Three more wrestlers qualify for WWE Money in the Bank

All of Raw’s participants for this year’s Money in the Bank ladder matches are now set.

Aleister Black, Apollo Crews, and Rey Mysterio won their qualifying matches on tonight’s Raw and will be taking part in this year’s men’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Black defeated Austin Theory tonight, Crews defeated MVP, and Mysterio defeated Murphy.

Shayna Baszler, Asuka, and Nia Jax are Raw’s participants for the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Both ladder matches will feature three wrestlers from Raw and three from SmackDown.

Daniel Bryan and Dana Brooke are the only SmackDown wrestlers to qualify for the ladder matches thus far. Two qualifying matches have been announced for this Friday’s SmackDown: Drew Gulak vs. Baron Corbin and Sasha Banks vs. Lacey Evans.

Money in the Bank is set for Sunday, May 10. Both ladder matches are taking place at WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. The matches will begin on the ground floor and the briefcases will be hanging on the roof of Titan Towers.

Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt for the Universal Championship, Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship, and Bayley vs. Tamina for the SmackDown Women’s Championship have also been confirmed for Money in the Bank.

James Ellsworth appears at WWE Money in the Bank

As expected, James Ellsworth made an appearance at tonight’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view.

Ellsworth played a role in the finish of Carmella and Asuka’s SmackDown Women’s Championship match. Dressed like Asuka and wearing her mask, he stood on the apron to cause a distraction. Carmella rolled Asuka up for a near fall, then Asuka hit a strike and turned her attention back to Ellsworth. He unmasked, winked at Asuka, and Carmella hit a kick to retain. Carmella and Ellsworth went to the back together following the match.

PWInsider first reported that Ellsworth would be at Money in the Bank and that there had been creative pitches for him to return recently. Ellsworth denied the report by pointing out that he had a booking for Middle Kingdom Wrestling in China on the night of the PPV, but MKW announced earlier this week that he would no longer be appearing at their show.

Ellsworth was released by WWE last November after being written out by losing a match to Becky Lynch and then being superkicked by Carmella. He signed a full-time deal with WWE after appearing for the company in 2016, including a memorable match where he was squashed by Braun Strowman. Ellsworth played an underdog babyface at first before turning heel and being paired with Carmella.

Ellsworth also helped Carmella win the Money in the Bank briefcase at last year’s PPV and got involved in the rematch that took place on SmackDown, which Carmella also won.

WWE Money in the Bank live results, news & recap

Preview by Joseph Currier

Two ladder matches, Ronda Rousey challenging for the Raw Women’s Championship, and the latest chapter in the AJ Styles-Shinsuke Nakamura rivalry will take place as the Allstate Arena hosts Money in the Bank tonight.

We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s show as well as last night’s Takeover show, so you can leave a thumbs up, down or middle plus a best and worst match for both shows to [email protected]

Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, The Miz, Rusev, Bobby Roode, Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe, and one of the New Day members will be in the men’s ladder match, while Ember Moon, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, Natalya, Naomi, Lana, and Sasha Banks will be vying for the women’s briefcase.

Rousey will have her second televised match in WWE, challenging for Nia Jax’s title. Rousey got the better of Jax heading into the pay-per-view as she locked in an armbar and made her tap out at the end of a face-to-face segment. Styles and Nakamura are set for their fourth match on PPV this year, this time with a last man standing stipulation.

Also set for Money in the Bank: Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass, Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal, Asuka challenging for Carmella’s SmackDown Women’s Championship, Seth Rollins defending his Intercontinental title against Elias, and Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn.

Plus, The Bludgeon Brothers will defend their SmackDown Tag Team titles against Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson on the pre-show. That begins at 6 p.m. Eastern time before the main card starts at 7 p.m.

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LUKE HARPER & ERICK ROWAN VS.  KARL ANDERSON & LUKE GALLOWS FOR SMACKDOWN TAG TITLES

Okay match.  Gallows & Anderson set up the Magic killer but Rowan broke it up.  Then the Bludgeon Brothers did a double-team power bomb on Gallows and got the pin.  Felt like a pre-show match and they had less time than usual for the pre-show match which didn’t help them.

