WWE Money in the Bank 2019
Hartford, Connecticut at the XL Center
We’ll be providing live results and review throughout tonight’s Money In The Bank event, so check back often or keep refreshing the page. We’re also doing some tweeting throughout the show, so give us a follow on Twitter and join the convo!
KICKOFF SHOW: Daniel Bryan & Rowan vs. The Usos – We incorrectly listed this match as being a Smackdown Tag Team Championship match earlier; note that this is a non-title match. Daniel and Rowan made their entrance first, and The Usos came out trying to do some comedy regarding SpongeBob. Pretty standard tag match with both teams trading momentum back and forth. Since it was a non-title match, The Usos picked up the win because champions in WWE can’t win when the titles aren’t on the line. Apparently, despite being on RAW, The Usos are in contention for a Smackdown Tag Team title shot.
WINNERS: The Usos via pinfall.
MONEY IN THE BANK 2019 LIVE RESULTS & REVIEW
We’re kicking things off tonight with the Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match!
A graphic displayed in memory of Ashley Massaro, who passed away late last week at the age of 39.
#1. Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Naomi vs. Natalya vs. Nikki Cross vs. Dana Brooke vs. Bayley vs. Mandy Rose vs. Ember Moon vs. Carmella – A combination of the RAW and Smackdown commentary teams is calling this one. Just about 10 minutes into the start of the show, all the women haven’t even finished getting in the ring yet.
Early in, Nikki Cross took out most of the women by spinning the ladder around. She was stopped by Dana Brooke who then played tug of war with Ember Moon over ladder. Two minutes into the match, there’s already six women laying outside the ring and two ladders in the ring as Natalya and Carmella go at it. Naomi back in to take out those two, before getting taken out by Mandy Rose and a third ladder. Mandy then removed from the ring by Bayley.
All the women minus Carmella back in the ring allowing Naomi to do some athletic spots including a split to avoid being sandwiched by ladders. Carmella is being escorted to the back by doctors, so it appears she is injured to some degree. Doesn’t seem like a story thing, but we’ll see if she is able to return. Bayley and Dana Brooke exchanging blows, with Bayley hitting a sunsit flip on Dana onto a ladder.
Mandy and Natalya sandwiched Bayley inside the ladder. Natalya taken out by a spear from Nikki Cross. Cue a series of different women climbing the ladder trying to sneak the title down. Dana knocks the ladder over onto Nikki Cross to be the last woman in the ring. She climbs the ladder, grabs the cord the briefcase is hanging on and dangled from it while Mandy Rose stood on the ladder trying to pull her down. Nikki then scampered up the ladder while numerous women fought on the ladder. She failed to grab it despite having her hands all over it. The ladder got knocked over, then Ember Moon dove off another ladder to hit a cutter on Natalya before being promptly dispatched of by Mandy Rose.
Mandy had plenty of time to climb the ladder, but played around until she spotted Carmella limping back down the asile. Mandy left the ring to go after Carmella, only to be taking out by Carmella. Carmella began climbing the ladder only to be stopped by Sonya Deville. Sonya carried Mandy on her shoulders and climbed the ladder with her and then boosted her up. Mandy had her hands on the briefcase by was stopped by Bayley who knocked her off. Bayley grabs the briefcase.
WINNER: Bayley
This was a pretty lousy ladder match all things considered. Too much of the formula WWE has for these matches of people just laying around for ungodly amounts of time. Nothing major happened, and yet everyone but Bayley and Mandy Rose was apparently knocked out for what felt like a solid four minutes allowing Bayley to get the easy win. Unintentional comedy throughout.
**
Sami Zayn talked to Triple H backstage. He was concerned about Braun Strowman. Triple H told him Braun wasn’t there and was banned from the building. Sami still wanted some protection.
Rey Mysterio was shown getting ready for his match. Dominic came in to give him a hug. Can the kid get off TV please? Why is he backstage all the time?
#2: United States Championship Match: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Rey Mysterio – Rey Mysterio made his entrance first. Love Samoa Joe’s entrance, best music in the game right now. Joe wasted no time taking Mysterio down with repeated kicks to the leg. Mysterio back to his feet turned things around quickly with help from his speed getting in a flurry of offense including a hurricarana and a seated senton.
