WWE Money in the Bank Review - July 2, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Liv Morgan def. Becky Lynch, Lacey Evans, Raquel Rodriguez, Asuka, Alexa Bliss and Shotzi to Win the Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

I applaud all of the women for their effort, but I just didn't think this was very good at all. It certainly had its moments, but for whatever reason, there were a number of sloppy spots and it felt very disjointed on the whole. The best thing this match had going for it is that almost anyone (okay, except for Shotzi) realistically could have won, so there was suspense surrounding who would win. I wanted Morgan to win the most, but I didn't actually think she would, so that was quite the pleasantly surprising finish. You could tell it meant a lot to her and the audience ate it up.

Bobby Lashley def. Theory to Win the United States Championship

The feud between these two has been pretty pedestrian stuff in recent weeks, so it wasn't as if I was extremely excited for this coming into the event. Despite that, they went in there and had a really fun match. Lashley and Theory had much stronger chemistry than I was expecting and the crowd was super into Lashley, which is why I didn't mind Lashley winning the title. It also made more sense seeing what they did with Theory at the end of the night. Lashley is a great choice as champ in the absence of a world title holder on Raw right now.

Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair def. Carmella

The moment Carmella was named Rhea Ripley's replacement in this match, the outcome became extremely predictable. That said, they had a good, well-worked outing. Carmella definitely doesn't get the credit she deserves for improving as much as she has in the last five or six years. It's just a shame she's been slotted at the bottom of the division with the way she's been booked. Carmella's post-match attack on Belair indicates the feud isn't over yet, but I'm just waiting for Ripley to be cleared so we can get her against Belair for SummerSlam.

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos def. The Street Profits

Not only are these teams simply incapable of having bad matches together, this was arguably their best to date. I mean, this was seriously stellar stuff. WWE doesn't take tag team wrestling seriously more often than not (look at how depleted the division is), but the talent never cease to deliver and that was the case with this contest. Once they picked up the pace, they had the crowd invested in the action. This stole the show and I have no issue with them running it back with Montez Ford drawing attention to how he had his shoulder up during the finish.

SmackDown Women's Champion Ronda Rousey def. Natalya; Liv Morgan def. Rousey to Win the SmackDown Women's Championship (Money in the Bank Cash-In)

WWE really, really tried to get you to care about this match prior to the pay-per-view, and although some of their verbal jabs were clever, it was impossible to take Natalya seriously as a threat to the title. This was a technically sound match and not bad by any means, but the live crowd sat on their hands for almost all of it and I don't blame them one bit. Morgan cashing in her contract immediately afterward was certainly unexpected, though. I feared she'd become the first woman to lose her cash-in, but I'm glad WWE resisted that urge. Yes, it's definitely lazy that WWE continues to have the women cash in within 24 hours (this was the fifth straight year), but I'm happy Morgan had her moment. Now the question is, does she lose the title to either Rousey or Charlotte Flair at SummerSlam? I hate I'm even suggesting that, but this is WWE we're talking about and I sadly don't see her reign lasting long.

Theory def. Riddle, Seth "Freakin" Rollins, Sami Zayn, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Madcap Moss and Omos to Win the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Needless to say, this was a vast improvement over the opener. Adam Pearce introducing Theory as the eighth entrant right before the bout started telegraphed the finish for a lot of people, but personally, I still thought Rollins would win and Theory was only put in there to throw people off the scene. I'm in the minority of those who don't mind him winning because at least he's a fresh face with potential. Should he cash in successfully to become champion within the next month or two? I think that'd be very premature, but in time, he could be a bigger star with the right buildup and that should be when they pull the trigger on him (maybe by next spring?). The match itself was very entertaining and closed the show on a high note.

Overall Show

This installment of Money in the Bank probably had one of the weakest builds in years (the fact there was no world title match didn't help), and yet it still ended up being one of WWE's better shows all year I thought. The women's Money in the Bank Ladder match was messy and the two women's title matches were predictable, but the men's Ladder match, the United States Championship match and the tag title match were all excellent. The three hours flew by and the lively Las Vegas crowd added to my enjoyment of the event. Say what you will about the weekly product, but they've been putting out above-average pay-per-views all 2022 long and this was no exception.

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