Money in the Bank took place from Hartford, Connecticut and the crowd was kind of quiet out of the gate, but it would improve as the night went on. Could have been the cash in of a briefcase or a match of the year candidate out of AJ Styles and Seth Rollins. A decent night of matches with a few surprises. Let’s take a look at the matches and see how my picks went.

Daniel Bryan and Rowan vs The Uso’s

The first match of the night was a tag team involving the Smackdown tag team champions, but the title was not on the line. I’m not making excuses, but I honestly thought the titles were going to be on the line. Had I known they were not I would have gone with the Uso’s, who won. But I didn’t so there’s that. Oh the match… I don’t know I fell asleep. Your losing me WWE, your losing me.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Daniel Bryan and Rowan Winners: (Overall PPV prediction record 66-35)

Women’s Money in the Bank Match

Naomi, Carmella, who’s blonde again, Nikki Cross, Mandy Rose, Ember Moon, Dana Brooke, Natalya and Bayley all competed for the coveted Money in the Bank briefcase. It looked as if Carmella was taken out early due to a knee injury, but she made eventually made her way back to the match.

Sonya Deville made her way to the ring as Carmella was about to obtain the briefcase and took her out. She then tried to help Mandy Rose get the briefcase, but it was Bayley who was able to stop them, knock them off the ladder and grab the briefcase to become the third woman to be called “Miss Money in the Bank”.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Mandy Rose Winner: Bayley (Overall PPV prediction record 66-36)

United States Title Match

Rey Mysterio looked to get a little revenge as he took on Samoa Joe for the United States Championship. The match ended early and in controversial fashion. Mysterio countered a powerbomb into a hurricanrana and pinned Samoa Joe. Joe’s shoulder was clearly up, but I believe Joe broke his nose and that’s why the match ended early and perhaps not as planned.

After the match, as Rey Mysterio and his son Dominique were celebrating his championship win, Samoa Joe returned and beat up Mysterio. I think it’s only a matter of time before Dominique gets physical, I am just not sure Samoa Joe is who you want to get physical with. Clearly this rivalry is far from over.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Samoa Joe Winner: Rey Mysterio (Overall PPV prediction record 66-37)

Shane McMahon versus The Miz

Believe it or not, this was the match I was looking forward the most. I felt like going into the match it had a very attitude era feel to it. The match was good except for a weird rope break during a pinfall. Their is no disqualification during a cage match, but that’s the WWE these days. Shane literally slipped out of the ring for the win.

GoHomePWB.com pick: The Miz Winner: Shane McMahon (Overall PPV prediction record 66-38)

Cruiserweight Championship Match

Cruiserweight champion Tony Nese put his title on the line against number one contender Ariya Daivari. A back and forth match up that appeared to fall flat with the crowd. Nese picked up the momentum towards the end and was able to pick up the win via the running knee finisher.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Tony Nese Winner: Tony Nese (Overall PPV prediction record 67-38)

RAW Women’s Championship Match

Lacey Evans had quite the entrance, with money guns, a green dress and the biggest hat I’ve seen since Lloyd Christmas’ cowboy hat in Dumb and Dumber. Becky Lynch arrived to a great ovation from the crowd. Honestly a decent match and Becky Lynch won via submission, but the takeaway is the Lacey Evans is going to be good.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Becky Lynch Winner: Becky Lynch (Overall PPV prediction record 68-38)

Smackdown Women’s Championship Match

Immediately after Becky Lynch made Lacey Evans tap out, Charlotte Flairs music hit and we got back to back women’s championship matches. The match was ok, Becky Lynch appeared to be blown up. Lacey Evans got involved and cost Becky the Smackdown Women’s championship.

After the match Lacey Evans and Charlotte Flair beat up Becky Lynch until the new Money in the Bank winner Bayley came to the ring to help her out. Bayley and Charlotte then went at it and Charlotte made the mistake of going for seconds on Bayley. Bayley side stepped a spear, cashed in her briefcase, hit a flying elbow and won the Smackdown Women’s championship. A great moment on the pay per view that needed a shot of adrenaline at the time.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Charlotte Flair Winner: Charlotte Flair (Overall PPV prediction record 69-38)

Elias vs Roman Reigns

Before the match started Elias hit Roman Reigns with a guitar backstage. Elias then went out and put on a performance with an electric guitar. On the way out Roman Reigns music hit and he ran out and clobbered Elias with a superman punch. Thirty seconds later the match was over after Reigns hit Elias with a spear and won the match. Best use of Roman Reigns is in small doses at this point and WWE actually got something right.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Roman Reigns Winner: Roman Reigns (Overall PPV prediction record 70-38)

Universal Championship Match

I have to admit that this match lived up to the hype of being a match of the year candidate. I had my doubts, but these two put on a clinic of a match. The match was back and forth, high flying, with high impact moves, full of falls finishes and near falls and unbelievable amount of reversals.

Both men hit their finishes, and all their signature moves, but it was a curb stomp the proved to be the difference in this one. Seth Rollins was able to retain his Universal title and after the match there was a show of respect, but I think this feud is just getting started.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Seth Rollins Winner: Seth Rollins (Overall PPV prediction record 71-38)

WWE Championship Match

Kevin Owens went one on one with WWE champion, Kofi Kingston. The match was pretty good and somewhat physical for a Kofi Kingston match. It was kind of hard to follow AJ Styles and Seth Rollins, but it did. Kofi was able to withstand a beating from Owens and hit him with a trouble in paradise kick for a successful title defense.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Kofi Kingston Winner: Kofi Kingston (Overall PPV prediction record 72-38)

Men’s Money in the Bank Match

Baron Corbin, Finn Balor, Ricochet, Andrade, Ali, Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton all competed for the men’s Money in the Bank briefcase. Sami Zayn was taken out by an anonymous person earlier in the pay per view and Braun Strowman was thrown out by Triple H, making this match a seven man match.

A ton of dangerous, high impact moves that made for a very entertaining match. Finn Balor in particular took the worst beating in my opinion, with multiple bumps on the ladder. Out of nowhere, Brock Lesnar shows up and wins Money in the Bank. After a great match, a surprise entrant at the end and Lesnar wins.

GoHomePWB.com pick: Baron Corbin Winner: Brock Lesnar (Overall PPV prediction record 72-39)

Final Thoughts

Overall, I thought that the pay per view was good. It was very slow to start, but as it went on it certainly got better. I think that the match placement was almost perfect, I would have swapped Rollins/Styles for Kofi/Owens, but I’m splitting hairs with that. The referees made some questionable calls early in the pay per view. Samoa Joe and Mysterio finish was wonky and Shane and The Miz had a few weird spots with the referee.

As far as the matches go, I really liked Rollins and Styles and the men’s Money in the Bank match. I wouldn’t mind seeing Rollins and Styles go like Rollins and Dolph Ziggler did last summer. But with Lesnar being the new Mr. Money in the Bank, it would appear we’ve seen the last of Styles and Rollins, at least for awhile.

Underwhelming matches for me were, The Uso’s versus Daniel Bryan and Rowan and I expected more out of the cruiserweight match. But overall, I was happy with the show and look forward to RAW tonight to hear of Brock Lesnar plans. I also am intrigued by the newest title being introduced. With Mick Foley making the announcement, I can only hope it’s some type of hardcore title.

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