10 WWE Money In The Bank 2021 Impulse Reactions

5. Men's Money In The Bank

Big E
WWE

WWE almost did this contest a disservice in the build, thanks to not really building it at all.

Ricochet and John Morrison had the ThunderDome's last banger and Kevin Owens went through a similar ringer just to qualify, but Riddle's mind felt elsewhere with Randy Orton A.W.O.L on Monday Nights, Seth Rollins already had one eye on Edge, Drew McIntyre's historical figures bullsh*t had eroded much of the goodwill around him, Big E's had nothing going on and Shinsuke Nakamura's crown stuff only really mattered when he tweaked his trousers to fit the new gimmick.

The opening few seconds gave everybody few reasons to be worried. A cavalcade of wild high spots gave the entire field a bit of shine before Seth Rollins and John Morrison started working as a team to pick off the babyface-heavy line-up.

It all worked well until their inevitable severance, at which point all bets beyond the best one were off. Riddle hit RKOs, Kevin Owens stunned the world, Ricochet continued to be a worst kept wrestling secret and several terrifying bumps cleared the way for Big E to claim the sort of win he should have been afforded a long, long time ago.

The euphoric response - one WWE were wise to capitalise on here - spoke to the adoration for the man. That must not be abused in the weeks and months to come.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett