It’s time for another wrestling premium live event – since they keep coming in bunches like punches during the summer months – as WWE Money in the Bank comes to you live from The Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on Saturday, July 6 7e/4p. This marks the second year in a row that Money in the Bank will be an international affair, as last year’s event was in London. Straightforward as the show may be, it could use some explaining.
MITB remains one of the five most important yearly shows on the WWE calendar (alongside the more traditional “Big 4” of Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series), but has somehow managed to carve out a legacy all its own despite being just a month off from the much older SummerSlam.
The titular ladder matches that the show is based around will feature plenty of daredevil antics and creative destruction – possibly moreso than last year’s, which was filled to the brim with colliding stories. 2024 won’t be rolling in the deep with as many stories as 2023, but the stories that show up are deep in and of themselves.
I’m back once again to do the thing I think I’ve fallen in love with doing: stopping and explaining just what’s happening, who is involved, and all the strings that tie together all the characters at the event. Like last year, first up is some context to what the Money in the Bank concept and match even is and a little bit of (relevant) history about the event itself.
A key idea going into this year’s Money in the Bank: it will be the first one in over ten years that WWE can acknowledge the single most iconic show in the MITB lineage. I’ll go over it a little below, but Money in the Bank 2011 was almost certainly the show that gave this event prominence and it’s mostly thanks to the build of one CM Punk. Punk is not slated to be present at this event, but…well, that hasn’t stopped him at all this summer.
What is the Money in the Bank Ladder Match?
The contest is a ladder match, where a competitor must climb a ladder and retrieve an object hanging above the ring in order to win. In Money in the Bank matches, said object is a briefcase containing a contract for a world title opportunity – any time, any place – for the next calendar year. That contract/briefcase is the wrestling version of a “Chekhov’s Gun” just waiting to be fired. The number of participants in the match have ranged anywhere from six to ten.
The “any time, any place” is important because virtually all Money in the Bank cash-ins have occurred when a champion is already battered and weary and the briefcase wielder can score a highly advantageous win. MITB cash-ins usually get some of the loudest reactions of the year whenever they happen and make for fantastic moments (that easily get the company trending online, too).
Previous significant Money in the Bank events that will play a role in 2024’s:
- Money in the Bank 2010 saw Kane become the first person to win the briefcase and cash it in on the same night. This would later occur again at Money in the Bank 2016, where Dean Ambrose (now known as AEW’s Jon Moxley) would do the same (notably to one Seth Rollins). On the women’s side, Alexa Bliss in 2018, Bayley in 2019, and Liv Morgan in 2022 have all cashed-in the same night they won the contract.
- Money in the Bank 2011 is highly regarded as one of WWE’s best overall shows in the 2010s, if not the very best. To detail just all the reasons why would take an entire article itself, but it is best known for the main event between John Cena and CM Punk for the WWE Championship in front of an absolutely mental crowd in Punk’s hometown of Chicago. Punk inexplicably won the title just hours before his contract with the company would expire. It was the first match since 1997 in the WWE to get the vaulted 5 star match rating from wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer.
- Money in the Bank 2023 just last year became another notable Money in the Bank event headlined not by news of the titular title matches, but a monumental story-driven battle. There, we saw (what may be the first of a series) “Bloodline Civil War”, where The Usos emerged victorious over the team of Solo Sikoa and Roman Reigns. Jey Uso won it for his team by becoming the first man to pin Roman Reigns in over three years.
Now then, for real this time, let’s get to The Beat’s quick and dirty guide to Money in the Bank 2024 so you can figure out which wrestlers you want to see climb the mountain and which ones you’d like to see broken so badly, you’d think they were the US Supreme Court.
Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Jey Uso vs. Carmelo Hayes vs. Andrade vs. Chad Gable vs. LA Knight vs. Drew McIntyre
Perhaps the most unpredictable match on the card, it might be easier to start with who doesn’t have a shot at winning this – Hayes and Andrade. They’ll put in some work and some impressive spots (especially the anti-gravity Hayes), but this match will be about the story of the other four guys. Even then, two of them probably don’t have a shot of winning because they’re in larger, overarching storylines.
Jey Uso is the odds on favorite; hell, he’s the guy on the poster for the show. This event is a kind of full-circle moment for Jey, who achieved his biggest victory at last year’s event by pinning his cousin Roman. That win made him the first man to ever pin Roman as WWE Undisputed Universal Champion and got him a title match against The Tribal Chief at SummerSlam a month later. Jey can cap off a year since his breakout with his biggest singles win ever and set him up for another shot at the World Heavyweight Championship…or perhaps even friend Cody Rhodes in a story that already has great depth.
The other man with the best chances of winning is one Drew McIntyre, the last man to qualify for the match. McIntyre has been embroiled in an absolutely savage rivalry with one CM Punk since February and the two haven’t even had a match with one another. The direct and indirect digs both men have been firing for months has been overwhelmingly entertaining, but things reached a new level when Punk interfered and cost Drew his shot at the World Heavyweight Championship in front of Drew’s home crowd of Scotland. As a tit-for-tat, McIntyre then beat Punk bloody on Smackdown in Chicago later that week.
