What a thrilling − and rather raucous − night it was in London.
WWE held its third straight pay-per-view outside of the U.S. with Money in the Bank at the O2 Arena Saturday, and it went down as another successful event for the sports entertainment company.
"I can't say enough about the U.K., can't say enough about London," WWE chief content officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque said.
We saw two superstars that have a championship opportunity at their disposal, new champions and some shocking twists and returns that will lead into WWE's next big event — SummerSlam.
Here are the five biggest takeaways from 2023 Money in the Bank:
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WWE, put more events in London
It felt like the roof of the O2 Arena was ready to pop off the entire night with how loud the crowd was, and it made the intensity in each match better. England is known for having some outrageous chants for its soccer matches, and it was the same for WWE, so much that the stars couldn't avoid noticing it.
"Man, I was just feeling the love," WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins said. "It was a good time for me out there."
It's clear there needs to be more − and bigger − events in London (Levesque said it was the highest grossing arena event in WWE history). But when John Cena made his surprise return Saturday, he made an emphatic plea that WrestleMania needs to be in London, and frankly, he's right. The biggest stage of WWE is meant to be electric, and while it was great in Los Angeles this year and will be too in Philadelphia next year, London is the perfect place to have the first ever WrestleMania outside North America.
Money in the Bank was the first major WWE event in London in over 20 years, and from what the company experienced, it should come back sooner rather than later. Cena summed it up perfectly.
“What the hell took us so long to spend some time with you?”
The Bloodline continues to captivate
The main event of the night lived up to the billing, with blow after blow delivered between the Usos and the team of Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa in The Bloodline "civil war." Like most matches, the chants inside the arena added to the intensity, but what unfolded was another showcase of why this is the best thing WWE is doing.
Seeing Jey Uso pin Reigns for the win almost felt like a "Brock Lesnar beating The Undertaker at WrestleMania" type moment; it felt unreal to see it happen, as it was the first time Reigns was pinned since December 2019. It was a deserving moment for the twins that helped launch this storyline in 2020.
It was refreshing to see this have a clean ending while knowing this isn't the end of the storyline. There remains questions about what this means for Sikoa, and how Reigns stands as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. Whatever direction WWE decides to go following the outstanding performances, everyone will be glued to it.
Deserving Money in the Bank champs
When it comes to matches like the Royal Rumble or Money in the Bank, the participants are separated into three categories:
- Who we know won't win
- Who we want to win
- Who should win
In the case of this year's men's and women's matches, we got two people that should've won.
LA Knight was over so quickly, it was hard to imagine people being satisfied with anyone else winning the men's match. But Damian Priest winning made sense; since his debut on the main roster in 2021, he's proved he's capable of growing into the face of the company. He knows how to put on a good match, has impressive power and has developed on the mic. He's spent a majority of his time with The Judgment Day as more of an enforcer, but as Señor Money in the Bank, he can be a leader.
On the women's side, Iyo Sky has been heavily underrated as a member of Damage CTRL, and it seemed people didn't realize her potential until her match with Bianca Belair at Backlash. She was a star during the Money in the Bank match Saturday, jumping off the top of the ladder into everyone and performing other elusive maneuvers crowds eat up. Not only does she seem over with the crowd, but she's a Money in the Bank winner with huge potential to be a singles star.
Factions in turmoil?
What happened between Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey made clear that friendship is over, but the Money in the Bank winners also left questions about their squads.
There was no politeness between Sky and Bayley, with Bayley pushing Sky off a ladder before Sky handcuffed Bayley to Becky Lynch while she climbed the ladder to win. With Dakota Kai out, there seemed to be some tension between the two Damage CTRL members, but afterwards, it seemed things are good after Sky said it's "our briefcase."
"There's no tension right here. We're good. We won. We did what we said we were gonna do," Bayley said.
There wasn't any tension during the match for Priest, but when Judgment Day partner Finn Bálor was battling Rollins, Priest appeared to hint he wanted to cash in on Rollins. But when it looked like Bálor was set to win, Priest distracted him and eventually cost him. Afterwards, Priest also said everything's good with them, and he only meant to put pressure on Rollins.
While each faction says all is well, it'll be something to watch if a power struggle ensues between each of them. Not only could it result in group break-ups and possibly delay each winner cashing in their title opportunity, but it won't be surprising to see the Money in the Bank contract be put on the line in the near future.
Prepartions for SummerSlam
One thing to applaud WWE for this event is setting the stage for some SummerSlam matches, arguably the second-biggest event after WrestleMania.
Baszler's turn on partner Rousey sets up a feud between the former mixed martial arts performers and a potential match at SummerSlam, which could be good for both sides since their partnership seemed stale and not good for the women's tag team division.
Intercontinental Champion Gunther has defeated every challenger he's faced in the past year, and his dominance appears to be met with the return of Drew McIntyre. The two were part of a great triple threat match at WrestleMania 39 alongside Sheamus, and it appears McIntyre and Gunther will put up another solid performance at SummerSlam.
Those two apparent matches, along with the continuation of The Bloodline, gives fans something to look forward to on Aug. 5 in Detroit.
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