WWE Money in the Bank 2017 Review

Money in the Bank 2017
St. Louis, MO
Scottrade Center
Brand: Smackdown
6/18/17

I really haven't paid as much attention to Smackdown since the Backlash show as I have instead spent my Tuesday nights watching America's Got Talent and after reading the recaps I don't see anything that really interests me enough on the blue brand to actually care to go back and watch it. I still feel Smackdown has taken a hit since the shake up and hasn't been able to fully recover since. With that said I still am interested in this show as Money in the Bank is always a fun show to watch, although I wish there was a more exciting title match on this show as the Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton feud hasn't really done anything for me partly because it's still hard to take Jinder 100% seriously as a champion after he's been a jobber for his entire career and also because Orton has had a really bad year and has been in shitty feud after shitty feud. 

I also feel the women's division has lost a step as Charlotte hasn't been the dominant force on Smackdown yet like she was on Raw and that's because she isn't nowhere near as good being a baby face and needs to go back being heel ASAP. I also am confused as to why Lana is getting cheered when she hasn't done anything to prove herself in the ring and isn't any different than Eva Marie was yet Eva always got booed, now if she really amazes tonight and puts on a good match with Naomi I will change my mind on her.

The tag division is pretty fun as New Day and Breezango are having some pretty entertaining segments and The Usos are great heel foils for them. I do wish American Alpha was back in the mix as they are always a great joy to watch. 

I like majority of the guys in the Money in the Bank Ladder match and this could be one of the better MITB matches there has been in quite a while. I don't like what they are doing with Nakamura as far as character goes as they are completely trying to change him, I don't understand why he needs to be called the artist when he already has a nickname, but that's Vince having to put his hands on everything and completely change it so that he can look back and in his mind think that he is the reason Nakamura became a big star and if the changes don't work and Nakamura's time in WWE is a flop then Vince will say he was never good enough and couldn't hang in the WWE. 

Hopefully this show will be better than the last two main roster shows (Payback & Backlash).

Kick Off Match

The Hype Bros def The Colons via Pinfall

This was nothing too special, but did it's job to warm up the crowd. The Colons worked over the previously injured leg of Zack Ryder until he was able to make the hot tag to Mojo. Mojo hit the Hyperdrive and the running punch in the corner and they finished off The Colons with the Hype Ryder. Rating: **

Match #1

Carmella def Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Naomi & Natalya (Money in the Bank Ladder Match) 

This match failed to reach my expectations as I thought with it being the first women's ladder match they would go all out, but they didn't use the ladders near enough. I felt all the girls were really nervous and this caused them to be a bit sloppy. The highlight of the match didn't even involve a ladder as Charlotte hit another one of her crazy dives to the outside. I really wish Ellsworth would've got slammed on a ladder by Becky  as that was a massive pop they missed out on. The finish was what I expected with Ellsworth getting the briefcase for Carmella. I would play the story that Ellsworth feels Carmella owes him something since he won it for her. Rating: **3/4

Match #2

New Day def The Usos (c) via countout (SmackDown Tag Team Championship)

This was shaping up to be the best tag team title match SmackDown has had in a while, but it ended a bit too soon and even though it made sense to end in a countout as the feud will continue it ended too soon for me. I hope this is the start of getting the blue brand's tag division back to where it needs to be. I liked the spot where one of the Usos had Kofi in the Tequila Sunrise and Big E was doing whatever he could to break it up as he knew Kofi wouldn't last long as he's coming off a leg injury. Really good match and I look forward to the re match next month. Rating: ***1/4

Match #3

Naomi (c) def  Lana (SmackDown Women's Championship) via Submission

First off Lana's gear is definitely not PG. there was no tease with what she was wearing she showed her ass off completely. Lana did a decent job and was better than I was expecting her to do. This was the third match of the night where the main body part worked on was a leg. Right toward the end Carmella comes out and teases a cash in, but decides she'll wait until a better time. This took a bit away from the ending as everyone was more concentrating on Carmella. Decent match but nothing too special. Rating: **

Debut of Mike Bennett & Maria

Definitely didn't expect this tonight and it looks like they are playing it where Maria wears the pants in the marriage and Mike is submissive to her. 

Match #4

Jinder Mahal (c) def Randy Orton (WWE World Championship)

Did the agents that laid these matches out not talk with each other as every non MITB match had the heels working on the leg of the baby face. This was once again exactly what you would expect from these two. The match picked up when the Singh brothers interfered and Orton begged the ref to send them to the back instead of disqualifying Jinder, the brothers then threatened to attack Bob Orton who was at ringside along with other legends and this caused Orton to go after them. Orton slammed one on the table and sent the other one through the table with an RKO from one table to another. All of this allowed Jinder to recover and when Orton got back in the ring he was kicked in the leg and hit with the Kallos. Better than their Backlash match but that's not saying anything. Rating: ***

Match #5

Breezango def The Ascension

This match was unannounced ahead of this show, but we had a Fashion Files where they two mystery men who attacked Breeze on Smackdown were going to reveal themselves, but don't get too excited it's not any new team or American Alpha with a heel turn alas it's only The Ascension. This was the perfect cool down match as it had a team in it that are over and the fans want to see so it prevents them from leaving to go to the restroom and it was quick enough that it didn't overstay it's welcome. Breezango gets the win after Fandango pins Viktor with a small package. Rating: *1/2

Match #6

Baron Corbin def AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, & Dolph Ziggler (Money in the Bank Ladder Match)

This match was incredible and everything you would want out of a Money in the Bank Ladder match. I liked Corbin attacking Nakamura during his entrance as it was a great way of setting up the finish of the match and I liked that they didn't do the usual person who gets taken out ends up winning the match trope that they like to pull out from time to time. Unlike the women's MITB match it didn't feel like there were many instances where someone was going to grab the briefcase and had to wait an insane amount of time before someone grabbed them as soon as someone was right at the top someone was right there to knock them off. There were some really memorable spots during the first half of the match which include the half and half suplex from Zayn onto KO on the apron and the DVD off the apron on the the ladder by AJ onto KO, and the bump AJ took after holding onto the briefcase without a ladder under him. Once Nakamura came back out the match really picked up as he was taking everyone out with the Kinshasa. Then we get AJ and Nakamura squaring off which is one of the matches everyone has wanted to see since Nakamura's debut and these two got the crowd on their feet and didn't even need a ladder to do so as their strike exchange was really great and that was only a small tease to what an amazing match they could put on. It really fit Corbin's character that he would win after knocking two of the IWC's favorites off the ladder. This was truly one of my favorite MITB ladder matches. Rating: ****1/2

This show was really fun to watch and felt like it flew by, it had three matches that were over three stars so that is a good thing. I feel this was the best post WrestleMania PPV show as there was nothing that was absolutely awful to the point where I wanted to turn it off. MITB Grade: B-

Money in the Bank 2017 Match Ranking

7. Breezango vs The Ascension
6. Smackdown Women's Championship
5. The Hype Bros vs The Colons
4. Women's MITB Ladder Match
3. WWE World Championship
2. Smackdown Tag Team Championship
1. Men's MITB Ladder Match

I hope you enjoy my review and feel free to comment or shoot me a message over on twitter @MTW3589. 

If your a fan of reality tv I suggest checking out my new blog I just started over at mythoughtsonrealitytv.blogspot.com I will be covering this season's Big Brother and my first post will be previewing the BB 19 cast and giving my thoughts and first impressions of them.