UPDATE: After the reveal of the Monday Night Raw competitors on April 29’s episode, it would appear that these indeed were fan-created fakes.
Local advertising always gets the jump on events lineups and PPVs are no different. Twitter was a-buzz on Friday and Saturday as reported leaks from local Hartford, Connecticut media revealed who would be in the men’s and women’s MITB Ladder matches at the Money in the Bank PPV on May 19 from Hartford. But in a surprise, a third ladder match was leaked and it appears that NXT may be getting their own MITB briefcase in play this year, for a shot at the NXT Championship. As we’ve seen before, creative plans have changed before and cards have been switched, so for now take this with a grain of salt. But if they prove to be true, all three have some interesting stories that could potentially come out of these three matches.
Men’s MITB Ladder Match
A lot of fresh faces in this one, with only Rey Mysterio having previously held a World championship in the WWE. Joining Rey in the match, according to the leaked screenshots, will be Raw‘s Drew McIntyre, Cesaro and Ricochet, while from the Blue Brand, Aleister Black, Andrade, and Lars Sullivan round out the seven competitors.
Women’s MITB Ladder Match
The women’s ladder match features several former World champions, in SmackDown‘s Bayley and Carmella, plus Raw‘s Sasha Banks, Natalya, and Naomi. Rounding out the women’s seven are Raw‘s Tamina and SmackDown‘s Ember Moon and Sonya Deville. Becky Lynch will be defending the Raw Women’s title against Lacey Evans and the SmackDown Women’s title against Charlotte Flair at MITB, and while the lack of Asuka seems odd at first, she’ll likely be teaming with her new tag partner Kairi Sane against The IIconics for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles.
NXT MITB Ladder Match
This is the most intriguing of the three reveals, as it would be the first time NXT has had a proper match on one of the dual brand PPVs. While NXT stars have competed on the major PPVs before, it’s always been as a participant in a battle royal, like at the Royal Rumble or in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania. It’s an interesting group of seven chasing the first-ever NXT MITB briefcase, featuring top NXT stars Adam Cole, Matt Riddle , and Keith Lee, as well as Dominik Dijakovic and Forgotten Son‘s big man, Jaxson Ryker (formerly Gunner in TNA/IMPACT Wrestling). The final two are interesting choices, in former WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne (who may finally be making the move over from NXT UK) and Raw‘s Tyler Breeze. Breeze made a return to NXT television last December when he faced then-NXT North American Champion Ricochet, and earlier this week returned to working the NXT Live Events in Omaha, Nebraska and Davenport, Iowa.
