Money in The Bank 2018: Best and Worst Moments

This past Monday I uploaded a blog post taking a look at the lessons we learned from the two thousand and eighteen Money in the Bank Ladder match which will, of course, be linked down at the end below! In that post, I did mention that I would be spending more time this week looking at the pay per view as a whole considering it was such a long show and I couldn't fit everything we needed to talk about in one blog post. Today, we are going to be focusing our attention soley on the Money in the Bank ladder matches and discussing some of the best and worse moments! This time next week I will post the third and final installment of my twenty eighteen MITB review where we dive into the women's division and their performance on the night! As always, any recent blog posts will be linked below including all my reviews from this week so far! Finally, you can get involved and tell me what you thought of both Money in the Bank and NXT Takeover by also leaving a comment below or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria. 

Kevin Freaking Owens

Honestly, I had no idea what to name this first section of today's blog post. Throughout the week I have spoken so much about Kevin Owens that I feel like I could dedicate this entire article on the former champion. His performance this past Sunday at Money in the Bank was simply fantastic. While he wasn't apart of the closing moments and of course didn't score the victory he did, in fact, have one of the standout performances of the night. Before the match had even started, Owens was keeping fans entertained with hilarious backstage segments and interview interruptions with the likes of Samoa Joe and the New Day. With genuine laughs coming from the WWE universe Owens only proved yet again just how versatile and entertaining his character is as a whole and once in the ring, Owens only shone even brighter. As we touched on, he didn't walk out the victor but he made a conscious effort to eliminate Braun Strowman from the occasion which in the end back fried and as a result Kevin took one of if not the biggest spot of the night after the monster among men flung him off the top of a ladder the literal height of the arena! (okay maybe not literal). Owens was always destined for a brilliant performance and I'm so glad he played such a role in this match!

Breakout Performances 

Now, it would be a lie if I said Lana had the breakout performance of the night, she didn't. Lana remains one of the weaker in-ring performers in the women's division but we cannot ignore the fact she did standout this past Sunday at Money in the Bank. Competing against former champions and some of the best athletes in the division Lana held her own and in fact fit in a couple of impressive spots. She was given her chance to stand out and she didn't let that go to waste at all. We also have to touch on the fact she picked up one heck of a crowd reaction as was expected. She may not have the biggest push awaiting her but following what we saw this past weekend fans can expect to see a little more of her in the coming months. This may include more in-ring time, better booking, and a stronger role within the Rusev Day idea. 
The night was full of breakout performances including the opening contest between Big Cass and Daniel Bryan where Cass arguably worked the best match of his career so far as well as Elias, and arguably Nia Jax

Alexa Bliss Wins the Money in the Bank Ladder Match

As we focus our attention on controversial moments, the end result of the women's Money in the Bank ladder match is first up. Now, considering there was a valid argument for most of the women in this match to take the win the end result was always going to divide opinion. Some believed Natalya should have won to continue her story with Ronda Rousey, some were backing Lana in the hopes of a Mr. and Mrs. Money in the Bank, and many rooted for Sasha Banks believing it was time for her to have something new and head in a better and stronger direction; however, arguably the biggest fan favourite of the night was Becky Lynch and to some surprise she was, in fact, one of the standout performers of the night. It was evident from the get-go the Chicago crowd and the majority of fans at home were rooting for the Irish Lass kicker and in there really were several moments fans were led to believe Lynch was walking out Miss Money in the Bank including those final few minutes of the match. However, in a not so surprising twist, it was Bliss who was able to eliminate Lynch from the picture in those last minutes and score the victory becoming the twenty eighteen Miss Money in the wBank. The decisions for Little Miss Bliss to take the win was a controversial one, to say the least. She has been in the spotlight from the moment she arrived on the main roster; that's two years in the championship picture and with someone like Lynch really needing and deserving of this opportunity the decision did not sit well with the WWE universe.

