On Saturday, July 1st, Money in the Bank takes place in the O2 Arena in London, England. Whilst Seth “Freakin” Rollins will defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Finn Balor and the Bloodline Civil War are massive occasions, the most exciting thing about the Money in the Bank Premium Live Event every year is MITB Ladder Matches. If you win the match, you guarantee yourself a shot at a Championship of your choosing whenever you want and because of this, today’s debate is “Who should win the 2023 Men’s and Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Matches?” Let’s start with the Women.
2023 Women’s Money in the Bank Participants:
Becky Lynch
Becky Lynch is one of WWE’s biggest stars and she has particularly achieved everything on the main roster. Whether that be winning the Raw or SmackDown Women’s Championship, the Royal Rumble, pulling off a great heel act, and most importantly, winning the main event of WrestleMania. However, the one thing that has eluded the Man is the Money in the Bank Briefcase and she will look to achieve that goal tomorrow night. Let’s see if the large UK backing crowd will be enough for Becky to really take the MITB Briefcase “to the Big Time”.
Trish Stratus
Trish Stratus is a WWE Hall of Famer and a former 7-time Women’s Champion and since she returned to WWE in 2023 and turned heel, she’s been on a great run. She beat Becky Lynch at Night of Champions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and she’s formed an alliance with up-and-coming star Zoey Stark since then. Winning the Money in the Bank contract would be a big deal for Trish, particularly given the fact that her work during the attitude era paved the way for the Women’s MITB Ladder Match.
Bayley
There is no doubt that Bayley is one of the greats in WWE and she will be looking to continue her 100% winning record in Money in the Bank Ladder Matches as she aims to replicate her efforts from 2019. The Role Model has won literally everything (besides the Royal Rumble) there is to win in WWE (including the NXT Women’s Championship) and she has earnt so many different accolades/awards over the years. Nowadays, the Role Model is the leader of Damage CTRL and she looks to lead by example tomorrow night.
Iyo Sky
Iyo Sky is currently a member of Damage Control, but she would surely be in a position to lead the faction with a victory on Saturday. Iyo Sky dominated NXT when she was there, winning everything possible including holding the NXT Women’s Championship for 304 days. Since Sky joined the main roster and Damage Control at Summerslam 2022, she’s gone on to become a two-time WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion alongside Dakota Kai and now she’s got the opportunity to become one of the most important members of the entire roster.
Zoey Stark
Zoey Stark was drafted to Monday Night Raw in early May and she’s already gone on to make quite a statement on the main roster so far. Zoey was always one of the best in-ring workers during her time in NXT and it led to her become an NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion alongside Io Shirai (now Iyo Sky funnily enough). Since she’s arrived on Monday Night Raw, Stark’s gone undefeated and she made headlines at Night of Champions when she aligned herself with Trish Stratus at the expense of Becky Lynch. Could this and should this be Zoey Stark’s time?
Zelina Vega
Zelina Vega has recently become a good guy on WWE TV and she’s hoping that that will propel her to become Miss Money in the Bank. Zelina started off in WWE as the manager of Andrade “Cien” Almas in NXT, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t achieved things on her own. Vega is a former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion (alongside Carmella) and she also became the inaugural “Queen’s Crown” winning (she quickly became Queen Zelina). Vega also aligned herself with Legado Del Fantasma in October last year and since the group formed into the LWO alongside Rey Mysterio, she’s become a Face and had a breakout babyface performance at BackLash in Puerto Rico. It’ll be interesting to see if Zelina’s underdog run continues tomorrow night.
Final Verdict
In my opinion, Iyo Sky should win this year’s Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match. Iyo proved on NXT that she’s one of the best in-ring workers in the entire company (male or female) and this is a chance to make her into a true singles star. Becky Lynch, Bayley and Trish Stratus don’t really need to win this match as they’re already big enough stars as it is whilst I don’t think having Zelina Vega win is the right move at this point. Zoey Stark’s an option as she too proved her ability on NXT, but I feel like Sky needs it more right now.
