[Susan Foreman]

Another month... and another WWE PPV event. This time it was the 15th annual 'Money In The Bank' contest

SPOILER:

• The event started with the Money in the Bank ladder match where the winner got a guaranteed contract for the men's championship. At then end of the bout, it was Drew McIntyre who grabbed the briefcase first, defeating Andrade, Carmelo Hayes, Chad Gable, Jey Uso, and LA Knight
• This was followed by a solid Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship which saw Sami Zayn retain the title when he scored a pinfall over Bron Breakker
• Next up was a short intermission, where John Cena came to the ring and announced his retirement from the WWE. The 'future hall-of-famer' stated that the 2025 Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania 41 will be his last.
• Back to the fighting. There was a stipulation attached to the World Heavyweight Championship match which stated that if Seth Rollins wins, Damien Priest would have had to leave The Judgment Day. But, if Priest wins, Rollins can never challenge him for the title again. But things are never that simple in the WWE, and as the match went on, Drew McIntyre cashed in the 'Money-In-The-Bank' contract he had won earlier in the evening, changing the match into a triple threat one. However, CM Punk also became involved in the match by attacking McIntyre. The bout ended when Damian Priest retained the title by scoring a pinfall over Seth Rollins
• The penultimate contest was the Money in the Bank ladder match where the winner got a guaranteed contract for the women's championship. What started as a match with little cohesion or reason took it's time to click before the 'this is awesome' chants began and an enjoyable melee [which was the better of the two MITB] matches] emerged with Tiffany Stratton retrieving the briefcase ahead of Chelsea Green, Iyo Sky, Lyra Valkyria, Naomi, and Zoey Stark to win the match
• The final bout of the evening was a standard Six-man tag team match with nothing on the line (apart from pride). In true wrestling style, the fight ran through every imaginable wrestling cliche possible - ref knocked out? Check! Spanish announcers table? Check! Everybody who was involved getting to use their finishing move at some point? Check! No selling moves because the wrestler is just so powerful? Check! But all things must come to an end, and eventually Solo Sikoa gained the win for The Bloodline (Solo and Jacob Fatu, and Tama Tonga with Tonga Loa) when he scored a pinfall over Cody Rhodes (who was with Randy Orton and Kevin Owens)

This year's Money in the Bank PPV was mostly predictable although there were some surprises moments. Cena's retirement announcement will be a talking point for weeks

However, having McIntyre cash in and fail on the same night thanks to Punk will be a controversial decision among fans even if it accomplished its goal of generating heat for their feud

The women's MITB bout had some of the biggest highlights of the whole show and made all six competitors look like they deserved to be there.

Even if the main event felt like the kind of match we might see on a random Raw or SmackDown, all six men worked well together to make it a mostly enjoyable performance

As a whole, this was a good pay-per-view that could have been better with a few small changes

The next WWE PPV is the 47th 'SummerSlam' event,at the Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday, August 3, 2024