This year’s race to staff the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match has been full of pleasant surprises, featuring veteran mid-card talent and glowing up some relative new talent as well. So far, the World Wrestling Entertainment Superstars who’ve got a shot at being Mr. Money in the Bank are John Morrison, Ricochet, Riddle, Drew McIntyre, Big E, and Kevin Owens.
The Current Men’s Money in the Bank Landscape
John Morrison
John Morrison wandered unexpectedly into singles competition due to his tag team partner The Miz’s injury at WrestleMania: Backlash. “America’s Moist Wanted,” Johnny Drip Drip is carrying the torch for the team alone, and has had some athletically robust matches with Ricochet. The two Lucha Underground veterans are both benefitting from being paired in the ring and being in Money in the Bank contention, respectively. It’s a second wind for Ricochet, whose initial push after coming over from NXT lagged a bit. It’s always a joy to see his highflying, acrobatic prowess in action.
Riddle
“The Original Bro” is another NXT alum who has been featured heavily leading to the men’s Money in the Bank match. Like Morrison, Riddle is a tag team player whose partner is absent. Riddle is shining on his own, delivering in the ring with his MMA skills, and balancing his quirky character work with killer instinct in action in the squared circle.
Big E
When “The Powerhouse of Positivity” broke away from The New Day, the perpetual “Man Behind the Curtain” Paul Heyman prophesied that he was on the road to being WWE Champion. Big E’s singles push seemed to have been delivered to the wrong address, however, with Apollo Crews making off with E’s Intercontinental Championship, and successfully defending it several times. Now that E has qualified for the ladder match, if he scales the ladder and comes away with the green briefcase, he is back on his predicted path, able to challenge for a major championship anytime, anyplace.
Kevin Owens
Another former IC Champion, and frequent contender for that belt who has made it into Money in the Bank, is Kevin Owens, in the culmination of his months-long feud with Sami Zayn. While their program sometimes loses the plot, in the ring the longtime friends always deliver. Owens as Mr. Money in the Bank would be intriguing: he is a lone wolf with a trail of betrayals behind him, and a rugged fighter. He could make life very interesting, with that briefcase in hand.
There are two more spots left to staff the eight-man bout, and two weeks until the event. Who else could end up with a shot at being Mr. Money in the Bank?
Potential Men’s Money in the Bank Contenders
AJ Styles
Current Raw Tag Team Champion AJ Styles lost not one, but two shots at being in the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match, first to Ricochet, and then in a triple threat when McIntyre pinned Riddle. Triple threat matches are a great springboard for a plot twist wherein one out of the three combatants points out that they were not the one who was pinned and lost the match, it was the other guy.
That was exactly Styles’s argument on Miz TV on the July 5 broadcast of Monday Night Raw. He faced Riddle one on one, and lost yet again to one half of RKBro. While not to the extent of Sami Zayn, A.J. Styles often mines comedic gold out of feeling conspired against after a big loss – and then gets crafty and tries to rig the system in his own favor. Styles would make an amusing dark horse entry, and it would also be more than welcome to see “The Phenomenal One” in another WWE Championship run.
Randy Orton
The RKO in RKBro has been conspicuously absent since losing his qualifying shot against Morrison. Randy Orton shared an almost sinister moment with protégé Riddle after Riddle qualified for Money in the Bank by defeating McIntyre one on one. Judging by Riddle’s social media, Orton hasn’t been answering his texts. Despite Riddle trying hook or by crook to get his partner in the ladder match by proxy, they may find themselves facing off to be the last man standing at the top of the ladder. A double-cross is to be expected from the deadly “Viper.”
Jinder Mahal
A long shot, but not implausible after the seeds planted on July 5’s Raw. When former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal returned to Raw after an injury, former 3MB bandmate McIntyre stated that he would be pleased to work together again. It seems their angle finally came on July 5, when Mahal vented his disgust that McIntyre forgot to return his text messages. He was also seething about not getting an opportunity to qualify for Money in the Bank.
The ‘McIntyre is successful now and has a big head’ angle has been done before, pitting McIntyre against Sheamus, and made more sense when McIntyre was actually on top of the world in his WWE Championship run. He’s been down after losing the title and losing several attempts to regain it, but with a shot at being Mr. Money in the Bank, there does seem to be a little light at the end of the tunnel. Wonky timing aside, the former comrades met in the ring, Mahal accompanied by his henchmen Vir and Shanky.
The McIntyre/Mahal Result
The match ended in a DQ when Vir and Shanky interfered, but Mahal and his associates weren’t done. They triple-teamed McIntyre, and Mahal taunted McIntyre as he made off with “The Scottish Warrior’s” ancestral sword. This seemed to be first blood in a rivalry between McIntyre and Mahal, which could see them both in the ladder match, each man fighting tooth and nail to scale the ladder itself. After all, part of Mahal’s grudge is that McIntyre stole his shot at qualifying for the ladder match.
Given the hard war McIntyre has had of late, this may also be the lead up to the ominous “Broken Dreams” being his theme song once again. In any case, whoever fills the next two spots, it been a refreshing and unpredictable lead up to Money in the Bank.
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