Coinciding with the regular “superstars missing” event preview post, the opposite end of the spectrum is to take a look at the men and/or women who will have a great showing for themselves. This can be due to a variety of factors including in-ring performance, positioning on the card, or something as simple as being victorious or not.
Every match has its winners and losers, and even the least important segments of the show will have one person who looks more important than the rest of those involved, but if we’re going to narrow it down to the top three, these are who I think will have the most going for them by the time the night is over and we’re thinking back on the events that transpired.
Seth Rollins
I expect Roman Reigns to win this match and retain the title, but by no means do I expect him to be “the guy” when it comes to who the fans are looking toward. Seth Rollins might not be the babyface in terms of storytelling, but he’s absolutely the babyface in the minds of a good portion of the crowd. The biggest factor working for this match isn’t “how will Reigns defeat his opponent” but “will Rollins regain the championship he never lost?”
That in itself speaks volumes loud enough that if you were hard of hearing and the very pro-Rollins chants weren’t reaching your ears, you’d still be unable to ignore who the spotlight is revolving around. Rollins will come up short and still end up garnering the most attention and the most buzz following the show.
AJ Styles
Similar to the situation with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, WWE will paint the portrait that John Cena is the babyface in his match against AJ Styles, but the crowd is going to lean heavily in a different direction. While a lot of people have used up all of their hatred booing for Reigns instead of Cena, the franchise player is nowhere near immune to the criticism he’s garnered over the past decade. He’ll have his fans who will support him, but Styles is newer, fresher, and appeals to a different type of fan. He’s the “cooler” choice between the two and he’ll have the crowd’s support.
On top of this, I’m expecting Styles to actually win the match, too. Unlike the Rollins situation, nothing is on the line that will prevent a babyface like Cena from losing. Styles came up short against Chris Jericho at WrestleMania and then failed to defeat Reigns more than once, so he needs a victory to help course-correct his career a bit. He’s not struggling so much that a loss to Cena would turn him into a jobber, but a win over him would certainly make him look like a more credible threat after failing to get the job done the past few events.
The sad thing is that this will probably be undone with several subsequent losses to Cena to balance it out, as no feud ever ends up with someone else having the edge over “the champ” even if he’s in a position where his opponent needs the rub significantly more.
Whether it’s a clean win or something tainted with interference from The Club, Styles going over Cena here is the right decision as well as the one I think is going to happen, if not just to keep the momentum on his side and to put Cena up against a corner for him to fight back—something his character loves to do.
The Money in the Bank Winner
It goes without being said that one of the top three stars of the night is going to be the man who wins the Money in the Bank briefcase, and unless something weird is afoot, I would have to think the two most likely men to be chosen for that honor are Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose.
Mind you, that isn’t set in stone in any way, and someone like Cesaro could be a surprise victor, throwing this all out the window. However, in every scenario I can think of, Owens and Ambrose stand above the rest.
With Ambrose, WWE has already planted the seeds for a clash of the three members of The Shield. This could be what is being built up for SummerSlam, as Rollins and Reigns could have some sort of rematch at Battleground where Ambrose cashes in, setting up the triple threat.
When it comes to Owens, though, that’s just a standard situation where the briefcase tends to suit upper midcard heels more than anybody else. In the history of the Money in the Bank ladder match, nearly everybody who has won it has been in the same position Owens is in, where they’re on the cusp of the main event and they eventually cash it in on a babyface to win what is normally their first title, although some like Randy Orton had been champion several times before. Looking back, there isn’t much separating the role Owens is playing right now from someone like Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, Mr. Kennedy, CM Punk or even Edge back in the first match.
Whoever ends up retrieving that briefcase is going to be the top prospect for watercooler talk in the IWC. An onslaught of articles, podcasts and comments will pop up overnight about when he should cash in, whether or not he was the right choice, and so forth. Nobody is going to care about Rusev defeating Titus O’Neil or Baron Corbin defeating Dolph Ziggler. Even the Tag Team Championship will be close to an afterthought in comparison, which is saying a lot, as that match has some of the most entertaining men on the roster today.
As much as Rollins and Styles will have their share of the spotlight, the biggest focal point of the night is undoubtedly going to be the new Mr. Money in the Bank.
Who do you think will end up stealing the show and being the top stars of the night? Are there others not listed here who you expect will make as much of an impact, if not more? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
