Padraic Toolan and Brian Damage
Tonight the WWE hosts the 2019 edition of Money in the Bank. Ahead of that show, today we preview and share our predictions.
Cruiserweight Championship
Tony Nese (c) vs. Ariya Daivari (Kickoff Show)
Padraic: Nese is still getting his footing on the mic, but his look and his in-ring skills are money. Another terrific 205 Live match that many people won’t see because they refuse to ever feature them on anything but kickoff shows. I haven’t even missed a single episode of 205 Live, so this makes me very sad.
Winner: Tony Nese retains
Brian: I couldn’t care any less about this match and it has nothing really to do with Nese who is a great wrestler. It has more to do with WWE never giving the cruiserweights a good spotlight on the card to shine.
Winner: Tony Nese
SmackDown Tag Team Championship
Daniel Bryan & Rowan vs. The Usos (Kickoff Show)
Padraic: Aren’t the Usos on Raw now? I think that makes the winner clear.
Winners: Daniel Bryan & Rowan retain
Brian: I can’t see Bryan and Rowan losing the tag team titles so soon after winning them.
Winners: Daniel Bryan and Rowan
Raw Women’s Championship
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Lacey Evans
Padraic: My only question here is where Lacey goes after losing.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Brian: Becky Lynch will retain, but Lacey will get in a lot of offense to make her look legitimate and build her from there.
Winner: Becky Lynch
SmackDown Women’s Championship
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Charlotte Flair
Padraic: To answer my previous question, after Becky beats Lacey, she comes out and attacks Becky here, causing a DQ win for Charlotte, but keeping Becky “2 Belts” intact
Winner: Charlotte; Still champion – Becky Lynch
Brian: I think Becky 2 Belts retains both her titles with a win over Charlotte, but I can easily see Lacey interfere and cost Lynch the Smackdown title.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, Finn Balor, Ali, Andrade, Sami Zayn, Randy Orton
Padraic: I like the move of putting Sami Zayn in the match, and I liked the other competitors working to get Braun out. It gets even more heat on Sami and the other heels for getting the guy everyone wants to see out of the match. It also makes it more believable for someone else to win. In my mind, the order of likely winners:
1. Drew McIntyre
2. Andrade
3. Baron Corbin
4. Sami Zayn
5. Mustafa Ali
6. Ricochet
7. Finn Balor
8. Me
9. Randy Orton
Brian: This match has always been unpredictable, but I think this year it is a lot more obvious…at least to me. It makes sense for Drew McIntyre to win it and I think he will.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Alexa Bliss, Naomi, Natalya, Dana Brooke, Bayley, Mandy Rose, Ember Moon, Carmella
Padraic: Naomi is the one we all know as the most athletic and probably most likely to do something nuts in this match, but I have a feeling that Ember Moon is gonna step her game up. I know Carmella won two years ago, one and a half times, but looking at this group, there’s no Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey, or Sasha Banks that you look at and say “I can’t wait to see what they do this time”. We haven’t really seen too much of these women in matches like this, so there’s a ton of potential here for any and all of them to really break out and make a name for themselves, and I think it’s most likely going to be Mandy Rose. It may happen or it may not, but I’m hoping the takeaway from this match is more than just the MITB winner. Likelihood of winning:
1. Mandy Rose
2. Bayley
3. Ember Moon
4. Natalya
5. Dana Brooke
6. Naomi
7. Nikki Cross
8. Me
9. James Ellsworth
10. Carmella
Brian: With Nikki Cross replacing Alexa Bliss in the MITB ladder match, I think Cross will shock everyone and win it.
Winner: Nikki Cross
Roman Reigns vs. Elias
Padraic: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! Come on.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Brian: It would do Elias good to get a big win like beating Roman Reigns, but alas…
Winner: Roman Reigns
The Miz vs. Shane McMahon (Steel Cage Match)
Padraic: I don’t like this feud being carried out this long, because aren’t things supposed to be settled at WrestleMania? What does ‘mania even mean anymore if it’s just going to be used to continue feuds, especially after the match they had? Anyway, I think Miz gets a win back, 50/50 booking, and they carry the feud into SummerSlam, because if a falls count anywhere match at ‘mania doesn’t finalize a feud, a steel cage match at MITB doesn’t mean shit, unfortunately. The real loser? The steel cage match, which used to mean something.
Winner: The Miz
Brian: I really hate this feud. Shane McMahon is boring and played out as a wrestler and the Miz is soooo much better as a heel.
Winner: The Miz
United States Championship
Samoa Joe (c) vs. Rey Mysterio
Padraic: Dominick turns on Rey because he wants a father that he can actually literally look up to.
Winner: Samoa Joe retains
Brian: Samoa Joe will retain the title in my opinion. The only question is, what will Dominick do. Will he turn heel or will he do a father and son 619 on Joe? I think the latter.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Universal Championship
Seth Rollins (c) vs. AJ Styles
Padraic: I’m excited for a terrific, fast-paced match with multiple false finishes. AJ’s job here should be to make Seth look at good as possible, not that Seth needs a ton of help with that.
Winner: Seth Rollins retains
Brian: This should be a dream match and I certainly hope it’ll be really, really good. I have a feeling that AJ will turn heel on Seth and extend this feud for a few months.
Winner: Seth Rollins
WWE Championship
Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Kevin Owens
Padraic: I don’t think they’ll take the belt from Kofi this soon, but I feel like they’d rather have Owens as champ and have Kofi or another face chase him. I think we’ll see Xavier and Sami get involved here, and ultimately lead to a tag team feud.
Winner: Kofi Kingston retains
Brian: For whatever reason, I think Kevin Owens wins and becomes the new WWE champion. I hope not because Kofi deserves a lengthy run with the belt.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Overall:
Padraic: Just make this make sense. Heels usually do better with the briefcase, which is why I picked McIntyre & Rose. I really do feel like the women’s match is going to create one or more stars, and I really hope I’m right. Mustafa Ali and Andrade can really break out too. I’d say the same for Ricochet but he seems to already be much more over than Ali. Hopefully what we get is all of the stars in these matches wanting to top each other.
Brian: It’s a good thing that this show isn’t going against any stiff competition like the season finale of Game of Thrones or anything like that….Wait a minute! In all honesty, Money in the Bank is one of my favorite shows of the year and I hope it can deliver.
Ring the Damn Bell 