Money in the Bank 2021

Money in the Bank 2021 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. It took place on July 18, 2021 at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. It was the 12th event in the Money in the Bank chronology.
==Production==
===Background===
Money in the Bank (MITB) is an annual gimmick pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event produced by WWE since 2010 and generally held between May and July. The concept of the show comes from WWE's established Money in the Bank ladder match, in which multiple wrestlers use ladders to retrieve a briefcase hanging above the ring. The briefcase contains a contract that guarantees the winner a match for a world championship of their choosing at any time within the next year. The 2021 event featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands, with male wrestlers competing for a contract to grant them a match for either Raw's WWE Championship or SmackDown's Universal Championship, while female wrestlers will compete for a Raw Women's Championship or SmackDown Women's Championship match contract. While the previous year's event had featured a "Corporate Ladder" gimmick, which took place at WWE's Titan Towers headquarters and had only six competitors in each match due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 event reverted to the standard version of the titular ladder match as well as returning to having eight competitors for both matches, evenly divided between the two brands. It was the 12th event in the Money in the Bank chronology and the first to be held in July since the 2013 event. It was also the first Money in the Bank to air on Peacock after the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock in March.
The 2021 event was initially scheduled for May 16, however, it switched dates with WrestleMania Backlash and was to take place on June 20 until Hell in a Cell was announced for that date with Money in the Bank pushed back to July 18, which had originally been reported as the date for Extreme Rules. It was also reported that Money in the Bank would be held with live ticketed fans in attendance. Since August 2020, WWE had presented Raw and SmackDown's shows from a bio-secure bubble called the WWE ThunderDome due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With cases declining and vaccines available to most American citizens, the company announced that they would be leaving the ThunderDome and returning to live touring, starting with a 25-city tour beginning with the July 16, 2021, episode of SmackDown in Houston, Texas. Money in the Bank was in turn announced to take place at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas on July 18, thus it was the first WWE pay-per-view held outside of Florida since Elimination Chamber on March 8, 2020, and the first pay-per-view held following the end of the ThunderDome Era.
===Storylines===
The show included matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.
Qualifying matches for the men's Money in the Bank ladder match began on the June 21 episode of Raw. Ricochet, John Morrison, and Riddle qualified by defeating AJ Styles, Randy Orton, and Drew McIntyre, respectively. Raw's final spot was determined in a triple threat match the following week, which had originally been scheduled to be between Styles, Orton, and McIntyre; however, Orton was unable to compete for unknown reasons. A battle royal was held to fill Orton's spot in the triple threat match. Orton's RKBro tag team partner Riddle convinced WWE officials Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville to allow him to compete in the battle royal where if he won, he would represent Orton in the triple threat match. Riddle won the battle royal, however, McIntyre won the triple threat match to earn Raw's final spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match. SmackDown's first spot was filled by Big E, who qualified by defeating Intercontinental Champion Apollo Crews on the June 25 episode of SmackDown. The following week, Kevin Owens qualified by defeating Sami Zayn in a Last Man Standing match, which was also a rematch between the two from Hell in a Cell that Zayn had won. SmackDown's last two spots will be filled on the July 9 episode. In another rematch from Hell in a Cell, which Seth Rollins had won, Rollins will face Cesaro, and Shinsuke Nakamura will face Baron Corbin—after being known as King Corbin since winning the King of the Ring tournament in September 2019, Corbin reverted to his original ring name after he lost his crown to Nakamura, who gained the nickname of Kingsuke Nakamura or King Nakamura, on a previous episode of SmackDown.
Qualifying matches for the women's Money in the Bank ladder match also began on the June 21 episode of Raw. Two tag team matches were scheduled to determine the four participants from Raw. Asuka and Naomi qualified by defeating the team of Eva Marie and Doudrop (formerly Piper Niven in NXT UK) and later, Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross, the latter dawning a new super hero gimmick, qualified by defeating the team of Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. On the June 25 episode of SmackDown, WWE official Sonya Deville named two-time Money in the Bank winner Carmella as the first of SmackDown's four participants. Liv Morgan, who had been feuding with Carmella and defeated her the previous week, took issue as Carmella did not compete in a qualifier match to earn her spot. Deville then had Morgan face Carmella to prove she deserved to be in the match and Morgan subsequently defeated Carmella, but Deville did not add her to the ladder match. The following week, Deville named Zelina Vega, who made her return to WWE after her release in November 2020, as the second SmackDown entrant in the match. Morgan again confronted Deville about Vega not having to qualify. She also pointed out the fact that she proved herself by defeating Carmella and was not added, but would prove herself again in a match against Vega; Morgan subsequently defeated Vega but was still not added to the match.
