WWE Money In The Bank - Men's MITB Ladder Match

[Jack-Hammer]

We all know it's coming, so I figured I'd just make a thread since the participants will be announced on Monday and Tuesday.

There are reports going around that local advertisement in the Connecticut area is listing the participants for the men's MITB ladder match as Drew McIntyre, Rey Mysterio, Andrade, Ricochet, Aleister Black, Cesaro and Lars Sullivan. Given the current landscape of WWE, you have to believe that at least 3 or 4 of those men will indeed comprise line up for this match.

If this does indeed turn out to be the actual line up, I'm glad as it's loaded with fresh talent and it's obvious that, out of these, Drew McIntyre is the clear favorite. There have also been reports that WWE intends to get back on the ball, so to speak, with big plans for the MITB briefcase winner as they felt the last couple of years have been disappointing. I think most would agree considering that the 2017 winner was Baron Corbin and the 2018 winner was Braun Strowman. Corbin just didn't have it then and, if possible, has even less of it now and Strowman remains something of a mystery given that for much of last year he was arguably the most over babyface on Raw but they never pulled the trigger, due to some sort of heat backstage would be my guess. So yeah, I definitely agree that the last few years have been pretty underwhelming when it comes to the men's MITB winners and the men's MITB matches themselves. If given time and if the wrestlers are allowed to go out there and leave it all in the ring, and this does indeed turn out to be the line up, then it has the potential of matching up to the instant classic that was the ladder match to determine the first NXT North American Champion at TakeOver: New Orleans last year.

Still, as of right now, you have to think McIntyre is in this match and is the favorite to come out the winner.

[Y 2 Jake]

Got to be Drew but I'm kind of interested in Lars winning. Purely to see if he cashes in on Kofi and it makes him into a super heel or it backfires spectacularly.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Got to be Drew but I'm kind of interested in Lars winning. Purely to see if he cashes in on Kofi and it makes him into a super heel or it backfires spectacularly.

Don't give them ideas

[Jack-Hammer]

The Raw participants for this match were announced last night: Braun Strowman, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre and Baron Corbin. Needless to say, I was beyond disappointed in Corbin being there but I had a feeling he would be the moment I saw that Alexa Bliss had some cue cards in her hand to remember all the junk she had to say about Corbin. I've said it before and I'll say it again in that I just don't know what the WWE brass sees in him. To me, Corbin is a mid-card hoss and nothing more, just another wrestler WWE is pushing, and has been pushing, to a level that's beyond his ability. However, we might as well face facts in that Baron Corbin will almost certainly be a World Champion in WWE someday. Corbin winning this match will, as is most often the case when he wins a match, suck all the energy out of the room for a good deal of the rest of the show as fans will realize that they'll either have to put up with months of Corbin being featured even more prominently on the show as Mr. MITB, that he'll be walking around as Universal Champion if he cashes in on the same night or the eventuality that he'll become Universal Champion whenever Vince decides the cash in time is right.

Tonight's episode of SmackDown will feature the announcement of the four men representing the blue brand. I have a feeling that Aleister Black will be one of them, since Ricochet was for the Raw side, and possibly Ali. With Corbin, McIntyre and Strowman in the match for Raw, the blue brand will need to introduce one or two smaller wrestlers to sort of balance things out a bit. There's been talk that Daniel Bryan might be in this match but that's anybody's guess as WWE has kept him extremely sequestered since WrestleMania, where Bryan is said to have suffered some sort of injury that's kept him completely off TV ever since with most of the speculation being that Bryan suffered another concussion during his match with Kofi Kingston.

At any rate, now that it's confirmed Drew McIntyre is in the match, I think he's the odds on favorite to win.

[Y 2 Jake]

Drew to cash in that night? It would protect Rollins and Styles.

[Jack-Hammer]

The four representing Raw in this match are Braun Strowman, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre and Baron Corbin while the blue brand is represented by Randy Orton, Ali, Andrade and Finn Balor. As is the case with most MITB ladder matches, it's a good mix of power, athleticism and the presence of a veteran. Just based on presentation as a whole, there's easily a 90%+ chance that someone from Raw takes it. Corbin and Strowman have both won MITB and were less than stellar. Corbin would be the absolute worst choice as the guy just...I dunno...he just continues to look like somebody in a spot who doesn't have the necessary ability. Strowman has cooled off considerably as he was about the most over babyface on the entire roster about this time last year and he's cooled off due to extremely questionable booking decisions by Vince not to have him beat Lesnar for the Universal Championship. Ricochet is brand new and while a surprise might feel like a refreshing change, I don't think now's the right time. I think McIntyre has the best chance of it and if WWE is serious about giving him a big push this year, especially since he and Roman Reigns are now on separate brands, then this is the perfect opportunity to kick that push off.