What an incredible show! What we saw last night could go down in the history books. Every match hit its mark and did it well. I have no complaints with any of the matches and that is a rarity. We have two new briefcase holders, but we didn’t get to witness any cash-ins. We didn’t need one though. I’m interested to see how those stories play out, but also, the new stories formed throughout the show. The only complaint that I would have is the show ran a little late. It was an 8pm East Coast start time and ended around 11:30. I understand why it ran late, but I only say that for future reference. I’m not going to spend any more time in the intro, here are the results and my reaction to it all.

- Men’s Tag Team Match: SmackDown Tag Team Championship

The Usos over Rey and Dominik Mysterio (C)

I still don’t understand why this match was in the kickoff show, but it was really good considering. This match had a legit storyline, I seriously don’t understand it. These two teams mesh with each other very well and I’d really like to see another match between them, but this was a great start. Hopefully they’ll get a SummerSlam main show match.

GRADE: 8.4/10

- Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Nikki A.S.H. over Alexa Bliss, Natalya, Tamina, Naomi, Asuka, Liv Morgan, Zelina Vega

This was a wonderful surprise. I really love the confidence that Nikki has in her new character and it shows that she is really enjoying it. I think this match was great for what it was. I think there were times where we were all looking for Becky Lynch to come running out of nowhere, but that was never really realistic in this scenario. Most of these women got their shots in and it was a solid match. Liv Morgan was the clear MVP of the match and I think she earned a title match in the near future regardless of what happens in the next few weeks. It will be interesting to see what happens with these ladies coming up, but what will happen with Nikki A.S.H.? I think it’ll be a surprise regardless of what happens.

GRADE: 8.5/10

- Men’s Tag Team Match: RAW Tag Team Championship

AJ Styles and Omos (C) over The Viking Raiders

This was probably the worst match on the card, but it wasn’t bad by any stretch. In fact, it was really solid. Every time Omos steps in the ring, he provides wow factor. He is such a big guy and has such and intimidating presence in the ring. As long as he has AJ Styles in his corner and keeps doing the right things, he could have a long future in the WWE. The Viking Raiders aren’t so small themselves and he made them look like kids. Styles and Omos have a great dynamic and they have solid chemistry. It will be interesting to see how long they can keep this up.

GRADE: 8.3/10

- Men’s Singles Match: WWE Championship

Bobby Lashley (C) over Kofi Kingston

This was utter domination. I didn’t expect to see this display of domination from Bobby Lashley. I expected Kofi to get at least a couple things in, but he barely had a chance to breathe. It was nearly 8 minutes of a brutal beatdown. This is just what Lashley needed though. He added a whole new element to his story last night. I don’t know what is next between these two, but it looks like Lashley will have a big match at SummerSlam.

GRADE: 8.8/10

- Women’s Singles Match: RAW Women’s Championship

Charlotte Flair over Rhea Ripley (C)

The show up to this point was really good, but here is where things went from good to great. It almost felt like they were stalling in the beginning for something bigger to happen, but it never did and by that, I mean a surprise appearance. Fans were chanting “We Want Becky” throughout the match and it was something I expected, but it was unwarranted I thought. These two performers are great at what they do, and they put on an excellent match. This was the best matchup between these two and we have a new champion now. I have had my complaints about the way that they have handled Rhea Ripley’s title run, but I have never had my doubts about her abilities in the ring. She is great. Now that she doesn’t have the title, she can “earn” her next reign and it will be much, much sweeter because of it. I don’t think we’re done with this feud and I think there will be an added element at SummerSlam. We’ll see.

GRADE: 9.5/10

- Men’s Money in the Bank Match

Big E over Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Ricochet, Riddle, John Morrison, Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura *MATCH OF THE NIGHT*

I know what you’re probably thinking. Why is the main event not my match of the night? In my personal opinion, Big E winning the MITB briefcase was a bigger moment than anything that happened in the main event. That could be debated from here until kingdom come, but I will stand on this. This match was incredible. It was everything that it needed to be and then some. Every performer looked great at one point or another in the match and it was a great showing from all involved. It appears that we’re going to get that big Drew McIntyre/Jinder Mahal matchup in the near future and even though the feud has already begun, there’s a lot left to tell. I don’t where these other guys are going to end up, but Big E looks to be destined for big things and it is great to see.

GRADE: 9.9/10

- Men’s Singles Match: Universal Championship

Roman Reigns (C) over Edge

Prior to this match, I mentioned that I wouldn’t really be surprised if the result went one way or the other and that was the case, but these guys put on a show. It was a 33-minute epic knockdown, drag out fight. We have been accustomed to Edge putting on these performances lately and I feel like he won’t have a match under 30 minutes for the rest of his career, just joking, but it feels that way. He is at the top of his game and a match between he and Rollins should be great as well. Rollins interfered in the match a couple time throughout and caused Edge to lose the match. This may be subconsciously the reason why I didn’t choose it to be match of the night, but I totally understand why they did things the way that they did. It is a little frustrating that Roman Reigns seemingly can’t win matches on his own. Hopefully that changes though. I really liked what they did here in this match and they definitely could revisit this at another time, but I just don’t think they could top it. Oh, I forgot to mention, John Cena is freaking back!! That crowd pop was amazing and we’ll hear more from him tonight on RAW, but I am ready for this Roman Reigns/John Cena main event match.

GRADE: 9.8/10

Yacs

I am going to start something new. I haven’t been releasing the Power Rankings the week of PPV events, but I do fill out a Top 10 each week. At the end of PPV Results and Reaction articles, I will post my Power Rankings at the end of the article, so for future reference, keep an eye out for that.

WWE Power Rankings: Week of July 18th 2021

10: Dakota Kai

9: Bianca Belair

8: AJ Styles and Omos

7: Karrion Kross

6: The Usos

5: Bobby Lashley

4: Charlotte Flair

3: Nikki A.S.H.

2: Roman Reigns

1: Big E

Money in the Bank (2021) Results and Reaction