DANIEL BRYAN VS. BIG CASS

Bryan won with a running knee and the heel hook submission.  The crowd was heavly into “Yes” chants.  This was better than their match last month but nowhere near what most Bryan matches are going to be.  Bryan worked the left knee, Cass did moves like the torture rack.  It felt like this was the end of the program and I can’t say I’m sad about that.

New Day interview.   Xavier Woods said he’s feeling better after eating the peppers.  Kevin Owens shwoed up and said he had gifts, which were pancakes and Maple Syrup.  They wouldn’t tell Owens which one was in the match.  Owens asked the other two to take out Braun Strowman.  Kofi Kingston said they don’t cheat.  Then they said they’d eat pancakes, Owens then said he didn’t like pancakes and he didn’t like cereal, not even New Day cereal so they got mad and wanted him to leave.  Owens said IHOP was smart to change to IHOB because burgers are better.

SAMI ZAYN VS. BOBBY LASHLEY.  

Total nothing match.  Short, very little happened.  Lshley sold a little early and came back with three delayed vertical suplexes and got the pin.  Nobody expected that to be the finish.  This match should have been either a shorter flash pin to get Lashley over like a monster or long enough to do a real match.  This neither helped Lashley nor was it a good match.

Elias did his thing.  He said Chicago is filled with scumbags who want attention.  The whole place started chanting “We are scumbags” loudly.  When people watch this bag historically my God are thjey going to cringe at that.

SETH ROLINS VS. ELIAS FOR THE IC TITLE

Good match, best so far.  Rollins won by reversing a cradle and held the pants to reverse and held on to get the pin.  Rollins was bleeding from the mouth early on.  He did three different dives.  On the third one, Elias sidestepped him and threw him into the post and the steps.  Elias showed good intensity in the last minute or so but seemed a little slow earlier on.  It was one of Elias’ better singles matches.  Interesting they had Rollins win with a total heel finish.  Not sure what the mentality behind that was.  I guess they want people to subtely like Elias.

WOMEN’S MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH:  ALEXA BLISS, SASHA BANKS, CHARLOTTE FLAIR, NATALYA, NAOMI, BECKY LYNCH, LANA  AND EMBER MOON 

This was really a hell of a match.  Ember Moon and Naomi were the real stars of the match but everyone looked good.  The story was that Lynch had it won and Bliss tipped over the ladder and Lynch fell on her face onto another ladder and Bliss climbed up and pulled down the briefcase.  Banks took some crazy bumps.  Charlotte did some spears where she’s go under the ladder to do them.  Typical climbing and pulling down.  You could tell the practice was really a good thing even though some people think for whatever reason that’s a bad thing because it would rarely be done in the past.

Kurt Angle was celebrating that Bliss won in front of Paige.  Angle talked about getting to see Daniel Bryan and Samoa Joe and Paige thought he was trying to raid the roster.  Baron Corbin showed up and Paige made fun of him failing last year to cash in.  Angle thought it was funny Paige running down Corbin. 

ROMAN REIGNS VS. JINDER MAHAL

Sunil Singh is in a wheelchari, wiht his arm in a sling and his neck in a neck brace.  This was supposedly from the Reigns-Singh match on Tuesday.  Singh came out of the wheelchair about two minutes in and threw Reigns into the post.  So both these guys worked real hard.  I won’t say it was a great match, but the crowd spent the entire match doing chants that had nothing to do with the match and were trying to ruin it.  The problem is Vince will see this as the crowd being electric while the fans were spending so much effort trying to ruin the match.  Singh tried to get out of the wheelchair a second time but Reigns blocked going into the post.  Reigns gave him a Superman punch and he took a bump over the wheelchair.  Reigns speared Singh on the floor.  Mahal got a quick near fall but Reigns hit Mahal with a spear for the pin.  

Katie Millar who was in a Special Olympics clip was at ringside and the fans chanted her name.

CARMELLA VS. ASUKA FOR THE SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S TITLE

Kind of a boring match because the one thing about Asuka matches is the crowd doesn’t buy her selling and the whole match was her selling.  Carmella had good poise but it just wasn’t good at all.  Carmella did look good in the last few minutes.  The end saw Asuka in control when James Ellsworth came out dressed up as Asuka.  Asuka was distracted forever.  Ellsworth eventually unmasked and Carmella kicked Asuka in the head for the pin.  A lot of the crowd knew it was Ellsworth, there was a chant before he unmasked, but not super loud.  His unmasking got a big pop and the crowd cheered Carmella’s win.  They were just happy they got a newsworhty event. 

