By Jason Powell, Prowrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Money in the Bank Kickoff Show
Aired live May 19, 2019 on WWE Network and social media
Hartford, Connecticut at the XL Center
-Jonathan Coachman hosted the Kickoff Show and was joined by the panel of Charly Caruso, David Otunga, and Sam Roberts.
-Becky Lynch was interviewed backstage by Sarah Schreiber. Lynch said the right road isn’t the easy road when you are blazing a trail. She said there are two rosters of women who want what she has.
-Lacey Evans was shown seated in her dressing room. She said Becky Two Belts is more like Becky Bigmouth in her mind. She said Lynch talks so much trash. She said the longer trash sits the more it rots and then you bag it up and take it to the curb, which is exactly where Lynch will end up tonight. She said the more Lynch runs her mouth, the sweeter it will be when she takes the title from her. She said then it will be Charlotte Flair’s turn to complete the sweep and then fans will realize The Man was no match for a queen and a lady.
-After a video recapped the Kofi Kingston and Kevin Owens feud, Schreiber interviewed Owens backstage. Owens boasted that he’s destroyed New Day over the last few weeks. He said it’s not a matter of if but rather how he will become WWE Champion. Owens said Kingston is a positive role model and a very nice guy. He said the only thing he has against him is that he has something he wants. Owens said that if Kingston keeps Xavier Woods backstage where he belongs then he guarantees it will be a new day because it will become the first day of the era of Owens as WWE Champion.
-Nikki Cross delivered a selfie style promo. Cross was normal and spoke about how Alexa Bliss has been lovely to her. She said she wants to be just like Bliss and win Money in the Bank.
-Beth Phoenix and Sonya Deville joined Coachman and Caruso at the Kickoff Show desk. Coachman asked if Deville would be truly happy if Mandy Rose won the Money in the Bank contract. She said she definitely would be. Zelina Vega interrupted and asked why they were talking to someone who gave up a spot in the MITB ladder match. Deville and Vega bickered.
1. Smackdown Tag Champions Daniel Bryan and Rowan vs. Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso in a non-title match. The broadcast team was Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, and Byron Saxton, and the ring announcer was Greg Hamilton. The Usos came out with mics and mocked Bryan and Rowan for being SpongeBob characters.
The tag champs were in offensive control when they cut to a split screen ad for MITB. Rowan worked over Jey and then knocked Jimmy off the apron. Jimmy eventually took a hot tag and worked over Rowan briefly. Jimmy leapt off the top rope and was caught by Rowan, who picked up a near fall going into another split screen add for the pay-per-view.
Rowan set Jimmy on the ropes in his corner. Jey recovered and tagged himself in. Rowan slammed the heads of the Usos together and then performed a double superplex on both men. Rowan sold back pain and tagged out. Bryan applied the LeBell Lock finisher on Jey, but Jimmy broke it up. Rowan returned and ended up at ringside.
Jimmy and Jey both performed suicide dives and superkicks on Rowan, and finally knocked him down with a double superkick and a double suicide dive. Bryan ate a double superkick. The Usos went to opposite corners and performed stereo top rope splashes and scored the pin. Phillips said they opened Pandora’s box because the Usos are now in line for a Smackdown Tag Title shot even though they are Raw wrestlers…
The Usos defeated Daniel Bryan and Rowan in a non-title match in 11:15.
Powell’s POV: An entertaining match, particularly once the Usos final flurry kicked in. Is there a rule in WWE that all of the tag and secondary title holders must lose non-title matches? It’s fine that they want to set up a tag title match between these teams, but the champions lose so frequently in WWE that it feels formula rather than significant. And do we really need multiple ads during the Kickoff Show match? I’m quite confident that everyone watching the Money in the Bank Kickoff Show on WWE Network or even on social media outlets is fully aware of the MITB pay-per-view. If nothing else, at least they switched to split screen ads rather than just leaving the match entirely for these ads.
-The panel ran through the pay-per-view lineup and then a video package focused on the WWE Universal Championship match. The panel discussed the match and delivered final hype. Coachman noted that the women’s MITB match would kickoff the show. Naomi made her entrance.
Join me for live coverage of the WWE Money in the Bank main show in a separate post on the main page.
Check below for the latest Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast with Jason Powell and guest Conrad Thompson discussing Starrcast II, Undertaker pulling out of the event, hosting AEW rallies and his friendship with Tony Khan, thoughts on how WWE podcasts could work, and more.
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