Joe’s nose and eye appears to be busted open. Joe chopped Rey down and then went for a powerbomb, but Rey countered and picked up the quick surprise pinfall to win the US Championship. A bleeding Joe looked on in shock. Corey Graves pointed out, and replay confirmed, that Samoa Joe’s shoulder was up.
WINNER AND NEW US Champion: Rey Mysterio via pinfall.
Samoa Joe returned to attack Mysterio on the ramp and then back in the ring. Dominic looked on from the ramp and pleaded with Joe to stop. Joe stared down Dominic before attacking Mysterio again. Joe then left the ring as Dominic checked on his dad.
The match was quick and had a screwy finish, so I’m giving it one star. Maybe one day these two will get a good match at a PPV after two straight flukes.
*
Braun Strowman was shown tearing stuff up backstage.
The Steel Cage is being set up at ringside as we get to watch a video package.
#3: Steel Cage Match: Shane McMahon vs. The Miz – Shane McMahon out first. Shane immediately makes a bee-line to try to climb out the ladder but was caught by Miz and pulled back down. He tried it two more times before being backed into a corner by Miz and then kicked repeatedly. Shane quickly on his knees on the receiving end of the YES Kicks by Miz. Shane caught the last one and then powerbombed Miz into the cage before putting the boots to him.
Shane with his laughable jabs on Miz before moving on to quick knee shots. Shane threw Miz back into the cage, and then did so again. Shane with a near-fall.
Shane got Miz in the corner and now he’s going Coast to Coast. Miz jumped up and caught McMahon in the air, then locked in a Figure 4-Leg Lock. Shane crawled towards the rope and then partly out the door before Miz broke the hold. Shane fought a little and almost made it out the door before being pulled back in. Shane did manage to grab a chair, but was unable to use it as he was kicked in the face by Miz. Both men scramble for the chair, which Miz got to first. Shane begged and then tried to run on his knees to the door. Miz began hitting Shane with the chair and closed the door on Shane’s head before resuming attacks with the chair.
Miz hit a Skull-Crushing Finale onto the chair. McMahon got his foot on the rope so the ref broke the count while the announcers screamed about there being no rules and that shouldn’t break the count. The fans chanted bullshit. Cole wondered if the ref was concerned about his job. Miz tried a Skull Crushing Finale from the top rope but was thwarted by Shane. Shane then tried climbing out before being attacked by Miz with a chair again. Shane continued to climb and was joined on top of the cage by Miz. The two exchanged blows on the top. Miz got Shane back in the ring by repeatedly slamming his head into the cage.
Miz hit a splash from the top rope for a near-fall.
Shane took advantage with a triangle submission, but Miz countered into a pinfall attempt forcing Shane to break it. Shane tried to escape out the door again, was stopped. Tried to climb out again, and was once more stopped. Miz tried for a Superplex from the top of the cage, but Shane escaped. Miz then pulled Shane’s shirt off as Shane managed to escape the cage to pick up the win.
WINNER: Shane McMahon
The match itself was entertaining and the two worked hard. It wasn’t a great cage match by any stretch, but it was servicable. Of course Miz had the match won until the stupid ref spot, and then Shane gets another fluke win this time by falling to victory.
It was announced that Mick Foley will be on RAW tomorrow night to announce WWE’s newest title. Apparently WWE doesn’t have enough meaningless championships, so now we need a new one. Absurd.
Triple H and officials were shown rushing backstage to Sami Zayn, who was hanging by his feet.
#4: Cruiserweight Championship Match: Tony Nese (c) vs. Ariya Daivari – Champion out first. Daivari arrived driving a Mercedes out on the stage. A series of counters to start the match. Daivari has gotten the momentum by raking Nese’s eyes. Nese swings and misses with punches, selling that he can’t see. The 205 Live commentary team adds to this by stating that you can’t hit what you can’t see. It’s the simple things that work.
Nese began to turn things around and as the announces pointed out that his vision is returning. Nese’s advantage is short lived as Daivari quickly resumes control.
