WWE Money In The Bank Review

WWE Money in the Bank 2025 review

By James Lanham

Going into this show, I was intrigued to see what the fan response, booking and execution of this show was going to be like with public perception having waned again in the wake of the firings of so many and the much-maligned choice to not renew R-Truth’s contract, as well as reshuffling backstage and reported reduced backstage morale. It really seemed like the first time in over two years the unrest among fans was outweighing excitement for the show and speculation over possible results and storyline development
One thing that WWE has ALWAYS been good at is video packages, and as always, the opening hype video was incredible.

The venue looks amazing, WWE are making a good job of using smaller but still impressive entrance way sets to allow for more fans by using other production pieces like the screens/shaped video wall over the ring and increased lighting effects, plus the Intuit dome on its own is a big time looking venue, especially with the lights between seats, which I gather are part of the venue’s infrastructure. The walkway/tunnel through the centre part of the entrance way gave off real Madison Square Garden/WrestleMania 13 vibes, and to me make for a big fight feel as it’s both similar to the setting for so many major WWE matches fro the past, and it’s reminiscent of the tunnel at NRL games and some boxing matches.

Match 1: Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match:

Stephanie Vaquer vs. Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Giulia vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Roxanne Perez

All 6 wrestlers looked like they had something to prove while making their entrance, with Naomi especially having a real menacing presence about her. The NXT call ups and push of Naomi has really bolstered the women’s division and freshened it up, taking away from some of the sameness from a while ago.

There was an ever so slightly awkward start to the match, it appeared all six wrestlers were concentrating on remembering spots more than committing to and fully selling the initial moves, which is an easy mistake to make in complicated multi-person matches especially, but things quickly improved and everyone more than found their groove and the match quickly became something very special.
There was lots of amazing, innovative moves, like a between the knees driver onto a ladder by Naomi, among many others. There was an unfortunate spot where Giulia had her face brutally driven multiple times into…well, the air several inches above a horizontal ladder. I’m all for keeping wrestlers safe from concussions and other injuries, but if they couldn’t do this spot safely without making it so unconvincing they really shouldn’t have done the spot, which really took me out of the match but thankfully only briefly, as Stephanie Vaquer hit a really cool Devil’s Kiss spot on a horizontal ladder propped between the corner and a standing ladder, which was always an inevitable spot in a match Vaquer was in and had large flat metal apparatuses available, but was no less cool to see!

Ripley hit a wheelbarrow Roadside wreck like move causing a nasty face first bump on ladder from Naomi which was breathtaking and a little scary, and the spectacular moves and bumps continued to increase until Naomi would capture the briefcase, in a surprise but well earned and smartly booked result, especially with Rhea being the favourite and the widely predicted winner going over in the men’s ladder match later.

Winner: Naomi

My Rating : 8/10

Match 2: Men’s Intercontinental championship match:

Dominik Mysterio (c) vs Octagon Jr.

This was a fun late addition to the show and nice way for WWE to take advantage of the Triple A acquisition. A good, to the point if not predictable (in terms of result) addition to the show filled athletic moves and fast paced exchanges, this match could have been longer but also didn’t outstay it’s welcome in this era of fewer but longer matches on PLEs. Octagon lost a little too easily for my liking but this was still really good!

Winner and still Men’s Intercontinental champion: Dominik Mysterio

My rating: 5.5/10

Match 3: Women’s Intercontinental championship:

Lyra Valkyria (c) vs Becky Lynch

A real good match with interesting, well planned back and forth action and a fittingly fast start considering the increasingly butter nature of the feud.

The match ended with an intentionally indecisive finish with Lynch reversing a pinning combination into one of her own with an slight grab of the tights for illegal leverage, which will obviously lead to a rematch, possibly a 2 out of 3 falls/3 stages of hell or something similar. Very good match with big bumps, that progressed the feud well after both wrestlers had the match of the night in my opinion at Backlash. These two work so well together and have a really good storyline that is easy to understand and get emotionally invested in for viewers. Lynch is one of the G.O.A.Ts and the sky is the limit for Lyra Valkyria, who has become a favourite of mine. Lynch being Women’s intercontinental champion adds instant increased credibility to the title.

Winner and NEW Women’s Intercontinental champion: Becky Lynch

Rating 7.5/10

Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match:

L.A. Knight vs. Seth Rollins vs. Solo Sikoa vs. Andrade vs. Pentagon Jr vs El Grande Americano

The opening moments of this match were a good, storyline driven start rather than just big spots for the sake of big spots from the very beginning, but it didn’t take long after establishing the dynamic between the competitors for them to then start going for the big spots.

The opposite of the Dominik Mysterio vs Octagon Jr match, this was long and convoluted but rightfully so and with no boring stretches because of so many moving parts and intersecting storylines from both main roster brands. The action was always exciting and interesting, at times featuring frightening high spots. The commentary was downright hilarious, especially with Wade Barrett and Pat McAfee trying to convince the straight laced Michael Cole (and hasn’t he proved just how good he really is and come into his own post Vince overproducing/verbally berating him) that El Grande Americano isn’t Chad Gable. While the sponsored ladder has drawn the ire of many, and there’s arguments for and against, especially remembering WWE were one of the last big entertainment/sports entities to plaster everything with logos, it led to an AMAZING spot where it was pushed over in a Domino like manner and used as a ramp on a vertical ladder which almost went severely awry when the sponsored ladder landed ever so slightly off to the side but luckily it still locked into place and the spot happened without a hitch.

After many twists and turns, including a magical moment where Jacob Fatu, who’d run interference alongside JC Mateo, thwarted Sikoa’s ascension up the ladder with a dramatic “I HATE YOU SOLO!” (which brought back memories of Batista giving the thumbs down to Triple H before challenging him for the world championship in 2005) the predicted favourite to win, Seth Rollins, secured the brief case. There’s a lot of ways they can go from here with Seth, with the only drawback being that it’s getting less and less likely that L.A. Knight will ever get the main event push so many want to see.

Winner: Seth Rollins

Rating: 8.75/10

Main event: Tag Team match:

John Cena and Logan Paul vs. Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes

Now THIS is the type of match Cena vs Rhodes at WrestleMania 41 should have been, smartly booked and we’ll executed but with enough distractions to disguise Cena’s increasing physical limitations and Paul’s inexperience.

This had the right mix of storytelling and big moves, with the crowd not getting into it as much as I thought they would, apart from the various dueling chants for Cena. There was a well booked and carried out moment where the two alpha male heels at opposite ends of their wrestling careers in Cena and Paul, argued, and the faces got the tag, which was a moment I thought would have more crowd heat but didn’t , which in my opinion may be down the greatly increased ticket prices ruling out many children and their parents/grandparents leading to these type of tension building spots not gaining the same emotional investment from the more mature and often jaded fans in their 20s and 30s, which is a real shame and gets away from what wrestling is at it’s core if so.

Towards the end a masked, hooded and gloved man ran in, and from the ground swell from many in the audience closer the ring it was obvious who they hoped and thought this could possibly be! In a situation similar to Daniel Bryan’s push and eventual title win due to sustained public pressure, the masked man, who took out John Cena with a title belt shot to give the faces the win, turned out to be the returning R-Truth which was the perfect way to cap off what looks to be a fine return to form by the WWE!

Winners: Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso

My rating: 8.5/10

Overall show rating: 8.75/10