WWE Money in the Bank 2020 PPV Review

So since the world was stopped back in March, WWE has been deemed as still an essential business and continue on with their week to week work and work rate. With their biggest change being no fans in the audience at their tapings every week and the fact that the shows are no longer premiered live for now. For the past two PPV’s, I don’t think that WWE fans expected things to go this way, but as for me, I am not disappointed. The past few PPV’s have been pretty good. The WWE has not only put on decent matches, held onto and begun good storylines that make somewhat of some sense, and have been creative with the way they’re putting on matches now! Although it isn’t a brand new tactic of the way we view wrestling, the WWE has been implementing what Twitter has recently dubbed as cinematic wrestling. The first ppv had an instant classic in the “Graveyard Match” between the legendary Phenom, The Undertaker and the Phenomenal AJ Styles last month at WrestleMania 36 with this style of putting on a wrestling match in a movie style.

WWE oddly has been cutting back on the time duration for these PPV’s lately with this one just coming in a little over 2 hours. I didn't get to catch the entire PPV, as I missed the preshow and the first 2 matches on the card which only left me with 3 matches that I saw before the simultaneous Money in the Bank ladder matches with the men and the women. So I came in on Bayley (with Sasha Banks in her corner) vs Tamina, which wasn’t a match I particularly wanted to see because I do not like Tamina as a wrestler. I wasn't really impressed and I thought it was a pretty sloppy match actually and I was happy with Bayley retaining her championship, even though I do not love her new heel gimmick or look. The following match on the card with Braun Strowman vs Bray Wyatt for the WWE Universal Championship wasn’t bad at all. Anyone that has been a fan for long enough could tell you that obviously they weren’t going to take the title off of Braun so soon, and not to Bray in his regular persona (he would need the Fiend to get the job done), but this does extend the life of their feud and their next PPV should see Braun Strowman vs The Fiend because Bray was not enough to get the job done, thus ending their feud. I love Bray’s character and I’m happy that Braun is getting a proper run with the belt, but I am disappointed with the timing of it all. However, with Bray and Braun having history in a faction together, this made the match a bit more easy to connect with, especially without an audience.

Next up was Drew McIntyre defending his newly won WWE Championship against Seth Rollins as the Messiah. This wasn’t a dull match, but it wasn’t the best match I’ve seen either of them have before though. They did a good job with the wrestling, but the storytelling of it all is a little funky only because the reasoning behind Seth even wanting the belt ending up being the same reason that Bray Wyatt wanted the belt from Braun Strowman in the previous match before: because they felt it was a burden for the current champion, one that only they could relieve them of. So it was kinda like watching the same video package and promos from the last match, just different people. Afterward the match, Drew, in good sportsmanship, extended a handshake and Seth reluctantly shook it, surprisingly. With all the singles and tag matches out of the way on the card, it was then time for the two Money in the Bank Ladder matches. Only this time, since there was no crowd to wrestle in front of in the ring, WWE got creative like the last PPV and decided to host the match throughout the entire building, with the prize (the Money in the Bank briefcases) being on the rooftop instead of suspended from the ring inside. The Women’s match consisted of Asuka, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. The Men’s match had Otis, AJ Styles, Aleister Black, Daniel Bryan, King Corbin, and Rey Mysterio. The women started in the lobby of the building while the men started their match at the same time, in the gym room area. These matches both had hilarious moments of running into former WWE superstars, Stephanie McMahon and the boss himself, Vince McMahon! The interactions in the match were all very funny and pretty memorable, almost more than the actual match itself, which sometimes touched on borderline corny and fake looking rather than the action packed carefree looking vibe they wanted to be going for. The ladder matches were a lot more of antics than anything, but entertaining nonetheless though. Hell, I even saw 2 men get thrown off the rooftop by the very end of the match! It was so crazy just to look and laugh at! Ending with Asuka and Otis as the winners, the ladder matches in the end dissolved to madness like they usually do, with King Corbin, for some reason trying to stop Asuka from getting her briefcase, when it had nothing to do with him getting his. (Asuka, while I'm happy she won, I only fear that it may be too late for her to be a reigning champion again, as she isn't as huge of a threat as when she first walked into the company and when she was even on NXT.) Otis only won his briefcase because AJ Styles fumbled the case and accidentally dropped it into his hands from the top of the ladder. I’ve never seen that before in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match or a regular Ladder Match. I always thought it was supposed to be the person who unhooked the briefcase and took it down from hanging was the winner of the case itself. But apparently, it’s whoever has “control” over the briefcase at the end of everything. Whatever.

The PPV ended right after that, abruptly, almost feeling like there should’ve been at least another 30 mins of matches left, but I was happy with it either way. I’m not complaining that the PPV’s don’t feel like all nighters anymore. Although the ending matches were very creative in design, it came off to me like a bit of an entertaining clusterfuck of things happening. It was a lot going on, especially when the two matches began to mix sometimes with women attacking the men and whatnot. Entertaining, but a lot happening, especially on outside of a ring, to watch at once. I exited the WWE Network feeling like I wasn’t sure what I had liked about the PPV, but I didn't not like it at the same time if that makes sense. I find it interesting to see how the WWE will make each PPV its own in the upcoming months, especially the themed PPV’s like Money in the Bank. I think this particular MITB was worth a watch, if not for the matches, then at least for the entertainment and hilarity value that it had to offer this month as a PPV. As a WWE fan, if you’re still interested, even in this downfall they’re having as a company, I’d say watch it. It flew by and was easy to get through.