A.J. STYLES VS. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA FOR WWE TITLE IN A LAST MAN STANDING MATCH 

They had a 31:00 match.  It was actually boring much of the way but the last few minutes were great.  The crowd was probalby the hottest the entire show for last minute or so.  Really nothing happened that was much and all the breaks for the count cost momentum.  Nakamura finally hit a low blow on the floor but Styles got up.  Nakamura gave him a Kinshasa but Styles got up before ten.  Styles gave Nakamura a Styles clash off the ring steps to the floor but Nakamura got up again.  Styles gave him a low blow and on the floor but Nakamura still got up at ten.  Styles did the springboard clothesline to the floor and they both went through a table.  Styles got up before the ten count and Nakamura didn’t.  This would appear to end the program so Styles needs a  new opponent, who could be Samoa Joe.  

NIA JAX VS.  RONDA ROUSEY FOR RAW WOMEN’S TITLE

This ended up beign a great deal.  Alexa Bliss interfered and destroyed Rousey and Jax with the briefcase and then hit Jax a few more times with the briefcase and hit twisted Bliss to become champion.  Rousey had Jax in the armbar when Bliss broke it up.  Jax vs. Rousey was real good.  Rousey has an intensity and a face that connects really well.  It was all planned out and such but Rousey really is a natural at this.  Her selling was far better than one would expect, her comebacks looked good.  The match itself was exciting and the whole scenario with the title change was great.  This built up a Rousey vs. Bliss match at some point going forward.

MEN’S MONEY IN THE BANK:  BRAUN STROWMAN, SAMOA JOE, KEVIN OWENS, FINN BALOR, BOBBY ROODE, THE MIZ, RUSEV AND KOFI KINGSTON

Braun Strowman won the contract meaning Raw won both matches.  Finn Balor, Strowman and Kingston were all climbing the ladder.  Kingston was on Strowman’s back.  Strowman threw Balor off the ladder and then flipped Kingston off the ladder nad pulled it down to win.  This was a great match, usual quality of a Money in the Bank match.  Kevin Owens took a crazy bump off about 13 feet of a 15 foot ladder that Strowman threw him off through a table near the stage area.  There were a lot of highlights.  Joe and Strowman both had their elbows cut up.  Joe did an elbow suicida on Strowman.  Balor did a running flip live nad Kingston did a stage dive.  Balor came off the top of a high ladder outside the ring doing a coup de grace on Roode who was in the ring.  They really pushed the idea of Strowman vs. Lesnar here.

We’ll be back in a few hours talking over the show.

SmackDown tag title match moved to WWE MITB pre-show

While the Money in the Bank card still sits at 10 matches coming out of this week’s television, one of those has been moved to the pre-show.

WWE announced on Tuesday night that SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers’ title defense against Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson is now set to take place prior to Sunday’s main card.

Gallows & Anderson defeated The Usos in a number one contender’s match on the May 22nd episode of SmackDown to become Harper & Rowan’s next challengers. The B-Team (Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas) also won a number one contender’s battle royal in the lead-up to Money in the Bank for a shot at Raw Tag Team Champions Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt, but WWE hasn’t announced when that match will be taking place.

Money in the Bank is the first show affected by WWE’s start-time change for pay-per-views. The pre-show will begin at 6 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, with the main card starting at 7 p.m. and listed as ending at 10:30 p.m.

Here’s the updated Money in the Bank card:

  • Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match (Braun Strowman vs. Finn Balor vs. Bobby Roode vs. Kevin Owens vs. The Miz vs. Rusev vs. Samoa Joe vs. a member of The New Day)
  • Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match (Ember Moon vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya vs. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Lana vs. Naomi)
  • Raw Women’s Champion Nia Jax defending against Ronda Rousey
  • WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Shinsuke Nakamura in a last man standing match
  • SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella defending against Asuka
  • Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal
  • Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass
  • Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins defending against Elias
  • Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn
  • SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers defending against Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (kickoff show)

Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass confirmed for WWE Money in the Bank

Daniel Bryan and Big Cass are set for another match on pay-per-view.