On the June 21 episode of Raw, as WWE Champion Bobby Lashley and his manager MVP were celebrating Lashley's win over Drew McIntyre at Hell in a Cell the previous night, they were interrupted by The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods). Kingston reminded Lashley that he had defeated him in a non-title match on the May 17 episode of Raw and that he had also never received a rematch for the title after he lost the championship at SmackDown's 20th Anniversary in October 2019. Kingston then challenged Lashley for the title. Lashley accepted and the match was scheduled for Money in the Bank.
At Hell in a Cell, Charlotte Flair defeated Raw Women's Champion Rhea Ripley by disqualification after Ripley attacked Flair with the top cover of the announce table; however, since titles do not change hands via disqualification unless stipulated, Flair did not win the title. The following night on Raw, Flair claimed she was "proud" of Ripley and told Ripley that she had never seen her as a "strategic champion". WWE official Sonya Deville then scheduled a rematch between the two for the title at Money in the Bank.
At WrestleMania 37 in April, Roman Reigns defeated Edge and Daniel Bryan to retain the Universal Championship. On the June 25 episode of SmackDown, Reigns and his special counsel Paul Heyman had a Universal Championship address. Heyman stated that Reigns had defeated all of SmackDown's top contenders and that there was no one left to challenge Reigns. Edge then made a surprise return after a two-month hiatus and attacked Reigns and also took out Jimmy Uso, who had come to Reigns' aid. On Talking Smack the next day, it was revealed that Edge had confronted WWE officials Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville and demanded a one-on-one match against Reigns for the title at Money in the Bank, which he was originally supposed to have at WrestleMania before Bryan worked his way into the match. Pearce then granted him the match.
===Canceled match===
At Hell in a Cell, Bianca Belair defeated Bayley in a Hell in a Cell match to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship. On the following episode of SmackDown, Belair and Bayley were involved in a mixed tag team match in which Bayley pinned Belair. The following week, Bayley claimed that Belair's Hell in a Cell victory was a fluke, citing her own victory over Belair in the mixed tag team match. Belair then came out and challenged Bayley to an "I Quit" match with the title on the line at Money in the Bank and Bayley accepted.
==Match Preview==
Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match 	Preview
Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match 	Preview
Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair 	Preview
Roman Reigns vs. Edge 	Preview
Bobby Lashley vs. Kofi Kingston 	Preview
Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio (c) vs. The Usos	Preview
AJ Styles & Omos vs. The Viking Raiders 	Preview
==Results==
;
;
*Kickoff Show: The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso) defeated Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio (c) to win the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (11:25)
*Nikki A.S.H. defeated Zelina Vega, Asuka, Naomi, Alexa Bliss, Liv Morgan, Natalya and Tamina in the Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match (15:45)
*AJ Styles & Omos (c) defeated The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) to retain the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship (12:55)
*Bobby Lashley (c) defeated Kofi Kingston by technical submission to retain the WWE Championship (7:35)
*Charlotte Flair defeated Rhea Ripley (c) by submission to win the WWE Raw Women's Championship (16:50)
*Big E defeated Kevin Owens, Drew McIntyre, Riddle, Ricochet, John Morrison, King Nakamura and Seth Rollins in the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match (17:40)
*Roman Reigns (c) defeated Edge to retain the WWE Universal Championship
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
*Michael Cole 
*Pat McAfee 
*Jimmy Smith 
*Corey Graves 
*Byron Saxton 
*Carlos Cabrera 
*Marcelo Rodriguez 
;Pre-show Panel
*Kayla Braxton
*Peter Rosenberg
*John Bradshaw Layfield
*Jerry Lawler
*Sonya Deville
;Interviewers
*Kevin Patrick	
;Ring announcer
*Greg Hamilton 
*Mike Rome 
;Referees
*Rod Zapata
*Jason Ayers
*Shawn Bennett
*Jessika Carr
*Darrick Moore
*Eddie Orengo
*Chad Patton
==See also==
*List of WWE pay-per-view events
*World Wrestling Entertainment/Event history
*Money in the Bank
*Event gallery
==DVD release==
* Money in the Bank 2021 on DVD
==External links==
* Money in the Bank 2021 Official Website
* Money in the Bank 2021 Kickoff Show on WWE Network
* Money in the Bank 2021 on WWE Network
* Money in the Bank 2021 Kickoff Show at CAGEMATCH.net
* Money in the Bank 2021 at CAGEMATCH.net
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:2021 pay-per-view events
Category:Money in the Bank (PPV)
Category:Events with Ladder matches
Category:Events with I Quit matches