Thanks to Punk’s antics at Wrestlemania, Drew was World Heavyweight Champion for all of five minutes before Damian Priest cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase he won last year. McIntyre has made it very clear that if he wins MITB this year, he will cash it in and become World Heavyweight Champion the same night – which would be a full circle moment for him whether the holder is Priest or Seth Rollins. McIntyre has also made things extremely personal with Punk. He snatched from a bloody Punk a bracelet bearing the names of Punk’s wife and also his dog. There’s enough here to justify McIntyre winning or being cost by Punk…or winning and being cost his MITB cash-in later on in the night.
As for the other two participants, LA Knight managed to roll-up and pin reigning United States Champion Logan Paul to qualify for this match, which continued their simmering summer rivalry. If there’s anyone extremely likely to interfere in this match, it’s probably Paul to cost Knight his shot at the briefcase which will set up the anticipated US title clash at SummerSlam between the two of them. Knight will also get much more from beating the unfortunately high profile Paul in a championship match than winning the briefcase.
Now for Chad Gable. He’s been involved in one of the more emotional stories this year with his heel turn and turning the fun-loving Alpha Academy stable into more like a household run by an abusive father. Thankfully, of late, the entire stable has turned on him, but he’s trying to schmoose his way back into the group.
Unfortunately, Gable has attracted the attention of a much more fearsome group than his former “family” – the Wyatt Sicks. This strange group shocked the world by appearing on the RAW after Clash at the Castle and seemingly killed multiple people backstage. One of the victims left bloody was one Chad Gable, who recovered enough to be terrified the following weeks. With the entire Alpha Academy and six paranormal individuals against him, Gable probably doesn’t have a chance in hell at winning, but it brings to question how Uncle Howdy and his “family” might play a role north of the border.
Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Iyo Sky vs. Chelsea Green vs. Lyra Valkyria vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Naomi vs. Zoey Stark
A contest with much lighter stories than anything going on in the men’s match, this one is perhaps primed to be the athletic and daredevil spot of the night. That’s because the potential winners are reversed from the men’s MITB match as well, with two clear favorites to win the contest (and a distant third). The sheer athleticism though will be off the charts, which is why this will likely be the biggest car crash of the night. Iyo Sky probably isn’t winning two years in a row, but she’s quite the aerodynamic anchor for young thrillseekers like Lyra and Stratton, a great contrast for the power of Zoey Stark, and the lengths that Chelsea Green is willing to go to win.
Among those names, Tiffany Stratton has got to be the hands down favorite to win this. Ever since her main roster call up, even Stratton herself has been stunned by the reactions she’s been getting. Add to that showing absolutely no jitters in front of these larger crowds and her ring work being smooth as ever, it looks like Tiffy in the Bank might be an inevitability.
The other participant I’ve seen traction for, oddly enough, is perpetual loser Chelsea Green. Green snuck in the match by stealing a win from Bianca Belair and is probably the best member of the roster when it comes to the craft of maximizing every second of airtime they get. This dedication to silliness has made her a potential favorite for this match, as she has up to a year to build herself up more credibly, but also just how much she can offer from a comedy standpoint with the briefcase. If she were to win and hold onto it a while, it might contrast well should someone like Drew win and cash-in the same night.
The final woman with an outside chance of winning is Lyra Valkyria. This is because since her main roster call-up, WWE has been incredibly keen on making her look legitimate and a viable threat to anyone in the division. She reached the finals of the Queen of the Ring and only lost when Nia Jax understandably caved her chest in. She has a win over former Women’s Champion Iyo Sky, which might cause Iyo some ire going into this match in general. She also has a pinfall victory over Becky Lynch to win the NXT Women’s Championship. It might be a bit too soon for her to get the briefcase, especially when juxtaposed next to NXT standout Stratton, but she’s definitely an option.
Consequences Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Damian Priest (c) vs. Seth Rollins
~If Rollins loses, he can never challenge for the title as long as Priest is champion
~If Priest loses, he must leave The Judgment Day
While the debut of the Wyatt Sicks closed that post-Clash RAW, it also opened with a bang as well with a returning Seth Rollins showing up and challenging Damian Priest for his World Heavyweight Championship. Rollins had been taking some time off since Wrestlemania following a dynamic weekend where he competed in two main event level matches.
Priest has more than held his own as World Heavyweight Champion since winning the title, but the trouble is he constantly feels like he’s been playing second fiddle to multiple things around him. Whether that’s the McIntyre/Punk feud or to Rhea Ripley or more recently, the changing dynamics of the Judgment Day, Priest hasn’t felt quite like “the man” on Monday nights just yet. Rollins presents a terrific opportunity to do so.
This past week, the only two men to successfully cash-in their briefcases at Wrestlemania made a gentlemen’s agreement of sorts to add some dire consequences to their encounter. Priest said that Rollins would never “see the mountaintop” while he held the gold, which prompted Seth to offer a “last chance” stipulation for himself. But, he also offered that should Priest lose, he’d have to leave the Judgment Day. This went back to their original conversation, when Rollins questioned what Priest wanted his “legacy” to be and whether he wanted to be known as a strong champion or a man with flunkies.
