The Date: 18 June 2017
The Venue: Scottrade Center; St. Louis, Missouri
The Commentary: Tom Phillips, John “Bradshaw” Layfield/JBL, Byron Saxton
The Referees: Danilo Anfibio, Jason Ayers, Mike Chioda, Dan Engler, Charles Robinson, and Ryan Tran
The Stakes: Five-woman ladder match for a chance to cash-in on a World Heavyweight Championship at any time within a year

The Build-Up:
Since World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has dominated the wrestling landscape, they’ve understandably been at the forefront of creativity with their celebrated Superstars, their impact on pay-per-view entertainment, and the creation of memorable matches. The company has long awed audiences with their Tables, Ladders, and Chairs (TLC) matches, a concept “Y2J” Chris Jericho took to the next level when he came up with the “Money in the Bank” ladder match. Debuting at WrestleMania 21, this multi-man ladder match saw the winner retrieve a briefcase to cash in for a championship match anywhere, anytime and immediately became an annual fixture following its first self-titled event. However, for about ten years, the gimmick was exclusive a men-only match, unsurprising considering women’s wrestling was long an afterthought in the WWE, where cheerleaders and models rolled around in mud pits. In 2015, competitors like Paige were at the forefront of changing the perception of women’s wrestling and, after Stephanie McMahon took credit for spearheading a revolution in the division, the women finally got their first-ever all-female WWE pay-per-view event. Though not a ratings success, WWE’s female superstars continued to push for a bigger spotlight, leading to this first-ever women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. The match came about after the competitors all brawled with each other and demanded a shot at SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi, leading to SmackDown Live General Manager Shane McMahon to announce the match and further fire up the competitors. Accordingly, much of the build-up regarding this match focused on the historic nature of it being the first-ever women’s Money in the Bank ladder match, and many of the competitors sought to live up to their family’s legacy and set a new standard not just for the women of the WWE, but for all of wrestling.

The Match:
These days, it’s not uncommon for big matches and championship bouts to open shows. The Money in the Bank pay-per-view often staggers these extreme, violent, and pulse-pounding bouts so they open and close the show, thus ensuring the crowd doesn’t get burned out. This explains why the first-ever women’s Money in the Bank ladder match opened the show in 2017, though I do think it should’ve taken the main event slot just to add extra emphasis on the groundbreaking event. Regardless, the match featured some of the top women’s competitors at the time in the WWE, and perhaps ever, including two of NXT’s lauded “Four Horsewomen”: The overrated and insufferable “Queen” Charlotte Flair and the fiery Becky Lynch (some time before her incredible run as “The Man”). They were joined by Tamina (truly the odd one out), Carmella (accompanied by flash-in-the-pan sensation James Ellsworth), and a staple of the women’s division, Natalya. As soon as the bell rang, they all dashed outside to grab a ladder, except for Becky and Tamina, who duked it out in the ring before Tamina asserted her dominance and teased the first climb of the match. Charlotte quickly stopped to that and took over as queen bee, downing her foes with her long legs and suplexes, before Tamina took her out, crushed Becky in the corner, and destroyed Carmella with a Samoan Drop. Obsessed with keeping her ladder, Tamina superkicked Natalya to the canvas and catapulted her into the ladder after setting it up in the corner. After collapsing it onto Becky, Tamina was driven into the ladder by Charlotte, though she got dumped back outside by Natalya before she could do any more damage and Tamina finally dropped after Becky blasted her with the ladder. Becky and Natalya then fought over the ladder in a tug o’ war that ended with Becky being slammed spine-first onto it.

Though Natalya set the ladder up, she took too long positioning and climbing it, allowing Charlotte to hit an electric chair drop just as Natalya’s fingers grazed the briefcase. Carmella then cut off Charlotte’s climb, beating and clambering over her as she was caught in the rungs, resulting in the two exchanging shots at the top of the ladder, Charlotte almost unhooking the briefcase, and both being dumped when Tamina toppled the ladder. Natalya and Becky then resumed their rivalry, with Natalya tying Becky into the Sharpshooter. Carmella broke the hold and attacked Natalya before Charlotte squaring off with Charlotte, before Charlotte took a nice double-underhook suplex from Natalya. A whip into a ladder and a springboard kick saw Becky take Natalya out to begin her climb, before being whipped into and flung off a corner ladder courtesy of Carmella’s handstand headscissors. Charlotte reasserted herself with her big kicks but Tamina intercepted her as she went for the briefcase, resulting in both tumbling to the canvas following a headbutt. A Spear from Charlotte saw Tamina awkwardly tumble outside, and another saw her clumsily collide with the ring steps, before Charlotte took down Tamina and Natalya (and herself) with a corkscrew moonsault to the outside. Becky cut Carmella off with a powerbomb and, with the crowd behind her, clambered to the briefcase…only for James Ellsworth to topple the ladder to a cascade of boos! With Carmella unresponsive, Ellsworth climbed on her behalf and unhooked the briefcase, resulting in Carmella becoming the first-ever Ms. Money in the Bank, to a cacophony of displeasure and disbelief from both the crowd and some of the referees.

The Aftermath:
This was a disappointingly slow and uninteresting affair, save for the controversial, insulting, and absolutely ridiculous ending. Unlike most ladder and Money in the Bank matches, the competitors largely spent their time on the outside, leaving just two to four women in the ring at once, which was weird as half of them hadn’t really received that much damage! The match was structured to paint Tamina as a dominating force, which kind of worked but Charlotte also had to be a dominating figure and completely stole her thunder, as bland as Tamina is. The crowd favoured Becky and Natalya as plunky underdogs and fighting spirits, but were in uproar at Carmella’s win, and that she needed a man to get the victory! There was basically no extreme spots, no ladder play beyond the basics, and nothing memorable about this first women’s Money in the Bank contest except for its ludicrous conclusion (which is best forgotten!) Perhaps in an effort to course-correct, or perhaps as part of their awful booking, the WWE immediately addressed the controversy on the following episode of SmackDown Live, where Ellsworth defended the outcome since the match had “no rules”. However, General Manager Daniel Bryan decided that wasn’t fair and stripped Carmella of the briefcase. He thus had the six women redo the match in the main event of the show, banning Ellsworth from the arena, only for Carmella to win anyway! Carmella held the briefcase for just under a year, finally cashing in on Charlotte in April 2018 to become the SmackDown Women’s Champion. Despite successfully defending the belt against Charlotte and the “Empress of Tomorrow” Asuka, Carmella was dethroned in August…by Charlotte. Natalya defeated the other competitors at Battleground to become the number one contender, capturing the SmackDown Women’s Championship from Naomi at the 2017 SummerSlam. Becky, Carmella, Natalya, and Tamina were also forced to co-exist in a traditional Survivor Series match, the build-up to which saw Becky’s popularity skyrocket following an errant shot by Nia Jax. Following this inaugural women’s Money in the Bank match, the WWE’s female competitors have competed for the briefcase at every subsequent Money in the Bank pay-per-view, cementing their legacy in the stipulation.

My Rating:

Could Be Better

What did you think to the first-ever women’s Money in the Bank match? Were you pissed about the ending or did you think it garnered great heel heat for Carmella? Who was your pick to win? Were you disappointed by lack of big ladder spots? Which of the competitors was your favourite? Were there any competitors you would’ve liked to see included in this first match? What’s your favourite women’s Money in the Bank match? Whatever your thoughts on the Money in the Bank match, share them below, support me on Ko-Fi, and be sure to check out my other wrestling reviews!