By Jason Powell, Prowrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Money in the Bank Kickoff Show
Aired live on June 17, 2018 on WWE Network and social media
Chicago, Illinois at Allstate Arena
-The hosted by Renee Young and she was joined by the panel of David Otunga, Booker T, and Peter Rosenberg. Charly Caruso checked in from backstage. Daniel Bryan will join her later to answer the very worst of the questions fans submit via social media. Kevin Owens entered the scene and was hollering at someone while carrying something in a trash bag. A man showed up and presented Owens with two bottles of syrup. Caruso asked if he had pancakes in the bag. Owens paused before delivering an unconvincing, “No”…
Powell’s POV: I’m going with a stripped down recap of the Kickoff Shows now that WWE has expanded the pay-per-views to four hours. I’ll still cover the matches and promos, but does anyone really give F one which video packages aired when or about which wrestlers Rosenberg picks to win? I have my predictions on the main page and you probably skipped those too, so any bitching about the new Kickoff Show format will be completely ignored. Go call your Dad. It’s his day and he probably misses you. I’ll keep you updated on anything relevant that occurs during this mostly worthless hour of fluff and you just need to be sure to ditch the old man before the real show begins at the top of the hour.
-Daniel Bryan joined the show from backstage and spoke about tapping out bigger men than Big Cass. He was asked if he enjoyed being the Smackdown GM. He said the hard part was being around something he loves and not being able to do it. Young joked about him missing Talking Smack. He laughed and said he misses it and it was good stuff. Bryan was asked what advantages he has over Cass. “Legs, lungs, heart,” Bryan said before adding more comments about how he would beat Cass.
-Seth Rollins was interviewed by Caruso backstage. He still had the custom guitar that he smashed on Raw. Rollins said Elias will be stiff competition. He said he’s a hell of an entertainer and he has a mean streak, but he’s not on his level. Rollins said Elias’s greatest hits wouldn’t even make the cut on his B Side. Rollins said the Intercontinental Title is his, he fights for it every night, and tonight would be no exception.
-Samoa Joe joined the panel at their desk. The fans were yelling about something else and it was hard to hear him. Oh, it was apparently Kevin Owens, who came out and made a pitch to Joe about working together. He said no one else had the common sense to listen to him. Joe said he will never trust Owens, who said he didn’t have to trust him to use common sense. He said they could take care of Strowman. It ended with Joe telling Owens to make his move, and Owens giving up and walking away.
1. “Bludgeon Brothers” Luke Harper and Erick Rowan vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson for the Smackdown Tag Titles. The broadcast team for the match was Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, and Byron Saxton. Harper and Rowan dominated Gallows and Anderson by working them over at ringside. They rolled Anderson back into the ring and they cut to a commercial break. [C]
Anderson was isolated for a stretch. Harper and Rowan came back and were setting up for the Magic Killer on Harper, but Rowan returned to the ring and speared Anderson to break it up. Harper and Rowan hit their double powerbomb on Gallows, who was pinned by Harper…
The Bludgeon Brothers defeated Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in 7:00 to retain the Smackdown Tag Titles.
Powell’s POV: Fine for what it was. The Bludgeon Brothers have been established as being so dominant that the outcome was never in doubt with the match being on the Kickoff Show.
The hosts previewed the show and a lengthy video package aired on Nia Jax vs. Ronda Rousey. The hosts spoke about the match. Booker said CM Punk “got the breaks beat off of him” in his UFC fight and the same thing could happen here to Rousey. Wow. He said WWE is a totally different animal. The show ended shortly thereafter.
Join me for live coverage of WWE MITB in a separate story on the main page.
Loved that shot from Booker T to CM Punk. “Stick with what you know….we are in Chicago after all”.