After the direction was made clear on Tuesday’s SmackDown, Bryan vs. Cass has been confirmed for Money in the Bank. Their first PPV match was at Backlash in May, where Bryan submitted Cass but was laid out by him after.

Their feud has continued since Backlash, with Bryan attacking Cass and refusing to let go of a heel hook on the May 15th episode of SmackDown. A Samoa Joe vs. Cass Money in the Bank qualifying match was then canceled as part of a storyline where WWE said Bryan injured Cass’ knee in the attack.

Bryan defeated Jeff Hardy to advance to a Money in the Bank qualifier against Joe, but Cass ended up being added this week to make it a triple threat. Bryan hit the running knee on Cass and was going for the pin when Joe choked him out with the Coquina Clutch. Cass then hit Bryan with the big boot.

There are two more weeks of television before Money in the Bank takes place on June 17th. Here’s the updated card:

  • Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match (Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, The Miz, Rusev, Bobby Roode, Kevin Owens, a member of The New Day, and Samoa Joe)
  • Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match (Ember Moon, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, Natalya, Lana, Naomi, and Sasha Banks)
  • Raw Women’s Champion Nia Jax defending against Ronda Rousey
  • WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Shinsuke Nakamura in a last man standing match
  • SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella defending against Asuka
  • Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal
  • Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass
  • Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins defending against Elias
  • Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn
  • SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers defending against Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson

Samoa Joe qualifies for WWE Money in the Bank

While WWE changed this week’s advertised Daniel Bryan vs. Samoa Joe match, Joe still became the final person to qualify for Money in the Bank.

Bryan passed out in the Coquina Clutch in tonight’s main event, which became a triple threat match when Big Cass was added to it. Bryan hit a running knee on Cass and was going for the pin when Joe choked him out. After the match, Cass hit Bryan with a big boot.

Cass interrupted Joe and Bryan at the start of SmackDown, said their match wouldn’t be happening, and laid them out by using his crutch, throwing Bryan into a ladder, and hitting them with the Money in the Bank briefcase. The triple threat main event was made official soon after that.

Joe vs. Cass in a qualifier was originally announced for last week until WWE pulled Cass due to what they claimed was an injury.

Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, The Miz, Rusev, Bobby Roode, Kevin Owens, a member of The New Day, and Joe will be the eight wrestlers in the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Ember Moon, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, Natalya, Lana, Naomi, and Sasha Banks are set for the women’s ladder match.

There are two weeks of television left before Money in the Bank takes place on June 17th.

WWE rounds out lineup for women’s MITB ladder match

With under three weeks to go until the pay-per-view, the lineup for the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match has been finalized.

Sasha Banks became the eighth person to qualify for the match, joining Ember Moon, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, Natalya, Lana, and Naomi. Banks came into the last chance gauntlet match on Raw tonight as the last entrant and submitted Ruby Riott to win.

Bayley started the gauntlet by eliminating Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan but was attacked by them before Riott came out. Riott then defeated Bayley, Dana Brooke, and Mickie James prior to Banks entering.

The final men’s qualifier is scheduled for tomorrow’s SmackDown, with Daniel Bryan facing Samoa Joe. Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, The Miz, Rusev, Bobby Roode, Kevin Owens, and a member of The New Day are the seven who have already qualified.

Money in the Bank will take place at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois on June 17th.

Last man standing stipulation set for Styles vs. Nakamura at MITB

WWE has announced the stipulation for AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura at Money in the Bank.

It will be Nakamura challenging for Styles’ WWE Championship in a last man standing match. Nakamura confirmed that tonight after brawling with Styles, laying him out with a steel chair and a Kinshasa, and counting to 10. Nakamura defeated Styles in a non-title match last week where the winner would pick the stipulation for Money in the Bank.

Dave Meltzer reported two weeks ago that the last man standing stipulation had been talked about for the pay-per-view.

Their next match will be the fifth time Styles and Nakamura have faced each other on television or PPV this year. At Backlash, their no disqualification match ended without a decisive finish as Styles and Nakamura simultaneously low blowed each other and couldn’t make the referee’s 10 count.

