Who Qualified for WWE’s Money in the Bank 2016 Ladder Match?

Who were the first five men to qualify for the 2016 WWE Money in the Bank Ladder match?

WWE isn’t wasting any time laying the groundwork for next month’s Money in the Bank PPV. Along with the Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns WWE title match that has been set, five qualifying matches throughout the night have decided who will qualify in the career-changing ladder match to become Mr. Money in the Bank.

The first to earn his spot was Sami Zayn, who scored what could be considered a surprise win over Sheamus, winner of last year’s MITB match. It began with an angry Sheamus mocking Zayn for being Canadian, and then he proceeded to beat  the tar out of him for the majority of the match. But true to his nature, Zayn persevered and nailed Sheamus with the Helluva Kick to score the win and a spot in the MITB ladder match.

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Cesaro had to overcome Intercontinental Champion The Miz to qualify; no easy task considering it was Miz who pinned him in last night’s amazing Fatal Four-Way match at Extreme Rules.  Cesaro had to overcome Miz working over his surgically repaired shoulder for most of the match, and Maryse bad-mouthing him at every turn, but his power was able to overcome it, hitting the Neutralizer for the win.

Both Chris Jericho and Apollo Crews came into their match at less than 100%. Jericho was full of holes after being spiked on a bed of thumbtacks by Dean Ambrose the night before. Crews was jumped by a P.O.’ed Sheamus earlier in the evening. As such, neither man appeared to be on the top of their game, and the spotty match ended with Jericho drilling Crews with an ugly Lionsault, then a sudden Codebreaker to qualify for the MITB, the match he invented back in 2005 at WrestleMania 21. If this is Jericho’s final run with the company, there couldn’t be a better way for him to go out.

The most even matchup of the night saw “The Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose defeat Dolph Ziggler to win his slot in the MITB ladder match. The intrigue behind this one was the prospect of having Ambrose possibly cash-in the briefcase against one of his SHIELD brothers, Roman Reigns or Seth Rollins. Don’t be surprised if WWE plays that angle up for a few weeks.

The fifth and final match of the night’s qualifiers was preceded by AJ Styles putting a bullet in The Club, dismissing his former pals Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows right before facing Kevin Owens. Surprisingly, they didn’t get involved in the match that saw Styles and Owens throwing everything they had at one another. Maybe Styles was distracted, or he was still suffering the effects from his beating at the hands of Roman Reigns, but it was Owens who hit the Pop-Up Powerbomb to win and move on to Money in the Bank.

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That’s five of seven qualifying spots filled with the final two to be decided later. Money in the Bank will be held on June 19 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada