PPV PRIMER – WWE MONEY IN THE BANK 2023: Preview and predictions for both MITB ladder matches, Bloodline civil war, more

The WWE returns to England with a major show when they present Money in the Bank from the O2 Arena in London, England. The two eponymous matches usually lead to chaos as the winners of the Money in the Bank match are granted a title shot at a time and place of their choosing, sometimes leading to a title change the same night. The Bloodline saga continues as family faces family in the Bloodline Civil War. Seth Rollins, Gunther, and the team of Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler must each defend their titles from their vengeful opponents, Finn Balor, Riddle, and Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. And finally, can Dominik Mysterio prove himself against Cody Rhodes.

Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso

Story in a nutshell: At Night of Champions, Jimmy Uso finally had enough of Roman Reigns’s mistreatment of him a fought back, his brother Jey following him soon after in turning on Roman Reigns.

Displeased with Jey and Jimmy Uso’s performance as of late, Roman Reigns decided to take matters into his own hands by challenging Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens for their Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship at Night of Champions with Solo Sikoa as his partner. The Usos came out mid match to help Reigns and Solo but they accidentally superkicked Solo instead. An incensed Reign verbally and physically berated the Usos. Jimmy had enough and attacked Reigns, leading to his losing the match. Later Jimmy would explain his actions to Reigns. Jimmy said he was protecting his brother, that Reigns had let paranoia change him, and that he had been demeaning the Usos. Jimmy implored Reigns to keep the Bloodline together and dominate as a family of equals. Reigns appeared moved but it was a swerve and he ordered Solo to attack Jimmy.

Jey was left conflicted. Paul Heyman, under Reign’s direction, tried to convince Jey to stay with the Bloodline, claiming that Reigns was grooming Jey to become Reigns’s replacement as the next tribal chief of the Bloodline. Jey would agree to stay but only if Heyman was gone as Jey blamed Heyman for the change in Reigns. Finally faced with an ultimatum to make his decision, Jey sided with his twin brother igniting the Bloodline Civil War.

Prediction and analysis: One of the Usos could get the win to set up a championship match with Reigns for SummerSlam. However, I think Reigns and Solo win in a brutal manner, probably forcing one of the brothers to give up in order to save the other.

Seth Rollins (c) vs. Finn Balor – World Heavyweight Championship Match

Story in a nutshell: Having successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship from Damien Priest of the Judgement Day, Seth came face to face with Priest’s faction-mate, Finn Balor leading to this match and an opportunity for Finn to get revenge over a long-ago slight.

Seth Rollins promised that he would be a fighting champion as long as he was the World heavyweight Champion. One of his challengers was Damien Priest of the Judgment Day. Despite being asked not to by Priest, Finn Balor interfered in the match. Seth was able to retain anyway. After the match, Seth and Finn had a stare down. Later, Finn recalled how Seth Rollins injured him during their match at SummerSlam 2016 forcing Finn to vacate the Universal Title he won that night on the following Raw. Finn remembered Seth smiling as he was forced to relinquish the title. Finn said he wanted to take away Seth’s title at Money in the Bank as revenge.

Prediction and analysis: Seth retains. However, if the Men’s Money in the Bank match happens before this one, there are several wrestlers that can cash it in on the same night. Logan Paul in order to set up another Paul/Seth match, LA Knight since he’s a crowd favorite and as an excuse to get him on to Raw, or Damien Priest to set up a program between him and Balor now that they’ve teased a bit of friction there.

Men’s Money in the Bank Match

Story in a nutshell: A briefcase containing a contract for a WWE title shot is suspended in the air and seven wrestlers vie to retrieve it in a ladder match.

Ricochet, LA Knight, Santos Escobar, Butch, Damien Priest, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Logan Paul are all entrants for the match. The goal is to climb a ladder and retrieve a briefcase suspended above the ring. Inside is a contract that grants the holder a title shot at a place and time of their choosing.

Prediction and analysis: Butch, Ricochet, Shinsuke, and Santos have a snowball’s chance here in Miami, in that order of likelihood.

This leaves us first with my choice to win, Logan Paul. He’s lost his matches thus far so having him carry the briefcase is an easy way for him to get another top match at SummerSlam or a Saudi Arabia show. Plus, he can carry the briefcase around as he makes his media rounds.

Second is Damien Priest. He’s shown signs of turning babyface and there was a subtle bit of friction between him and Balor. Priest having (or possibly cashing in) the briefcase can exacerbate a split.

Finally, there is LA Knight. The fans have taken a shine to him, but as a heel he is contending with Reigns on Smackdown. Cashing in on Rollins can serve as a way to get Knight onto Raw. If Triple H were still one hundred percent in charge of creative, this would probably be my pick but with Vince McMahon’s influence over creative, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Women’s Money in the Bank Match

Story in a nutshell: A briefcase containing a contract for a WWE title shot is suspended in the air and six wrestlers vie to retrieve it in a ladder match.

Becky Lynch, Zelina Vega, Trish Stratus, Zoey Stark, Bayley, and Iyo Sky are all the entrants for the match. The goal is to climb a ladder and retrieve a briefcase suspended above the ring. Inside is a contract that grants the holder a title shot at a place and time of their choosing.

Prediction and analysis: The one that would make the most sense to win this is Iyo Sky. Iyo and her faction mate Bayley have been showing friction so Bayley breaking things off with Iyo over jealousy makes sense (it can lead to the briefcase being on the line at SummerSlam). My doubts set in again due to Vince McMahon’s influence over creative. The legend Trish hasn’t held it so I can see Vince giving it to her. I expect Becky and Zoey to take each other out (and possibly Trish) to set up a SummerSlam match that may involve a vengeful Lita. Bayley’s got her thing with Iyo. Zelina is a dark horse. Commentary has emphasized that the women have a one hundred percent successful cash in rate. She’s seen a groundswell of support, can slap an LWO sticker on the thing, and ultimately fail in her cash in attempt.

Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio

Story in a nutshell: After Dominik Mysterio disrespected and slapped Cody Rhodes on a Miz TV segment, Cody challenged Dominik to a match.

Cody Rhodes, still selling a (kayfabe) broken arm, was the special guest on Miz TV. During the segment, Miz said that Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley were also special guests. Dominik and Cody got into an exchange of words. Dominik sucker slapped Cody and ran off. Later, Cody interrupted Ripley’s championship presentation in order to challenge Dominick to a match. Since then, Dominik has engaged in hit and run attacks on Cody.

Prediction and analysis: Brock Lesnar attacks Cody setting up a rubber match for SummerSlam. Hopefully this ends up leading to a Dominik victory since that would make wrestling social media really fun for a bit.

Gunther(c) vs. Matt Riddle – WWE Intercontinental Championship Match

Story in a nutshell: Despite a series of attacks orchestrated by Gunther and his Imperium faction leaving him depleted; Riddle nonetheless challenged Gunther for this WWE Intercontinental Championship.

A Battle Royal was held to determine Gunther’s opponent for Night of Champions. Matt Riddle was eliminated thanks to interference from Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci and Gunther’s behest. There were several back-and-forth ambushes and retributive attacks, one of which left Riddle with an injured leg. Riddle then challenged Gunther for the title and Gunther accepted.

Prediction and analysis: Riddle’s kind of come out of this as a bit of a chump so I don’t like the idea of him losing here. I like the idea of Gunther’s historic title reign ending under these conditions even less. I have Gunther retaining the title. Riddle stock can rebound once Randy Orton returns which I hope happens before SummerSlam.

Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez – WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Match

Story in a nutshell: Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez try to recapture the titles they were forced to vacate due to an injury to Liv Morgan.

Then WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez were forced to relinquish the titles due to an injury to Liv Morgan’s shoulder. A fatal four-way match was held to crown the next champions. Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey won the match, becoming the new champions. NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn stepped up and a match to unify the two championships was set. Baszler and Rousey won the unification match. Raquel Rodriguez was at ringside for the match and when her presence was questioned, she said she wanted a match and introduce a returning Liv Morgan.

Prediction and analysis: Baszler and Rousey should hold on to the titles for a long time to build some equity on those titles.

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