The match is pretty entertaining, the commentary is great, but the match is being hurt by the crowd. They’re just not into it, and that’s a shame.
Nese with a dive to the outside and then a quick 450 back in the ring, but Daivari kicks out at two.
Daivari with a Superkick followed by a Persian Lion Splash and a hook lariat, but Nese kicks out and immediately takes control. Nese with the pinfall win following a running knee to the face in the corner.
WINNER AND STILL Cruiserweight Champion, Tony Nese.
A really entertaining match with some good spots and nice sequences. The 205 Live commentary team was on point too. Shame the crowd wasn’t into it. Good stuff from these two. A little shorter than I would’ve liked, and the finish just seemed to happen, but then I’m not familiar with either as I don’t watch 205 Live.
Backstage, Triple H asked Strowman to leave the building and stated that he won’t be taking Sami’s spot.
A video aired hyping up the Goldberg vs. Undertaker match coming up in two weeks at Super Showdown.
Michael Cole informs us that Sami Zayn has been taking to a medical facility. Sami is no longer in the MITB match, and neither is Bruan. Who will take his place?
A video package aired showcasing Lacey Evans and her feud with Becky Lynch.
#5: RAW Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Lacey Evans – Lacey came out first and she was brandishing two pistols that shot money out. Great entrance. Becky with the early advantage, taking down Lacey and sliding into her outside the ring. Becky throws her into the barricade and then into the apron before tossing her back into the ring.
Lacey gets the momentum back in the ring. The crowd is firmly behind Becky, despite the fact that Lacey Evans is the best thing going in the women’s division. Lacey working over the left arm of Becky. Lacey with a springboard elbow drop for the nearfall before resuming work on the left shoulder.
Becky takes control and hits a flying forearm from the top rope. She follows it up with a series of clotheslines. Kick to the gut followed by the Beckplex. Becky partly connected with a dropkick from the top rope to knock Lacey out of the ring. Becky gets her back inside for a near-fall.
Becky with another near-fall and then the Disarmher, but Lacey got the ropes. Lacey had a pinfall for a solid five seconds or so, but the ref never got into position to make a count. Becky got it locked in again and Lacey tapped.
WINNER AND STILL RAW Women’s Champion, Becky Lynch.
**
Not a great match, but not bad either. I’m not sure why the officials are supposed to act dumb tonight.
#6. Smackdown Women’s Championship Match: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Charlotte Flair – Charlotte immediately made her way out to the ring and said to start the match. The announcers noted that Becky could return to the back because the match wasn’t scheduled to take place at this time. Becky got back in the ring and handed the title to the ref, who called for the bell. So it’s official now.
Charlotte with the quick advantage, but Becky fights her way back into it. Charlotte went to the top rope only to be caught by Becky and bodyslammed from the top, a nice homage to her father who was caught just about every time he went to the top.
Charlotte locks in a Boston Crab but Becky makes it to the ropes. Back on their feet, the two women exchange as series of punches before Charlotte gets the upper hand. It’s short lived however.
Lacey Evans returned to and hit Becky with the Woman’s Right while the ref was counting Charlotte out. Charlotte back in the ring picks up the pinfall victory.
WINNER AND NEW Smackdown Women’s Champion, Charlotte Flair.
**
This match mostly consisted of elbow shots and knees, but a few decent spots. Becky jumped on Lacey after the match to get her payback. Charlotte came to Lacey’s aid and attacked Becky from behind. Lacey and Charlotte tossed Becky back in the and began beating on her.
#7: Bayley rushed the ring to make the save. She then cashed in her Money In The Bank briefcase on Charlotte and pinned her following an elbow drop from the top.
WINNER AND NEW Smackdown Women’s Champion, Bayley.
*
Obviously one star for the cheap cash-in that’s not a real match. But besides the technicality of it, it was entertaining and that’s what counts. Seems cheap for Bayley’s character, but at least that’s one character we don’t have to see carry the briefcase around for months.
Bayley celebrated in the crowd with the WWE Universe.
Elias nailed Roman Reigns with a guitar backstage and then made his way to the ring. He had another guitar and did his usual routine. Funny as usual, and he got to do the whole song without interruption.
