 Cody Rhodes Confronted The Judgment Day; Rhodes def. The MizRhea Ripley was presented with a new Women's World Championship belt by Adam Pearce to kick off the show. You had to know that was coming after Asuka got a new title belt last Friday on SmackDown. It's basically the World Heavyweight Championship with a white strap, but it looks better than the WWE Women's Championship in my opinion. Rhodes interrupted her and Dominik Mysterio like they interrupted him on Miz TV last week, leading to Rhodes vs. Mysterio being made official for Money in the Bank. Both are so over in their current roles that it should be quite the electric environment in London. Meanwhile, Rhodes and Miz always work well together and they had a quality contest, but it's virtually impossible to care about anything Miz is involved in at this point. Becky Lynch def. Chelsea GreenLynch cut a promo beforehand about the importance of winning Money in the Bank for the first time in her career when she was interrupted by Zoey Stark, who received decent heat while she was talking. This wasn't her strongest promo, but I still like that we got to hear from her on her own for the first time. That's how you establish new talent, along with giving them reps on the mic. Lynch vs. Green was well wrestled, but there was no mystery surrounding the outcome and it probably didn't need to last as long as it did. Damian Priest def. Matt Riddle to Qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder MatchPriest and Riddle have always had top-notch chemistry together, so unsurprisingly, this was a really good match. I figured Riddle would win since he's teased winning Money in the Bank and cashing in on Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship, but I'm glad Priest advanced instead. There's a story to tell with him teasing tension with Balor, and with Imperium attacking Riddle afterward, Gunther vs. Riddle for the Intercontinental title can still happen at Money in the Bank. Bronson Reed def. Ricochet by DisqualificationReed interrupted Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura last week by attacking both men, so Ricochet was out for revenge here. Much like a few weeks ago, they had an enjoyable affair. I like their dynamic, but Nakamura attacked Reed and caused the contest to be thrown out before it could really get going. Nakamura will face Reed one-on-one again next week. I'm glad Reed was able to stand tall two weeks in a row, but it's a bummer he won't be joining these men in the Money in the Bank Ladder match. World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins Accepted Finn Balor's Challenge for Money in the BankThe crowd was too concerned with singing Rollins' theme song to listen to what Balor had to say, but I thought he cut a strong promo and I appreciated his intensity. Him blaming Rollins for injuring him and cutting his hot momentum short back in 2016 was a great direction to go in. The issue is that Rollins already beat Balor clean a month ago, so he hardly feels like a threat. They'll have an entertaining encounter at Money in the Bank, if nothing else. WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Shayna Baszler def. Raquel RodriguezI'm all for Baszler and Ronda Rousey pulling double duty on Raw and SmackDown for the time being to boost the credibility of the tag titles, but a reason for this match happening would've been nice. I realize Rodriguez has had her issues with Baszler and Rousey in the past, but this had no setup and the crowd didn't care. The fact it was so short didn't help, either. Rodriguez needs a hard reset from a character standpoint now she's on her own again. Chad Gable def. ErikAlpha Academy vs. The Viking Raiders is a fine feud to have in the tag team division outside of the title picture, but based on the reactions these guys have gotten, it doesn't seem like too many fans are invested. Alpha Academy have organically gotten over as babyfaces, but it didn't make this match any more exciting. It was quick and painless, so at least there was that. I'm shocked Viking Raiders even get a televised entrance at this point. Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens def. Imperium (Intercontinental Champion Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser)This match was already advertised coming into this episode, but it turned into a tag title match earlier in the episode. I don't know if Giovanni Vinci is legitimately injured or not, but I was very much down for Owens and Gunther going at it again one week removed from their terrific television match. This was another above-average main event with all four working wonderfully together. That final stretch was next level stuff. Riddle running down to ringside and distracting Imperium at the end furthered that feud as well and protected Imperium in defeat. Overall ShowWhile this wasn't on par with last week's show in my opinion (and I'm biased because I was in Hartford live for that show), it was still a solid three hours on the whole. We found out the final man in the men's Money in the Bank Ladder match as well as what the World Heavyweight Championship match will be on that pay-per-view, and we got a splendid tag title main event to boot. Plus, Ripley finally has a new belt and the SmackDown Women's Championship is no more. Most of the matches were predictable and it didn't make this episode overly exciting (the third hour in particular dragged), but the build for Money in the Bank was well done and I wasn't totally bored.
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