We are less than 24 hours away from this year’s Money in the Bank premium live event, but before any of the Superstars could think of climbing ladders and grabbing briefcases in Inglewood, California, they had to make a short stop to Bakersfield’s Dignity Health Arena for another episode of Friday Night SmackDown.
Out first glimpse of the women was of the Women’s United States Champion Zelina Vega, who walked backstage before running into Giulia. Vega said that The Beautiful Madness made her intentions very clear last week, but now the champ wants to make something very clear to her: she has worked her ass off to get the title, and if she wants a shot at the Women’s United States Championship, she is going to have to pry it from her lifeless body, because she is not giving it up willingly. All Giulia says is that she likes Vega’s confidence. Vega continues to walk while Giulia stares in the distance.
Chelsea Green and The Secret Hervice made their way down to the ring as Piper Niven was set to compete in a “Bakersfield Brawl” against Vega. Niven initially pushed the champ to the mat twice, but Vega quickly found a kendo stick under the ring and used it to strike Niven. The action then moved into ringside, where Vega jumped from the ring apron and stomped on the back of the Scotland-born agent. Trying to follow it up with a hurricanrana, Niven instead slammed Vega into the apron and hit a crossbody before a commercial break.
The show returned with Niven wrapping a chain around her fist and choking Vega out with it. Despite the champ being in pain, Niven didn’t care and kneed her from the back of the head as Vega’s face hit the bottom turnbuckle. Setting up a steel chair to inflict more damage, Vega countered Niven’s offense into a DDT that planted Niven head-first into the chair and continued to gain momentum as she hit a moonsault to take out Niven, Green, and Alba Fyre. Niven climbed up the top turnbuckle to try and fend off Vega, but Vega would use that opportunity to hit a Code Red from there, sending Niven crashing down to the mat. With Vega attempting to pin her challenger, both Fyre and Green attacked her; with this obviously being a street fight-style match, there were no disqualifications and thus nothing stopping them from interfering. Still in the ring while was Vega was beaten on the floor, Niven commanded the two to get a table.
With Vega lying on the table and Niven primed to inflict harm, Giulia would emerge from the crowd to clothesline Fyre and Green, before hitting Niven with the kendo stick, allowing Vega to hit another impactful Code Red for the win. As Vega held her title in the air, Giulia entered the ring with a smile to raise her arm up, before quickly attacking her and holding the title.
Despite running different shows, Raw general manager Adam Pearce and SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis like to come together once in a while, and tonight was no exception. In a pre-recorded segment, the two announced that the Queen of the Ring tournament would begin next week. While most tournaments in the past year or so have opted for triple threat matches, this year will feature four fatal four-way matches, two on Raw and two on SmackDown each. These matches will lead to two interbrand semi-final matches that will determine the finalists, who will face off at Night of Champions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, June 28th. The winner of the tournament will get to challenge their respective brand’s champion in August at SummerSlam.
Byron Saxton buzzed at the big news as he introduced a woman that he said had a “vested interest” in the tournament: Jade Cargill. With Saxton revealing that the former Women’s Tag Team Champion would be competing in the tournament, Cargill said that it feels great, and while she won’t have the opportunity of climbing the ladder and grabbing the Money in the Bank briefcase, she’s going to keep climbing regardless. She is The Storm, and she can’t wait to tear through the Queen of the Ring tournament. At SummerSlam, she’s not asking for gold, she’s taking it.
On a slightly different note, Saxton questioned Cargill on the state of her friendship with Bianca Belair, but she can’t even bother to get a word in as Charlotte Flair interrupted the interview. Flair wanted to give Cargill a friendly reminder: salt and sugar look the same, so either choose your friends more wisely or don’t have any at all. If she thinks she’s winning Queen of the Ring, she’s going to need a prayer; there is only one queen in WWE, but there’s also only one Women’s Champion as Tiffany Stratton makes her presence felt, only saying “good luck with that, ladies”.
After commercials, Stratton walked out to the ring to cut a promo. Speaking into the microphone, the Buff Barbie didn’t just become the youngest Ms. Money in the Bank last year, she became the “it girl” of WWE, which is why she can see it now: every single lady in that match is going to try to “pull a Tiffy”, pull someone off a ladder, and then reach for the stars. Stratton can agree that every woman competing in the Money in the Bank match is championship material, but it doesn’t matter whoever wins Money in the Bank because their world will be revolving around her, so they can win the match and trend for one night, but she fears that no one can outdo the doer.
Rhea Ripley then arrives and tells Stratton that she’s actually never been part of the Money in the Bank match before because the fact is, she never had to be part of it – with her championship reigns and all, so she doesn’t know what it feels like to win that contract like Stratton does, but she does know what it feels like to be a champion, and she misses that feeling. As the two begin to have a staredown, out came Raw’s newest female Superstar, Stephanie Vaquer, teaming with Ripley and Alexa Bliss, the babyface competitors in the Money in the Bank match in a six-woman tag team match against the heel participants of the match – Naomi, Roxanne Perez, and Giulia.
Vaquer and Giulia started the match for their teams with several pin attempts. As Vaquer attempted her signature move, The Beautiful Madness pushed her to the mat and locked her into submission before kicking her down. Tagging in Naomi, the Orlando native quickly fell victim to said Vaquer move – the Devil’s Kiss – as Bliss and Ripley fended off Perez and Giulia. After a brief chase, Naomi took control, aiming her kicks at La Primera on the turnbuckles. The heel team was working effectively as Naomi tagged in Perez, who hit an uppercut and then handed the offense back to Giulia, who tried to pin her quickly but then tagged in Naomi once again. Vaquer eventually tagged in Bliss, who fought off Perez and Giulia and moved with quick offense on Naomi, taking out her and Giulia. Perez then threw Bliss into the steel steps.
Bliss took the brunt of her opposing team’s attacks throughout the commercial break, with all three heels taking fast turns. Bliss began to fade as she reached out for a tag from Ripley and Vaquer, but still had enough strength to hit a DDT on Naomi. Tagging in Ripley, Mami would manhandle Perez with a fallaway slam and dropkicked Naomi off the ring apron. After hitting a Razor’s Edge on Perez, an attempt by Ripley to put her away was stopped by Naomi, spurring Vaquer and Giulia to get involved, but Giulia would be stopped by Bliss, who executed the Sister Abigail DDT but got a boot from Perez. Looking to hit Riptide, Ripley got her usual finisher countered by a dazed Perez. As Perez got up, Bliss and Giulia began to corner her and in an attempt to even the odds, reached her hand out for Naomi, who decided to dip and have her fend for herself. This allowed Ripley to finally hit Riptide for the win.
WWE has a busy day ahead tomorrow with two premium live events. Here’s a quick schedule rundown for viewers in the United States:
- 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time / 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time – Worlds Collide (streaming live on YouTube in both English and Spanish)
- 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time / 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time – Countdown to Money in the Bank (streaming live on Peacock and WWE’s social media accounts)
- 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time / 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time – Money in the Bank (streaming live on Peacock)
- Immediately following Money in the Bank – Post-Show
Both shows will emanate from Inglewood, California. Worlds Collide will air from the Kia Forum while Money in the Bank will air from the Intuit Dome.
As for matches at the actual events, here’s what to expect:
Worlds Collide: Stephanie Vaquer and Lola Vice vs. Dalys and Chik Tormenta
Money in the Bank: Lyra Valkyria (c) vs. Becky Lynch for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship in a Last Chance match – if Lynch loses, she can no longer challenge for the title for as long as Valkyria is champion. If Valkyria loses, she will be forced to raise Lynch’s hand and acknowledge Lynch as the better woman.
Money in the Bank: Alexa Bliss vs. Giulia vs. Naomi vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Stephanie Vaquer in the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match – the winner will earn a contract to cash in on the title of their choosing, either the Women’s World Championship or Women’s Championship, at anytime.
Friday Night SmackDown will air next week from inside the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, and there is sure to be fallout from Money in the Bank.
Make sure to share your thoughts on this week’s episode of SmackDown, plus your predictions on who might win or what might happen at Money in the Bank, in the comments below!