WWE Money In the Bank: Preview of Raw's MITB Match

Since Smackdown has not had its go home show yet, I thought I would kick off MITB previews by taking a look at Raw's ladder match for the PPV. This will be a very interesting match since it's the first MITB in awhile to feature legitimate star power. 

It also remains to be seen whether or not the Nexus will involve themselves in this match. Mark Henry was a late substitution for R-Truth and people were not too happy about it. We've seen people be swapped out of Elimination chamber matches before and I wouldn't rule out a Nexus member getting involved in this. Long shot? Maybe but you never know. 

I'm going to divide the eight participants into three categories, Won't Win, Long Shot, and Legitimate Possibility. Long shots will be listed from least probably to most probable (sorry if it sounds confusing). These predictions are not based on any insider information. They are made using the same logic that we all wished the writing staff at WWE possessed. 

Let's begin.

Won't Win

Mark Henry: This is the easiest one out of them all. The World's Strongest Jobber was a last minute replacement for an injured R-Truth. While the man formerly known as Sexual Chocolate had a decent run as ECW champion, I think his days with a title belt are over. Henry went a decade between championship reigns the last time. While 2018 seems like a longshot, it might not be when compared to his chances of winning this match. 

John Morrison: This choice is going to make some of you mad. Don't get me wrong, JoMo and The Miz were the reason I never missed ECW each Tuesday. The Shaman of Sexy will be a true world champion, just not yet. JoMo needs to work on landing his finisher before he can hold the WWE Championship belt. I'm also not sold on his mic work but he makes butt jokes, which is a key aspect of John Cena's new promos. Morrison is not winning Money in the Bank, sorry folks. 

Long Shot 

Ted DiBiase: You might ask why Ted DiBiase is a long shot and John Morrison has no shot. I wouldn't put money down on the new Million Dollar Champion to win, but he's the kind of dark horse that Jack Swagger was at Wrestlemania. His move set has improved and he's acted in WWE Films, showing that the company has at least some confidence in him. There were also talks of forming a new stable around him before his brother went down with an injury. DiBiase has the look of a champion (as well as a hot valet in Maryse) but I don't think that it's his time yet.

Chris Jericho:  Y2J could win this match, but I don't think that he will. He put over Evan Bourne at last month's Fatal Four Way, indicating that WWE views him as vulnerable. He's also in that terrible show Downfall on ABC. He's also one of the only top tier stars to wrestle on Superstars. Jericho recently held the World Heavyweight Championship on Smackdown and I don't think he will be the new Mr. Money in the Bank. Jericho is one of the best workers in WWE right now, but it'll be a few more months before he holds a belt at least. 

Evan Bourne:  Evan Bourne has had a nice rise to prominence on Raw these past few weeks. It's great to see as a lot of knew he what he was capable of. I don't think Bourne will win the MITB match though. For one, he's been given no promo time. We don't really know enough about his character to really be excited about a reign as WWE champion. We knew that Sheamus could work the mic before he held the belt. The other issue is that a fellow cruiserweight hold the other top tier belt in the WWE. I don't see Mysterio and Bourne holding the top two championships in the WWE. Bourne could be a future world champion, but I think he needs seasoning with the U.S. Title before he cements his spot in the main event. I'm not prepared to say that there's no shot he'll win, but I doubt it. 

Randy Orton: Of all the faces in this match, The Viper is my favorite to win (still hard to call him a face). Orton has had considerable interaction with the Nexus, indicating that he could be moved into a feud with them. But I don't think that he will win here. He held the WWE championship about a million times last year. The Miz recently called him out saying that he was at the back of the line in terms of being a contender. I tend to wish the same, though I would be too shocked to see Randy walk away with the briefcase. 

Legitimate Possibility

Edge: I definitely think that Edge is the most likely of the three true veterans in this match to win. He knows this match and he's damn good at it. The Rated R superstar hasn't held the belt in awhile. He could be a legitimate threat to the Nexus and he is definitely a strong heel champion. If WWE choose to go with a veteran here, I don't see anyone but Edge winning this match. 

The Miz:  A lot of you probably disagree with this, but I consider The Miz to be the frontrunner in this match. He's come a long way since his squash matches with John Cena and he has proved that he can cut promos with anyone on the entire roster. I don't expect the winner of this match to cash in immediately and The Miz is the perfect guy to go around gloating about how awesome Mr. Money in the Bank is. If the WWE wants to go through with the youth movement, The Miz is their man. 

Conclusion

There's always the possibility that the winner of this match could fail to successfully cash in the briefcase. While this could do wonders for Sheamus, I don't see it happening on Raw. The presence of the Nexus makes predictions difficult, but this is how I ranked the participants. I appreciate any and all feedback and thanks for reading.