Pantoja’s WWE Money in the Bank 2023 Review

WWE Money in the Bank

July 1^st, 2023 | O2 Arena in London, England

They really did an hour long pre-show for this with no matches. Glad I didn’t watch.

Money in the Bank: Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. LA Knight vs. Logan Paul vs. Ricochet vs. Santos Escobar vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

LA Knight was ABSURDLY over, while Logan Paul got the most heat. Everyone went after him at the opening bell too. This moved at a wild pace with the focal point often being Paul getting targeted and guys working together to overcome things like the size of Priest. That led to them teaming up for a bit though that didn’t last long. I popped for stuff like Butch using a cricket bat as a weapon. Knight got a huge pop when he was alone but Paul cut him off, drawing more heat. Ricochet had the first big standout pop but Paul delivered a huge frog splash onto Priest on a ladder. That’ll likely be more memorable. There were some huge spots delivered by everybody from a Ricochet springboard 450 to a Butch moonsault off a ladder. The end saw Ricochet and Paul nearly die on a spot where Ricochet brought him off the top through two tables with a Spanish Fly when they weren’t steady on the ropes. Priest sent Butch packing and then Knight fought off Priest, Nakamura, and Santos to seemingly win, only for Priest to return and stop him and send him off the top. Priest then retrieved the briefcase in 20:26. What an absolute spectacle that was. A clusterfuck in the best possible way with a surprising result. [****¼]

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler [c] vs. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez

Liv came out with a Ginger spice inspired gear and I was in love. Right off the bat, the challengers gave them some trouble with Raquel launching Liv onto them outside. However, a quick Ronda distraction allowed Shayna to send Liv down to the mat and stomp on the arm, giving us our face in peril. Raquel got the mild tag and did some power stuff. Did you know she has back muscles? Things picked up again when Liv got the tag as Shayna turned a cross body into an armbar and Ronda added an Ankle Lock on top of that. Raquel broke it up but of course, pushed Ronda onto Liv’s ankle, adding to the pain. Liv survived the Kirifuda Clutch and then got left alone with Ronda. But in a shocker, Shayna attacked Ronda and choked her out. Raquel and Liv pounced and Liv beat Ronda again with Oblivion in 9:00. That was a fine match with a pretty surprising turn from Shayna. [**]

WWE Intercontinental Championship: Gunther [c] vs. Matt Riddle

Their matches in PROGRESS where phenomenal so I have high hopes here. Riddle tried to come out hot but one chop floored him. Then, Gunther targeted the damaged ankle, which was taped up. MAYBE WEAR SOME SHOES MATTHEW. Riddle got in some hope spots like the Floating Bro but was handily dominated here. I loved how the finish saw him kick out of a powerbomb only to end up in a half crab. Then, when he didn’t tap, Gunther CHOPPED HIS INJURED FOOT. He then slapped on an achilles lock and Riddle tapped at the 7:46 mark. Great use of a squash. [***]

Post-match, we got a HUGE pop for the return of Drew McIntyre. He came face to face with Gunther and laid him out with the Claymore. I guess we’ve got our SummerSlam IC Title match. This was awesome.

Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio

The crowd knew the second verse to “Kingdom” which you don’t see every day. Dominik continued to be a great shitty little heel, taking off Cody’s cast, running at every chance he had, and hiding behind Rhea. He also removed the turnbuckle pad, taking every advantage he possibly could’ve. Whenever Cody did get his hands on Dom fairly, he dominated him as you’d expect. Rhea distracted Cody, opening the door for a 619 but Cody blocked it. He hit the spinning Alabama Slam, Cody Cutter, and then won with Cross Rhodes in 8:37. That was just what it needed to be. Cody is a great face and Dom is a great chicken shit heel and both played those roles well. [**½]

The building ERUPTED as John Cena made a surprise appearance. He put over London and dissed management for not bringing a PLE back here for more than 20 years. Then he really popped the crowd by saying he’s here to try and bring WrestleMania to London. Cena was cut off by Grayson Waller, who said Mania in London sounds lame. They need to go somewhere with great weather and culture like Australia. He offered Cena a spot on the Grayson Waller Effect at Mania in his home country but Cena declined. Waller handled himself so much better here than Austin Theory ever did against Cena. Waller attacked but got too cocky and ate an Attitude Adjustment. That was fun.

