DeMarco: Why I Hated The Money In The Bank Ladder Match(es)

After watching Money In The Bank, Greg DeMarco isn’t the WWE apologist everyone accuses him of being… at least temporarily not.

This past Sunday night, WWE presented its second pay-per-view in the “COVID-19 era,” as the fifth major, Money In The Bank, emanated from the Performance Center and the fabled Titan Towers. The latter was a brilliant move on the part of the company, getting people to tune in just to get a glimpse of the inside of “WWE World Headquarters,” a place most would otherwise never get to see.

I was excited for the concept. Like really excited. The execution? HATED IT.

Now, I know I am guilty of the ol’ playlist mentality, and I own that. Plenty of you loved it. I don’t know why, but you loved it.

It actually amazes me what people hold sacred. Money In The Bank is sacred to so many among the Internet Wrestling Community because it’s “supposed to be used to build up a new star.” Much like a Hell In A Cell Match doesn’t always end a feud, holding the briefcase isn’t always used to build a new star.

A Money In The Bank briefcase is a storytelling device, just like a championship, a guitar, a steel chair, or any other prop introduced into the story. It’s the story that gives the prop meaning.

Or in this case, it was the execution of the story that took the meaning away.

Here is a “list of my gripes” to help illustrate this point:

• The bell rang?
• I know they won’t do it, but I really want Nia Jax to retrieve the Men’s Money In The Bank briefcase.
• Are we getting Bad Luck Corbin now?
• Brother Love sighting!
• Otis being a Daniel Bryan fan is quite hilarious
• “Tell me where that briefcase is”??? Does Dana Brooke not know it’s on the roof?
• Stephanie McMahon here to bury the women’s division yet again!
• Why is AJ Styles so worried about finding Rey Mysterio and not getting the briefcase?
• Oh look, Roman Reigns! And we sat on that shot for a while, too.
• Now we’re having a good fight, and not going after the briefcase(s)?
• Shayna vs Rey and Nia vs Otis!
• Otis and Nia is the love story we really need!
• Why are there pies in the cafeteria if no one is at work right now?
• At least we got a Big Johnny Bella sighting out of it.
• But… but… Asuka knows English!
• Old (Mc)Ma(ho)n Vince!
• Vince is sitting at a desk on a notepad during a PPV? Okay.
• Why do we have referees on the roof? I mean I know why, but even in the kayfabe sense, it makes no sense to need them to call for the bell when no one was in the lobby or weight room to do the same thing.
• Why is Baron Corbin stopping Asuka from getting her briefcase? Was he wanting to challenge Bayley?
• The ladder can’t support Otis??? Unrelated (lol) but did you know past Money In The Bank winners include Kane and Braun Strowman.
• And Otis wins the most important prize outside of the world titles…by accident.

See what I mean? We reduced one of the most important matches of the year to a damn comedy show, and it sucked. Lots of you loved it, but damn if it didn’t suck.

And it didn’t have to, either.