This one is incredibly tough to call because whoever wins probably won’t necessarily have it for very long after the match anyway. The bigger impact would be if Rollins wins, which forces Priest away from the Judgment Day and creates more definitive turmoil in their ranks. If Priest wins, Rollins can take a definitive break from being the main event and actually open a window where Priest can come into his own. At that, Priest always has Judgment Day at his disposal whether he wants them or not, and he even could have the services of one Liv Morgan, who has been using femme fatale tactics to worm her way into the Judgment Day after taking out Rhea Ripley.
Should Drew McIntre win the briefcase, it serves as a quick turnaround for both the belt and the stipulations placed upon it. If Rollins loses but then Drew cashes in, he can slide right back into contention. However if Priest loses and the cash-in happens, he’d still have to leave the Judgment Day. The most interesting thing all around to happen with this one? Liv helps Priest retain the title (forcing him to let her have more favor in the group), gets cashed-in on by McIntyre (if he won), only for Drew’s cash-in to be thwarted by CM Punk (or perhaps even his wife AJ Lee since they’ve introduced their respective families into this) screwing him out of the belt once again. This needs a lot of set-up to occur, but I have infinitely more faith in the potential of this creative direction under Triple H than previous management.
Six-Man Tag Team Match
WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, & Kevin Owens vs. The Bloodline (any combination of Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, and Jacob Fatu)
Right, so The Bloodline. They’ve been all over the product for the past four years or so. However, following Roman Reigns losing the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania, The Bloodline has undergone some new management of their own. Solo Sikoa, the last remaining member of the original Bloodline, has forcefully taken the reins and introduced Tama Tonga just after Wrestlemania. At Backlash in France, Tonga Loa debuted to help Solo and Tama defeat Owens and Orton.
Randy Orton has been at the throat of The Bloodline since his return last November and Kevin Owens has been fighting the Samoan dynasty off-and-on for the better part of four years. The two came to blows with the newish Bloodline in France, but were undone by Tonga Loa showing up. At that same show, when Cody Rhodes defended his WWE Undisputed Championship, The Bloodline came to face him, only for Orton and Owens to make the save. These three would have altercations for a few weeks afterwards, and just when Owens and Orton tried to save Rhodes from another beatdown, Jacob Fatu made his debut and brought The Bloodline numbers back to four.
I would not be surprised at all if this went the same route as their Backlash encounter and started off hot before the bell even rang and got some kind of added stipulation to it. What’s troubling is that all three new members of The Bloodline are implied to be so crazy and uncontrollable that Roman Reigns kept them away from the stable all those years. Putting that many wild cards in a No-DQ situation might get messy in kayfabe. At that, they’d be acting without a conscience – following last week, the group’s wiseman and strategist, Paul Heyman, refused to acknowledge Solo as the new Tribal Chief. He got a powerbomb through a table for his trouble, making him absent from offering instruction. To add to this, on the go-home Smackdown, Kevein Owens made an emotional vow to his mother that he would beat the tar out of the Bloodline like he never had before.
It’s hard to bet against Cody Rhodes in any scenario right now, but The Bloodline could probably use the win to establish themselves even further with a win. Rhodes wouldn’t even have to eat the pin exactly to keep himself looking good. In addition, you could also make a case for a Randy Orton heel turn at this juncture, as an Orton/Rhodes match has more than enough story to it to headline a future show. I’m not sure how, but I would imagine The Bloodline emerging victorious – but not without spilling some blood first. Despite there being two whole ass ladder matches on this card, I still expect this contest to be the one that goes off the rails the hardest.
Intercontinental Championship
Sami Zayn (c) vs. Bron Breakker
Following an emotional victory over Chad Gable, Sami Zayn found himself approached by one Bron Breakker for a shot at his IC title. Breakker staked further claim on this for himself by destroying Bronson Reed and then mutilating Ricochet so badly, he sent him to the Shadow Realm (Ricoceht’s contract expired with WWE, so the beating wrote him off and we probably won’t see him in WWE canon for a while).
After weeks of seemingly just missing each other, Breakker appealed to RAW General Manager Adam Pierce for a title match, which was granted by Zayn himself. This is as elemental champion vs. challenger as you can get in build. What’ll be interesting is how Breakker is handled during this contest, though. You could make the argument that Breakker might need some more seasoning before getting a singles championship, but considering the nature of mid-card belts, he could easily walk away from this one. However, if he loses, it won’t be because he’s weaker than Sami Zayn, but undoubtedly because he doesn’t use his head as much as Sami.
Bron has been portrayed as more or less a rabid, hyped meathead whose solution to everything is running into it full speed. Sami Zayn, meanwhile, has veteran prowess and has used his intelligence to get him to every major milestone in his career. If Zayn hopes to retain here, he’ll need to flash some of that and going forward, Bron will have to learn to use his brain a bit and add that to his skillset. Bron gains more by losing if Sami outsmarts him. Also, Sami in Canada! The pop for the win would be great.
