WWE Money in the Bank 2016: Biggest Unanswered Questions Going into PPV

Trying to keep track of all aspects of WWE at all times is a job no one person can do, considering the sheer multitude of content pumped out each and every week. Between all the backstage work and WWE Network programming, things will slip through the cracks.

Leading up to the 2016 Money in the Bank pay-per-view, there are unfortunately some questions the WWE Universe has yet to receive any answers to—and not in a way that builds suspense for the upcoming show.

It's one thing to keep a bit of speculation in the air to hype up the event, but it's another to just drop the ball and ignore certain factors at play.

The fans aren't supposed to ask questions. Instead, we all should constantly strap ourselves in for the ride and just go with the flow of whatever WWE presents to us.

However, considering one of the biggest events of the year is about to happen tonight, why not ask those questions and try to shine some light on the things we're all left in the dark about?

Who was the seventh Money in the Bank participant?

Up until two weeks ago, WWE had advertised that seven men would compete in this year's Money in the Bank ladder match.

Then on the June 6 edition of Raw, suddenly the promo graphics no longer reflected a yet-to-be-determined participant, instead eradicating all silhouettes from the advertising material and claiming that the field had been set with just six men.

Credit: WWE.com

The card is always subject to change, and there's still a chance someone else gets added to the match at the last minute, but until that happens, fans are left to wonder who this other person was going to be.

If another wrestler hadn't been advertised, everyone would have assumed the plan was always to include these six men and nobody else. Knowing WWE had another name in the mix brings up speculation on how plans changed.

Was the missing man going to be a returning Bray Wyatt or Randy Orton, but they weren't cleared in time to wrestle such a rough match?

Perhaps the spot was reserved for The Miz before his filming schedule changed, or WWE's creative team changed its mind on trying to salvage what was left of Kalisto's singles run by putting him and Sin Cara back into a tag team match on the pre-show.

Big Show popped up recently for a segment, but he vanished yet again. Was he going to be a factor, or is his role in the company now just to give pep talks to Apollo Crews and fade away into the background until the next rookie needs some advice?

This seventh man could have been a potential favorite to win the match, altering the landscape of WWE for months to come. Then again, it could have just been another name to fall off a ladder that WWE never had any intention of pushing, such as Stardust.

Mysteries like this cast a shadow of doubt over a match, as anything from a minor tweak to the event's booking to a major amendment to the entirety of 2016 could have been affected.

What is going on with the women's division?

For months, WWE has touted a revolution with the women's division, even going so far as to nix the "divas" term to sound less condescending. There have been improvements in a number of ways, but there is still plenty of room to grow.

After hearing constant promotion about how much progress has been made, it boggles the mind how much things have turned over the past few days to showcase the complete opposite of change.

On this past episode of Raw, Paige and Charlotte received the so-called "jobber entrance"—that is, they were already in the ring when the show returned from commercial. They proceeded to have a short match that felt like it could have been booked in 2012 and were then rushed off.

Why did Charlotte lose that match? More importantly, why is there just a tag team match happening at Money in the Bank instead of the Women's Championship being defended?

Anybody who has watched WWE programming for long knows that tag team bouts like this one—Charlotte and Dana Brooke against Becky Lynch and Natalya—are reserved for Raw and SmackDown because they don't matter in the slightest.

Nothing is on the line here. At most, an argument can be made that the friendship between Brooke and Charlotte is in the balance, but they only recently joined up, so why should fans care about that when there's supposed to be a legitimate title that should be the prize instead?

The smart bet is that the creative team doesn't know how to go about stalling for the inevitable Sasha Banks return, which should likely come with enough time to set up a SummerSlam fight against Charlotte.

If the championship isn't changing hands before that, why didn't WWE just pick a challenger to lose to Charlotte here and at Battleground to build her up even more?

Natalya and Lynch have had their chances, but if Paige was booked to defeat Charlotte on Raw, why isn't she the rightful No. 1 contender for this event?

This just reeks of poor planning and viewing the division as an afterthought, which brings up another question: Why should the WWE Universe believe the division matters if the creative team doesn't seem to care about it?

Here's hoping this is a case where a surprise has been arranged to explain why such an unconventional route was chosen instead of something that feels like a bigger match.

Will any more authority figures show up?

With the leadership of SmackDown not sorted out yet, WWE has been teasing who will be in charge by bringing back former managers and others who would like to throw their names in the hat.

Teddy Long and Corporate Kane have given us some laughs, so will another show up at Money in the Bank to do the same?

There are still plenty of people who could make a quick appearance in a backstage promo just to pop the crowd, including Vickie Guerrero, Mick Foley and Sgt. Slaughter.

While not everybody would want to see Mike Adamle, John Laurinaitis or Jonathan Coachman return, imagine how much buzz would be created if Eric Bischoff made a quick appearance.

For that matter, if WWE really wanted this event to be newsworthy, bringing back former "owner" of Monday Night Raw and current presidential candidate Donald Trump would give more publicity to Money in the Bank than anything on the card itself.

TIMOTHY A. CLARY/Getty Images

One way or another, it remains to be seen just how Shane and Stephanie McMahon will coexist and if anybody else will get in the way while they are trying to run the show behind the scenes.

How will the Money in the Bank briefcase reflect the upcoming brand extension?

If we don't even know who will be running SmackDown, the details on the brand split are sparse at the moment.

One of the biggest mysteries is whether more championships will be created to fully separate the rosters or if the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, the Women's Championship and the Tag Team Championships will be defended across both brands.

Assuming there will be only one world title, does that mean the Money in the Bank briefcase can be cashed in on a show that the individual wrestler may not belong to?

For example, if Kevin Owens is victorious in retrieving the briefcase and is designated to the SmackDown roster, could he still cash in the case when Roman Reigns or Seth Rollins is appearing on Raw?

On the other hand, what if there are two world titles after July 19? Does the contract for a title shot apply to both of them or just the WWE World Heavyweight Championship?

Will a second Money in the Bank briefcase be created for a second world title like the red and blue cases from 2010 to 2013?

Credit: WWE.com

WWE has neglected to answer any of these questions, either because there are surprises to be spoiled by clarifying how things will work or because the company simply doesn't have it all figured out yet.

We're going into one of the biggest events of the year, one that has the potential to turn the roster on its head at any minute, yet we're still flying blind as to how Raw and SmackDown are going to operate just a few weeks from now.

More than likely, none of these questions will be answered until the show kicks off at 7 p.m. ET with the pre-show on the WWE Network, so make sure to stay tuned here at Bleacher Report for live coverage of the event and more.

Are there any other questions you have on your mind? Do you think you know the answers to any of these questions? Sound off in the comments below!

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.