It’s time to see who can climb the ladder the fastest, with no one trying to pull them down. It’s time for the 2021 edition of WWE’s Money in the Bank, where Roman Reigns will face Edge for the Universal Championship and Rhea Ripley defends the Raw Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair. Of course, there will also be two matches dedicated to climbing a ladder.
This year’s event will take place at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. What’s important about the latest PPV is that it marks the return of audiences to live WWE events. The era of the Thunderdome is no more, and we will miss you. Of course, the titular ladder-climbing event means the winners of the men’s and women’s matches will get a contract for a championship match, so there is a lot on the line.
If you want to watch MITB, you’ll need to subscribe to Peacock–or WWE Network if you’re outside of the US. While Peacock has a free tier, you’ll need to subscribe to Peacock Premium ($5 a month) or Peacock Premium Plus ($10 a month). The difference between the two is that Premium Plus is not ad-supported. However, both tiers of Peacock play the same stream of the PPV.
Match card:
- Rey & Dominik Mysterio (c) vs. The Usos (Smackdown Tag Team Championship) [KICKOFF SHOW]
- AJ Styles & Omos (c) vs. The Viking Raiders (Raw Tag Team Championship)
- Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair (Raw Women’s Championship)
- Men’s Money in the Bank
- Women’s Money in the Bank
- Roman Reigns (c) vs. Edge (Universal Championship)
- Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Kofi Kingston (WWE Championship)
The men’s Money in the Bank match will feature Kevin Owens, Drew McIntyre, Matt Riddle, Ricochet, John Morrison, Big E, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Seth Rollins. The women’s will feature Zelina Vega, Asuka, Naomi, Alexa Bliss, Nikki A.S.H., Liv Morgan, Natalya, and Tamina.
While you wait for Money in the Bank to begin, why not check out this week’s episode of GameSpot’s professional wrestling podcast Wrestle Buddies? This week, Mat Elfring, Chris E. Hayner, and sophisticated AI program PredictionBot 3000 predict the winners and losers and possible surprises we’ll see at this year’s WWE PPV.
Below, you’ll find live updates and results for Money in the Bank as it airs on Peacock–or on the WWE Network outside of the US. Additionally, there will be some notes for each match as well.
Kickoff Show
The Kickoff Show starts at 7 PM ET / 4 PM PT and will air on Peacock, Twitter, and YouTube.
Notes from the preshow or changes in the match card will be noted here.
GameSpot’s Wrestle Buddies–Mat Elfring and Chris E. Hayner decided very last minute they’d be reviewing the show.
Rey & Dominik Mysterio (c) vs. The Usos
(Smackdown Tag Team Championship)
The Usos win by pin.
Mat: That pop for the Usos from a live audience when they entered the arena. It made me feel so good. Chris may have hated the Mysterios’ entrance–spoiler alert–but I loved it because it reminded me of the movie Stargate, and I love me some Stargate. I loved hearing the crowd again, and they were ready for anything. This could have been a 20-minute starefest and they would have been all in–and honestly, I would have been as well. But we actually got a fantastic Kickoff Show match to really get the crowd pumped up for the PPV, and that’s what we needed. Plus, The Usos get another title run, which always makes me happy.
Chris: I know WWE has said they’re going to lean further into the weird augmented reality stuff they already use too much, but the Mysterios’ entrance looked terrible. Why do they have a portal? Why were they wearing suits? Why was the whole thing a bad mid-’90s green screen? Yeah, Mat loved it cause it looked like Stargate, but that’s an old movie with questionable visual effects, so I’m not wrong. Anyway, the crowd was hot for this, obviously. Everyone on this should be super over–and who can blame the audience?
This was a well-worked match and easily the best of the Mysterios’ run with the titles. There were some eye-popping moves, a bunch of heel work by the Usos, and the right team won. It was a somewhat short affair, which might be a bigger thing to nitpick if this wasn’t on the kickoff show. All told, this was an exciting way to start the show for those in the arena, as well as those of us watching at home.
Main Card
Women’s Money in the Bank
Nikki A.S.H. grabs the briefcase.
Mat: I am honestly surprised Alexa Bliss got such a big pop as she did. Her storyline has felt a bit all over the place, and I’ve lost a lot of interest. However, I’m not the only human that watches wrestling, so I am in the minority. During the entrances, the camera kept cutting back to her while other people were coming to the ring, and it annoyed me. Regardless, I don’t care who wins this match. I could see any of these wrestlers taking home the contract, and I’d be pumped about it.
Ok, I’ve been turned on Alexa Bliss (That was written at the halfway point of the match). I was wrong. She’s great. What really worked about this match is that there were no lulls, there were tons of spotlight moments for everyone, and it was a ton of fun. Nikki A.S.H. winning the bout was quite a shock–she was one of the people I told myself she wouldn’t win, but I’m really happy with this nonetheless.
