WWE Money in the Bank – June 17th 2018

The representatives from Smackdown were the first four competitors to enter the arena for the women's Money in the Bank ladder match.

Alexa Bliss, the last of the four entrants from the blue brand, and one of its new additions following the superstar shakeup, pointed up at the briefcase as she stood in the middle of the ring, directly underneath it. She started mouthing off at Sonya Deville, Carmella and Charlotte, telling them that the briefcase was going to be hers.

Attention turned to the stage once more when Sasha Banks' music began to play. On commentary, Michael Cole induced cringing among the audiences at home with his introduction of her.

Corey Graves was acting as Smackdown's representative on the commentary team, owing to the fact that he currently worked on both brands. He had been hyping up the chances of the first four entrants, yet seemed less enthusiastic for Banks. "Here comes a woman with a target on her back," he said. "Last month, at Backlash, thanks to Bayley, Sasha Banks qualified for this match by becoming the first person to defeat Rowdy Ronda Rousey in WWE."

"And if Ronda is to be believed, that'll be something Sasha comes to regret," Coach said. "But even with Rousey looking to come after her, you can't discount Sasha. She's a multi-time Raw Women's Champion. She knows how to win big matches."

With Sasha's entrance completed, Ronda's music was next to hit, drawing some boos. She had been given an effective heel turn with the kayfabe breaking of Bayley's arm, but her creative had been a little lacklustre since then, and she hadn't so far gotten the heat that she perhaps could have. Nonetheless, the commentators did their best to sell it.

"Rowdy Ronda Rousey," Cole introduced as she marched onto the stage, aggressive game face in place. "Guys, we've seen a new Ronda this past month, beginning with breaking Bayley's arm in retribution for the mistake at Backlash. That was a huge and brutal overreaction, in my opinion."

"First of all, your opinion is irrelevant, Cole," Graves said. "Second, this isn't a 'new' Ronda Rousey. This is the same Ronda Rousey who dominated UFC. This is the Ronda Rousey who would break your arm in a heartbeat if you got on the wrong side of her. This is the Ronda Rousey who has guaranteed a victory here tonight, and I believe you can take that to the bank."

Coach said, "Guys, what I want to know is what role Zelina Vega is playing in all of this. We saw Rousey leave Raw in a car with Vega the night after Backlash, but we haven't seen Zelina since. Personally, I've got to believe Vega is the one who masterminded the change we've seen in Ronda. She's like a little devil standing on Ronda's shoulder, whispering in her ear."

"You don't know any of that to be true, apart from Rousey leaving in a car with Vega," Graves snapped as Ronda completed her entrance.

Wisely, the other women gave her a wide berth and eyed her carefully. Alexa Bliss even left the ring, having no intention of being the first one to find herself on the receiving end of Ronda's pent up aggression.

A thunderous ovation greeted the next theme music. Of late, a campaign had taken off on social media for Becky Lynch to be given a chance, following a lot of what was perceived as misuse while she had been on Smackdown. Since Becky had moved to Raw, she had gone on a run of victories, and there were high expectations that she would be the one leaving with the briefcase.

While Becky made her way to the ring, with the fans singing along to her music, the commentary team talked up her recent excellent form, and her chances in the match.

Another ovation greeted Lynch when she entered the ring.

"Look how fired up Becky Lynch is!" Cole exclaimed as she showed no fear, sending some heated words in Ronda's direction.

"That's what you call straight fire!" Coach said over the top of a "Becky!" chant that had quickly taken hold.

There was one more entrant to come. It should have been Bayley, but thanks to Ronda breaking her arm, that wouldn't be the case. As yet, a replacement had not been announced. To that end, Kurt Angle's music began to play. The crowd took pleasure in jokingly informing him that he sucked as he entered the arena.

"Unfortunately," Kurt began, "as I'm sure most of you are aware, Bayley has an arm injury, and will be out of action for the foreseeable future. For that reason, Raw need a replacement in this match. Therefore, please welcome... Ember Moon!"

The fans roared their approval as Ember's music began to play.

"Oh, yes! What a selection by Kurt Angle!" Cole exclaimed. "Ember Moon, just a couple of months into her Monday Night Raw career, has a chance to win one of the biggest prizes in the game!"

"I love a surprise winner, and I have to say Ember would be a surprise winner," Coach said. "I might have to make Ember my pick."

Moon had rushed to the ring, hyped up for the challenge, and went right after Ronda. Becky Lynch joined her, both determined to start out by eliminating one of their biggest threats.

With that, the match was under way. The women separated into groups, fighting inside and outside the ring.

Over the next twenty minutes, every woman in the match came close to winning, reaching the top of the ladder, only to be stopped by an opponent just before they could unhook the briefcase and secure victory.

In one particularly nasty moment, Charlotte swung a ladder at Sonya Deville, who failed to adequately block it and ended up with a nasty gash in the side of her head, leaving her bleeding heavily and needing attention outside the ring.

Ember Moon was the latest to find herself with an opportunity to climb the ladder. Fatigued, she was slow to make her way up the rungs. By the time she reached the top, Carmella was back in the ring.

The first ever female Money in the Bank holder rushed up the opposite side of the ladder. Ember was reaching up to grab the briefcase with both hands, which left Carmella the chance to stick a thumb in her eye before grabbing her head and slamming her face on the top of the ladder. Ember fell to the canvas.

"Carmella's going to do it!" Graves cried over the top of some boos from the crowd. "She'll be a back to back Money in the Bank winner!"

"Not so fast," Coach said. "Becky Lynch is back in now."

The fans cheered Becky on as she began to tip the ladder over – her chosen method of stopping Carmella getting the win. However, as the ladder toppled, Carmella grabbed the briefcase with both hands. There was a collective intake of breath in the crowd as she was left dangling above the ring, legs flailing around.

"Just get the briefcase and fall!" Graves urged her.

"She can't unhook it," Coach pointed out.

Reacting to the situation, Becky quickly picked the ladder back up and used it to swat Carmella off the briefcase, sending her tumbling to the mat.

Looking hurriedly around the ring, Becky saw only a couple of unconscious opponents. There was no one around to challenge her. The fans roared her on as she quickly set up the ladder, sensing victory at hand.

"Becky Lynch is all alone!" Cole called. "She's going up the ladder! There's no one to stop her!"

As he was saying those final words, they were being proven incorrect. Someone rushed into the ring and over to the ladder.

"Wait! That's Zelina Vega! Vega is in the ring!" Coach yelled.

Becky never saw Zelina coming. Before she knew what was happing, Vega had gotten into position to powerbomb her.

Boos rained down as Becky was slammed to the mat, robbed of what had appeared to be certain victory.

Zelina rushed over to the ropes, closest to where Ronda had been lying on the floor for the past couple of minutes. "Come on, Ronda! Get up! Get up, now!" she yelled frantically.

"Ronda Rousey crawling back into the ring," Graves said. "The other seven women are down."

"Vega helping Rousey back to her feet," Coach said. "We wondered if they were together; it certainly appears that they are."

Zelina animatedly gestured to the ladder as she shouted, "Get up there! Come on!"

Louder boos rained down as Ronda started climbing the ladder.

"Rousey's climbing the ladder," Cole called. "Vega took out Becky Lynch, and everyone else is down."

Reaching up, Ronda grabbed the briefcase with her right hand and unhooked it with her left. The fans erupted into boos. Bad Reputation began to play.

"Rousey wins!" Graves yelled.

"Ronda Rousey is Ms Money in the Bank!" Cole shouted. "Thanks to Zelina Vega, Rousey wins!"

Triumphant, Ronda climbed down the ladder. With Vega nodding her satisfaction and approval, she raised the briefcase in the air in celebration, drawing more boos.

"Rousey now, handing the briefcase to Vega," Coach said.

Zelina smugly looked at the briefcase, as if the prize was hers as much as her client's. Given the way it had been won, she might have had a point.

Holding the briefcase in her left hand, Zelina took Ronda's left hand in her right and raised it in victory, mouthing off at the crowd in the process. For her part, Ronda looked tired, but arrogantly pleased with her win.

"Rowdy Ronda Rousey, the second winner of the women's Money in the Bank," Cole proclaimed. "And regardless of how she won it, Rousey is now a massive threat to Nia Jax, the Raw Women's Champion."

Coach brought the segment to a close as Ronda and Zelina left the ring. "I don't like her methods, but Zelina Vega has already brought success to Ronda Rousey. We wondered if they were working together, and now we know for sure. Zelina Vega is the manager of Rowdy Ronda Rousey, Ms Money in the Bank."


A/N: Many thanks to everyone who left a prediction last time. I think we had the highest number of entries so far, which was great to see. I owe shout outs to Rams, Forza Azzurra and Ads611 for calling correctly.

Next time, we'll get the fallout from Money in the Bank on Raw. We'll also have the introduction of a female commentator to Raw. Those who have read my other stories know I like to get Renee Young on commentary. This time, though, it's going to be someone different, and that's the prediction question for this chapter: Who will the new female commentator be? I'll give you a hint, it's an OC that I have used previously. As always, shout outs are available for correct predictions.