10 Impulse Reactions Following WWE Money In The Bank 2017
And THIS is how it ends?
WWE promoted a history-making event at their eighth annual Money In The Bank pay-per-view. Unleashing their ever-improving women's division on yet another traditionally male-only gimmick, the magic briefcase would now be available for 5 of SmackDown Live!'s best if they could scale the ladder and scoop the prize.
Such is the thread that traditionally flows through the show, it was fitting that the blue brand were given the supercard to display their best and brightest. Continuing the 'Land of Opportunity' narrative, Jinder Mahal joined the females with a first of his own, as he prepared to give Randy Orton his contractually obligated rematch in a proving ground to counter suggestions that his Backlash victory a month earlier was merely a fluke.
Elsewhere, Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles, Sami Zayn, Baron Corbin, Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler risked it all in the company's annual multi-man main event stunt show to get potentially the next stab at Mahal's title. The all-important briefcase has an almost perfect hit-rate when it comes to crowning champions, and has thus retained huge value regardless of the fact that 50% of the combatants in the contest have already held the company's top title.
Who would step up the literal and figurative rungs on one of the company's biggest nights of the year? And would any more blockbuster shocks lay ahead as the Tuesday night show continues to take major risks in the endless quest for ratings?
10. Ellsworth Wins! (Again)
It what will remain one of the most controversial finishes this year (and possibly not in the way WWE have intended), James Ellsworth scrambled up the ladder and unhooked the Money In The Bank briefcase on behalf of his comrade Carmella. Tossing it down to her as she lay prone on the mat, referees rowed at ringside for an age before awarding the contest to her in the end anyway.
It was a bewildering climax to a match that was only really just coming to life after Charlotte took out both Tamina and Natalya with a twisting moonsault on the arena floor whilst Becky had been dumped to the floor off the ladder by Ellsworth prior to his ascent.
Though presumably designed to insult and infuriate, WWE are not so far over the line of equality that they can get away with the finish like this without drawing attention to Santina Marella's 'Miss WrestleMania' moment or 'Hervina' scooping the Woman's Title in an Attitude Era lowlight.
The contention around the conclusion did little to assuage those immediate comparisons, and regardless of how the company elects to retcon it on television in the upcoming weeks, this will forever remain the conclusion to their first ever Women's variant of the match.