WIW Money in the Bank (2021)

From Iwe

Money in the Bank is a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WIW for their Rage and SmackDown brand divisions. It is scheduled to take place on July 18, 2021 at the Blackjack Arena in Kalispell, Montana. It will be the 12th event in the Money in the Bank chronology.

[edit] Production

[edit] Background

Money in the Bank (MITB) is an annual gimmick pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WIW since 2010 and generally held between May and July. The concept of the show comes from WIW'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 winner a match for a world championship of their choosing at any time within the next year. The 2021 event will feature wrestlers from the Rage and SmackDown brands, with male wrestlers competing for a contract to grant them a match for either Rage's WIW World Championship or ShowDown's Heavyweight Championship, while female wrestlers will compete for a Rage World Women's Championship or ShowDown Heavyweight Women's Championship match contract. The 2021 event had been scheduled for May 16, but switched dates with SuperBrawl Retaliation, thus Money in the Bank will be held on June 20. It will be the 12th event in the Money in the Bank chronology.

[edit] Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

[edit] Storylines

The show will include matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by WIW's writers on the Rage and ShowDown brands, while storylines are produced on WIW's weekly television shows, Wednesday Night Rage and Saturday Night ShowDown.

Qualifying matches for the men's Money in the Bank ladder match began on the June 23 episode of Rage. Bradlee Woehl, Ben Wilson, and Antony Speranza qualified by defeating Kevin Hunter and Eric Stevens, Brent Huntley and Matt Borske, and Kevin McAlmond and Chris LaGreca in triple threat match, respectively. Rage's final spot was determined in a six-man elimination match the following week, which had originally been scheduled to be between Hunter, Stevens, Huntley, Borske, McAlmond, and LaGreca; however, Huntley was unable to compete due to an attacked lead by Stevens. A battle royal was held to fill Huntley's spot in the six-man elimination match. Huntley tag team partner Speranza convinced WIW officials Joe Spieker and Dixie Finnegan to allow him to compete in the battle royal where if he won, he would represent Huntley in the six-man elimination match. Speranza won the battle royal, however, McAlmond won the six-man elimination match, by last eliminating Stevens to earn Rage's final spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match. SmackDown's first spot was filled by Marc Beltran, who qualified by defeating Internaitonal Champion Mikhail Schmalzried on the June 26 episode of ShowDown. The following week, Daniel Mazurek qualified by defeating Jared Hunt in a Last Man Standing match, which was also a rematch between the two from Hellbound that Hunt had won. ShowDown's last two spots will be filled on the July 10 episode. In another rematch from Hell in a Cell, which Michael Fonger had won, Fonger will face Jacob George, and Corbin Edwards will face Eli Eason—after being known as King Eason since winning the King of the Ring tournament in September 2019, Eason reverted to his original ring name after he lost his crown to Edwards, who gained the nickname of King Corbin or King Edwards, on a previous episode of ShowDown.

Qualifying matches for the women's Money in the Bank ladder match also began on the June 23 episode of Rage. Two tag team matches were scheduled to determine the four participants from Raw. Jenna Lilley and Sarah Hicks qualified by defeating the team of Victoria Lehr and Tessa and later, Mindy Villa and Brooke Wright qualified by defeating the team of Michelle Skuletich and Renae Geerlings. On the June 26 episode of ShowDown, WIW official Dixie Finnegan named two-time Money in the Bank winner Kadee Jones as the first of ShowDown's four participants. Sari Pasma, who had returned from injury a few weeks prior and had been feuding with Jones, took issue as Jones did not compete in a qualifier match to earn her spot. Finnegan then had Pasma face Jones to prove she deserved to be in the match and Pasma subsequently defeated Jones The following ShowDown, Finnegan named Taryn Noel, who made her return to WIW after her release in November 2020, as the second SmackDown entrant in the match. Pasma again confronted Finnegan about Noel not having to qualify. She also pointed out the fact that she proved herself by defeating Jones and was not added, but would prove herself again in a match against Noel; Morgan subsequently defeated Noel but was still not added to the match. On the July 10 episode, Finnegan named Pasma as Jones' replacement in the match.

