WWE Money In The Bank 2018: Ronda Rousey Almost Clinched The Raw Women's Championship

By -
WWE's "Money in the Bank" card, on June 16, 2018 finally came through and pulled it off well after a somewhat lackluster start. 
WWE Money in the Bank
However this soon changed with a strong women's Money in the Bank match earlier in the night, and the final three matches of the evening that helped the show save face in front of a smart and passionate Chicago crowd.
And like WrestleMania 35 just two months earlier, it was newcomer Ronda Rousey who may have stolen the entire show on this evening.

Rousey, a former UFC champion, turned in a nearly flawless effort in her first televised singles match against Nia Jax for the Raw women's championship. The men's MITB closed the show, and the WWE championship feud between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura likely also saw its final chapter.
WWE's Money in the Bank pay-per-view event centers around a match of the same name, in which multiple wrestlers use ladders to retrieve a briefcase hanging above the ring. The briefcase contains a contract that guarantees the winner a match for a world championship at any time within the next year. 
The contracts for 2018 specifically granted the male and female winners a match for the world championship of their respective brand. The 2018 event included two ladder matches, one for male wrestlers and one for females, each having eight participants, evenly divided between the Raw and SmackDown brands. 
Male wrestlers competed for a contract that grants them a match for either Raw's Universal Championship or SmackDown's WWE Championship, while female wrestlers will compete for a contract to grant them a match for either the Raw Women's Championship or SmackDown Women's Championship.
Below is a round up of 2018 Money In The Bank Show which aired Sunday night June 17;
SmackDown Tag Team Championship 
Reigning Champions, The Bludgeon Brothers defeated Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson via pinfall to retain the titles. 
This was the Kickoff Show and the dominance of Harper & Rowan continued as the bludgeoning duo relied on their methodical offensive attack to control the majority of the match.


The match ended when the champions powerfully hit The Bludgeoning (full nelson slam sit-down powerbomb) on Gallows for the 1-2-3. 


Daniel Bryan defeated Big Cass via submission: 
Cass is a big "7-footer" but he was unable to finish Bryan on several occasions down the stretch. 


Bryan was able to triumph over the big man when he escaped from Cass' second torture rack and instantly hit a running knee to the face. He followed by applying the heel hook and Cass quickly tapped out.


Bobby Lashley def. Sami Zayn via pinfall


The match was brief and appeared as if it belonged on Raw. Lashley dominated late behind a trio of delayed vertical suplexes. 
The third one saw Lashley largely unsuccessful motioning the crowd to cheer with his free hand while holding up Zayn with the other before securing the pinfall.

Intercontinental Championship 
The reigning champion, Seth Rollins defeated Elias via pinfall to retain the title.




The finish came when Rollins' knee buckled on a powerbomb attempt. Elias' ensuing attempt at a Drift Away was unsuccessful as Rollins rolled him up for two. Elias then did the same to Rollins, who finally countered with a roll up of his own for the 1-2-3.

Women's Money in the Bank
Alexa Bliss defeated Sasha Banks, Ember Moon, Natalya, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Naomi and Lana to win the briefcase.




The finish came when Lynch climbed the ladder but curiously had trouble removing the briefcase (explained by the announce team as her not having the ladder centered). Bliss tipped the ladder over to dump Lynch off and climbed it for the victory.

Roman Reigns defeated Jinder Mahal via pinfall.


The match was finished when Roman Reigns kicked out of a cradle attempt from Mahal as he entered the ring, Roman "The Big Dog" Reigns rebounded to hit another spear to end the match. 

SmackDown Women's Championship
The Champion, Carmella defeated Asuka via pinfall to retain the title largely [and luckily] because of the surprise return of Carmella's former friend, James Ellsworth, who dressed up as Asuka to interfere late in his return to WWE after being fired last November. 

Ellsworth, wearing Asuka's mask and robe, provided a distraction by standing on the ring apron, allowing Carmella to land a kick to the back of Asuka's head to defend her title. The late swerve certainly didn't cover up what became yet another loss for Asuka since suffering her first WWE defeat to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania, but it provided a moment to remember just the same.

WWE Championship
AJ Styles defeated Shinsuke Nakamura by beating the 10 count in a Last Man Standing match: 

This was actually the fourth meeting between these two rivals since WrestleMania 34 and it turned out to be rather violently unconventional.

Styles then landed the finishing blow by springboarding from inside the ring, landing a perfect Phenomenal Forearm and sending both through  the announce table. Styles rose at nine, leading to Nakamura being counted out.

Raw Women's Championship
Ronda Rousey defeated Nia Jax via disqualification


Rousey hit a stiff jumping knee and a series of suplexes and judo throws which showcased her strength. 

But after a lengthy battle to finally apply her arm bar finisher (including a two-count from Jax on a rollup), Money in the Bank winner Alexa Bliss ran in to force the disqualification by hitting Rousey with her briefcase before a sustained attack on both. 

Bliss then threw Rousey over the announce table.

Raw Women's Championship
Alexa Bliss defeated reigning Champion Nia Jax via pinfall to win the title: 

Bliss, who won the women's briefcase earlier in the night, used it twice more on Jax before handing it to referee John Cone for the official cash in. 

After Bliss hit a DDT on Jax, she landed her Twisted Bliss finisher from the top rope to begin her fifth reign as a WWE women's champion. The Rousey-Jax match itself was fantastic, but credit to WWE for an even better swerve finish.


Men's Money in the Bank
Braun Strowman defeated Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Bobby Roode, The Miz, Samoa Joe, Rusev and Kofi Kingston to win the briefcase:


The finish came with Strowman and Balor climbing up separate sides of a ladder in the center of the ring. Kingston springboarded onto Strowman's back to knock off Balor before Strowman dumped him to grab the briefcase.

Source: CBS SPORTS

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog