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WWE fans may have returned to the arena on Friday night, but the Money in the Bank payout is the culmination of a three-show celebration in four nights of that change.
The seven-game card features two of the starting games of the Money in the Bank rankings, with a wide variety of potential outcomes for the eight men and eight women involved. If history is any indication, the currently announced field might not even be the lineup we ultimately see once the bell rings.
There are also three world title games, as Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair renew tensions over the Raw Women’s Championship, Roman Reigns and Edge go head to head for the Universal title and former WWE Champion Kofi Kingston challenges current champion Bobby Lashley.
Finally, the Raw and SmackDown Men’s Tag Team Championships will be on the line, with the SmackDown version slated to kick off. Follow live all night long as we break down any game by game.
Current match: Women’s Money in the Bank Ranking match: Alexa Bliss v Asuka v Liv Morgan v Naomi v Natalya v Nikki Cross v Zelina Vega v Tamina
Results: SmackDown Tag Team Championships: Usos beat. Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio (c)
Name a better pair than The Usos that gets dropped on the launch show despite being more than worthy of a prime a-la-carte location, then ramps up and delivers too much. I’ll wait.
The now seven-time Tag Team Champions defeated Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio to win the SmackDown Tag Team Titles with a little creativity and a lot of rule-bending.
It took the crowd a while to catch fire, and they struggled at times to get behind Rey and Dominik, who largely had this run inside the Thunderdome with no live fans. But the collective performances of the four participants slowly raised the energy of the crowd throughout the match.
They came alive and exploded into “it’s awesome” chants in the last few minutes. Jimmy Uso absorbed a 619 for his brother Jey and saved the game for his team. Then Jey gave a great kick and the top rope splashed over Rey, which the audience thought was the end. When Rey was kicked out, the energy increased again.
Finally, in a chaotic ending, Jimmy dropped Rey face first on the top tensioner, rolled Rey for a pinfall, and Jey added illegal leverage to Jimmy’s back by tucking his legs under the bottom rope to get the count of three.
And after: With the cheating finish, there will likely be some near-term rematch. But for now, pending Roman Reigns’ Universal Championship defense against Edge later that night, Reigns and his family have increased their power and influence over the rest of the SmackDown roster.
Still to come:
Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) against Edge
Raw Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair
WWE Championship: Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Kofi Kingston
Men’s Money in the Bank Ranking Match: Big E vs. Drew McIntyre vs. John Morrison vs. Kevin Owens vs. Matt Riddle vs. Ricochet vs. Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Raw Team Championships: AJ Styles & Omos (c) vs. The Viking Raiders
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