WWE Money In The Bank 2024: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s annual review of WWE Money in the Bank, the show where the power of a magic briefcase is nothing compared to good, old-fashioned Chicago spite! There was a lot of stuff going on for a five-match card on Saturday night, although maybe there should have been a little bit more at the end — but we'll get to that later. In fact, we will basically be touching on everything that happened at MITB, with the exception of Sami Zayn vs. Bron Breakker, which was a very good match whose result surprised a decent number of people. It was a worthy candidate for either positive or negative reactions, but in the end, we had stronger feelings about everything else.

Because bear in mind — this column is about our feelings; the post-show opinions and analysis of the WINC staff. For an objective rundown of what happened in Toronto on Saturday, check out our Money in the Bank results page. If you want to know what we thought about the show, this is the place to be, because these are three things we hated and three things we loved about WWE Money in the Bank 2024.

We knew the chapter was drawing to a close for John Cena in WWE, but nobody expected tonight's announcement: The 16-time WWE World Champion and certified Hall of Famer will be closing out his wrestling career in 2025. Alas, if Sting has taught us anything it's that final runs can produce some of the most memorable moments at the bookend of one's career, and Cena has promised that he will be at Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, and WrestleMania at the very least, and hopes to have matches booked until the year is out, meaning we are more than likely going to be getting more of "The GOAT" at the half-way point than we have for the rest of the decade. A final run is a decree that a wrestler will be prioritizing marquee matches and moments, and that means the biggest name of a generation passed will stand opposite those of this generation.

There is certainly an argument to be made that Cena is not the workhorse he used to be — which only cements that this is the right time — but really, is it going to matter when the fans are as invested as they're going to be? WWE goes big in its matches, for better or worse, and there is no bigger than this at the moment. Fans finally got the answer they really didn't want to hear: Cena is wrapping up his in-ring career at long last and leaving nothing unsaid; this is his last ride into the Hollywood sunset. Let's enjoy it while it lasts. (Side note: manifesting both the 17th title reign and a potential heel run in 2025.)

Written by Max Everett

I have to start this off by saying I grew up alongside John Cena's debut and his "Doctor of Thuganomics" era on "WWE SmackDown" and I absolutely loved him. I had his "Word Life" DVD and his ridiculous rap CD he recorded. I was a full-blown Cena mark as a kid. But, I also fell by the wayside like many during his "Super Cena" era as I got older, started to learn a bit more about wrestling and the business itself by reading the dirt sheets and message boards and things like that. I think I really fell off with my John Cena fandom when his "Once in a Lifetime" match with the Rock at WrestleMania in 2012 turned in to "Twice in a Lifetime" in 2013. Then, Cena wandered off to Hollywood and left the WWE behind for awhile there, only to pop up and make brief appearances at big events, which is exactly what he accused Rock of doing in these feuds. And don't even get me started about how Cena was depicted in the reality TV sphere with "Total Divas" and "Total Bellas."

All that to say, despite my general distaste for Cena now in my older age, I 100% recognize him as one of the greatest of all time in WWE. Cena deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, likely in 2026 following this retirement tour, and he does deserve one last run in the ring... Though, I thought he was doing that more low-key without an announcement of any kind during his short run there for a few months during the Hollywood writer's strike. He seemed to go off quietly into the night then, but I'm fine with being wrong about that. What I really didn't like about tonight's announcement was that it felt like it fell pretty flat. I usually think of Money in the Bank as one of WWE's now "Big Five" premium live events, alongside Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, but tonight, just didn't feel special, which is another argument for another time. So, Cena announcing he was retiring didn't feel like a huge deal on this show, and that's a pretty sad fact for someone who gave a lot of his life to the business, who's still trying to go at 47 years old, for one final tour.

I'm not sure how I would book such a huge announcement for a huge star, one of the greats, but this... Just wasn't it for me. First of all, Cena wasn't advertised for this show. For a superstar like Cena, you think you would put his name on the marquee to sell tickets. Even with it being a huge announcement, you could tease it up for SummerSlam, or heck, even just a big "WWE Raw," by saying "John Cena stops by for a big announcement!" Then, just teasing it, I'm sure many people would assume it's a retirement announcement, and you'd get more eyes on a show, and sell even more tickets. Cena just randomly stopping by in Toronto to deliver this message just fell flat. The retirement tour also doesn't start until 2025, assumably with the Royal Rumble, so, why rush an announcement? Just because Cena could conveniently stop by because he's filming "Peacemaker" season two in Canada? Maybe even hold off until say, Survivor Series, which could always use a little hyping up these days, promote him, and then we're closer to this retirement tour happening?

I can't entirely place my finger on it, but something about this didn't seem right to me and was just off in general. While, again, I'm not the biggest Cena fan in the world anymore, I was at one point in many, many years as a wrestling fan, so a part of me wants this to be big for him. A little segment at a show that overall wasn't a banger of a premium live event just wasn't it. However, to conclude on a positive note, I'm hoping Cena's 2025 retirement tour is great, and I'll only be writing positive things about it moving forward. As in... six months from now.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Drew McIntyre started the night seemingly closer to his goal of re-capturing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship as he romped his way to win Money in the Bank. But once again, it was his blinkers-on, tunnel-vision narrow focus that proved to be his undoing. McIntyre cashed in Money in the Bank, rendering the world title match between Seth Rollins and Damian Priest a three-way, but he didn't account for th fact that there was someone at the back waiting for the chance to cost him dearly. CM Punk had clearly waited out the ladder match, allowing McIntyre to figuratively climb the penultimate rung to his ultimate goal, then striking at the eleventh hour to topple his nemesis back down once again.

The beauty of the CM Punk-Drew McIntyre story is that this was an obsession started by the "Scottish Psychopath" in the first place. He saw to it to cost Punk what was confirmed by Triple H during the WrestleMania XL documentary to be his WWE World title shot at the "Show of Shows," injuring Punk in the Royal Rumble match (in kayfabe) and then gloating all the way until he had actually lifted that title with Punk watching on. But Icarus flew too close to the sun, he brought himself within distance of Punk, the man that has so often been compared to cancer. McIntyre is now feeling the malignant growth he brought upon at every chance he gets to right what he sees as wrongs, a perpetual injustice cycle he beckoned in the first place. McIntyre took Seth Rollins' place to become the number one hater of the "Cult of Personality," and with it he inherited that curse — though Punk also managed to screw Rollins at the same time with Saturday night's outcome. In one fell swoop, Punk stuck it to the two that made it their mission to expel him from the company from the get-go, and it's surely clear by now that McIntyre will have to vanquish his demons before even thinking of lifting the world title again.

Written by Max Everett

I've only done this a few times since being privileged enough to be a part of these Loved/Hated columns (which, spoiler alert, are really all out of love no matter what the headline says) and I really try not to get after the same topic (and certainly not the same person) too often, so when I say I hated Zoey Stark in the women's Money in the Bank match, I REALLY DIDN'T AND I'M A HUGE LIAR, OKAY? With that out of the way, one more caveat: That match was absolutely fantastic, despite a bit of a clunky start which had me very worried about Ms. Stark and her well-being. I thought she straight-up knocked herself out early on and from there, she only took about 115 more crazy bumps for which she deserves all the respect in the world.

Having said all that, I'll harken back to what I said on Monday, which is that the momentum leading up to this match in the first place was not with Stark but with Dakota Kai, who (along with Ivy Nile) ceded the spot in the match to Stark in a qualifying match on "Raw." But even so, now that I've had some time to think about it, maybe, just maybe, this relatively soon after returning from a knee injury, it wasn't the right time for Kai to be involved in what turned out to be a BRUTAL ladder match for all of the women involved. Had she taken the abuse that Stark took, I would have felt bad for even wanting her to be in it in the first place. And WWE has earned the benefit of the doubt, from me, as far as booking comes for a long time to come based on recent results and success.

From here, all I can hope for are meaningful storylines for as many talents as possible, certainly Stark included. Buddying around with Shayna Baszler, winning here and there, losing far more than that, but otherwise not really doing anything really remarkable, ain't it. They both deserve better, and in this match, Stark's lucky to (hopefully) have come out largely unscathed.

Written by Jon Jordan

The women's Money in the Bank ladder match was perfect. Absolutely no notes.

Naomi, Zoey Stark, IYO SKY, Chelsea Green, Lyra Valkyra, and Tiffany Stratton all clashed Saturday night to revitalize what had been, until that point, a hit-or-miss premium live event. Toronto roared with excitement at the performance of all six women — you don't need a decibel counter for that — and the match was an electrifying experience from opening bell to Stratton's top-of-the-ladder celebration.

Green started out the match strong with a comedic moment. As everyone left the ring to retrieve their ladders, she began jumping towards the women's Money in the Bank briefcase — a result of her reported "fear of heights." This unique start to the match would have immediately caught the attention of anybody who was beginning to get PLE fatigue. Not only is it an interesting, R-Truth-adjacent claim that would elicit a chuckle or two just as a one-off, but Green's fear planted the seeds for what would be one of the most beautiful and breathtaking bumps to come out of the entire match. Green's stellar performance commands one's attention, even if it is silly, and sets up the other ladies for success as eyes are now glued to the match.

The match was a ladder spot-fest, and the ladies showed guts and nerve that the men's match sorely lacked. Valkyria earned her stripes with her devastating sell following a powerbomb onto a ladder, courtesy of Stark. Speaking of Stark — regardless of one's personal opinions about her character or her place in WWE, she became one of the bravest people to ever grace this historic match-up when she took a piledriver from the top of one ladder onto another. Of course, one would be remiss if they did not acknowledge Naomi — the queen of Royal Rumble saves, and now the new monarch of Money in the Bank spots — and her prolonged split-legged offense onto Stark. Green set the women up for success by demanding the attention of Scotiabank arena (and she also helped the drudgery of a two-table set-up pass by smoother with her superb acting and charisma), and her colleagues carried the momentum throughout the entire match.