Chris: I haven’t lost interest in Alexa Bliss and continue to love her weird bonkers character–and the very strange entrance it comes with. I’m just glad the doll isn’t sticking around for the matches, to be honest. Nikki Cross, on the other hand, I’m still not sure what to make of the A.S.H. thing. It’s still very early in that gimmick’s life, though. Maybe she’ll become the next Hurricane?
I’m pulling for Naomi here, above all others. An Alexa win could be fun, as would Zelina Vega. I sort of want to lump Liv Morgan into that group, but I don’t know if she’s ready to be elevated to the Women’s Championship just yet–I could be wrong!
I’m genuinely confused by Nikki ASH’s win. The match was great and burying Alexa under a pile of ladders was a nice move to “remove” her from the match. I’m just very surprised that they went with Nikki Cross in her fledgling gimmick, but clearly WWE has some big things in the plans for her–and hopefully they showcase her to make her seem like a credible main event threat.
AJ Styles & Omos (c) vs. The Viking Raiders
(Raw Tag Team Championship)
Omos wins by pin.
Mat: Omos is a very tall wrestleman, and AJ Styles is one of the greatest workers and performers of this generation. So why does Styles have a heater? And look at everyone else in this match: all highly-experienced wrestlers with distinct styles. Because of this, it highlights where Omos is a bit greener, and it stands out like a sore thumb.
I have highly under-valued Erik from the Viking Machine for far too long. The back and forth fistfight between him and Styles was one of the coolest and most enjoyable things in this match. Speaking of under-valued, The War Experience is just this. They are a unified duo that works together as a tag team, and not just two singles wrestlers slapped together.
I am not down with Styles and Omos retaining. The match was fun and had some great spots, but this conclusion was blah.
Chris: The tag team of AJ Styles and Omos makes me tired. I don’t find them to be a compelling team, I don’t think Omos’s in-ring work is championship level, and also I wish he changed his clothes once in a while. I’m assuming this will eventually lead to Omos vs. AJ Styles, and I have no doubt AJ can pull his best match out of him, but can we fast-forward to that instead of letting Raw’s tag team division continue to stagnate?
The Viking Raiders are a great team that have been wildly misused during practically their entire time on the main roster, which is unfortunate. Their performance here proves it, as they presented interesting tandem offense, worked on Styles’ level, and manages to actually operate like a tag team.
The unfortunate thing about this match is Omos, as his total lack of in-ring seasoning shines through. He moves and wrestles like a rookie in there with top-level veterans–because he is. And yet, the experiment continues with the champs retaining, making me care even less about Raw’s tag division.
Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Kofi Kingston
(WWE Championship)
Lashley wins by submission.
Mat: It’s great to hear that Kofimania still lives on with the live audience. What a great pop for him. We got some great cheers for him. All around, great audience participation for Kofi. I love it. Full disclosure: Chris and I have been talking about Bobby Lashley saying “bulls***” on TV for the past hour, like non-stop.
This was a match to showcase Lashley as a dominant champion. It was a match to surprise the live audience by taking the hope they had for Kofi to win and squashing it right in front of their faces. Kofi got almost no offense in, which is a huge bummer since he’s overcome just as tough odds time and time again. I have very mixed feelings about all of this because there’s no setup for where Lashley goes next. Sure, I could listen to rumors and think about Goldberg or Bork Lazer, but neither of those things excite me one bit. In fact, if that happens, I’ll quickly lose interest in what’s going on.
Chris: Why didn’t anybody tell me you can say bulls*** on WWE programming now? Or can just Bobby Lashley do it? I didn’t think Kofi would win this bout, but he deserves to be a main event player and he should become WWE Champion again at some point.
That all said, it would have been nice for Kofi to get, you know, a little bit of offense in this match. Lashley utterly destroyed him, and it wasn’t very compelling storytelling. This reaffirmed what a beast Lashley is, but at the expense of one of the most popular wrestlers in WWE, full-stop. This is the same thing they did when they had Brock Lesnar rip apart Kofi to send him toward a bad match with Cain Velasquez. It’s cheap and boring. And for what, to make people care about Lashley vs. Goldberg? Spoilers: Nobody cares. I came in excited for this match and have walked out not liking it one bit. What a weird welcome back for fans.
Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair
(Raw Women’s Championship)
Charlotte wins by submission
Mat: When the cameras went off for a split second, I lost my mind thinking Becky Lynch was coming out. Sadly, they went off because Charlotte Flair was flipping off the crowd. But wait, didn’t Bobby Lashley say “bulls***” during like 40 promos before that match? Surely WWE, if I can handle bulls***–a word I need to censor here–then I can handle a middle finger–something I wouldn’t have to censor here.
