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The results of Saturday’s Money in the Bank matches speak volumes about WWE creative’s faith in our winners. The new Mr. and Mrs. Money in the Bank are likely to be world champion by WrestleMania 2026. Let’s take a close look at their prospects.
Rising Star of the Week: Naomi
Debuting in NXT way back in 2010, Naomi is one of the true veterans of the WWE women’s division, even accounting for her 1 ½ year sojourn to TNA. Only Natalya has a longer WWE tenure. Over the years Naomi has established herself as an athletic, reliable performer with a penchant for showy neon outfits, but has otherwise failed to stand out. Her mic- and ring work have been adequate but hardly inspiring. Aside from two brief title reigns in 2017, she has rarely been considered a top-tier talent in the women’s division.
Since her return from TNA in 2024, Naomi has given WWE reason to reconsider her value. She shed the tired “Feel the Glow” catchphrase. Her match quality has improved significantly, having gained valuable experience and dropped her weaker moves (e.g., flurry kicks & stinkface).
Most importantly, Naomi’s 2025 heel turn has been no less than inspired. Her jealousy of Bianca Belair’s relationship with Jade Cargil and insistence that she injured Cargil to save the friendship worked far better than it should have.
Naomi’s desperate attempts to convince Belair not to abandon her, and her subsequent descent into madness has made for compelling stuff. A new outfit featuring caution tape is a visceral reminder that this is not the same Naomi we’d come to take for granted.
Despite the success of her new character, repeated losses to Cargil seemed to indicate that Naomi was a low priority. Her Money in the Bank contract win reveals that couldn’t be more wrong.
Ownership of the briefcase ensures Naomi will continue to be relevant until she cashes it in, which hopefully won’t be until winter. She’s then likely to win her first world championship in 8 years, reestablishing herself as a main event act.
Until then, Tiffany Stratton and Iyo Sky will do well to heed the yellow tape, and proceed with caution.
First Runner-up: Seth “Freakin’” Rollins
As the leader of the hottest new faction in WWE, Rollins calls himself “the future of the WWE” and never has this seemed more true. For years he has called himself a visionary and revolutionary, but only in recent weeks have those labels actually fit.
Although the group is in desperate need of a name, and Rollins’s motives could use a better explanation, it cannot be denied that this team is over. No longer adrift, Rollins plays a convincing leader and a detestable villain. He speaks hypocrisy with purpose and confidence.
Winning the Money in the Bank briefcase solidifies his status as a world champion in the near future. Unlike Naomi, Rollins is already an established main eventer, and won’t necessarily benefit from holding onto the briefcase for an extended period.
Many expected him to cash in on the winner of Raw’s Gunther-Uso match, and I won’t be surprised if he does so at Night of Champions. As a former dominant champion, Gunther does not need another long reign, and a quick, successful cash in will solidify 2025 as the year of Seth Rollins.
Second Runner-up: Gunther
Following a dominant eight-month reign as WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Gunther’s aura of invincibility took a major hit with his clean tap out loss to Jey Uso via his own finish move at WrestleMania. Fans have refused to let him forget, mocking “you tapped out” at every opportunity.
Despite Jey’s recent surge in popularity, he had been framed as an upper mid-carder since the creation of the Bloodline in 2021. Losing to Jey – particularly by tap out – was a significant blow.
Gunther regained some of his heat with a convincing beatdown of Pat McAfee at Backlash. However, he had a great deal riding on his championship rematch with Uso. The framing of the match gave Uso every excuse for a loss: he had spread himself too thin in recent weeks, and was suffering from multiple beatings, including a rib injury before the match started.
The match itself revolved around the sleeper hold, with both wrestlers attempting the maneuver repeatedly – as if Roddy Piper were wrestling Ted Dibiase. The finish saw Gunther apply the sleeper one final time, causing Uso to pass out.
Fully avenged, Gunther is back on top, and his aura largely restored. Even should he lose his championship via Money in the Bank cash-in soon, his status as an unstoppable force of Lesnar proportions will hold.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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FADING STAR OF THE WEEK: Kairi Sane
Ever since her elevation to the main roster in 2019, Sayne has been a valuable utility player. Her partnership with Asuka as the Kabuki Warriors was particularly successful, with the duo still holding the record for the longest reign in the title’s history.
Sane played an important role in Damage CTRL, often serving as a gatekeeper for more prominent members Iyo Sky and Bayley. Sane compensated for her weak promos with great in-ring work and a truly stellar finisher in the Insane Elbow.
A hand injury in December sidelined Sane for several months, during which Damage CTRL dispersed. She hasn’t been the same since.
Sane’s return to active action on Raw on May 19 saw her reintroduced as a pirate character which she had been known for in her time in NXT. This gimmick is anemic, a throwback to early-’90s era WWF, infamous for such ridiculous characters as the Berzerker, Repo man, and Duke ‘the Dumpster’ Droese. Her entrance includes throwing gold coins to fans at ringside, which seems more desperate than exciting.
Her in-ring work, formerly Sane’s greatest strength, has also suffered. Her first match on Raw saw a career-ending injury to opponent Zoey Stark, and speculation that Sane’s misplacement may have contributed.
Sane has been the weak link in several matches on Raw, most notably Monday’s Fatal Four-way match with Rhea Ripley, Roxanne Perez, and Liv Morgan. Her wrestling was notably clumsy and her timing poor, particularly when she delayed leaping off the top rope onto Ripley after a modified tower of doom spot in a manner which left Rhea standing awkwardly for several seconds waiting for her.
This is not the type of performance we’ve come to expect from the “Pirate Princess.”
Is this simply ring-rust, or indicative of a more lasting problem? The bar has been raised again and again in Sane’s time in the WWE, and she’ll need to improve her game if she is to keep up.
Runner-up: Nikki Bella
In her tenure as an active talent from 2007 through 2019, Nikki Bella did it all in the WWE. Saddled with very limited wrestling ability, Nikki and her sister Brie were relegated to being arm-candy escorts to weekly celebrity Raw hosts from 2009-2010. In the years that followed, Nikki’s beauty and natural charisma allowed her to achieve a modest of success as a wrestler.
Nikki was the breakout star of the WWE reality show Total Divas, an unexpected hit which ran from 2013-2019 and was followed by a spinoff Total Bellas which aired from 2016 to 2021. Her real-life romance with John Cena further added to her star power.
Her in-ring prowess would slowly improve to match her other attributes, and she went on to be the longest-reigning Divas Champion from 2014-2015. She headlined the first WWE women’s PLE Evolution in 2018, facing off against Rhonda Rousey in the main event.
Since then she has since made sporadic appearances in WWE, most recently as a surprise 30th entrant in the 2025 Royal Rumble, where she received a positive reception from fans.
With a second Evolution returning seven years after the first, it seems fitting that Bella play a role.
She returned on Monday’s Raw in an unusual role: a humble, friendly babyface. Shaking hands with younger wrestlers and singing their praises in the ring (badly mispronouncing Stephanie Vaquer’s name in the process). This is not a role Nikki is familiar with, having played a heel throughout most of her career. It didn’t’ work. Even her hometown crowd, gave a tepid response and sided with established heel Liv Morgan, when the two clashed.
Nikki is a legitimate legend and has much to offer in her return. However, the role of a modest, selfless mentor does not suit her. I hope Nikki – and the WWE – are nimble enough to pivot.
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