The fight capital of the world, Las Vegas, was buzzing as the WWE returned to the city with one of their stupendous most premium pay-per-view events, Money In The Bank. With so many titles on the line, men’s and women’s ladder matches to grab the briefcase that guarantees a championship opportunity hold the aura on its own.
Who climbed to the top to grab their ticket to glory? Who defended their crowns? Find out more as we recap the extraordinary events of the show!
Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match
The first match of the evening saw seven women fight for the coveted women’s Money in The Bank briefcase. The case, which remains on top of a ladder, guarantees the victor a sure-fire title shot. The match was contested by Lacey Evans, Raquel Rodriguez, Becky Lynch, Asuka, Liv Morgan, Shotzi, and Alexa Bliss. After almost two years of ups and downs, Liv Morgan finally met glory as she climbed to the top to get the briefcase and score the biggest victory of her career to date.
Winner: Liv Morgan
Grade: B+
Key Moments:
She prevented long-time foe, Becky Lynch, from getting in her way again as the fans were sure that we would be seeing another title reign courtesy of Lynch. As the two women were the last two athletes fighting for the case, Morgan came out on top, as she foiled Lynch’s attempts to derail Morgan’s path to glory.
How many ❤️ for Ms. #MITB @YaOnlyLivvOnce can we get?! pic.twitter.com/cORjfrbTHy
— WWE (@WWE) July 3, 2022
As Bianca Belair was scheduled to defend her Raw Women’s Championship against Carmella later in the night, and SmackDown’s Ronda Rousey was to put her title on the line against Natalya, excitement grew among the fans to see whether Morgan would make another appearance that night.
Even though it was quite an exciting affair with so many participants, the inexperience of the fighters came on show at many points during the fight. There was room for improvement in many parts of their performances.
United States Championship Match: Bobby Lashley vs. Theory
The United States Champion, Theory, defended his belt against Bobby Lashley for their first encounter in actual one-on-one action. “The All-Mighty” Bobby Lashley overpowered Theory to pick up his third WWE United States championship title. It was quite a grueling affair as the new champion had a bloodied mouth post-match, which became evidence of the war both men went through.
Result: Bobby Lashley defeats Theory by Submission
Grade: B
SPEAR SPEAR SPEAR!@_Theory1 #MITB pic.twitter.com/pxhGZaDlBe
— WWE (@WWE) July 3, 2022
Key Moments:
The Almighty launched an early assault, but Theory fought back to seize the initiative. The teenage prodigy interrupted Lashley every time he tried to create a steady comeback. The Atlanta native’s dream match, however, came to an end as Lashley countered his finish and used the Hurt Lock to win by submission.
Raw Women’s Championship Match: Bianca Belair vs Carmella
With Morgan winning the Money in The Bank Briefcase, much more focus was now put on Bianca Blair as she was defending her RAW Women’s Title against Carmella.
Result: Bianca Belair defeats Carmella
Grade: C
Key Moments:
Belair, proving as resilient as ever, fought through her opponent’s onslaught and delivered the Kiss of Death for the win and a successful title defense. Belair, known as’ The EST ‘, defended her crown and would have been glad to see that there was no late appearance by Liv Morgan, as the champion would have been in the precarious position of defending her belt for the second time on the night after going through a massive brawl.
A bitter @CarmellaWWE just laid out #WWERaw Women's Champion @BiancaBelairWWE!#MITB pic.twitter.com/KPe5Wo0zSa
— WWE (@WWE) July 3, 2022
SmackDown Women’s Championship Match: Ronda Rousey vs. Natalya; Liv Morgan Cashes In
Natalya and Ronda Rousey exceeded expectations. On Saturday night, the SmackDown Women’s Championship match had an excellent ending sequence that emphasized the submission-based offenses of both women. The match was also extremely aggressive, making both women dig deep to pull through. In the end, however, it was the former UFC champion Rousey who pulled through.
Result: Liv Morgan wins after she beats Ronda Rousey by Cashing in her MITB contract after Rousey beat Natalya.
Grade: A
Key Moments:
The UFC Hall of Famer’s famous armbar helped make up for some of her less impressive performances earlier in the year. The bout started slowly but ended up being a pretty fun one thanks to the switching of holds, from the Sharpshooter to the ankle lock and, finally, Rousey’s iconic armbar.
#SmackDown Women's Champion @RondaRousey retains at #MITB following a grueling title defense against @NatbyNature! pic.twitter.com/vAfKALrRFB
— WWE (@WWE) July 3, 2022
The ending was not what it seemed, though. With newly crowned Money in The Bank winner, Liv Morgan cashing in her title shot to capture gold for the very first time.
The energy, the enthusiasm, and the sincere joy on Morgan’s and the WWE Universe’s faces in Las Vegas reflected the story of the occasion. Here was a young lady who had dedicated her adult life to pursuing her desire to win a world title and had had a few close calls. But this time around, she got the job done twice in the same night.
The greatest moment of her life 🙌
We Liv for this! #MITB @YaOnlyLivvOnce pic.twitter.com/dkVSWOgLt2
— WWE on TNT Sports (@wweontnt) July 3, 2022
Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match
The Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match was the most anticipated match of the night. Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, Madcap Moss, Riddle, and Omos all earned their way into Saturday night’s main event, the Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match, for a guaranteed world title opportunity anytime anywhere for the next one year. But it so happened that the night ended with one man walking out with that briefcase who was not participating in the match.
Theory, who had lost his United States title to Bobby Lashley earlier in the night, left the locker room and was brought into the match by WWE official Adam Pearce as the eighth competitor. This was a huge surprise to everyone, as Mr. McMahon’s handpicked superstar got an opportunity out of privilege, rather than qualification.
Result: Theory won Money in the Bank, defeating Rollins, Riddle, Omos, Sheamus, McIntyre, Zayn and Moss.
Grade: A
.@_Theory1 is Mr. Money in the Bank! #MITB pic.twitter.com/wBXNyNgpmE
— WWE (@WWE) July 3, 2022
Key Moments:
The moment theory was added to the match wwe universe were almost sure about the result and they seemingly were not quite so happy and anybody from the arena present tonight can testify the truth. Zayn endured some serious abuse as Moss tossed him to places and slammed him to ladders. Riddle went crazy throughout the match and was superb. Omos dominated for quite a long time until the rest of the superstars combined and took Omos out of action by driving him through the announcer’s table. Though Rollins was displaying his penultimate performance in the match, soon the architect was removed from the equation, courtesy of a Super RKO off the ladders by Riddle. Ridddle was about to win, but theory laughed the last laugh with the briefcase held high in the air.
