Pantoja’s WWE Money in the Bank 2024 Review

WWE Money in the Bank 2024 Review

July 6^th, 2024 | Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario

Alright, guys, I’m several margaritas in and ready for the show.

Money in the Bank: Andrade vs. Carmelo Hayes vs. Chad Gable vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Jey Uso vs. LA Knight

Drew feels like far and away the biggest star in here. Like I said in my Forbidden Door review, most ladder matches kind of follow the same pattern these days. They all have cool spots and are very entertaining, yet you forget about what happens in them within a day or two. Andrade seemed to want to show out here and he did so early on but eventually, it was Chad Gable who really started to shine. His Chaos Theory counter spot was sick. At one point he actually German Suplexed a ladder onto Andrade like a madman. I live for dumb shit like that. Guys worked together to take out Drew, leading to a YEET vs. YEAH battle between Knight and Uso before Hayes got going and nearly pulled down the briefcase. Melo took a big sunset flip bomb spot onto a ladder and Gable hit Knight with a belly-to-belly suplex onto a ladder as well. Drew cut off Jey when he was so close to winning by hitting him with a ladder and then retrieved the briefcase for himself at 16:32. That was another in a long line of modern ladder matches. The action was very good and I enjoyed it but it will also be forgotten in a couple of days. [***¾]

WWE Intercontinental Championship: Sami Zayn [c] vs. Bron Breakker

The idea here was that Bron overwhelmed Sami in terms of strength and stuff. Bron even left himself open for a shot, daring Sami to deliver. Of course, Sami responded but that didn’t stop Bron from being in control. He even stopped to do push-ups fresh off of a Sami kickout. Bron caught Sami’s moonsault off the guardrail but Sami sent him into the ring post, gaining a slight upper hand for a short time. Bron refused to stay down for long and was on a mission, busting out a top rope Frankensteiner. Bron also learned from Monday, avoiding the steps after Sami leap-frogged him outside. Surprisingly, Bron seemed poised for the win only for it to not happen. Sami got a boot up on a Bron Spear attempt and then he delivered the Helluva Kick to retain in 13:13. There were points where that was kind of slow but I think they mostly did well with the story. Very shocked at the result to be honest. While good, this was rather disappointing. [***¼]

Host of the show Trish Stratus introduced John Cena as a surprise for the crowd. He came in hype but then announced his retirement from the WWE. He said the 2025 Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber will be his last, while WrestleMania 2025 will also be his final Mania. He later clarified on the post-show that his farewell tour will run from January through December 2025.

World Heavyweight Championship: Damian Priest [c] vs. Seth Rollins

If Priest wins, Seth never gets another shot while he’s champion and if Rollins wins, Priest must leave Judgment Day. Priest has been explicit in his desire for Judgment Day to stay out of this but Finn Bálor seems unwilling to do so. This started hot with Seth trying to win early and bringing some of his most notable offense in the opening minutes. Both guys kept looking to the aisle when they hit a move just in case Drew McIntyre runs down. They played this match as pretty even with neither guy gaining a clear upper hand for too long. Seth hit the superplex/Falcon Arrow combo for a close near fall, which is when Drew’s music hit as he marched down to the ring. He handed the briefcase to the referee and officially cashed in, making this a triple-threat match. He had Claymore cut off twice before starting to get going, only for CM Punk to run in and attack him. That included wailing on him with a chair and choking him with a ringside cable. He hit him with the World Title, allowing Damian to deliver South of Heaven and retain in 15:48. Similar to the previous match, I thought this was pretty lackluster and didn’t hit the highs you want in a World Title match. [***]

Money in the Bank: Chelsea Green vs. IYO SKY vs. Lyra Valkyria vs. Naomi vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Zoey Stark

Huge pop for Tiffany here. Apparently, Chelsea is scared of heights so as soon as she climbed, she got down and tried to throw the ladder at the briefcase to knock it down. Outside of her antics, this was another ladder match filled with big spots that you won’t remember tomorrow. I thought Tiffany’s somersault outside was solid and Lyra’s German Suplex off a ladder looked great. I will say, the one spot that likely will get remembered is Naomi doing a split across two ladders and then busting out a DDT. It was unique enough to stand out in a world filled with ladder matches. Some spots didn’t work as well, like Green’s Unprettier on the ladder but for the most part, this match was mostly unhinged in a good way. Zoey nearly died on a piledriver-type move from the top of a ladder by IYO. Like, I’m surprised she’s not seriously injured. Chelsea nearly got the briefcase but was shoved off and through several tables by Tiffany, who then pulled down the briefcase at the 16:51 mark. An absolutely wild ladder match with some ridiculous spots but again, we probably won’t remember it in a couple of days. [****]

The Bloodline vs. Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens, and Randy Orton

Wisely, Tanga Loa isn’t in action here. Cody started with Tama but what everyone wanted was to see Jacob Fatu. He came in against Orton and no sold the hanging DDT, ensuring that he stands out in a way that other guys don’t. From there, we got traditional six-man tag stuff with the babyfaces each playing the face in peril for a bit but never for too long and the Bloodline using quick tags and impactful offense to hold serve. Owens took the longest heat segment of the match which was done to lead into the Cody/Solo interaction they were teasing early on. Solo hit a Spear to huge heat and seemed on the verge of winning after a low blow by Tanga Loa. However, Cody cut him off and hit two Cross Rhodes but Jacob intervened before the third could get hit. They held Cody in place as Solo did the Umaga finisher and they threw the referee back inside so he could count to three after 24:39. Another match that was mostly fine but nowhere near as good as you want from a main event. While Tama is the better of the two Guerrillas, he’s still not anything special in the ring and Solo is kind of just there though he has major heat. The faces did their thing and Jacob Fatu looked good out there. [***¼]

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Most WWE PLEs have delivered in a big since early 2023. This wasn’t one of them but was still a good show, they’ve just set a high bar lately. There’s nothing bad on this card and it moves along nicely but also nothing really stood out as special.