Whoever said, “A bad day in London is still better than a good day anywhere else,” doesn’t go by the name Roman Reigns.
The Bloodline Civil War tag team encounter pitting The Usos against Solo Sikoa and Roman Reigns headlined WWE Money in the Bank on Saturday from the O2 Arena in London, England.
The Square Mile deserved a historical moment for its first worldwide PLE in over 30 years, and they got one. Roman Reigns suffered his first pinfall loss since losing to Baron Corbin at TLC in 2019.
The Usos defeated Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa when Jey Uso pinned Reigns.
Reigns ended up a victim of a low blow kick out from Jey Uso, which was his hallmark tactic in The Bloodline’s formative days. Jey followed up with several super kicks and sealed the deal with a splash off the top rope.
Loud chants of “If you hate Roman, take off your shoe” blanket the O2 throughout the bout. There were a couple of clever false tag spots where it looked like Jimmy would tag Jey, only for Sikoa and Reigns to cut him off at the last moment.
Reigns stated that going into the match, he would stack and pin Jimmy and Jey simultaneously, a callback to WrestleMania 37 when Reigns successfully stacked Daniel Bryan and Edge in victory.
Reigns would not find success this time around as the Usos escaped, making for the loudest crowd pop ever garnered from a kick out.
Several excellent sequences occurred, such as a double spear from The Usos to Reigns and Reigns and Solo drilling Jey with a tandem spear and Samoan spike.
Frustration was Reigns’ tell of unease as he showed more of it in this match than he has since The Bloodline began. He even sat on the ring steps like a pouty child yelling “London is stupid” at Paul Heyman.
I often use the “A fine piece of BBQ” analogy when discussing wrestling matches with impeccable storytelling. Slow-cooked meat on the grill that tastes better with every bite. All four men had the crowd in the palm of their hand for nearly thirty minutes. The match started off slow in the best way possible with both teams getting a chance to shine.
Eventually, Reigns and Solo got a lot of heat on Jimmy, which made the eventual hot tag to Jey even sweeter. Once Jey got cut off after a fiery comeback, a master class of well timed big moments occurred that kept the audience completely engaged.
It all led to a defining moment where Jey Uso pinned the WWE Undisputed Universal Champion.
We eagerly wanted Cody Rhodes to finish the story and Sami Zayn to get his pound of flesh. However, it was Jey Uso who was always the most deserving of this moment, and it was poetic justice.
Other action saw Damien Priest win the Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Many feared social media megastar Logan Paul would leave London with the briefcase, while most wanted LA Knight to get his hand raised. It looked like Knight would grab the brass ring until Priest turned thunderous applause to a course of boos by cutting off Knight with a choke slam off the ladder, making the briefcase easy pickings.
Priest has turned many heads since his match with Rap star Bad Bunny at Backlash in May. Priest exhibited a lot of skill in carrying the inexperienced Bunny to a stellar pro wrestling match that many felt should have headlined the show. Reportedly, Priest has earned the favor of key decision-makers in the creative department.
Winning the briefcase instantly makes a wrestler one of the most important characters on WWE television. It’s an elevated role for Priest and will serve as a good barometer of his main event potential.
Iyo Sky won the Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Damage CTRL stable mate Bayley prevented Sky from winning the match early on. The finish saw Sky grab the handcuffs that were on Becky Lynch (thanks to Trish Stratus & Zoey Stark) and handcuffed her to Bayley, in between the ladder as they made the climb, allowing Sky to get the win.
London was firmly behind Lynch, but Sky got the crowd on her side as the match progressed with moves such as a beautiful moonsault off the top of the ladder. It will be interesting to see if Bayley plays a role in Sky successfully or unsuccessfully cashing the briefcase, as a breakup between the duo has been teased for several weeks.
Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez beat Ronda Rousey & Shanya Baszler for the second time to become the Women’s Tag Team Champions. The big story of this match was Baszler inexplicably turning on Rousey by hitting her with an elbow to the back of the head before choking her out. Morgan scored the pin, making it the second in a row she’s defeated Rousey at Money in the Bank.
While Baszler’s heel turn came out of nowhere, everyone seems to be here for it, which means Rousey might not get the sympathy a victim of a double cross usually receives.
Cody Rhodes beat Dominick Mysterio in a fun but short match that told a simple but effective story. Dom’s audacity with several heel tactics was met with Rhodes showing up the young upstart, and the fans loved every moment of it.
Gunther beat Matt Riddle to retain the International Title. Riddle went in with an injured ankle, and Gunther took advantage, making the “Original Bro” submit. It was a great example of how going into a match injured against Gunther is a fool’s errand. Drew McIntyre made a surprise return after much speculation about his future in WWE and confronted Gunther, teasing the next big IC Title showdown.
John Cena made an announced appearance, much to the delight of everyone in the crowd. Cena hyped the crowd before declaring London deserves WrestleMania and told the audience to let the decision-makers know what they want. Grayson Waller interrupted the proceedings, stated WrestleMania should be in his home country Australia and offered to give Cena the hometown rub if he’d appear on his self-titled show, The Grayson Waller Effect.
Waller blindsided Cena after he declined the invite. The 16x world champion eventually laid him out with an Attitude Adjustment. After years of begging and pleading, it appears London might finally have a WrestleMania in their future. Reportedly, Vince McMahon was never too high on the idea. However, Endeavor owns the company now, and they’ve found tremendous success with several UFC pay-per-view events in London. Corporate synergy might have something in the works, or perhaps they’re just testing the waters.
Seth Rollins defeated Finn Balor to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. What appeared was going to be an epic encounter had a different idea. Instead, it was more about giving Damian Priest his first cash-in tease by sitting at ringside watching his partner in The Judgement challenge for the title. Priest didn’t end up cashing in, but his presence distracted Balor long enough for Rollins to hit a Curb Stomp for the win.
From Royal Rumble to Money in the Bank, WWE’s PLE offerings have been sensational spectacles offering wrestling fans everything they can ask for and more. The Bloodline has been at the helm of it all, and Roman Reigns finally getting his just deserts from Jey Uso made this year’s Money in the Bank even sweeter.
Some might feel Reigns getting pinned in a tag team match is small potatoes instead of The Bloodline saga’s tipping point. How we look at The Usos, Solo Sikoa, Paul Heyman, and Roman Reigns has changed. Reigns’ self-proclaimed God mode was upended by a cheat code-named Jey Uso. Blood is in the water, and the aura of invincibility is gone. Future challengers will have an extra spring in their step against the champion, while his remaining associates won’t have the piety they once had for “The Tribal Cheif.”
RingsideLogic.com 