Botched Spot

It’s Money in the Bank time, and this year the card is PACKED. There are ten matches, maybe even eleven if the Raw tag titles are added to it. While I have no doubt that I’ll be worn out by the show at the end of the night, I really love how WWE has decided to streamline the actual ladder matches by only having one men’s and one women’s match this year, each with four participants from each brand. Not only does it add a fun crossover feel to the matches, but I don’t feel like anyone’s just getting thrown into the match because they don’t have anything else to do. On with the predictions!

Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn
I was a huge fan of Lashley’s when he was with Impact Wrestling so I was naively excited to see him show up on Raw a few month back. Since then he’s gone from being TNA’s Brock Lesnar to Braun Strowman’s set up guy to… this. The all around good guy who has sisters. Both Sami and Lashley deserve better than this. While Sami couldn’t have made a better attempt at getting this feud over, I really don’t see him winning this one, especially after he questioned Bobby’s military background. That just doesn’t seem like a line that winners cross.
Who will win: Bobby Lashley

Seth Rollins vs. Elias for the Intercontinental Championship
Seth’s the hottest guy in WWE right now and he really should win, but that just makes me worry that he’s going to lose due to some wonky guitar-hitting finish. On the other hand I’m predicting a couple of other title changes on this show, so maybe I’ll just play it safe here.
Who will win: Seth Rollins

Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal
Now that Brock’s beaten Punk’s record for being the longest reigning champion in the modern era of WWE, I think it’s safe for Roman to beat him. There’s no way anyone’s beating Roman until that happens, so I don’t think Jinder has a prayer in this match.
Who will win: Roman Reigns

Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass
I just want them to have a good match this time. If WWE just wants to use Bryan to put over this lumbering guy who never should’ve made it out of NXT (or maybe onto NXT in the first place?) fine, but just give me a good match.
Who will win: Big Cass. I want Bryan to win, but you can’t have 50/50 booking with Cass losing twice, now can you?

The Bludgeon Brothers vs. the Good Brothers for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships
I really don’t know who will beat the Bludgeon Brothers, but I don’t see it being Gallows and Anderson. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was cut down to less than five minutes, especially since neither team even got any time on Smackdown this week.
Who will win: The Bludgeon Brothers

Carmella vs. Asuka for the Smackdown Women’s Championship
I don’t know how she’ll do it, but after Carmella beat Charlotte clean at Backlash I have little doubt that she’ll beat Asuka at Money in the Bank. She just has a great way of delivering those trollish heel promos that WWE loves to write. Sorry Asuka, welcome to everyone else.
Who will win: Carmella

AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in a Last Man Standing match for the WWE Championship
I have no idea why I think that this match won’t have a cop out finish like all of their previous bouts, but for some reason I feel confident in predicting that Shinsuke wins the title this time. Maybe it’s because AJ’s been missing live events and might need some time off? It’s hard to believe a year ago we were all begging for this match after seeing Styles and Nakamura face off at last year’s Money in the Bank, and now I just want this ball-punching feud to be over.
Who will win: Shinsuke Nakamura

Nia Jax vs. Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women’s Championship
This is one of the most interesting matches to me, both because I don’t know who is going to win and I also can’t imagine it being halfway decent. I doubted Ronda at Wrestlemania and had to eat my words, but this won’t be a big, heavily produced match like her last one, it will be a singles match with Nia who, frankly, isn’t the best. I could easily see Ronda getting screwed over by Stephanie, but ultimately I don’t think Ronda will get her first loss this early on in her career.
Who will win: Ronda

The Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match (Ember vs. Charlotte vs. Alexa vs. Becky vs. Natalya vs. Lana vs. Naomi vs. Sasha)
I’m not gonna lie, I’m having a hard time picking a winner for this match. Charlotte, Alexa, and Sasha seem to fall into title matches left and right and Ember still seems too new. Out of the remaining women I think Becky will probably bring down the briefcase just because she’s been in a rut for a while and this would be the perfect thing to get her out of it.
Who will win: Becky Lynch

The Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match (Strowman vs. Balor vs. The Miz vs. Rusev vs. Roode vs. Owens vs. Samoa Joe vs. New Day)
It’s hard to shake off the memories of Commissioner Corbin’s underwhelming win last year, but even so I’m looking forward to this year’s match. While I’d love to see the New Day win and get a new direction in their careers, or Samoa Joe win because he actually seems like a real fighter instead of a cartoon character, I’d still be happy with most of the others winning. I predict Strowman will win though because he’ll always be a top guy that could conceivably cash in and win and I also don’t think WWE can resist that “Monster in the Bank” nickname.
Who will win: Braun Strowman

Looking over my predictions I realize just how bitter I am about WWE right now. I still watch it for the comics, and there are moments I like (Paige as Smackdown GM for one thing) but their booking since Wrestlemania has the swagger and confidence of a company that doesn’t have to care about ratings or subscription numbers. Hopefully after Backlash sucked so bad WWE will try harder for Money in the Bank, but even if not I’m sure NXT TakeOver will tear the house down.