WWE Money in the Bank 2016: Match Card, Potential Spoilers, Picks and More

The race for the year's best pay-per-view is about to get a new front-runner; WWE Money in the Bank 2016 boasts a card stacked with marquee matches and potential show-stealers.

WWE is right to call John Cena vs. AJ Styles a dream bout. That and the annual ladder match to crown a new Mr. Money in the Bank is enough to sell the show on. But Rusev and Apollo Crews are poised to turn their under-the-radar contests into thrillers too.

A part of the appeal of Sunday's PPV is its unpredictability.

Fans can't be sure whether it will be Kevin Owens, Dean Ambrose or someone else who claims the Money in the Bank briefcase. Will Cena earn another victory, or will Styles do what few have done and down WWE's top dog cleanly?

And somewhere during the night, a surprise guest or two may show up. A number of Superstars are healthy after stints on the disabled list, just waiting for the go-ahead to leap back into the ring.

News, Potential Spoilers

Initially, WWE announcers talked of the Money in the Bank ladder match featuring seven wrestlers. The field remains at six, though, with no explanation as to why that changed.

Should the company want to add a surprise entrant, it has options.

PWInsider's Mike Johnson reported, "For those who have asked about Bray Wyatt, he's been at the last few sets of WWE TV and should be returning anytime. The latest on Randy Orton is that he could be cleared anytime but there's no timetable as of today."

Either man could join Owens and company in pursuit of the Money in the Bank briefcase. 

The WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins seems less likely to feature an unexpected arrival. Finn Balor's ties to The Club when it was still a New Japan Pro Wrestling faction has generated a steady stream of speculation about him joining forces or clashing with Styles.

That narrative may have to wait.

According to the Wrestling Observer (h/t Nick Paglino of Wrestle Zone), there is more talk regarding Balor's move to the main roster. WWE could possibly wait until the WWE draft in July, although his debut is referred to as imminent.

Credit: WWE.com

Balor's acceptance of Shinsuke Nakamura's challenge on the most recent edition of NXT makes it look he will be sticking around with the developmental brand for the time being anyway.

Also expect a change in the announcer's lineup, as Jerry Lawler will not be in attendance. WWE announced on Friday that Lawler was arrested following a domestic dispute at his home and is suspended indefinitely.

Match Card

• The Dudley Boyz vs. Lucha Dragons (pre-show)
• The Golden Truth vs. Breezango (pre-show)
• Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin
• Apollo Crews vs. Sheamus
• Charlotte and Dana Brooke vs. Becky Lynch and Natalya
• The New Day vs. The Vaudevillains vs. The Club vs. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady (WWE Tag Team Championships)
• Rusev vs. Titus O'Neil (United States Championship)
• John Cena vs. AJ Styles
• Chris Jericho vs. Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens (Money in the Bank)
• Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins (WWE World Heavyweight Championship)

Main-Card Quick Predictions

• Corbin over Ziggler.
• Crews over Sheamus.
• Charlotte and Brooke over Lynch and Natalya.
• The New Day retains.
• Rusev over O'Neil.
• Styles over Cena.
• Owens wins the Money in the Bank briefcase.
• Reigns over Rollins.

Corbin vs. Ziggler III

The feud that has morphed into the pre-show saga will now be featured on pay-per view, according to Raj Giri of WrestlingInc.com.

Ziggler beat Corbin at Payback in their first meeting. The Lone Wolf rebounded at Extreme Rules. It's time now for the rubber match, and the only sensible move would be to have Corbin emerge as the victor.

Clashing with Ziggler should be a means to introduce and elevate Corbin. This is his first storyline since moving to the main roster after WrestleMania 32. Having him drop the series and hurting his momentum would be a shocker.

Apollo Crews vs. Sheamus

Like with Ziggler vs. Corbin, this is a battle of the established Superstar and a fresh face from NXT.

Crews has only lost one singles match since his arrival, dropping a Money in the Bank qualifier to Chris Jericho in May. Count on WWE boosting Crews by giving him the win here, which would be his biggest to date.

The folks at The Tag Rope believe this could be a sleeper hit:

The potential for that to happen is certainly there. Sheamus' hard-hitting style will be a good contrast with Crews' high-flying offense. An intense brawl would be an eye-catching way to welcome Crews to the main roster.

The Champ and Her Protege

This feud is likely just a placeholder until Sasha Banks and Charlotte meet at SummerSlam for their long-expected match. To build toward that, expect WWE to script a dirty win for Charlotte and her team.

Lynch and Natalya have both failed to knock off the champ in separate title bouts. Those struggles will not end here.

WWE is clearly behind Charlotte, making her the centerpiece of the women's division. That will continue into SummerSlam, with Charlotte irking the audience with her unending success.

A Lengthy Reign Continues

The New Day have been tag team champions since SummerSlam. Recently, announcers have begun to talk up the historic nature of the group's time as champs. Count on WWE playing that up even more in the coming months, milking the moment Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods finally fall.

That's something better suited to happening under the bright lights of SummerSlam.

The Club, though, will emerge as the champs' No. 1 rivals. Those teams have had far more tension in the build to this match. That will lead to overflowing intensity at Money in the Bank, setting up a rematch down the road.

Rusev Retains

A hoss fight on the undercard stands to be the surprise of the night. Justin LaBar, host of Chair Shot Reality, commented on how this match could exceed expectations:

Show-stealer or not, the safe bet for the result is Rusev retaining. Reclaiming the U.S. title at Extreme Rules felt like a key step in a rebuilding process for The Bulgarian Brute. He reverted back to the monster he was before WrestleMania 31 and the downward spiral that followed.

WWE isn't going to stop that process already, and it's not going to end the story of Rusev as champion in such an early chapter.

Styles Wins the Dream Match

The script looks familiar. An emerging star climbs up the ladder, calls out Cena and gets the biggest bout of his career before losing to the WWE's golden boy.

But this will be different. At every step, WWE has made it clear it believes Styles to be a marquee star.

It had The Phenomenal One thrive in the Royal Rumble before it was sure the WWE fanbase would even know who the TNA original was. Styles then feuded with a future Hall of Famer in Chris Jericho before twice headlining PPVs in title bouts against Reigns.

WWE's talk of moving into the New Era will ring more true once Styles outlasts The Face Who Runs the Place.

Money in the Bank

A Cesaro win would provide him the push fans have long waited for. Ambrose pulling down the briefcase would set up a potential Triple Threat match between him and his former stablemates from The Shield down the road.

Owens, however, is the man to put your money on.

He seems poised for a jump up the card. Even when he has struggled to string together wins, he has constantly had a spot in the limelight. The Money in the Bank match was made to catapult men like him: wrestlers on the verge of being a top-tier stars.

Count ESPN's Robert Flores among those predicting an Owens victory on Sunday:

The Money in the Bank ladder match is hard to gauge with so many combatants, but Flores' pick is a smart guess.

WWE Title Match

Fans keep waiting for Balor to arrive, for Reigns to turn heel or WWE to end one of his championship matches with something creative, but Reigns just keeps winning straight up. It's a situation in which the fanbase itself crafts intriguing ideas and is disappointed when WWE doesn't use them.

That won't change at Money in the Bank.

A double turn would be the wisest move, but having Reigns overcome Rollins and pin him post-spear is inevitable. That's what WWE had him do against Triple H, Ambrose and Styles. 

The action here will be good, continuing Reigns' run of standout matches, but the result won't be nearly as exciting.