WWE Money in the Bank 2018 Results: Reviewing Top Highlights and Low Points
In many ways, Money in the Bank is WWE's fifth-biggest event of the year—just shy of the "big four" shows but still a major pay-per-view with a huge influence on what's to come.
With two briefcases up for grabs and five titles on the line, Money in the Bank 2018 had enormous potential to hit hard and change the landscape of WWE, for better or worse.
Sadly, heading into this event, there were also major negatives lowering the level of excitement to varying degrees, such as the storyline between Bobby Lashley and Sami Zayn.
With a mix of mood-killer feuds like that and the two ladder matches to look forward to, it was anybody's guess how this could turn out.
Now that Money in the Bank 2018 is in the bag, it's time for us to look back on what transpired and assess the top highlights and most unfortunate low points of Sunday night.
Presented in order of appearance, here are the segments that stood out as the biggest pros and cons of WWE's latest pay-per-view.
Match Results Breakdown
1 of 9
Before getting into the specific segments, let's quickly recap the full results of what went down.
- The Bludgeon Brothers retained the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The Good Brothers in the pre-show.
- Daniel Bryan defeated Big Cass by submission.
- Bobby Lashley defeated Sami Zayn by pinfall.
- Seth Rollins retained the Intercontinental Championship against Elias by pinfall.
- Alexa Bliss won the women's Money in the Bank briefcase.
- Roman Reigns defeated Jinder Mahal by pinfall.
- Carmella retained the SmackDown Women's Championship against Asuka by pinfall after interference from James Ellsworth.
- AJ Styles retained the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura.
- Ronda Rousey defeated Nia Jax by disqualification after interference from Alexa Bliss.
- Alexa Bliss won the Raw Women's Championship from Nia Jax by cashing in her briefcase.
- Braun Strowman won the men's Money in the Bank briefcase.
Now, let's take a look at some of the finer details.
Low Point: SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match
2 of 9
While it was nice to see at least one of the tag team titles defended on the card—instead of being entirely ignored for the second pay-per-view in a row—this match was primarily inconsequential.
This wasn't too much of a surprise, sadly, as Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows never had momentum on their side to make it believable for them to dethrone Harper and Rowan.
Since the ending was predictable, the segment depended upon the quality of the match, but it wasn't anything special.
For the most part, this felt like a standard television affair and nothing more.
If you skipped the pre-show and missed this match, you didn't miss anything worth going back and seeing.
Low Point: Big Cass Taps Out to Daniel Bryan
3 of 9
After tapping out twice to Daniel Bryan, it seems there isn't much of a reason to buy into Big Cass going forward.
Their entire feud has been about how much bigger and more imposing Cass is than Bryan, yet he wasn't able to pull off a win against the smaller guy a single time, disproving his whole point.
If WWE's intention was to put Bryan over and make Cass look like a loser, the goal was accomplished.
However, if there was any plan to make Cass look like a legitimate threat on the roster, this was a major mistake and completely kills any chance of that happening any time soon.
Highlight: Intercontinental Championship Match
4 of 9
Following a bland match between Bobby Lashley and Sami Zayn, it was nice to see a much better contest in the ring.
Seth Rollins has been on fire lately, and that trend didn't stop here since he and Elias put on a solid match together.
The ideal situation going into this would have been to make Elias look strong as a challenger but still come up short, so as to avoid losing the momentum Rollins has had with the title.
Thankfully, that's exactly what happened. In particular, the way this ended with the roll-up pinfall established Elias as someone who could have won, allowing them to revisit this feud for a bit longer.
Rollins and Elias have good chemistry together, and a longer match at Extreme Rules on July 15 could be in the works after this finish, which will probably be an even better match than this was.
Highlight: Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match
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For the most part, ladder matches tend to be a lot of chaotic fun, with this being no exception to the norm.
Balancing out eight women with different styles and levels of experience could have been a mess, but these wrestlers managed to find a way to showcase everybody at some point.
