Ranking All 7 WWE SmackDown PPVs Since the Brand Split
By Adam O'Brien
WWE.com
4. Money in the Bank
In recent years, the “big fight feel” of Money in the Bank has been WWE’s best kept secret. Its fantastic line-ups have warranted the event to be considered by fans as one of the Big Four pay-per-views in WWE in Survivor Series’ place.
That hype was certainly present this year, with WWE again trying to make history with its women’s division by booking the first-ever women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Unfortunately, we came out of this year’s Money in the Bank with our head in our hands as the WWE somehow messed that history-making moment up.
The show opened with this, but instead of the chaos and carnage we were promised, we got a short and safely booked ladder match with the most controversial finish we could have predicted. As it turns out, James Ellsworth would be the one to climb the ladder, retrieve the briefcase, and win the match for Carmella.
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The decision would later be overturned with a rematch booked for SmackDown Live, which Carmella won anyway. And this was the first match!
The rest of the card was decent enough, with The New Day vs. The Usos standing out as an exemplary tag-team championship match, sullied only by its count-out finish to allow Jimmy and Jey to retain. Lana performed far better than expected in her SmackDown Women’s Championship match against Naomi, despite her loss.
Randy Orton’s WWE Championship rematch with Jinder Mahal from Backlash would be a poor rehash of their already average first match, with basically the exact same finish aiding Mahal to victory, further damaging the importance of the title.
That said, a ladder match done right would close the show on a positive note, with Baron Corbin defeating Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens to become Mr. Money in the Bank. The match was slow to start, but would have fans on their feet come the end of it, with incredible spots and great encounters – such as Styles vs. Nakamura – standing out as highlights.
Regardless, the over-hyped women’s match would be the show’s downfall as one of the event’s predominant selling points would be made redundant just two days later.