2023 Men’s Money in the Bank Participants:
Shinsuke Nakamura
Shinsuke Nakamura is a super accomplished professional wrestler, but it feels like Shinsuke needs to win tomorrow night to keep himself as a genuine main eventer. Nakamura dominated in Japan and he’s won pretty much everything there is in WWE except become a World Champion. The King of Strong Style hasn’t recently been in a 3-way feud with Ricochet and Bronson Reed on Monday Nights and it feels like the star power that he once had in spades is starting to fade. However, becoming Mr. MITB and guaranteeing himself a shot at a Championship of his choosing certainly puts him back into the limelight.
Ricochet
Ricochet is one of the most entertaining performers on the WWE roster and the Money in the Bank Ladder Match fits right into his wheelhouse. Ricochet is known as a “Real-life Superhero” because of all the ridiculous flips he pulls out and it’s resulted in him becoming the Ultimate Midcard Champion (US, IC, and North American Champion). Despite his success, Ricochet’s never really been in the Main Event picture. It’s definitely fair to say that a win for the One and Only on Saturday will definitely be the biggest of his career.
Damian Priest
Damian Priest was an established WWE Superstar winning both the NXT North American Championship and the United States Championship. However, the former “Archer of Infamy” really found his own when he joined the Judgment Day. Whilst Rhea Ripley gets the plaudits for her star power, Finn Balor for his excellent in-ring ability, and Dominik Mysterio for his fantastic heel character, Damian Priest is arguably the best part of the Judgment Day. Priest has been on a role in 2023 and he fully proved why he’s capable of being a main event player after his match with Bad Bunny at Backlash. Now he just needs the briefcase to prove it.
Logan Paul
Logan Paul is one of the most famous YouTubers in the world, but I know him for his excellent stint in WWE. Logan arrived at Sami Zayn’s “Red Carpet Premiere” for his hit documentary (that still hasn’t come out) and he got a taste of what WWE life was like when Kevin Owens Stunned him at WrestleMania 37. Logan Paul then made his in-ring debut alongside the Miz a year later and he put on a great showing. Since then, he’s gone on to have two fantastic matches with Roman Reigns and Seth “Freakin” Rollins. It’s fair to say that Paul has blown pretty much everyone away with just how talented he is inside the ring and you could argue that winning the MITB Briefcase this weekend would be a reward for it.
Butch
Butch returns to the UK looking to massively elevate himself in the eyes of both WWE and the WWE Universe. Butch is currently a member of the Brawling Brutes alongside Sheamus and Ridge Holland, but it would be wrong to say he’s not a singles star as the former Pete Dunne held the WWE United Kingdom Championship for nearly 700 days (685 to be exact). Butch will definitely be the home favourite in the Men’s MITB Ladder Match and he’ll look to use that advantage to full use tomorrow night.
LA Knight
LA Knight will definitely be the most over wrestler in this Ladder Match. The Megastar is a former Million Dollar Champion in NXT and he debuted on the main roster as Max Dupri, the head of a modeling agency called “Maximum Male Models”. However, he quickly reverted back to LA Knight and he has since gone on to become one of the most beloved superstars in all of WWE. Practically everyone in the arena always cheers for Knight and I’m pretty sure most people will be quite annoyed if he doesn’t win on Saturday. Why, because everybody loves LA Knight. YEAH!
Santos Escobar
Santos Escobar was the leader of Legado Del Fantasma for over two and a half years, but he now he’s a member of the LWO alongside Rey Mysterio, Zelina Vega, Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde. Santos used to run the bingo in NXT and he was also NXT Cruiserweight Champion for 321 days. Escobar is now a babyface on the main roster and what a star-making moment it would be for him if he was to become Mr. Money in the Bank this weekend.
Final Verdict
In my opinion, Damian Priest should win this year’s Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match. Damian Priest already feels like a star and letting him become Mr. MITB is only going to fully establish him as one. It also makes the Judgment Day feel even stronger. I don’t see why Ricochet, Butch, or Logan Paul should win the match whilst even though a win for Shinsuke Nakamura or Santos Escobar would be cool, I think there are better options. Obviously, LA Knight would be amazing, particularly given the reaction he would receive, but Priest winning just edges it for me.
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