What I do like about what’s going on here, is that the crowd is having an effect on Flair, and it’s just refreshing to see that again, after a year of TV screens. Charlotte seems a bit off here, and it’s slowing the flow of the match. A super-fun moment for me is when Charlotte was pinning Rhea, and had her legs on the ropes. The ref tapped Charlotte on the back to let her know he sees it, and it’s just a brief moment I really enjoyed and giggled at a little.
This was a great match where I didn’t like the ending. Charlotte’s dastardly tactics to get that win were great, but I would like to see Rhea as champion for a bit longer. Regardless, this is the match of the night by far.
Chris: Someone should remind Charlotte that it’s okay to evolve your character, even if just a tiny bit. The multiple-time champion has long grown stale and has spend way too long skating by on “I’m Charlotte Flair.”And no, flipping off the crowd isn’t much of a character change–though goes to show WWE is at least attempting to be a bit more adult with some of its content.
Meanwhile, Rhea Ripley has seemingly been stuck in this feud with Charlotte since the dawn of time and I’m ready for her to mix it up with others. Where you at, Becky Lynch? Even the crowd is cheering for her to show up, for crying out loud.
Looking at the match, it was a good one. What else would you expect from these two? Still, Flair seemed to have no idea what her character is several times throughout the bout. She went from flipping the crowd off the playing to them after a moonsault to the outside. What’s more, she seemed to be working at about 75% of her normal speed at times throughout the match. And yet, she’s champion again and Rhea Ripley’s reign comes to a premature end. Ripley deserved to go up against a bunch of wrestlers for that title, but it wasn’t in the cards this time. Now Charlotte has the title, which I don’t find very exciting. And they didn’t even give us Becky Lynch!
Men’s Money in the Bank match
Match in progress*
*=Peacock is having severe streaming issues for many people.
Big E grabs the briefcase.
Mat: Even when Peacock was “fixed,” I still have buffering issues. Yay. When everything came to, Jinder Mahal was beating up Drew McIntyre. I am at a complete loss. At least no one was trying to hinder him. I was told by wrestling fans that didn’t have problems that this match was “bonkers.” Guess I’ll have to watch the replay later tonight.
Big E ended up winning, which I loved. I only wish I could have watched this match to enjoy the build to it.
Chris: I’m offended that I missed almost all of the entrances because Peacock broke. I’m more offended that the one I didn’t miss was Drew McIntyre’s, which is the least exciting of the bunch. WWE wisely stacked this match with people they know would deliver a number of crowd-pleasing feats, and it worked. I’m pro Drew feuding with Jinder Mahal for two reasons. First of all, he’s been in the world title picture non-stop for what seems like almost two years. It’s time for something else. Beyond that, you don’t hider Jinder. That’s just a law. The dude is the goods and hopefully will be used in a more prominent role going forward.
The things Ricochet can do in a normal match are incredible. He definitely took it to another level here, though. He tightrope walked across the top rope, flew all over the place, and looked incredible the whole time. Meanwhile, Riddle’s new gimmick of Randy Orton hero-worship makes him a tiny bit more palatable. So that’s something!
There are so many worthy winners in this match–and so many believable ones. It made this match so much more interesting than the first one earlier this evening. And, ultimately, it’s impossible to be upset that Big E won. It’s his time and we’re all lucky enough to get to watch it unfold.
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Edge
(Universal Championship)
Roman Reigns wins by pin.
After the match concluded, John Cena showed up.
Mat: You have two icons coming face-to-face here (sorry Roman haters), and the beginning of it played out like it should. Two sweaty wrestlemen staring each other down, one throws a punch, the other throws a punch, and the pacing is insanely slow. This is what I like for a good main event. I want that build, baby.
This is easily the most-invested I’ve been in a match this evening. I was on the edge of my seat for most of it, even knowing that Reigns would get the win. I really enjoyed Seth Rollins getting involved. It makes perfect sense for his character, and sets up a nice rivalry between him and Edge, which will most likely lead to a triple threat for the title at SummerSlam. What a great way to close out of a PPV.
Or you can just build a rivalry between Reigns and Cena. That works.
Chris: The best thing I can say about this match is I was so wrapped up in what was happening that I temporarily forgot I needed to write something about it. Watching these two slug it out is wildly entertaining. And unlike Lashley vs. Kofi, this was competitive. I never really thought Edge was going to win the title, but these two really wanted you to think it was a possibility. In fact, it seemed like Edge might somehow actually pull it out, until the interference by Seth Rollins–interference that gives Edge an easy and perfect opponent for SummerSlam.
Like Mat, I was on the edge of my seat throughout this match. The build was great, the match itself told an awesome story, the fighting was vicious. Just a win all around. And that’s before you throw in the fact that John Cena’s back! Wrestling rules.