Rusev has Got turn Face

One of the biggest disappoints of the night for me personally was the end result of the men's Money in the Bank ladder match but we will jump into that a little later on! Now, one of my favourites for the win was of course Rusev. He didn't get the win unfortunately but he too was another standout. Coming close at times it was evident from the get-go that Rusev was one of the general fan favourites. Picking up one of the biggest crowd reactions of the night he remained the guy the fans in attendance were firmly behind and spots including an accolade on three superstars at once left the Chicago crowd roaring. After the reaction, he picked up and the way he performed the WWE must contemplate the idea of pushing him as a major top face heading into SummerSlam or at least give him a bigger push altogether. The reaction on Sunday cannot be ignored and Rusev is clearly deserving of a much much bigger role on the roster!

Great Match, Wrong Result

Many believed there was a theme to this year's Money in the Bank pay per view; brilliant matches with the wrong results and that was most certainly the case for the men's Money in the Bank ladder match. With the Miz and Rusev going down as the fan favourites for the win it was clear these two along with RAW's Finn Balor were most in need of the win and best suited for the win this year. However, it was the monster among men, Braun Strowman who walked out the victor in another controversial decision. It's clear to anyone that Strowman is not a man in need of the title of Mr. Money in the Bank. He did most certainly have the most dominant performance of the night but the MITB contract is something so far better suited to the names listed that it was a frustrating and rather disappointing end result. Strowman could very easily find himself chasing after the Universal Championship again while talent like the Miz and Rusev were far more needing of the contract. I do believe a big mistake was made here and an even greater opportunity wasted.

Welcome Back James Ellsworth

We have already touched on breakout stars of the weekend but Carmella is a name we most certainly have to include in that conversation. While her match against Asuka was far from the match of the night, Carmella showed some serious improvements hold her own amazingly well against one of the most dominant WWE superstars of all time. She had a plan, was calculated and went toe to toe with the former NXT Women's Champion in arguably her best match to date and I have to say I actually enjoyed the action. Now, the closing moments of this match didn't come as much of a surprise; throughout the past weeks there has been many rumors and speculation regarding the return of James Ellsworth and so when he revealed himself to be behind an Asuka mask there was a mixed reaction and of course the "surprise" return resulted in Carmella retaining her Smackdown LIVE women's championship. Now, maybe I'm losing my mind but I actually really liked this. I genuinely laughed when Ellsworth removed the mask, I liked the fact he returned a year after assisting Carmella in one of her biggest career victories, and the reaction was so strong I kinda marked out too... maybe just a little. Of course, this massively divided opinion but I personally liked the idea and I'm interested to see where things go!

The Goddess is Back on top

And the final point we are going to be looking at today is the result of the RAW women's Championship match. Now, the contest between Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey was arguably the match of the night and I will be dividing into this in greater depth at a later date. The two worked amazingly well together, telling a great story and providing a strong all-round wrestling match that left us all entertained and totally invested. The closing moments, however, did divide opinion, massively. We also have already spoken about how controversial the decision to have Bliss win the MITB ladder match was and so when she cashed in later on in the night and walked out the new RAW women's champion twitter blew up. It's clear Bliss was given the spot Natalya should have had and so the frustration was clearly justified. Personally, I can see why the WWE chose this direction to take and there is a lot that can be done but I don't believe this was the right move to make and not quite the ending that should have been booked.

And that was Money in the Bank twenty eighteen! My first review will, of course, be linked below and As always, any recent blog posts will be linked below including all my reviews from this week so far! Finally, you can get involved and tell me what you thought of both Money in the Bank and NXT Takeover by also leaving a comment below or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria. 

Recent Blog posts:
WHAT WE LEARNED FROM MONEY IN THE BANK 2018

NXT TAKEOVER CHICAGO: HIGHLIGHTS & HONEST THOUGHTS

WHAT WE TOOK AWAY FROM THE WWE UNITED KINGDOM CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT II TAPINGS

POTENTIAL FUTURE WWE WOMEN'S TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS