9 Ups And 7 Downs From WWE SummerSlam 2021

8. Simple But Effective

There really isn’t much to the setup behind the kickoff show match between Big E and Baron Corbin: Corbin stole E’s Money in the Bank Briefcase, and he wants it back.

But in this situation, there are actual reasons behind the thief’s motivation. For weeks now, Corbin has descended into poverty, becoming more and more pathetic since losing his crown to King Nakamura He’s lost matches, his self-respect, his home, his family… everything. So Baron being a desperate man stole E’s MITB briefcase in the hopes that he could cash it in to become champion – and thus make some money.

We’ve seen wrestlers steal the briefcase before and have griped about how nonsensical that is, that possession isn’t 9/10ths of the law here. But in Corbin’s case, his desperate situation justifies that irrational action.

And just to close the thread, WWE actually put a proper coda on this mini-storyline, with Big E controlling much of the match, winning cleanly, and reclaiming his briefcase. And Corbin’s downward spiral continues.