Opinion
Rewriting The Book: 2019 Money In The Bank Entrants
What do you think of these suggested MITB competitors, and how Abe got there?
Abe takes an alternative route to the 2019 WWE Money In The Bank Ladder Matches.
Welcome to our first installment of Rewriting the Book! Normally you would be reading something called “Writing the Book” where I try to book current wrestling events or storylines from scratch. This time, I’m going to be rewriting something WWE has already presented on screen. Our own Greg DeMarco wanted me to try this idea awhile back and I had a hard time thinking of something worth digging deep into. That was until last week’s episodes of Raw and Smackdown.
The 2019 Money in the Bank entrants were revealed for the men and women of both brands. There’s the first problem: they were revealed. I’m not a big fan of the participants of a marquee match simply being announced. I would prefer them earn it through qualifying matches. It gives the fans stars to rally behind leading up to the pay-per-view and establishes credibility. There’s no storytelling in a PSA. Plus, it fills the five hours of weekly programming with matches to invest in rather than inconsequential tag matches with the Money In The Bank participants.
Last year I wrote an article where I was able to make a case for the majority of the participants coming away with the briefcase. This year, not so much. At the most, I can see two people in each match realistically winning unless they really give someone a surprising push. That being said, let’s see what changes we can make.
2019 WWE Money In The Bank: Men’s Entrants
- Raw: Braun Strowman, Baron Corbin, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre
- Smackdown: Randy Orton, Andrade, Finn Balor, Ali
Braun and Corbin have to go. They’re the last two winners of the men’s MITB and they both failed to cash it in. Why are they allowed to compete again so soon? The match is advertised to change careers and you have two guys in it that directly contradict the biggest appeal. It’s like if I was watching Jeopardy and all three contestants were ex-winners that already irresponsibly blew their prize money. Why would I want them to win again? Why is Jeopardy giving them a second chance a year later?
On the Smackdown side, I’d take Randy and Finn out. Randy is a 12-time World Champion. He has no business in this match. Money in the Bank matches are supposed to elevate that guy that’s been on the cusp of a push for awhile. Finn Balor is already holding the Intercontinental Championship. From a fan standpoint, nobody expects him to win because he already has a belt. From the kayfabe perspective, why did Finn qualify and not Samoa Joe? If the logic is to give the secondary champion a spot, then Joe should have gotten in over Ricochet who lost the week prior to Robert Roode.
Qualifying Matches
The winners are underlined. Person taking the pin is italicized in non-singles matches.
- Drew McIntyre v. Rey Mysterio v. Samoa Joe
- Robert Roode v. Ricochet
- Cesaro v. Baron Corbin
- Braun Strowman v. The Miz v. Bobby Lashley
Give Joe and Rey a logical qualifying match that still allows them to continue their feud. Roode beat Ricochet last week so put them in a rematch that means something. Cesaro is done with The Bar so repackage him as a babyface and give him the run that injuries never allowed him to have. Put Braun in a qualifying match that he doesn’t have to actually lose. Have Lashley and Braun in a kickoff show match then start the Lashley and Miz feud after MITB.
According to my previous logic, The Miz shouldn’t be here because he’s a former WWE Champ. Well, his only reign was years ago and he needs something fresh as a newly-minted babyface. Plus, he’s a more realistic winner than someone like Lashley or Roode.
- Andrade v. Roman Reigns
- Elias v. Ali
- Aleister Black v. Shinsuke Nakamura v. Rusev
- Randy Orton v. R-Truth v. Lars Sullivan v. Finn Balor
You can still have the Elias and Roman feud but just change how we get there. Roman loses to Andrade due to interference from Shane and Elias. Roman then returns the favor and helps Ali earn his way into the match. Elias would have been great among the qualifying field but pairing him with Roman makes more sense than only removing Roman. Both have to fail.
I originally had Black and Nakamura in a singles match but it felt wrong to leave Rusev out. Nakamura and Rusev appear to have run their course as a team so this loss can plant a seed for a split. Lars stays looking like a monster while still telling the R-Truth story. Randy and Finn still get their deserved qualifying match because they’re high-profile stars. However, the last qualifying match begins a feud between Balor and Orton and the IC Title gets defended at the PPV.
