Money in the Bank Reax

Read on for my thoughts on last night's Smackdown-brand WWE Network special.

-- Kickoff:
- Naomi on the panel:
Babyface verbiage can be SSSOOOOOOOO boring sometimes. "Everyone's excited for the match!" Naomi should be keeping an eye on what five women are going to do to try to win a shot at her title.

I'm excited for the Mae Young Classic and the rejuvenation of WWE's women's division.

That presumably confirms the women's MITB will precede Naomi vs. Lana. Fine enough.

- Usos interview:
The Usos could totally play up how they were pretty much destined for WWE due to their family history.

Usos vs. Too Cool could be interesting given Rikishi's associations. The Usos should definitely go over, though.

- Bros vs. Colons:Fine enough in the early going.

Mojo's refreshing in the days when everyone's a tenured indie star.

This is going well enough.

Epico and Primo might put him right back on the shelf! And Primo used to team with Zack!!

Basic, effective work on Ryder's leg.

Mojo doing what he does well.

Fine to warm the crowd up.

-- MITB PPV:
- Women's MITB:
Paige or Maria making a run-in to win would get people talking, although that might not be the right move.

Ha. Tamina's the smartest one here.

They're going 100 mph right out of the gate because that's seemingly the way every match needs to be now if it's going to get people talking.

Tamina's not a great worker in the sense of Asuka or Sasha Banks, but she plays her role well.

I like the strategy with Tamina and the ladder.

I liked the tug of war spot.

This is going well so far.

Carmella winning would be such a heel move. The Internet would explode.

Good enough work between Charlotte and Carmella there.

Natalya can be pretty vicious when they let her.

Um why would you stop the sharpshooter? If Becky's legs and back hurt, she can't climb the ladder.

This is pretty solid.

As great as Charlotte is, it'd be a waste to give her the briefcase. She can be champion anytime they want her to be.

Tamina works well enough as a monster antagonist.

Charlotte's really good.

WOW. Insane senton.

God Carmella winning would get so much heat.

Based Ellsworth. I love it.

Hahahahahahahahaha this is great.

Such a great heel ending.

- Post-match:
I assume Shane and Bryan will contest this. Should be a fun angle.

- Lana interview:
I hope she does a good job. She's a real unknown as a wrestler.

- New Day promo:
This is silly, in a fun way.

Oh, God, really? A drop the soap joke in 2017? They should have made an OITNB reference instead.

- Usos vs. Kofi/Big E:
Good feeling out to start.

I like Big E a lot.

The Usos are a solid duo. They were pushed really hard as faces, and that understandably turned people off.

WHOA. That double suplex was something else.

I like the heel antics of Jimmy and Jey.

New Day mesh well as characters and wrestlers. I'm glad they're together instead of trying to get on Main Event.

Big E has some killer suplexes.

I've missed New Day teaming!

Good heel work from the champs.

WHOA that suicide dive counter was INSANE.

I'm liking this one a pretty good deal.

NICE counter to the Big Ending. I want to see more from these guys.

This is solid all the way around.

Good work with both Usos and Big E working together.

Nice saves from the champs.

Jey and Jimmy saving the gold. It's a tired ending, but I'm all for the feud continuing.

- Bryan tweet:
They can probably get some mileage out of Carmella they didn't get after Eva was suspended.

- Legends backstage:
I really hope we see a segment where they put Randy over against the disrespectful champion.

- Naomi vs. Lana:
At least Lana's dancing is over.

Fine start. Naomi can work around the newcomer.

Lana can do some basic work.

Lana has some strategy here, and Naomi's carrying her well enough.

Oh, wow. Naomi through playing around with the ravishing one.

Oh, man. Lana messed with the wrong lady.

Naomi winning with that Rear View would have pretty much killed Lana. She needs a good showing here.

Well so much for Lana winning.

Hahahahaha Carmella toying with them.

That was clever.

Well I hope Lana enjoyed her singles PPV debut because I don't think she's going to get this kind of chance again anytime soon.

- Fashion Files:
Oh my God this throwback.

HAHAHAHAHA this is fun.

Weird.

- Kanellises debut:
Wow. Mike took his wife's last name. Not exactly a ringing endorsement of his name value.

Oh they're definitely doing "former WWE Diva Maria and some guy she married."

- Jinder vs. Orton:
Those legends are definitely going to be involved with something.

I'm a little worried where this is on the card, but I can see why MITB is headlining.

Jinder's in there with one of the top wrestlers of the past 15 years. He's got his work cut out for him getting the W.

Ha. Randy with the rout here.

Man. If Jinder can't win a three-on-one match, something's badly wrong and they're detonating the experiment.

They're playing to Jinder's strengths here.

Nice spot using Orton's dad.

Fine work targeting the knee. They're not reinventing the wheel, but they've got some serious work to do to have Jinder be a credible champ.

This is solid enough.

Fine straightforward stuff, but Jinder doesn't look like a top guy.

Classic Figure Four spot.

Man, Jinder's really working over Randy's lef.

Nice inside cradle to shake things up.

I like Mahal teasing Cowboy Bob's finisher.

Nice superplex spot.

I like the back and forth here.

VINTAGE RANDY ORTON!!!

Hahahahahahahaha the Singhs with the save there.

Randy wanting to win clean is admirable.

Jinder's going to have to win his own here.

Haha nice use of the legends.

Oh, man, Randy's snapped.

BAH GAWD ALMIGHTY!!!! The Singhs taking a lot of punishment for Jinder.

That wasn't bad to keep Jinder's surprise win going. They won't know if they've got a big main eventer if they don't give him every opportunity to succeed.

- Breezango vs. Ascension:
Ascension got on this card but Harper and American Alpha didn't. I'm a little sad.

FILLER MATCH!!!

At least these guys are being paid, I guess.

Fine for the time it had, I guess?

- Men's MITB:
Corbin has his priorities straight here.

HOLY SHIT BARON'S NOT PLAYING AROUND. I guess this means Shinsuke's getting the inspirational win.

Zayn's just going to get sonned by everyone in WWE. I assume he'll job to Mike Kanellis soon, too.

Nice work early. I'm glad they're not jumping right to ladder theatrics.

Enjoyable so far. Strong Style Man better come back, though.

This is progressing well enough.

I like Corbin's brutality. If this was 2003, I'd talk about the smash-mouth style and ruthless aggression and all that.

I enjoy a big multi-person ladder match most of the time.

I'd rather see Carmella and Ellsworth win than Dolph Ziggler.

I'm enjoying this a good deal. Some pretty big moments going on here.

Sami is all about his MOVES.

Definitely getting your $9.99 worth with all the big moments here.

That was one hell of a back body drop!!

OH MY GOD SAMI DESTROYING KEVIN.

Hahahahaha Sami not even dealing with that ladder.

I really, really hope they don't try to make Dolph Ziggler a thing again.

This is really good.

Corbin winning would be nice. Styles doesn't need it.

Pretty good work with Styles, Ziggler, and Corbin.

Everyone's going pretty hard here. MITB should be pretty important.

Ziggler taking some crazy bumps as always. I'll never fault his work ethic as a wrestler. He REALLY wants to earn being known as a hard worker.

Nice stuff with Zayn and Owens on the outside.

Corbin adds something unique to all this. I like it.

Oh man. Corbin setting up a ladder like that won't end well for someone.

OH MY GOD THAT CHOKESLAM TO THE LADDER!!!!

I almost don't want this to end. This is incredible.

Hahaha Kevin with the ol' dick kick.

This is really wild. Everyone earning their pay tonight.

Styles reminding me of his TNA days with the crazy bumps.

I was wondering when we'd see Shinsuke again!!

Corbin's going to finish the job if he can!

I'm liking this. Shinsuke's not going to be denied!!

Shinsuke might just do it. He's pretty fresh.

Kinshashas everywhere!!

Kevin Steen, AJ Styles, El Generico, and Shinsuke Nakamura in the main event of a WWE PPV. We're in some wild times.

NICE Kinshasha counter by AJ.

Corbin striking at just the right moment!!

Pretty big win for Baron. Lots of new faces in WWE main events here.

More wrestling coming up.