Chelsea Green, Andrade & Carmelo Hayes Qualify For MITB Ladder Match On WWE SmackDown
Money in the Bank is just over two weeks away, and the playing field for the historic ladder match has become more clear following the events of Friday's edition of "WWE Smackdown." Chelsea Green, Carmelo Hayes, and Andrade came out on top of their qualifying matches, and are now one step closer to claiming a Money in the Bank contract.
Green took on two formidable foes in Michin and Bianca Belair in "SmackDown's" opening bout. Michin showed great offense in the beginning and landed Eat Defeat on Belair before catching Green with a Styles Clash, but things began to unravel when she was hit with a clean KOD from Belair. Green, ever the opportunist, shoved Belair off of Michin and stole the win to secure her spot in the women's Money in the Bank ladder match.
Bloodline shenanigans plagued the following two qualifying matches. Hayes faced off against Randy Orton and Tama Tonga in the middle of Friday's show. At one point, Hayes and Tonga came together to put down "The Viper," but the veteran Orton managed to quickly bounce back from the combined assault with a hanging DDT. The match spiraled out of control when Tanga Loa came to distract Orton at ringside. Kevin Owens — a man with his own qualifying match later in the evening — came down to fight off Loa and Tonga, but the distraction provided Hayes with the perfect opportunity to roll up Orton for the win.
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Not too long afterward, Owens walked out to face Andrade and Grayson Waller for the final qualifying match of the night. The Bloodline, still incensed by Owens' earlier interference, attacked Owens during his entrance, and left Owens hobbling on an injured knee. Owens became progressively weaker during the match, especially with a sadistic Waller zoned in on the injury. After neutralizing "The Prizefighter," Waller ran in the ring to attempt a rolling Stunner onto Andrade, who expertly reversed Waller's offense into The Message, which landed him the victory.
Several other Money in the Bank qualifying matches were announced for next Friday's show. On the women's side, fans can expect two triple threats next week: Candice LeRae vs. Jade Cargill vs. Tiffany Stratton and Indi Hartwell vs. Naomi and recent "WWE NXT" call-up Blair Davenport. A qualifying match between LA Knight, United States Champion Logan Paul, and Santos Escobar is also slated for next week's show.