On the June 23 episode of Rage, as WIW World Champion Charlie Hunnam and his manger Tommy Flanagan were celebrating Hunnam's WIW World Championship reign, they were interruted by The Dooms Day (Steve Britz and Brandon). Britz reminded Hunnam that he had defeated him in a non-title match on the May 19 episode of Rage and that he had also never received a rematch for the title after he lost the championship at ShowDown's 20th Anniversary in October 2019. Britz then challenged Hunnam for the title. Hunnam accepted and the match was scheduled for Money in the Bank.

At Hell in a Cell, Sis Bates defeated Women's World Champion Jennipher Harper by disqualification after Harper attacked Bates with the top cover of the announce table; however, since titles do not change hands via disqualification unless stipulated, Bates did not win the title. The following Wednesday night on Rage, Bates claimed she was "proud" of Harper and told Harper that she had never seen her as a "strategic champion". WIW official Dixie Finnegan then scheduled a rematch between the two for the title at Money in the Bank.

At SuperBrawl XIII in April, Martin McAlmond (c) defeated James Burdick and Mark Semmler to retain the Heavyweight Championship. On the June 26 episode of ShowDown, McAlmond and his unnamed special counsel had a Heavyweight Championship address. the special coinsel stated that McAlmond had defeated all of ShowDown's top contenders and that there was no one left to challenge Reigns. Burdick then made a surprise return after a two-month hiatus and attacked McAlmond and also took out TJ McAlmond, who had come to McAlmond's aid. On Talking Show the next day, it was revealed that Burdick had confronted WIW officials Joe Spieker and Dixie Finneganand demanded a one-on-one match against McAlmond for the title at Money in the Bank, which he was originally supposed to have at SuperBrawl before Semmler worked his way into the match. Spieker then granted him the match.

At Hellbound, Kevin McAlmond was scheduled to face Charlie Hunnam in a Hell in a Cell match for the WIW World Championship, but was assaulted by Eric Stevens, Victoria Lehr and a masked assalint. Heavenlee Mcguire, who McAlmond had invited to watch the show tried to stop the attack, which continued until Kooper McAlmond and Dustin Simpson made the save. The following Wednesday, McAlmond defeated WIW World Champion Charlie Hunnam in a title match by disqualification when Stevens, Lehr and the masked man attacked him again. On the July 7 episode of Rage, Stevens new faction started the show off by attacking Simpson and Kooper McAlmond in the parking lot, resulting in them going to the hospital. McAlmond called out Stevens about the attacks, but was attacked by the masked man who was then revealed as Jeremy Russell, who Mcguire was shocked to see. On Rage Talk, McAlmond confronted WIW official Rex Martin about a match with Russell, stating he didn't care if he competed twice, he wanted a match with Russel, in which Martin hesitated before agreeing to the match. Martin also announced a six-person tag team match on the following Rage episode with McAlmond teaming with the debuting Heavenlee Mcguire and a partner of their choosing to face Stevens, Lerh and the debuting Russell.

[edit] Canceled match

At Hellbound, Willa Holland defeated Ashley Holshue in a Hell in a Cell match to retain the WIW Heavyweight Women's Championship. On the June 26 episode of ShowDown, Holshue and Michael Fonger defeated Holland and Jacob George in a mixed tag team match. On the July 3 episode of ShowDown, Holland challenged Holshue to a No Surrender "I quit" match for the title at Money in the Bank in which Holshue accepted. On the July 10 episode of ShowDown, Kadee Jones would challenge and defeat Holshue due to outside interference by Holland, this was followed by an announcement that the match would be be replaced by a title match on ShowDown between Holland, Holshue and Jones.

[edit] Results

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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