Money in the Bank: Bayley vs. Becky Lynch vs. IYO SKY vs. Trish Stratus vs. Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark

Trish and Zoey went after Becky in the aisle while Damage CTRL isolated Zelina in the ring. Then, the two teams went at it. A few spots early felt awkward like Zoey dropping IYO to no reaction and Trish flipping onto a ladder to just do nothing afterward. The continuing storylines were Becky dealing with Trish and Zoey and Damage CTRL having issues. Trish was busting out new offense which is wild given that she’s 47 and really doesn’t ever have to do this again. IYO got a great spot with a moonsault off a ladder that took everyone out. Her moonsault is just great. IYO and Zelina had what could’ve been a cool moment but they kind of flubbed it. To stop Zelina from winning, Trish and Becky had to work together which was kind of cool. That led to them fighting and the tease of trapping Becky in handcuffs but she fought them off. Trish and Becky fought on the announce table until Trish took the Manhandle Slam onto a ladder. ZELINA USED A GODDAMN CHANCLA AS A WEAPON and she followed it with a sunset flip bomb off the ladder onto another ladder, which was madness. IYO was alone with a shot to win but as expected, Bayley cost her the match. She actually sold it as if she was upset at doing it and did it out of instinct. Bayley and Becky went at it but IYO got the cuffs and cuffed them together between the open ladder. IYO then climbed over Bayley and won in 18:04. Fantastic finish to a match that started a bit rough but they were ON ONE afterward. [****]

World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins [c] vs. Finn Bálor

The crowd conducting for Seth’s theme was held for a LONG time after the theme went quiet and was cool. Finn attacked the injured ribs to start and that gave him the quick upper hand. They had a pretty great exchange that you might expect as the closing stretch but it came at just around the 10 minute mark. Seth hit a Pedigree but couldn’t cover in time. It was then that Damian Priest strolled out with his newly won briefcase. He just watched though. Finn used the distraction to his advantage, hitting Coup de Grace off the announce table and steel steps. The same thing happened when Finn went up top though as Priest teased entering the ring and that distraction allowed Seth to avoid the move and win with the Curb Stomp in 12:29. That was way shorter than I expected but it was packed with action and ultimately was very good. [***½]

Post-match, Finn and Damian argued.

Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos

MAIN EVENT JEY USO. “Fuck you Roman” chants at the bell as Jimmy started against Solo. Their exchange didn’t last long before Jey got tagged. Roman shouted “NO” at Solo and Jey said “BETTE LISTEN TO YO DAMN DADDY.” Roman demanded the tag giving us the match we all wanted. I love that when Jey got the upper hand, Roman took a powder and Heyman hyped him up by saying that Roman’s kids will be eating at Jey’s table if he let this continue. That turned the table and gave the heels the upper hand. As Jimmy took the heat segment, the crowd chanted “If you hate Roman, stand up” as they all stood up. I love UK crowds. That led to Roman sitting down and complaining to Heyman that this country sucks. It was great. They cut off the tag for a while and let it peak when Jey got his hot tag and laid into Solo with a series of strikes and kicks. Jey even did The Rock’s signature punches. His hot streak got cut off by Roman’s Superman Punch but then interrupting his Spear with a Double Spear by the Usos was sick. He only got saved by Solo and didn’t even move to kick out. Jimmy got going on Roman late but his splash saw him get caught in the guillotine, calling back to HIAC 2020. He survived and then The Usos had it won with 1D but the referee was down. That opened the door for Solo to get involved for stereo uranages. Jey took a Samoan Spike/Spear combo and Roman made Solo lay Jimmy on top of Jey to pin both but they both kicked out. At a loss for what to do, Solo crashed through the announce table, leaving Roman alone for a bit. Jey kicked out of a Spear and did a low blow with the kick out, which is something Roman has done before. Roman ate a barrage of superkicks and then Jey hit him with the splash to get the three and become the first person to pin Roman since December 2019. This went 32:04 and didn’t feel that long. An absolute spectacle and something truly special. There are better tag matches out there but the combo of the story, the crowd, and the finish makes it something special. [****¾]

9.0

The final score: review Amazing

The 411

A special night of wrestling. Yes there are better events from an in-ring standpoint but three ****+ matches, major storyline advancement, fun shorter matches, a hot crowd, and a special moment to end it all with the right results throughout for the most part all combined for something tremendous.