The WWE Money In The Bank 2020 Reaction by Kelly Dishnow

Welcome to The Money In The Bank Reaction, where I offer up my take on the show. As always, you can check out John’s full in-depth review here.

I did not catch the kickoff match between Jeff Hardy and Cesaro. It sounded like a fun match.

We get the MITB opening video before our first match, the Fatal Four Way for the Smackdown Tag Team Titles between New Day, Miz/Morrison, Forgotten Sons, and Lucha House Party. The match was pretty fun given three of the teams involved. We had an odd moment when Jackson Ryker got tossed for interfering in the match when there are no DQs. Referee prerogative, I guess? Anyway, LHP eats the pin and New Day retains. I was half expecting Miz/Morrison to eat the pin to keep LHP and Forgotten Sons in the title mix for something new and different. All four teams looked really good and I expect to see more from them in the future.

R-Truth is up next to take on MVP but Bobby Lashley comes out to fight R-Truth instead. I love the R-Truth hijinks but Lashley destroys him quickly. I wonder if Lashley is regretting coming back yet? Hopefully, he got the Brock match written into his contract.

The Smackdown Woman’s Championship match is up next with Bayley taking on Tamina. Bayley really tried her best, but she just couldn’t get Tamina over with the crowd. I know Tamina’s been around forever but how are her knees holding up? Are they Mick Foleyesque? Anyway, Bayley picks up the win with an odd looking Samoan Drop counter into a crucifix pin to retain her title. The Smackdown Woman’s title scene is a mess right now when you have to use Tamina as a placeholder challenger. Why not give Dana Brooke a couple of opportunities until we finally do the Bayley/Sasha split that’s three years too late.

The title matches keep on coming as Braun Strowman defends the Universal Title against Bray Wyatt. Bray was Sweater Bray and not The Fiend. The match was what you would expect, given the Bray Wyatt persona used. The story was good, with the goading from the puppets and Bray to embrace the black sheep mask. Braun returns the mind games before destroying the mask and pinning Bray to retain the title. After the match, there were some Fiend cuts so their next match will likely be in The Fiend persona.

Championship matches continue as the WWE Championship is up for grabs between Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins. Seth has a new entrance theme that aligns more with the gimmick. We are treated to an excellent match between the two. This is a hard hitting back and forth affair. Drew picks up the win after a Claymore Kick. After the match, Drew asks Seth to shake his hand and Seth did. That was a nice touch after the match. Another thing, there was no sign of Murphy anywhere. This was good to allow for a true one on one match. I expect another match between the two somewhere down the road.

R-Truth has a quick chat backstage with Charly Caruso about beating Tom Brady to recapture the 24/7 Title. Classic R-Truth there.

Main event time with the Money in the Bank matches. Both matches run simultaneously. The ladies started in the lobby with Asuka wiping them out with a cross body block off the second floor. The men started in the gym. Asuka slipped into the elevator to ride up by herself, being Asuka on the ride up. The guys start running through the building and Rey encounters Brother Love in the bathroom. Brother Love tells Rey I love you and Rey said he does too, but he has to go. Funny cameo spot there. The ladies find their way into a conference room and Dana Brooke retrieves the Money in the Bank briefcase, a clear briefcase with money inside it. She acts like she’s won the match until Stephanie McMahon points out that they are in the Money in the Bank Conference Room and the actual Money in the Bank briefcase is up on the roof. Dana looks dejected and Carmella bashed her in the head with the Money in the Bank poster Carmella was featured on. This was mildly funny as we have to expect Dana didn’t fully understand the rules of the match. AJ teases another match with Undertaker as he stares down a poster and gets locked in a casket room by Black. I don’t think the second match will be as good as the Boneyard Match. Everybody winds up in the cafeteria with Paul Heyman for the obligatory food fight. Otis finds dessert and Johnny Ace, putting a pie in Johnny’s face. So much for People Power, eh Johnny? AJ and Bryan fight into an office and Vince McMahon turns around in the chair. Bryan and AJ stop fighting as Vince tells them to leave. They fix the office chairs on the way out. Nice touch guys. Bryan and AJ talk about what just happened and realized they stopped fighting. Black shows up and throws Bryan into a conference room and Total Bellas poster. Nice product placement. Can we get something better for Bryan? Corbin shows up and announces he is going to the roof. We finally make it to the roof and the only two women who have a chance here, Lacey Evans and Asuka arrive with Nia Jax in tow. The other three women appeared to have gotten lost within the building. The three ladies fight for the ladder and Asuka gets a clear path to the briefcase before Corbin stops her? I think the King forgot the rules. Asuka disposes of him to win the woman’s MITB match. Otis shows up on the roof and Asuka pulls a Houdini, disappearing from the top of the ladder. All of the men, except Bryan make it to the roof. Corbin tosses Rey and Black off the “roof”, thudding on the crash pad below. AJ and Corbin battle over the briefcase on top of the ladder. AJ releases the briefcase and plays tug of war with Corbin over it. Elias ends the tug of war with a guitar shot and AJ drops the briefcase into Otis’s hands. The bell rings and Otis is declared the winner as he had control of the briefcase and someone from Smackdown had to win the men’s case since Asuka won the Woman’s case.

That’s a lot to digest here. They had some funny moments and cameos There was no explanation as to why only three women and five men made it to the roof. It wasn’t as good as the Boneyard Match but along the lines of the Firefly Funhouse Match. Both winners were surprises as I was hoping for Aleister Black to win the men’s and figured Shayna Baszler would win the women’s match. I am glad Asuka won though and I had her as my pick to win. It’ll be interesting to see where the Otis story goes from here. Tag title match? Gift it to Mandy for a Women’s Title match? Challenge Braun? Does someone challenge him for the briefcase? Tag team titles? We’ll see how this plays out.

Let’s look at tonight’s highs and lows:

The Highs

Thank you, Baby Jesus, Asuka is Miss Money in the Bank. I’m guessing Vince really has soured on Shayna.

The McIntyre/Rollins match was really good. I wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch down the road.

The Lows

Why are we supposed to think Dana Brooke is that stupid? She thought she won the match by retrieving a briefcase with money in it in a conference room instead of on the roof.

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Things are starting to look up a little bit, but still stay safe and stay home.

That’s all I’ve got, until next time.