The Money in the Bank PPV was full of unexpected booking decisions which was a welcome surprise.

Last night’s Money in the Bank was a good show as a whole, with a few misses here and there as usual. The show consisted of some unexpected twists and some decisions we’re not really a fan of.

So here, I will be taking a look at last night’s PPV event and what we learned from it.

1. Referees Are Not Just Frail, But Dumb Too

Yes, the typical referee found in the wilderness the WWE has the power to make or break superstars and oversee the outcome of the matches, but he is also somehow a very weak creature who’ll basically have a near-death experience from getting shoved.

Last night, it wasn’t about referees getting smacked in the face. No, no. It was much worse. It was about referees not doing the only one absolute thing that they are expected to do. To referee. And count to three.

We saw the refs messing up thrice on Sunday. First up, during the Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio match, Joe lost his United States Championship even though his shoulders were clearly up for the entirety of the three count. The ref just didn’t see it for some reason. Or he pretended not to. Mysterio was declared the winner. Second, during the Miz vs. Shane McMahon steel cage match. Mr. Referee here forgot how steel cage matches work and the ref broke Miz’s pin count because McMahon put his foot on the rope. Even Michael Cole called this decision out on commentary. Third and the last, the Raw Women’s Championship match. The ref just stared blankly at the mat when Lacey Evans was pinning Becky Lynch. He just refused to do it. It was an entirely confusing event and made me cringe.

2. Bayley’s Still Got It

Bayley is on top of the food chain again. Moments after winning the SmackDown Women’s Championship from Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair got a big slap to her face as Bayley came out with her MITB briefcase that she won the same night.

Just minutes later, Bayley became the new SmackDown Women’s Champion. What a night for her, winning the contract and then straight up the title. It was a bit surprising to see Bayley receive this push considering the lack of priority she received before. It will be interesting to see how she handles this title run.

3. Short Matches Are Still A Thing

Why is this a thing? Yeah sure, nobody wants to sit through the sluggish 30-minute matches which don’t mean anything, but there were two matches on this event that ended under two minutes combined.  

First, the US Title match between Mysterio and Joe mentioned above. It barely lasted a couple of minutes, clocking in at exactly one minute and forty seconds.

Next, the Roman Reigns and Elias match. It literally lasted for ten seconds. What was the point? It doesn’t do anyone any favors and was just a complete waste of time. Nobody was expecting a five-star match but come on. What a waste.

4. World Title Matches… With Clean Finishes?!

Yes, you are reading this correctly. Both the world title matches had clean finishes, with no interruptions or dirty tricks coming in the way of determining the winner of the match.

Seth Rollins and AJ Styles gave it their all against each other for the Universal Championship in an enjoyable match.

Going back and forth at each other, it seemed like Styles would be taking the gold home. But it was Rollins who came out on top in the end, in a clean and clear finish with the Stomp.

The WWE Title match made Kingston look legitimate as he won against Kevin Owens without the help of his New Day brothers.

The match initially involved a lot of fast-paced action initially and with no dirty tricks from Owens, it made for the second clean finish for a major title match. Not bad at all.

5. WWE Just Can’t Let Go Of Brock Lesnar

Can we just all agree this is bad? So in case you don’t know: Sami Zayn was one of the eight competitors who were to participate in a ladder match for the Men’s Money in the Bank contract. Unfortunately, he was found hanging upside down unresponsive in the backstage area before his big match. (Braun Strowman says he didn’t do it) Now, since there’s an opening in the spot due to Zayn’s absence, of course, Brock fricking Lesnar returned.

He returned in place of Zayn, in a crucial moment of the match. Mustafa Ali, who was doing really well in the match, was climbing on top of the ladder and the music hit. Lesnar’s thundering music. He tipped the ladder to throw Ali out of the ring, and proceeded to climb said ladder, and pull the briefcase down for the win. Of course, it happened.

Not gonna lie, it made for a really intense and interesting moment. But the MITB shouldn’t have been wasted on Lesnar. This was the time for the rising stars to shine. We don’t even know where WWE is going with this. We’ll keep our fingers crossed, and hope something interesting comes out of it.

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