Money in the Bank is taking place at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois on June 17th.

WWE looking to expand length of pay-per-views

WWE is looking at lengthening its pay-per-views by one hour starting with Money in the Bank.

Sky Italia on Facebook posted that the Money in the Bank show would be moved to a four-hour window starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time, from the previous 8 p.m. start. 

Other cable providers were also contacted today with that information. They were told that most of the shows would run from 7-11 p.m., with the big four shows running from 6-11 p.m. It is unclear whether pre-game shows would be dropped or whether that would mean matches would begin 30 minutes to 90 minutes before the PPV start, depending on the show, as has been the case so far.

Corroborating this information, inDemand’s website is listing a 6:30 p.m. start for Money in the Bank. Traditionally they do a 30-minute countdown show prior to going live.

WWE has not responded to questions on this subject.

Natalya qualifies for WWE Money in the Bank

Another spot in the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match was decided on tonight’s episode of Raw.

Natalya defeated Sarah Logan, Liv Morgan, and Dana Brooke in a fatal four-way match to qualify for next month’s pay-per-view. She submitted Logan with the Sharpshooter and then did an interview with Charly Caruso, calling Ronda Rousey her training partner and saying they’ll both win at the PPV.

There are now three spots left in the women’s match. Ember Moon, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, and Natalya have qualified, and Billie Kay vs. Lana and Naomi vs. Sonya Deville will take place on SmackDown tomorrow night. The final participant will be determined next Monday when Sasha Banks, Bayley, Mickie James, Brooke, Ruby Riott, Logan, and Morgan face off in a gauntlet match.

Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, The Miz, Rusev, Bobby Roode, Kevin Owens, and a member of The New Day have qualified on the men’s side. Daniel Bryan is facing Jeff Hardy tomorrow in a match where the winner will advance to a qualifier against Samoa Joe the following week. Big Cass vs. Joe was originally scheduled before Cass was pulled due to a storyline injury.

Another MITB qualifier announced for WWE SmackDown

WWE has announced a third Money in the Bank qualifying match for Tuesday’s SmackDown.

Naomi vs. Sonya Deville was added to the lineup for the May 22nd episode today. Deville was involved in a triple threat qualifier this week where Mandy Rose tapped out to an armbar from Becky Lynch.

To set up the match, Deville tweeted to Paige and pointed out that she wasn’t the person who submitted against Lynch. Paige then responded by announcing that Deville will be facing Naomi: “Ohhhh the sass on ya, @SonyaDevilleWWE, they grow up so fast…OK, you get your #MITB qualifying match this Tuesday on #SDLive against…@NaomiWWE. Let’s see if you can stand on your two feet, sweetheart.”

Samoa Joe vs. Big Cass and Billie Kay vs. Lana are the other two qualifiers that are scheduled for Tuesday. There will also be a Miz TV segment with Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods as part of a storyline where Miz is trying to find out which New Day member they’ll select to be in the men’s ladder match. And WWE should follow up on Shinsuke Nakamura defeating AJ Styles for the right to choose the stipulation for their Money in the Bank title bout.

The updated lineups for this year’s Money in the Bank ladder matches are listed below. The pay-per-view will take place at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois on June 17th.

Men’s ladder match —

  • Braun Strowman
  • Finn Balor
  • The Miz
  • Rusev
  • Bobby Roode
  • Kevin Owens
  • A member of The New Day
  • Samoa Joe vs. Big Cass winner

Women’s ladder match —

  • Ember Moon
  • Charlotte Flair
  • Alexa Bliss
  • Becky Lynch
  • Billie Kay vs. Lana winner
  • Naomi vs. Sonya Deville winner
  • Two more wrestlers

Carmella vs. Asuka announced for WWE Money in the Bank

WWE has added another Women’s Championship match to the Money in the Bank card.

A day after Nia Jax vs. Ronda Rousey was announced, WWE revealed that Asuka will be challenging for Carmella’s SmackDown Women’s Championship at the pay-per-view. That was set up at tonight’s SmackDown tapings in London, with Paige interrupting Carmella’s “Royal Mellabration” and making the match. Carmella at first responded by saying she wasn’t defending the title at Money in the Bank and then left the ring when Asuka came out.