#8: Roman Reigns vs. Elias – As he was leaving, Roman’s music hit and he connected with a Superman Punch on the ramp. Roman tossed Elias into the ring, the ref rung the bell, and Roman hit a spear for the pinfall.
WINNER, Roman Reigns.
*
A four second match. One spear. Not a fan. Elias deserves better than this nonsense.
#9: WWE Universal Championship Match: Seth Rollins (c) vs. AJ Styles – Styles out first. Nice feeling out to start with, the slowest pace we’ve seen to a match start tonight.
Sorry for the lack of updates. I’ve actually been enjoying this match instead of spending most of the time writing about it. Also checking out the Game of Thrones finale.
A cool spot where Rollins went for the stomp but AJ intercepted him and hit the Styles Clash, but Seth kicked out. This has been a great match.
Seth Rollins gets the pinfall victory after the Stomp.
WINNER AND STILL Universal Champion, Seth Rollins.
Really great match, and easily the best thing on this event thus far. AJ returned after the match and shook Seth’s hand. This match lived up the hype and met expectations. Hopefully we can revisit it in a few months.
Kofi Kingston gave an interview backstage with Xavier Woods.
#10: Lucha House Party vs. Lars Sullivan – Apparently this wasn’t a match. Lars just destroyed the three of them. Pointless.
#10: WWE Championship Match: Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Kevin Owens – Owens out first. I’m having Network difficulties, so we’ll see what happens.
Kofi gets the clean pinfall.
WINNER AND STILL WWE Champion, Kofi Kingston.
Sorry, I can’t rate this match. What I saw of it was great, but I’m having constant buffering here so I missed a lot of it.
Xavier Woods joined Kofi in celebration.
#11: Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Baron Corbin vs. Ali vs. Randy Orton vs. Ricochet vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Finn Balor vs. Andrade – There’s only seven folks out there right now. The story is still that Sami went to the hospital and Braun has been removed from the building.
Baron and Drew have been working together some, taking turns throwing the others into ladders. Randy Orton nails Baron Corbin with his signature rope DDT and goes for an RKO only to catch a Claymore kick from Drew.
Andrade and Finn Balor fought on top of the ladder. Andrade nailed a nasty sunset flip powerbomb from the top of the ladder onto another ladder, which sent Balor bouncing. Nasty. Ali with a DDT on Corbin and then takes out Orton, Drew and Ricochet.
Ali climbs the ladder slowly but gets pulled off by Andrade. Andrade sets up another ladder and he and Ali fought at the top of two of them. Ali takes them out and later gets chokeslammed through announcers table by Corbin.
Corbin nails Ricochet with the Deep Six outside the ring, and then got hit with a Claymore Kick from McIntyre.
This match has been pure chaos.
Finn was close to the briefcase but was stopped by McIntyre. Drew slammed Andrade on top of Balor who was laying on a ladder. McIntyre then set up a ladder but was knocked down by Ricochet. Ricochet began climbing buy was stopped by Drew. McIntyre tossed Ricochet over the top rope through a ladder that was propped up on the apron and desk.
Drew climbed the ladder but was pulled off by Randy Orton into an RKO. Corbin then took out Randy and began climbing the ladder but was stopped by Ali who dumped him over the top rope. Ali sets up the ladder and again begins slowly climbing. Ali had his hands on the briefcase when Brock Lesnar stormed the ring and pushed over the ladder.
Lesnar then set up the ladder and climbed it and pulled down the briefcase.
WINNER, Brock Lesnar.
Great ladder match with a terrible finish. I can’t knockoff for the tremendous work seven guys did, but Lesnar coming down as the eighth man to win is stupid. Especially makes Ali look stupid because he had his hands on the briefcase and watched Lesnar come down to the ramp instead of just taking it down.
Not happy about Brock being back, not at all.
Overall, this was a two, possibly three match show (I’ll need to go back and actually get to watch Kofi/Owens). By and large though, this was a pretty bad show. Some good action, but poor booking and some really bad officiating spots and logic displayed throughout. Just not good.
Vortainment 