There have been many such cases of a sour finish tarnishing a perfectly good match. This year's women's Money in the Bank ladder match, however, was not such a case. After Stark had been sufficiently sniped by a daring piledriver from SKY, Green jumped on the opportunity to climb the ladder and claim the briefcase, in her typical, wily, wait-until-everyone-is-down manner. As she ascended up the ladder, however, she stopped and clung onto the metal structure for dear life. Green, as was established at the beginning of the match, is afraid of heights. Her fear was Chekov's gun, and now, Stratton was taking it off the wall mount to go in for the kill.

Stratton capitalized on Green's fear and shook the ladder to startle her — a small touch, but characteristic of Stratton's bullyish persona — before tipping the ladder over. Green soared fifteen feet in the air and fell through the two tables she herself had set up, with Stratton's help. It was a serendipitous full-circle moment for both ladies, and it was made even better by Green's aesthetically pleasing arc through Toronto's negative space. It was a picture-perfect ladder bump — as if we had not been spoiled to many of those already over the course of this match-up — and Green sold it beautifully as her brunette locks flopped pathetically over her face.

Unlike this opinion piece, WWE should be applauded for its restraint. They could have easily prolonged the match — this was a shorter card anyway, so there was some time to kill — but they stopped the match when it did by having Stratton go for the briefcase. Not only was this the perfect time to end the match as to leave a good taste in the audience's mouth, but Stratton is exactly the person to claim the contract. Stratton is one of the most — if not the most — over people on Friday nights, and the argument can be made that she is among the top women's competitors across all shows, period. Her momentum is white-hot, her character is solid enough to be able to handle the briefcase, she has years of wrestling left in her — Stratton is the perfect person to carry the Money in the Bank briefcase and usher WWE into its coming eras. There was nobody in that ring that was, logistically and creatively, a better candidate for that briefcase than Stratton.

The women's Money in the Bank ladder match should have been the main event. From its successful short-term storytelling to its incredibly perceptive long-term investment into Stratton, WWE has provided good evidence that they are more than capable of booking their stacked roster of talented women. This match was perfect. No notes.

Written by Angeline Phu

When I saw the Pro Wrestling Insider report that the six-man tag team match involving The New Bloodline vs. Their Enemies was the main event of Money at the Bank, I have to admit I got a little excited, because there had to be a reason for it, right? As the only match on the show that wasn't either a championship match or a Money in the Bank ladder match, the six-man tag was perhaps the least fitting of the five to close the show. So if they were ending with that, it could only be because something major was going down — and as we got closer to showtime and some big names started getting spotted backstage, it seemed even more likely that Money in the Bank would end with some kind of major angle or surprise.

I think part of that feeling also involved a psychological rejection of the idea that the SummerSlam main event is slated to be Cody Rhodes defending the Undisputed WWE Championship against Solo Sikoa, which barely feels like a PLE match, let alone a PLE main event. It feels like a match that could main event "SmackDown," but not a PLE, and certainly not WWE's second-biggest PLE of the year. In the era of ridiculously slow Paul Levesque narrative pacing, singles titles almost never change hands at these lower-tier PLEs (ask anyone who put money on Bron Breakker to take the Intercontinental Championship from Sami Zayn) so a show like SummerSlam, which is a higher-tier PLE, really needs to feel like an event where titles can and will change hands. Does anyone think Solo Sikoa is going to win the Undisputed WWE Championship? Anyone? If the match doesn't feel like it could go either way, it doesn't feel like a SummerSlam main event.

With all that in mind, something had to be happening. Maybe Randy Orton would turn heel, setting up Orton vs. Rhodes. Maybe Roman Reigns would return, setting up Roman/Cody 3 or maybe a non-title Reigns vs. Sikoa match. Maybe CM Punk would put in a second appearance after screwing Drew McIntyre yet again, dishing out some righteous revenge for what The New Bloodline did to Paul Heyman. Anything would have been fine, really, as it long as it felt like a big deal and wasn't just "Solo pins Cody, setting up a future title match."

Yeah.

I just don't get the point of this. I'm assuming the plan is for Reigns to come back at SummerSlam and just murder everyone, calling back to his return at SummerSlam 2020 and escalating his storylines with both Rhodes and The New Bloodline, and that's fine, but you're not putting "Roman Reigns is returning tonight, just trust us" on the marquee. The marquee is still going to read "Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa," and that's just kind of a bummer. Almost as much of a bummer as this six-man tag team match (which was even more of "SmackDown" main event than Rhodes vs. Sikoa) main-eventing Money in the Bank over Damian Priest vs. Seth Rollins or Tiffany Stratton's MITB win.

Written by Miles Schneiderman