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2019 WWE Money In The Bank: Women’s Entrants
- Raw: Alexa Bliss, Natalya, Dana Brooke, Naomi
- Smackdown: Bayley, Mandy Rose, Ember Moon, Carmella
Carmella and Alexa both had successful cash-ins only two months apart last year so nobody truly believes they’ll win again. I’m going to give Bayley the lone automatic bid for almost defeating Becky Lynch the previous week. Kairi Sane would have been great to launch with MITB but it looks like tag team gold is already in her future.
Qualifying Matches
- Ruby Riott v. Natalya
- Tamina v. Dana Brooke
- Alexa Bliss v. Naomi
- Nikki Cross v. Sarah Logan
Last year Ruby Riott would have been my pick to win the Money in the Bank match except SHE WASN’T IN THE MATCH. Just like last year, Ruby falls into the category of the ideal person to push but she was excluded yet again for whatever reason. I’m a fan of Dana getting opportunities but just give her more credibility by picking up a clean win. Alexa vs. Naomi was a tough one for me. Alexa is in a similar place as Miz. She’s transitioning to a babyface with growing fan support. Sadly, last year’s win was the tiebreaker. Finally, let’s start using Nikki Cross.
- Mandy Rose v. Carmella
- Ember Moon v. Lana v. Liv Morgan
- Mickie James v. Sonya Deville v. Zelina Vega
There’s been growing tension between Sonya and Mandy for months now. There’s no better way to stimulate that tension than to put them in a match where they both want the same prize.
Rewritten Men’s WWE Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Drew McIntyre v. Ricochet v. Cesaro v. The Miz v. Andrade v. Aleister Black v. Lars Sullivan v. Ali
I noticed WWE evenly balanced the babyfaces and heels in the current men’s match which was surely intentional. When looking through the roster, I found it incredibly difficult to pivot off of that so I do understand why some of these entrants got it. In order to find the best result, I decided not to stick to that rule. It’s still 5-3 in favor of the babyfaces so not terribly unbalanced and now you have more to root for.
One might say that there are too many unfamiliar faces in my rewritten version. I agree, but this match is supposed to make new stars. I know newer guys like Lars and Aleister can more quickly legitimize themselves with creative control in a big match.
Rewritten Women’s WWE Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Ruby Riott v. Dana Brooke v. Naomi v. Nikki Cross v. Bayley v. Mandy Rose v. Ember Moon v. Sonya Deville
I don’t think anybody actually believes Alexa, Natalya, or Carmella are going to win at Money in the Bank. Alexa’s momentum build can be saved for after the PPV because we’re not going to hope for a repeat MITB victory anyway. You take away three women with a lack of investment and you give the spots to three underutilized talents who are ready to step up. Now the field looks a little more competitive. There’s only three total title reigns across the eight women rather than eleven.
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Opinion
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Opinion
AJ’s Top 3 Favorite SummerSlams
AJ is back with his annual opinion article, and this time the SummerSlam buzz got him wondering about his personal Top 3.
It’s been a while since I have done any form of writing and SummerSlam is this Saturday. Of all the SummerSlams I’ve seen over the years; which ones are my favorites? While it’s not a revolutionary idea, I figured everyone loves to debate favorites of well, anything. Don’t worry though because this isn’t just going to be pure recency bias. I’ve watched the majority of them so with the ones I put on the list, it hit me more in some way shape or form whether it was story, a really good match or it just felt like a solid event.
At least this proves WWE is trending in a good direction for me, when it gets the ol’ brain juices flowing just because a show is around the corner!
#3: 2022 (Ol’ Brock Lesnar Has A Farm)
Starting off the show, we get Bianca looking for a rematch against Becky from last years SummerSlam and it was better than the 21 second affair that everyone claims was a squash. This time Bianca holds her own and beats the Man in a fairly decent match, good way to get the event started. Next up is the heat seeking missile, Logan Paul against the former heat seeking missile because, well he wasn’t cut out for it and wasn’t a guy in everyone’s eyes, The Miz. After they had their blow off at Mania with Logan coming out on top which… isn’t awful, I just don’t like Logan Paul because he has that dude bro aura and swagger to make him more hateable than any other person on the card. Which I suppose is his gimmick…so…kudos?
