shine until the finish. Lana is going to be a wild card on Smackdown, especially without Rusev.
Mojo Rawley is backstage with Shane and the Andre The Giant trophy is still with Mojo. Shane tells Mojo there are other contender’s on Smackdown like Luke Harper, which got a pop from the crowd. If Mojo defeats WWE champion Jinder Mahal tonight, he gets in the men’s Money In The Bank ladder match!
A.J. Styles vs Dolph Ziggler
A rematch from last week where Ziggler won with a superkick in Styles’ hometown. Ziggler tried to win the match by putting his feet on the ropes and hitting a Fameasser right after.
These 2 have a similar style and mesh very well together. Styles reversed a jackknife pin into a Style Clash to get the win.
Result: 8 Minutes. ***
Not given very much time but these guys had a very good back-and-forth and Styles redeems his loss to Ziggler.
Tyler Breeze and Fandango are back for Fashion Files. They run into The New Day backstage and it’s hilarious with The Fashion Police’s inner monologue and going on the case. The New Day decide to walk away backwards as Breeze and Fandango say new case rocks in their minds.
John Cena is announced to return to Smackdown on July 4 in Pheonix.
Non-title match, if Mojo wins he is in the Money In The Bank ladder match:
Jinder Mahal vs Mojo Rawley
The Singh brothers give Jinder an epic entrance. This is Mahal’s first match since becoming champion and he is thrown around by Mojo to start. Mojo goes for the corner forearm but gets distracted but The Signh’s to get a big boot by Jinder. Jinder wins raking the eyes of Mojo, sending him into the steel post and hitting the Kollus.
Rating: 3 minutes. *
Quick match and Mojo looked good in the loss. Jinder has improved but will need a great match to silence the doubters. Jinder cuts a promo after for his rematch with Orton next Sunday.
Randy Orton is backstage interviewed by Renee Young and Orton says he has talked to legends on the phone like his father, Ric Flair and Harley Race. They told him to let Jinder run his mouth, and actions will speak louder than words.
The New Day vs The Colons
Woods and Big E are the New Day team tonight and go to the fun tag team work right away. New Day have been missed on the WWE tag scene but Primo and Epico don’t get much of a reaction despite great heel work. Woods head was thrown under the bottom rope at one point like how Enzo Amore was injured at Packback last week. New Day win with midnight hour.
Result: 9 Minutes. ** 1/2
Good but not very memorable match and great win for New Day before their tag title match at Money In The Bank. The tag champion The Uso’s interrupt New Day and mock the outfits of Kofi and Woods and even say Big E needs a bra.
Sami Zayn is interviewed backstage and he thinks he knows all of his opponents well except Nakamura. Zayn says he will be on commentary. Corbin cuts in and lays out Zayn with a punch then a ladder to the back. Corbin says he is the man Zayn should worry about and throws him into a bunch of ladders. Corbin is so rude he even takes Zayn’s place on commentary.
Naomi wants a match with Lana and she gets it at Money In The Bank. Just like Sasha Banks did to Alicia Fox, Naomi wants to rip Lana’s hair out.
Main Event:
Kevin Owens vs Shinsuke Nakamura
Promoted as the first time ever but they had a match at a WWE house show last year and ROH a couple years ago. Owens takes an enzugiri almost right away but managed to slow down Nakamura, driving him into the ring apron and then the barricade. Nakamura hit his trademark kicks in some great back and forth until the reverse exploder and Kinshasa.
Result: 10 Minutes. ***
Very good but could have been better with more time, saving that a later date on PPV surely. Nakamura takes the end of days from Baron Corbin to close the show.
Overall show:
Some terrific hype for the Smackdown only Money In The Bank next week. All of the ladder match contender’s are left looking very strong with the exception of Sami Zayn. Jinder Mahal will have to show a lot more as WWE champion and it looks like Smackdown Live is giving him that chance. Good show but not that much ring action for 2 hours, still worth a watch with a very nice main event.
***
Thanks for reading, ring the bell!
