Baron Corbin wins WWE Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Baron Corbin attempted to eliminate Shinsuke Nakamura before the WWE Money in the Bank Ladder Match even began, but ended up being the man with the coveted briefcase at the end of the night Sunday.
Corbin unhooked the briefcase that contains a contract for a future WWE championship match anytime and anywhere within the next year.
Corbin was to be the sixth man to enter the Scotttrade Center in St. Louis, but instead he jumped Nakamura from behind, leading officials to start the match with only five men. Nakamura would later join the fray to a huge ovation from the crowd when his music hit and took out Corbin, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. He seemingly had a chance to climb the ladder before he was met by A.J. Styles.
The former partners from their time in New Japan Pro Wrestling exchanged blows before Styles hit Nakamura with a forearm to take him to the mat. Styles and then Nakamura climbed opposite sides of the ladder and the crowd exchanged chants of “A.J. Styles” and “Nakamura.”
Corbin tipped the ladder and knocked off both men. He then reset the ladder and climbed up to grab the briefcase for the victory.
During the match, virtually everyone had a chance to grab the briefcase. At one point, Style was suspended high above the ring without a ladder before falling to the mat.
IN OTHER MATCHES:
Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match: After much fanfare and a great video package to start the show, the first-ever women’s MITB ladder match ended in controversy. With Becky Lynch near the top of the ladder, James Ellsworth toppled the ladder and Lynch. That cleared the way for Ellsworth to climb the ladder, get the briefcase and drop it down to Carmella, who was on the mat and alone in the ring. The briefcase allows Carmella to
The referees held a conference, Ellsworth announced Carmella as the winner and the decision stood over the objections of the other combatants – Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Tamina and Natalya. Because this was a no-disqualification match, Ellsworth was not deemed to have broken any rules.
SmackDown Live general manager Daniel Bryan returns Tuesday after taking time off following the birth of he and Brie Bella’s first child. Bryan took to Twitter after the bout Sunday to say the circumstances around the match would be “the first thing addressed” on SmackDown Live (8 p.m. ET, USA Network).
SmackDown Live commissioner Shane McMahon also expressed his dismay on Twitter:
SmackDown Tag Team championship match: The New Day beat the champion Usos by countout. The titles don’t change hands on a countout so The New Day has a victory but not the titles. Kofi Kingston hit a dive from the top turnbuckle on to both of the Usos, who were on the floor. Kofi rolled Jey Uso into the ring and Kingston and Big E hit the Midnight Hour, setting up the pin. Jimmy Uso pulled his brother outside the ring before the three count. The Usos then grabbed their belts and headed off while the referee counted to 10. Expect these teams will meet again at Summer Slam.
SmackDown Women’s championship match: Naomi won by submission against Lana, who was in the first televised singles match of her WWE career and only the second televised match overall (the other was at WrestleMania in 2016). The story of the match was that Lana performed much better than the low expectations built for her, given her main roster inexperience.
With Lana seemingly in control, Carmella’s music played and she and Ellsworth came to the ring. Carmella, carrying the briefcase that she won earlier, headed to the timekeeper and acted as if she were cashing in the contract that she won earlier in the night for the title match. But she doesn’t. Lana covered Naomi amid the distraction and then pounded on her. She went for a second sit-out spine buster, but Naomi reversed and put Lana into a submission.
Carmella then teased that she would cash in the contract after the match, but did not.
MORE:
Maria and Mike Kanellis arrive: Maria Kanellis-Bennett, who previously worked for WWE, returned to the company with her husband Mike Bennett, although he will use her name as he introduced himself as “Mike Kanellis.” The couple had most recently been with Impact Wrestling.
“The first lady is back in WWE,” Maria said. “For the past seven years, I’ve been searching for the perfect partner. …
“And you found me,” Mike interjected.
“And now we are here to educate everyone on SmackDown Live on the power of love,” Maria finished. The couple gazed into each other’s eyes and embraced as their music played.
Kanellis worked for WWE foe six years from 2004 to 2010.
WWE championship match: Jinder Mahal escaped with the title, pinning Randy Orton in Orton’s hometown of St. Louis and with the front row filled with “St. Louis Legends” — Greg Gagne, Larry “The Axe” Hennig, Baron Von Raschke, Sgt. Slaughter, Cowboy Bob Orton and “Nature Boy” Ric Flair.
Orton had Mahal pinned, but Mahal’s foot was placed on the bottom rope by the Singh Brothers at ringside. The Sing Brothers were ejected, but before they left, the Singh Brothers put their hands on Orton’s father at ringside. Orton then took out his anger on them with a series of vicious moves outside the ring, including an RKO through a table.
Orton got back in the ring, Mahal kicked him in the leg and then hit his finishing move, “The Khallas” to retain the title.
Tag team match: In a bout set up by a Fashion Files segment earlier in the show, Breezango downed The Ascension, who were cast as the ones who attacked Breeze last week on SmackDown Live. Breezango gets the win via an inside cradle by Fandango on Viktor. Tyler Breeze prevented Connor from making a move from the turnbuckle
KICKOFF SHOW
Tag team match: The Hype Bros. defeated The Colons. Zack Ryder returned from a knee injury as he and Mojo Rawley scored the victory with the Hype Ryder on Primo. Ryder was injured in December in a match in which the Hype Bros. won the right to be the No. 1 contenders to the SmackDown tag team titles. The road back began here.