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Money in the Bank 2022 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 2, 2022, at MGM Grand Garden Arena in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada. It was the 13th event in the Money in the Bank chronology.

Production

Background

Money in the Bank is an annual gimmick pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event produced by WWE since 2010, 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 2022 event will feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands; male wrestlers will compete 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. The 2022 event was announced during the 2021 SummerSlam, which was held at the Allegiant Stadium in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada. Money in the Bank was announced to be held at the same venue on July 2, 2022, marking the first time that a Money in the Bank event will be held in a National Football League stadium. While Money in the Bank had been established as one of WWE's monthly PPVs held between their "Big Four" shows (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series), in October 2021, WWE President and Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan referred to Money in the Bank as one of the company's "five annual tentpoles", thus elevating its status as one of WWE's biggest events of the year.

Storylines

The event included matches that resulted 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.

On the June 3 episode of SmackDown, Natalya won a six-pack challenge to become number one contender for Ronda Rousey's SmackDown Women's Championship, while on the June 6 episode of Raw, Rhea Ripley won a fatal four-way match to determine the next contender for Bianca Belair's Raw Women's Championship. Both title matches were subsequently set for Money in the Bank.

Qualifying matches for the men's Money in the Bank ladder match began on the June 10 episode of SmackDown. A qualifier between Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus ended in a double disqualification, after both men attacked each other with steel chairs, thus neither qualified. The following week, WWE official Adam Pearce announced that both McIntyre and Sheamus would be in the match. Seth "Freakin" Rollins became the first to qualify from Raw after he defeated AJ Styles on the June 13 episode of Raw. The following week, Omos and Sami Zayn became the fourth and fifth qualified entrant after defeating Riddle and Shinsuke Nakamura, respectively. The following week on Raw, Riddle won a Last Chance Battle Royal by last eliminating The Miz to be the sixth qualified entrant.

Qualifying matches for the women's Money in the Bank ladder match also began on the June 10 episode of SmackDown. Lacey Evans became the first qualified entrant by defeating Xia Li. The following week on Raw and SmackDown, Alexa Bliss and Liv Morgan defeated Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H. in a tag team qualifier to win two spots in the match, and Raquel Rodriguez defeated Shayna Baszler to earn the fourth spot in the match. The following week on Raw and SmackDown, Asuka and Shotzi became the fifth and sixth qualified entrant after defeating Becky Lynch and Tamina, respectively. The following week on Raw, Lynch won a Last Chance Elimination match by defeating Doudrop, Nikki A.S.H, Shayna Baszler, Tamina, and Xia Li to become the last qualified entrant.

Event

Preliminary matches

The pay-per-view opened with the women's Money in the Bank ladder match, featuring Alexa Bliss, Asuka, Becky Lynch, and Liv Morgan from Raw and Lacey Evans, Raquel Rodriguez, and Shotzi from SmackDown. During the match, Lynch climbed down and repositioned a ladder, which gave Shotzi enough time to recover and pull her down. Outside the ring, Lynch climbed a ladder and performed a leg drop on Asuka through another ladder. Back in the ring, Lynch kicked Morgan's ladder toward the ropes, but Morgan pushed off the ropes with her foot to balance her ladder. Morgan knocked Lynch out and unhooked the briefcase to win the match.

Next, Theory defended the United States Championship against Bobby Lashley. Lashley performed a spinebuster on Theory and attempted a Spear, but Theory rolled away. Later, Theory went for the ATL, but Lashley escaped and forced Theory to submit to the Hurt Lock to win his third United States Championship.

After that, Bianca Belair defended the Raw Women's Championship against Carmella. Carmella avoided Belair charging at her, causing Belair to hit the ring post. Carmella landed a superkick on Belair for a nearfall. In the end, Belair performed the Kiss of Death on Carmella to retain the title.

In the fourth match, The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) defended the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship against The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford). As The Usos attempted the 1D on Ford, the latter countered into a hurricanrana and sent The Usos to ringside. Ford performed a Frog Splash on Jey, but Jimmy broke up the pinfall. The Usos hit a double superkick on Ford, and executed the 1D to retain the title. Following the match, a replayed footage of the pinfall showed that Ford's shoulder was off the mat, meaning the pinfall should not have been counted.

In the penultimate match, Ronda Rousey defended the SmackDown Women's Championship against Natalya. Rousey attempted an armbar, but Natalya countered into a sharpshooter attempt, which Rousey countered into an ankle lock. In the end, Rousey forced Natalya to submit to retain the title. Following the match, Liv Morgan then ran to the ring and cashed in her Money in the Bank contract. Rousey applied the ankle lock on Morgan, who kicked Rousey's bad knee and rolled her up to win the SmackDown Women's Championship. This was Morgan's first championship victory in her career.

Main event

The main event was the men's Money in the Bank ladder match, featuring Omos, Riddle, and Seth "Freakin" Rollins from Raw and Drew McIntyre, Madcap Moss, Sami Zayn, and Sheamus from SmackDown. Just as the match was about to start, WWE official Adam Pearce came out and announced that Theory (from Raw) would be a last minute addition to the match, thus giving the match eight participants (four from each brand).

Theory dove off the top rope at Omos, who caught Theory and chokeslammed him. Riddle and Sheamus beat Omos with ladders at ringside and knocked him down. Riddle performed a Hangman's DDT (or Vintage Orton as Michael Cole calls it) on Sheamus, whose legs were on a ladder instead of the ropes. Outside the ring, all men ganged up on Omos and threw him through the announce table. As McIntyre ascended the ladder, Butch ran out and attacked McIntyre. Sheamus placed the ladder over McIntyre and climbed the other side, but McIntyre pressed the ladder and knocked Sheamus down. As Rollins ascended the ladder, Riddle performed an RKO on Rollins off the ladder. In the closing moments, Theory shoved Riddle down and unhooked the briefcase to win the match.

Match Preview

Women's Money in the Bank ladder match Preview
Theory vs. Bobby Lashley Preview
Bianca Belair vs. Carmella Preview
The Usos vs. The Street Profits Preview
Ronda Rousey vs. Natalya Preview
Men's Money in the Bank ladder match Preview

Results

Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
(c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.

Other on-screen talent

Commentators
Pre-show Panel
Interviewers
Ring announcer
Referees

See also

DVD release

External links

Money in the Bank 2022 previews
Women's Ladder MatchMen's Ladder MatchBianca Belair v CarmellaRonda Rousey v NatalyaThe Usos v The Street ProfitsTheory v Bobby Lashley
Money in the Bank
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