Money in the Bank (2024)

Money in the Bank is an annual professional wrestling event produced by the American promotion WWE since 2010, generally held between May and July. Along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, it is considered one of the promotion's five biggest events of the year, referred to as the "Big Five". The concept of the show comes from WWE's established Money in the Bank ladder match, in which multiple wrestlers use ladders to retrieve a briefcase hanging above the ring. The briefcase contains a contract that guarantees the respective men's and women's winners a match for a championship of their choosing at any time within the next year.^[2] The 2024 matches were announced to have six participants each, evenly divided between wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions.^[3]

On January 4, 2024, the 15th Money in the Bank event was announced to be held on Saturday, July 6, 2024, at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, marking the first Money in the Bank to be held in Canada and the second to be held outside of the United States, after the 2023 event, which was held in London, England. It aired on pay-per-view worldwide and the livestreaming services Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in most international markets. The show was promoted as being part of a three-night "Money in the Bank Weekend" event, as the preceding night's July 5 episode of Friday Night SmackDown and NXT's July 7 livestreaming show, Heatwave, also took place at the Scotiabank Arena.^[4] Tickets for all three events went on sale on March 15, 2024, with combo and hospitality packages available.^[5] On July 5, WWE Hall of Famer and Toronto native Trish Stratus was revealed to be the host of the 2024 Money in the Bank.^[6]

The card included five matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television programs, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.^[7][8]

Qualifying matches for the women's Money in the Bank ladder match began on the June 17 episode of Raw. The qualifiers were held as a series of six triple threat matches, with three each on Raw and SmackDown. Iyo Sky claimed Raw's first spot by defeating Kiana James and Zelina Vega.^[3] Chelsea Green became the first from SmackDown to qualify by defeating Bianca Belair and Michin on the June 21 episode of SmackDown.^[9] On the June 24 episode of Raw, Lyra Valkyria became the second to qualify from Raw by defeating Kairi Sane and Shayna Baszler.^[10] SmackDown's final two spots were determined on the June 28 episode of SmackDown where Tiffany Stratton defeated Jade Cargill and Candice LeRae, with Naomi defeating Blair Davenport and Indi Hartwell.^[11] Raw's final spot was won by Zoey Stark, who defeated Dakota Kai and Ivy Nile on the July 1 episode of Raw.^[12]

The men's Money in the Bank ladder match qualifiers also began on the June 17 episode of Raw and were also held as a series of six triple threat matches with three each on Raw and SmackDown. Jey Uso won Raw's first spot by defeating Finn Bálor and Rey Mysterio.^[3] Two of SmackDown's participants were determined on the June 21 episode of SmackDown where Carmelo Hayes qualified by defeating Randy Orton and Tama Tonga, with Andrade qualifying by defeating Grayson Waller and Kevin Owens.^[9] The second spot from Raw was earned by Chad Gable, who defeated Braun Strowman and Bronson Reed on the June 24 episode of Raw.^[10] SmackDown's final spot was won by LA Knight, who defeated Logan Paul and Santos Escobar on the June 28 episode of SmackDown,^[11] followed by Drew McIntyre claiming Raw's final spot by defeating Sheamus and Ilja Dragunov on the July 1 episode of Raw.^[12]

On Night 2 of WrestleMania XL on April 7, Seth "Freakin" Rollins lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Drew McIntyre, who would in turn immediately lose the title to Damian Priest in the latter's Money in the Bank cash-in match. Rollins then took time off due to a knee injury.^[13] On the June 17 episode of Raw, Rollins made his return from the injury, stating his intentions to reclaim the title. As Rollins was about to announce his participation in the men's Money in the Bank ladder match, he was interrupted by Priest, who said that out of respect, he had actually wanted to cash-in on Rollins at WrestleMania. Rollins noted their similarities in which both had won their first world championships via a Money in the Bank cash-in at WrestleMania, with Rollins's occurring at WrestleMania 31 in 2015. After being asked by Rollins what he wanted his legacy to be, Priest decided to challenge Rollins at Money in the Bank with the World Heavyweight Championship on the line and Rollins accepted. The match was subsequently made official.^[3] The following week, Priest declared that Rollins would never see "the mountaintop" as long as he was champion. Rollins came out and proposed that if he lost, he could never challenge for the title again for as long as Priest was champion, but if he won, Priest would be forced to leave The Judgment Day; Priest accepted.^[10]

On the June 17 episode of Raw, as Sami Zayn was celebrating his successful Intercontinental Championship defense from Clash at the Castle: Scotland, he was interrupted by Bron Breakker, who stated that he wanted Zayn's championship.^[3] On the next episode, Zayn confronted Breakker backstage outside of Raw General Manager Adam Pearce's office and agreed to defend the title against Breakker in Zayn's home country of Canada at Money in the Bank, and Pearce made it official.^[10]

In April, Solo Sikoa became the de facto leader of The Bloodline after Roman Reigns lost the Undisputed WWE Championship to Cody Rhodes on Night 2 of WrestleMania XL, with Reigns subsequently taking a hiatus.^[13] On the following SmackDown, Sikoa introduced Tama Tonga as the newest addition to the group.^[14] During this time, Kevin Owens and Randy Orton, who previously had their own respective issues with The Bloodline, began to team up against the stable and at Backlash France, The Bloodline's newest member Tonga Loa helped Tama and Sikoa defeat Owens and Orton in a Street Fight match.^[15] Orton and Owens then continued to be involved in numerous matches against members of The Bloodline. After Rhodes successfully defended the Undisputed WWE Championship at Clash at the Castle: Scotland, he was attacked by The Bloodline with Orton and Owens making the save.^[16] On the following episode of SmackDown, Orton and Tama competed in a Money in the Bank qualifying match, but despite Loa's interference, the two lost. Later, Owens was attacked by Tama and Loa, which also cost him a qualifying match. Also that same night, a non-title match between Sikoa and Rhodes ended in a no contest after another interference from The Bloodline. Owens and Orton tried to save Rhodes, but they were all attacked by another new Bloodline member, the debuting Jacob Fatu.^[9] On June 24, a six-man tag team match pitting The Bloodline against Rhodes, Owens, and Orton was announced for Money in the Bank.^[10]

The pay-per-view opened with the men's Money in the Bank ladder match, which involved Jey Uso, Chad Gable, and Drew McIntyre from Raw and Andrade, Carmelo Hayes, and LA Knight from SmackDown. Andrade performed a springboard Spanish Fly to Hayes off the top rope onto a ladder. Gable began dominating the ring, including german suplexing a ladder onto Andrade. Andrade performed a Sunset Flip on Hayes off one ladder onto another, taking both men out for the remainder of the match. Gable dumped Knight over the ropes onto a ladder outside the ring, and climbed another ladder to reached the briefcase, but Uso pulled out the ladder from underneath him. Gable, unable to hang on to the briefcase, fell to the mat. Uso ascended the ladder and was in the process of unhooking the briefcase when McIntyre threw a ladder like a javelin at him, knocking Uso off before ascending the ladder himself to unhook the briefcase and win the match.^[1]

The next match saw Sami Zayn defend Raw's Intercontinental Championship against Bron Breakker. Breakker began the match dominant, and caught Zayn off guard with his high powered offense. Breakker performed a Franken-stiener off the top rop for a near fall. Zayn countered a spear and hit Breakker with a Helluva Kick to pin Breakker and retain the title.^[1]

Next, Trish Stratus announced that a surprise guest would be appearing. John Cena returned for the first time since the Raw after WrestleMania XL in April, wearing a t-shirt saying "John Cena Farewell Tour 2025" and holding a towel saying "the last time is now". Making his way to the ring, Cena announced that he would be retiring from WWE at the end of 2025, and that WrestleMania 41 would be his last WrestleMania. He thanked the fans for their support throughout the years, and said that if any fans wanted to see him one last time, or if any WWE wrestler wanted one last chance to fight him, this farewell tour would be their last opportunity.^[1]

Next, Damian Priest defended Raw's World Heavyweight Championship against Seth "Freakin" Rollins with the added stipulation that if Priest retained, Rollins could never challenge for the title again for as long as Priest was champion, but if Rollins won, Priest would have to leave The Judgment Day. The two both began with heavy offense, trading kicks to each other and powerbombs. Rollins hit his curb stomp finisher on Priest for a near fall, before Priest hit Rollins with a Razor's Edge, also a nearfall. After a superplex from the top rope, Rollins hit Priest with a Falcon Arrow, pinning Priest, but the referee stopped the count at 2. Shortly afterwards, Drew McIntyre's music hit and he ran down to the ring and cashed in his newly won Money in the Bank contract, converting the singles match into a triple threat match for the title. However, he was quickly attacked by CM Punk, who had been feuding with McIntyre for months. Punk beat him with a steel chair and choked him with a camera cable before striking McIntyre with the title. Priest then delivered a chokeslam and pinned McIntyre to retain the title. As a result, Rollins was barred from challenging for the title for as long as Priest was champion, and also made McIntyre the sixth wrestler to fail a Money in the Bank cash-in. Punk's interference subsequently cost Rollins the title, who berated Punk after the match, reigniting a feud between them that had started before Punk had gotten injured at the Royal Rumble in January.^[1] The failed pin on Priest was a legitimate botch, and after the match, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that either WWE production had mistimed the cue for McIntyre's music, which was supposed to interrupt the count, or that Priest was supposed to kick out but had been concussed by the move, forcing the referee to pretend that there had been a kick out.^[17]

The penultimate match was the women's Money in the Bank match, involving Iyo Sky, Lyra Valkyria, and Zoey Stark from Raw and Chelsea Green, Naomi, and Tiffany Stratton from SmackDown. Stark utilized a ladder to attack Valkyria. Stratton jumped off the turnbuckle onto the group, taking them out. Stark attempted to climb the ladder, but Sky performed a piledriver off the top of the ladder onto another ladder. Green climbed the ladder, and as she was about to grab the briefcase, Stratton tipped the ladder over, causing Green to crash through a stack of tables ringside. Stratton then climbed the ladder and unhooked the briefcase to win the match.^[1]

The main event saw a six-man tag team match pitting the team of Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Kevin Owens against The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, and Jacob Fatu, accompanied by Tonga Loa). Rhodes started the match against Tama, but quickly tagged in Owens, who unleashed his fury on Tama. Tama managed to tag in Fatu, who was dominant against Owens. Owens tagged in Orton, who hit Fatu with a draped DDT but Fatu was unharmed by the move and immediately stood back up, taking down Orton. Orton tagged Owens back in, but the Bloodline worked together to beat him down and prevent him from reaching his corner. Owens eventually tagged in Rhodes, who began attacking Sikoa. He also performed consecutive suicide dives on the other Bloodline members outside the ring, also shoving Loa into the announce table. Sikoa accidentally knocked the referee out of the ring, and without the official, chaos unfolded. Owens hit a stunner on Tama outside the ring, and all three members of their team hit finishers on Sikoa. Owens put Fatu through the announce table but Loa low-blowed him. Rhodes hit two successive Cross Rhodes on Sikoa, but before he could go for a third, Fatu hit Rhodes with an Implant DDT, before holding him up for Sikoa to hit a Samoan Spike and pin Rhodes to win the match.^[1]

As a result of their actions, both Drew McIntyre and CM Punk were fined, while McIntyre was suspended due to attacking Raw General Manager Adam Pearce during the post-show press conference. Punk opened the following episode of Raw and stated that he was trying to teach McIntyre that there were consequences for his actions. He also stated that he fulfilled his promise that McIntyre would not be world champion for as long as Punk was around and that he wanted to face McIntyre, but could not due to McIntyre's suspension. Seth "Freakin" Rollins then interrupted Punk who half-heartedly apologized to Rollins for costing him the title as he was taking care of his own business with McIntyre. Rollins then warned Punk that actions have consequences.^[18]

During a backstage segment on the following Raw, Seth "Freakin" Rollins conversed with World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest. They both showed mutual respect for one another for keeping their respective word regarding the championship match at Money in the Bank. Priest then decided to lift the ruling that Rollins cannot challenge him for the title and stated that after he defeated Gunther at SummerSlam, Rollins could challenge for the title whenever he wanted.^[18]

Also on the following Raw, Bron Breakker interrupted Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn. Breakker noted that Zayn was the only person in the Raw locker room to defeat him and that he had no reason to deserve a rematch but then viciously attacked Zayn.^[18]

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