First Championship match is for the US Championship and it’s as expected that in Theory, he should never beat someone to the caliber of Bobby Lashley which is no surprise. Dominik and Rey still back when Dom wanted the good fight against the Judgement Day before joining them later. The former Colts players, which they hammered it dahn in this match up showed that the canal swimming, trash talkin’, podcastin’, current RAW Color Commentatin’ goofball we all love, Pat McAfee came out on top again Bum Ass Corbin.
Usos putting the Street Profits on lockdown in the penitentiary since I believe this was peak Bloodline with the belt collecting and running all of WWE. Liv beat Ronda Rousey which isn’t astonishing but it’s not something people had on their bingo cards for anything with WWE so it was a nice little shock factor. The most memorable part of the night is obviously the Main Event, Lesnar brings the tractor, Roman catching the Microphone and Brock stands on top of the vehicle. Damn good match that showed off what they do in the ring since Roman caught his stride as the main bad guy and Brock… liked people after all of this? That is still a weird statement in my head. Brock being a good guy people person. If Liv wasn’t on bingo cards for wrestling, that is not on bingo cards in any aspect of life really.
That is more of the event that had solid matches and story going for it. No weird double count out, multiple people involved, 5 tag matches on the card. Things made sense and weren’t convoluted, had shocking moments that were great to see like Liv actually getting a title defense and there were the results we all expected at the time like Theory losing in 4 minutes to Bobby Lashley.
#2: 2009 (Are You Ready for The Return?)
This event wasn’t that strong. It was strong with the star power involved in 2009 with guys like Rey Mysterio as Intercontinental Champion, Orton and Cena for the WWE Championship as it was becoming as stale as month old chips and CM Punk was facing Jeff Hardy before he ultimately returned to TNA at the beginning of 2010 after this PPV. For me, it’s not so much of the show itself, it was more of the memories because the Balai as our friends Chris Platt and Rey Cash like to call my brother and I, we were just coming back into wrestling and we were TNA Fans. We didn’t watch WWE that much really, it was just what came on after another channel had old ROH shows before they moved to three hours and swallowed the 8pm Eastern Slot. No, the reason why this has so many memories for me is three main reasons. First, Orton and Cena. They have had their rivalry since the beginning it seems, being each others foils like Hogan and Piper before them and there had to be a stipulation where if Randy was Counted Out or DQ’d, he’d lose the championship regardless. This was prime Viper Randy and the obvious joke we had of Super Cena where he very rarely lost, unless it was SummerSlam surprisingly enough.
Number two reason was CM Punk and Jeff Hardy. Hardys known for the Ladder and TLC matches in the past and this being the penultimate match for this feud and it was a banger of a match. If you didn’t know Punk before, it was a great introduction to his wrestling. I used to like Punk a lot because of this match because he could talk, wrestle… and not insanely personal with things in wrestling. In all seriousness, this was a great match. Ultimate risks, high reward for Punk grabbing the World Heavyweight Championship and he was given his next feud because of the final boss of SmackDown at that time. Thanks, Teddy Long.
The main and final reason though why this match gave me the memories flowing back is more of the fact that one of my closest and longest termed friends of 23 years, also loves wrestling. Back when we were younger, he’d do MoCap videos on YouTube with his figures. We’d have friends come over for parties at his house and we’d do the one thing WWE always told us not to do and that was try it at home. He was always stronger than me, I was always more charismatic. He had the power aspect and did things with brute force, I could talk my way out of trouble with parents if we did something wrong. There was always one thing that our respective mother’s always called us though… it’s on the tip of my tongue… oh right, ‘Degenerates’.
