One of the big questions going into WWE‘s 2019 Money in the Bank Network special, besides who would win the women’s MITB ladder match, was who would win the men’s MITB ladder match to earn a future world title shot at the time of his choosing. One of the big questions about WWE in general recently has been if/when Brock Lesnar would return to the company after quitting MMA and being advertised for WWE’s next show funded by the government of Saudi Arabia. Tonight, these questions were answered at the same time!
The men’s Money in the Bank ladder match was set up to include eight competitors, but it started with only seven: Randy Orton, Ali, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, Finn Bálor, and Andrade. The eighth entrant in the match was switched out multiple times. Braun Strowman, last year’s men’s MITB winner, was originally booked to compete but was replaced by Sami Zayn after losing Falls Count Anywhere match to him on Raw. Backstage at Money in the Bank, Zayn was removed from the match after he was ambushed and taken to a Local Medical Facility. Triple H then ejected Strowman from the building, assuming he was the Zayn’s attacker.
With seven wrestlers in the ring, the match began as the show’s main event and quickly featured exciting and brutal athletic feats. Highlights included Andrade knocking a ladder out from under Orton with a springboard dropkick, Andrade delivering an extremely badass sunset flip to Bálor from the top of the ladder to put him through another ladder, and McIntyre throwing Ricochet out of the ring over the top rope, driving him through a ladder outside.
The match ultimately boiled down to Baron Corbin, last year’s winner, and Ali, one of this year’s fastest rising WWE stars. Ali got his hands on the green briefcase, but familiar music hit before he could unhook it. With Paul Heyman at his side, Brock Lesnar entered the arena, the surprise, late eighth entrant in the match. Lesnar took out Ali and climbed the ladder to gleefully become Mr. Money in the Bank. You can watch that moment here:
With the matches for the WWE Championship and Universal Championship taking place earlier in the show, Lesnar didn’t have the opportunity to dramatically cash in like his female counterpart. Now that Beast has returned and has the briefcase, he’s sure to be a looming threat to either Kofi Kingston or, more likely, the man who beat him for Universal Championship at WrestleMania 35 and was the instigator of the MITB cash-in “Heist of the Century” that ended with Lesnar losing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31, Seth Rollins, in the near future.
