10 PPV Quality Matches WWE Gave Away For Free On Weekly TV In 2021

5. Big E. Vs Bobby Lashley - RAW September 13

Daniel Bryan Roman Reigns WWE SmackDown 30 April 2021
WWE.com

Okay, okay, the entire Money in the Bank briefcase concept lends itself to shocking TV moments, but this could have been different. Fans have been clamouring for Big E to ascend to the top of the table for a while, and now the big man had the briefcase. A WWE Championship win was as good as inevitable. It came to be, as the former Langston cashed-in on Lashley after The All Mighty (lord, what a nickname) had defeated Randy Orton to retain the belt. E was champion, all was right with the world.

Except, it wasn’t. This was a chance for WWE to breathe new life into the tired MitB concept. Instead of cashing in on a tired champion, Big E should have gone the RVD route and challenged for the belt at a major show. Yes, it goes against some logic, but this is professional wrestling. By beating the champion in an actual match, Big E would have begun his title reign with serious credibility.

It didn’t happen like that, obviously. What could have been a major WrestleMania moment became another end to a weekly TV show. What could have been a generation-defining World championship reign by a new megastar became, well, just another World Championship reign by a talented guy that the company clearly doesn’t believe in.

Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.