Money in the Bank, an event which is commonly considered one of WWE's
marquee pay-per-views - and in some cases more important than some
other of the "big four" - will this year be brand exclusive to the
SmackDown roster.
This was set to be a Raw PPV, however, things
drastically changed the minute Bill Goldberg opted to extend his stay
with the WWE.
As I had previously reported
in a prior article,
Vince McMahon had already laid out solid plans to insert the WWE
Universal Title into the Goldberg vs. Lesnar match at WrestleMania, with
the future plan being that someone from the main roster would dethrone
Lesnar at SummerSlam.
However, he completely overlooked the
fact that the “Money in the Bank” PPV was slated to be a Raw PPV at the
time. Upon realising his error, McMahon asked his writing team to work
with the WWE marketing department to come up with a solution.
Those
solutions were outlined by myself and Nick from NYC, on The “Dirty
Sheets” DS Breaking News Podcast, where we also broke the story
originally (listen below. Duration: 10 mins 26 seconds).
Since
the WWE Brand Extension, PPVs such as TLC, Hell in a Cell and
Elimination Chamber have all been allocated to specific brands. Money in
the Bank was slated to be a Raw-only PPV, meaning SmackDown would not
have a Money in the Bank winner.
However, previously during times
of the brand split, Money in the Bank would hold two of the namesake
ladder matches, one each for both Raw and SmackDown. That will not be
the case this year, with only the blue brand's competitors getting a
chance to win the briefcase that will grant them a title shot at the
time of their choosing.
Out of the solutions on offer, Vince
McMahon has decided to go with the option to change Money in the Bank to
a Smackdown only PPV, meaning that Raw will add an additional PPV to
its schedule shortly. Raw will have to add a PPV in order to get the PPV
pattern back to normal after SummerSlam.
It was announced this
week that this year's Money in the Bank will take place on June 18th at
the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, with tickets going on sale yesterday.
This
is great news for Smackdown fans, as Smackdown’s head writer Ryan
Ward was very keen for McMahon to opt for the solution to change the
show to a Smackdown brand show, once he heard about the mix-up.
This
was because Ward and his writers have a number of ideas for the Money
in the Bank, unlike the Raw writing team, who have known the long-term
direction and plans for the WWE Universal Title since last November.
It
was decided last November that IF Goldberg would commit to a 3-match
contract extension with the company, the company would book the
direction of the WWE Universal Title for the next 18 months. The plans
for the WWE Universal Title that were laid out were:
- Goldberg would defeat Lesnar at Survivor Series in 86 seconds
- Goldberg would capture the WWE Universal Title en route to WrestleMania 33
- Brock Lesnar would defeat Goldberg for the Universal Title
- Brock Lesnar would drop the Universal Title at SummerSlam 2017
- Champion would reign until WrestleMania 34 (permitting non-significant drop in ratings and merchandise sales)
Over
on Smackdown, things aren’t so clear-cut. Unlike Raw, WrestleMania
season will spell the end of Smackdown’s long-term story arcs, such as
Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt. Ryan Ward is looking to set up fresh stories
heading into the summer and is open to having a Money in the Bank holder
on his brand.
A source told me two days ago that:
“Smackdown
have loads of ideas for Money in the Bank winners. Everyone assumes it
will be Corbin, and it most likely will be, as Vince McMahon likes him.
However,
there are also ideas for Bray Wyatt, Dolph Ziggler and even Cesaro and
Kevin Owens (who was set to win it last year, until it was changed to
Ambrose, after the Roman Reigns’ wellness policy violation) if they move
over.”
It appears that Kevin Owens, Cesaro and even
Roman Reigns will be moving to Smackdown in the next draft, based on
conversations that I have had with the same source.
In the WWF days, the company would book the WWF Championship out for 2-3 years.
They
knew in February 1988 that Randy Savage would be winning the belt at
WrestleMania IV, would lose it to Hogan at WrestleMania V and that Hogan
would go on another long run with the belt, for at least 12 months,
taking his run to at least April 1990.
However, booking a title 18
months ahead is risky in this day and age. Not only because of
injuries but because if the smart audience becomes clearly aware of the
direction, there may be some backlash towards the product.
There
are already internal talks within the WWE about the possibility of Brock
Lesnar dropping the belt on Raw the night after WrestleMania. However, I
feel that in the end, they will stick to their long-term plan, with
Finn Balor currently pencilled in to be the beneficiary at SummerSlam.
Meanwhile,
Smackdown, which has been the better show since the brand extension so
far, is in the exciting position of being an unpredictable blank canvas
with a host of variables and options.
Who would have thought that
having so much star-power at your disposal, as the Raw brand do, would
end up being such a handicap? Blame Goldberg