Nearly every Superstar had an opportunity to look like the possible winner, and they all managed to both suffer and inflict punishment on their opponents.
There were a few botches along the way that looked a little dicey but a few that looked as brutal as planned, such as Ember Moon's crossbody on to Sasha Banks and the ladder.
The decision to go with Alexa Bliss as the winner may not be everyone's favorite choice, but it's one that makes a lot of sense.
Bliss has been one of the best on the mic for a long time and is perhaps the most dependable to create a story out of this in the future.
Her character is perfect for capitalizing on a weak babyface down the line and having her gloat about winning another championship, so the briefcase was in good hands.
Between this being a fun match and the outcome being something to be hopeful about, this was one of the top highlights of the night.
Low Point: Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal
6 of 9
As expected, there wasn't more than a moment or two during the match between Roman Reigns and Jinder Mahal when the crowd paid attention to what was going on in the ring.
It's hard to blame the fans, as the feud has revolved around trying to garner sympathy and support for Reigns, who has still made no headway in getting a positive reaction from the audience in years.
Since we've already seen Mahal get his comeuppance with multiple backstage attacks, there wasn't much of a reason for these two to fight or any joy to be found in Reigns getting a meaningless victory.
Without much of a purpose to this match, it ended up being a dumping ground for the Chicago crowd to just say random chants and have fun on its own—something that never makes WWE look good.
Highlight: A Definitive End to AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
7 of 9
After five matches and two draws, the feud between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura should be over and done with finally.
The Last Man Standing stipulation pushed them into a situation where there wasn't anything left for Styles to prove or any reason for Nakamura to receive another title opportunity.
To get to that point, there were some boring spots—typical for the Last Man Standing gimmick—with some entertaining spots peppered in to break up the monotony.
This was hard-hitting enough to sell how much animosity there was between the two, and having Styles come out with the win was the right decision.
Going forward, SmackDown is in better hands with The Phenomenal One holding the WWE Championship, and since this feud should be finished, we can look ahead to something different for the first time in months.
Highlight: Raw Women's Championship Match
8 of 9
Booking Nia Jax against Ronda Rousey left WWE in a position where both outcomes could have had some problems, as the former UFC star wasn't ready for a title reign but shouldn't have lost.
After a pretty decent match between the two, WWE avoided having to run into either of those problems by having Alexa Bliss interfere.
Technically, Rousey won by disqualification, keeping her on the winning side, but without needing the responsibility of the title on her shoulders.
Then, to send the fans home happy, the cash-in gave the crowd something interesting to act as a distraction from the no-contest ending.
Bliss is at her best when she's controlling the championship and dictating the feuds to come, so the belt is safe with her.
She can continue to feud with Rousey over what happened, possibly moving on to someone else down the line or even pick up where she left off with Jax.
This also opens up the possibility that Jax can stay a babyface, which is something WWE wasn't able to fully delve into yet.
Some may cry foul that this means the Raw women's division is back to the status quo it's been for months, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Highlight: Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match
9 of 9
It's hard to dislike a match in which eight of WWE's best and brightest beat each other to a pulp with ladders to establish someone who is likely to win a world championship down the line.
Just like with the women's Money in the Bank match, this featured a spot for everybody in the lineup to do something to show off their skills.
Cowardly heels such as The Miz and Kevin Owens played up their characters perfectly, Braun Strowman looked like an absolute beast by doing things like running through a ladder, and mainstays such as Kofi Kingston took care of aerial maneuvers.
One major highlight that stood out was Owens being tossed off one of the tallest ladders onto a table below, as that was one of the most impressive bumps in a long time.
When it was all said and done, Strowman took home the win, which might not make a lot of sense in terms of someone needing it, but it at least follows the trend of popularity.
The Monster Among Men has been one of the most beloved WWE acts over the past few months, so giving the briefcase to him should please many fans, particularly when he cashes it in and wins his first world title.
What do you think were the highlights and low points? Where would you have placed James Ellsworth's appearance and the other elements of the night not listed here?
Tell us your thoughts in the comments section 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.
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