As soon as we were called that, we kind of parodied the DX line. I was limber enough to do the HBK pose and do a Superkick before it became the new DDT and he would just Spinebuster people and knew how to do the water spit. So what do you think was the main reason we even ordered this PPV for his 13th Birthday? I think the two guys we were pretending to be were set to return on a tank and toss out some glow sticks. The return of DX, Shawn Michaels coming back after Mania with Triple H to deal with the Legacy problem was an amazing return for them and made everything so much fun.
So we have the solid card and this one has a personal story… what’s my number one SummerSlam? Is it personal? Well yes but not going into that. Is it a good card? To me, it was a phenomenal card! Is it memorable? Seeing how wrestling fans still mention at least three matches to this day.
#1: 2005 (Octopus in the Washer, Lover’s Quarrel and Where the F%#$ is Vickie?)
Quite possibly some of the best matches I’ve seen and one that was just the most hilarious moments of overselling in wrestling history, I know why I love this SummerSlam but it’s also a really good card at the same time. Redacted beats Orlando Jordan in 25 seconds for the US Title and they made jokes about it like, he can make a coffee faster than he beat Orlando and stuff like that, it’s pretty funny. Angle getting sick of Eugene’s antics for his Gold Medal was also a great bit they had play up, the Year long feud of Randy Orton and Undertaker was still going on where Orton comes out on top this time around to get the win back from Mania, Jericho returning for the match with Cena in a whole promotional thing for each other’s groups, Fozzy for Jericho and the Chain Gang doing Bad, Bad Man for Cena leading up to a match for the WWE Championship. JBL won a 20 man battle royal on SmackDown to win the Championship…… Opportunity to face the newest member of SmackDown, Batista but the three main matches that a lot of people talk about to this day; Edge vs Matt Hardy, Rey vs Eddie for Dominik and Hogan vs HBK in the Main Event.
I have reasons to enjoy the Hardy/Edge match but it looked like a real fight, it really made us believe that Matt Hardy was going to kill Edge because real names were dropped during this tirade from Hardy. It wasn’t Edge and Lita, it was Adam and Amy. Matt was so dead set on beating the hell out of Edge that they made a situation into gold and it was a great moment for this match to happen, I believe it was also an Unsanctioned Match too which added the intensity until matt got concussed and knocked senseless that it looked like he couldn’t fight for anything but the build up was what made it seem like a marque match. It made it feel real, it made it feel awesome and it made it feel personal.
Eddie kept tormenting Rey Mysterio about Dominik not being Rey’s but Eddie’s for the summer. That’s all you heard from Eddie being the weasel he was is hanging out with Dominik, making the world believe it’s his son and what not (Let’s not do a fast forward to today where he has the mullet, mustache and everything like Eddie) but they settle this in a Ladder Match where the top of it is a document for the custody of Dominik and my god, this match is better than it should have been. I expect nothing else from Eddie because the man hated having a bad match, Dom got involved and stopped Eddie, Vickie was late and stopped Eddie. The whole match was good it was just very weird with the premise but was a great match. I wonder if Rey regrets his decision to win the match now…
Octopus in a Washing Machine… those five words have resonated with Shawn Michaels’ performance in this match, forever. It was supposed to be an amazing match up between Hogan and Michaels, Icon vs Icon it said and suddenly Hogan’s back gives out, can’t do a trilogy of matches so we can only do the one and then pull out of everything after. This match was set up to be a classic and instead turned into the most unbelievable sell fest ever. A Hogan big boot caused Shawn to tumble 3 or 4 times, getting crotched on the ropes had HBK bouncing higher than he should have, being tossed out of the ring made it look like Shawn never broke his back in 1998 from how much he flopped and flipped around like crazy. It’s bad… or maybe even good that a lot of current wrestlers watched this match that went, “I can sell like that, I want to be a wrestler” and did. So good or bad, I don’t know but for some reason this PPV has always had a place in my heart for how memorable it was.
Those are my top three SummerSlams so far but who knows, 2024 has potential to maybe bump something or at least get me to consider a shift. Should be fun to see how the show plays out! What are some of your favorite SummerSlams?
About Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
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THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)
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CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS
Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)
TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends
Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5
Classic POD is WAR
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Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!