WWE‘s Money In The Bank premium live event is beginning to come together, and the qualifying bouts for the titular match have made the event feel like a big deal. While the fights to get into the MITB ladder match aren’t always great, the names involved to this point have lent a good deal of gravity to the chance to win the briefcase.
This is easier said than done. AEW recently came under a tremendous amount of fire for the wrestlers they booked in the battle royal match that acted as a portal to a chance to become interim world champion. None of the five highest-ranked wrestlers were involved in that bout, and former champions such as Chris Jericho and Hangman Adam Page were left on the outside looking in too. This while John Silver, Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn and Daniel Garcia essentially received a chance to potentially fight for AEW’s top prize at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.
They were never going to win, of course, but the lack of quality competition watered down what should have been an exciting string of events for AEW on the back of CM Punk’s devastating injury. WWE has gone in a different direction with their Money In The Bank qualifying matches so far, and they deserve credit for doing so. The pay-per-view feels like it has high stakes because of how high-end the first few qualifying bouts have been. Having AJ Styles and Seth Rollins fight for the right to be in the match makes it feel like a big deal. Having Asuka and Becky Lynch wrestle to be in the match has a similar effect. The fact that only one former champion can win each bout gives added weight to the outcomes and the Money In The Bank match itself.
Of course, Omos seems like he’s going to get a free ticket on the men’s side and Lacey Evans against Xia Li wasn’t a barnburner. They can’t all be home runs. Asuka and Becky Lynch will be, though, and Styles against Rollins was solid enough. WWE is getting these qualifying matches largely correct. This also opens the door for high-end talent to be entangled elsewhere on the card instead of everyone just being involved in the titular ladder match. Styles’ days as a credible threat to Roman Reigns are long gone, so why not give the Phenomenal One something else to do at Money In The Bank, for instance. Perhaps a one-on-one match with Judgement Day’s new leader in Finn Balor is in order.
The upcoming match between Lynch and Asuka is similarly outstanding. Those two could main event nearly every show WWE puts on, yet they’ll be doing battle simply for the right to secure the Money In The Bank briefcase. There’s a larger story at play between those two, but it’s still an awesome qualifier match to go alongside Styles versus Rollins.