The only time Asuka has challenged for the title was at WrestleMania 34, where Charlotte Flair ended her undefeated streak. Carmella cashed in her Money in the Bank briefcase to win the championship on the SmackDown after WrestleMania and went on to successfully defend against Charlotte at Backlash.

Here’s the updated lineup for Money in the Bank, which will take place at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois on June 17th:

  • WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Shinsuke Nakamura
  • Raw Women’s Champion Nia Jax defending against Ronda Rousey
  • SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella defending against Asuka
  • Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match (Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, The Miz, Rusev, Bobby Roode, Kevin Owens, a member of The New Day, and the winner of next week’s Samoa Joe vs. Big Cass qualifying match)
  • Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match (Ember Moon, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, and four more wrestlers)

Two Money in the Bank qualifiers added to tonight’s WWE Raw

Two Money in the Bank qualifiers have been added to the lineup for tonight’s Raw in London.

Both are triple threat matches, with Bobby Roode facing Baron Corbin and No Way Jose, and Alexa Bliss taking on Bayley and Mickie James.

Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, The Miz, and Rusev have gotten spots in the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match thus far, with Ember Moon and Charlotte Flair qualifying on the women’s side. There will be eight wrestlers in each ladder match on the June 17th pay-per-view.

Tonight’s Raw is being taped in advance at the O2 Arena, and WWE will return to the venue for tomorrow’s SmackDown tapings. Seth Rollins defending his Intercontinental Championship against Kevin Owens is also set for tonight.

Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega debuting on the show and The New Day vs. Cesaro & Sheamus, where one member of the winning team will qualify for the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match, are advertised for this week’s SmackDown.

Nia Jax vs. Ronda Rousey set for WWE Money in the Bank

In her second televised match, Ronda Rousey will be challenging for Nia Jax’s Raw Women’s Championship.

The match was announced for Money in the Bank after being set up as Rousey, Jax, and other WWE representatives appeared at this morning’s NBC Universal upfronts in New York City. The storyline is that Jax issued the challenge at the upfronts and Rousey accepted it.

Rousey and Jax both spoke to E! News about the match, keeping kayfabe by explaining how they can get along outside of the ring and still face each other at the pay-per-view.

Rousey hasn’t wrestled since teaming with Kurt Angle to defeat Stephanie McMahon & Triple H at WrestleMania 34, but she’ll be taking part in matches on WWE’s European tour this week. She’s scheduled for WWE’s house shows in Geneva, Switzerland on May 16th, Vienna, Austria on the 17th, Turin, Italy on the 18th, and Paris, France on the 19th.

The Allstate Arena in the Chicago area will host Money in the Bank on June 17th. Here’s the updated card:

  • Raw Women’s Champion Nia Jax defending against Ronda Rousey
  • WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Shinsuke Nakamura
  • Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match (Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, The Miz, Rusev, and four more wrestlers)
  • Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match (Ember Moon, Charlotte Flair, and six more wrestlers)

Styles vs. Nakamura confirmed for WWE Money in the Bank

AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura’s fourth pay-per-view WWE Championship match of 2018 is now official.

Through a tweet from Shane McMahon, WWE announced the match for Money in the Bank this morning: “Every fan of these athletes is looking for a definitive winner, a CLEAR victor…so I am making it official: @AJStylesOrg vs @ShinsukeN for the @WWE Championship at #MITB. #SDLive”

Whether there will be a stipulation for the match hasn’t been confirmed yet. Their most recent meeting was a no disqualification match at Backlash, ending in a no contest when Styles and Nakamura kicked each other low at the same time and couldn’t get up before the referee’s 10 count.

Before that, Styles vs. Nakamura at the Greatest Royal Rumble, which followed up on Styles retaining the title and Nakamura turning heel at WrestleMania 34, ended in a double countout.

This is the third match announced for Money in the Bank, which will be held at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois on June 17th. The men’s and women’s Money in the Bank ladder matches will be taking place, with Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, The Miz, Rusev, Ember Moon, and Charlotte Flair having already qualified. The qualifiers will continue on this week’s Raw and SmackDown from London.