Smark Out Moment

Welcome to another edition of Triple Threat from Smark Out Moment, where three of us get together to discuss three questions based on one big topic going down in the week of professional wrestling.

This week, Robert DeFelice, Gabby Velasquez and Ben Guest will be giving their opinions on the fallout following WWE's 2017 Money in the Bank extravaganza.

WWE provided a wild and controversial pay-per-view with Money in the Bank 2017. We have a new Mr. Money In the Bank in Baron Corbin, controversy reigning in the Women's Division, and are still residing in the era of the Maharaja!


DeFELICE: This is a really tough one for me. I see both sides. On the one hand, it was a really devious thing and a good move for Carmella. On the other hand, it totally crapped all over the supposed historic match. WWE wasted little time rectifying the situation by booking a rematch for next week's television show with James banned from ringside.

How they handle the situation next week is crucial to whether or not this is remembered as a big flop or not. I definitely think the girls will outwork their pay per view match next week, but it's all in the result and making sure the viewer doesn't feel like they have wasted their time. I hope they pull it together and I hope the girls deliver something extra special because in all sincerity I was underwhelmed with the ladder match at the pay per view, but I'll chalk that up to overexposure of the gimmick match itself.

VELASQUEZ: Yes. Absolutely yes. Here's the thing: the follow-up to the match has been just fine. Carmella and Becky Lynch, in particular, have done fantastic work in the wake of the controversy. But even if you factor that in, I just cannot see any way to excuse having the first Money in the Bank Women's match be "won" by a man. I don't care how much heat it got Carmella, nor did I need to have half of my Twitter timeline try to explain the concept of heat to me after I posted my displeasure. WWE built the match up as a historic moment for women. The video promo they aired right before it built it up as historic. And then what happens?

The women get half the time as the men and James Ellsworth literally drops the briefcase into Carmella's hands. She didn't even have any agency in her own victory.

I don't care how good of a story it is. That was supposed to be the women's moment, and they took it away. I've been dreaming of seeing that happen since I was a little girl, and that was the ending I got. There were other ways for Carmella to cheat and win using Ellsworth. Better ways.

A story is not more important than what that moment represented for women. It's just not.

GUEST: I, personally, loved how the match ended and thought it gave both Carmella and Ellsworth a lot of heat, as well as building their characters. However, I agree that the simple change of having Carmella tell Ellsworth to get the briefcase would give her even more heat, and make the ending that little bit better. As for it having to be about women, I agree that this ending could easily have happened in the future to allow for a strong, woman led match, but I don't think it took away too much that the rematch can't make up for. I really like Carmella having the briefcase and hope she wins it again in the rematch, maybe this time on her own, though.


VELASQUEZ: My biggest takeaway is that Baron Corbin robbed me of seeing Shinsuke Nakamura's entrance live. I was at the show, and boy, let me just say that everyone died a little when Nakamura's music cut off.

Okay, I'm kidding, I'll tell you right now what stole the ENTIRE show, and that is AJ and Shinsuke. I lost my voice screaming from my seats when they pushed that ladder aside. The history between those two and the long-term storytelling possibilities are endless. The moment was incredible, unforgettable. And it shows that WWE DOES know how very badly we want to see these two familiar foes collide.

GUEST: Baron Corbin was the best person to win, he needs that little something to push him into the main event, and a solid 3-5 month term as Mr Money in the Bank could do just that. As for the biggest takeaway, AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura. PLEASE!

DeFELICE: I'm absolutely satisfied. I picked Corbin to win the whole thing to begin with and I couldn't have been happier with the way things turned out. That being said, I think everybody's biggest takeaway was the staredown between Shinsuke and Styles and the realization of just how special that matchup will be when it takes place at a major event.

On the other end of that, you have the sad fact that the other half of lineup pretty much comes across as though they were a waste of time. That's the problem with these kinds of matchups there is truly only one winner unless somebody can stand out the way that AJ and Shinsuke did. That's one of the reasons I think it would be better to have this match at WrestleMania, The setting alone would allow for a much more memorable event rather than waiting all night for a less than memorable although exciting massive car crash type of match.


GUEST: I don't mind Jinder Mahal as champ, I've kind of enjoyed his reign and the production value that's gone into it has only made it better. If there is a rematch I assume Mahal will win, but if you're putting a gimmick on it, just make it a normal steel cage or something like that.

DeFELICE: I am likely in the minority in that I have actually enjoyed this match typed the previous two times it occurred. they were nothing to write home about but it's always exciting to see something fresh and a match like this hasn't been seen in a long time. Also, we have an easy story to play with seeing as Randy needs to keep the interference from the Singh Brothers away from what would presumably be the final encounter with Jinder Mahal. Also, I would like to see what two non super heavyweights can do in this kind of match and I think that both of these guys are motivated enough to pull off something special should this match actually take place.

That being said, I am ready to see what is beyond this rivalry with Randy for Jinder Mahal. He's worked hard and I like the momentum he's on and the difference that he brings to the main event scene and I'm only looking forward to bigger things from here, my guess would be John Cena but we will have to see.

VELASQUEZ: Did you know that Jinder Mahal is Indian? Yeah. What a heel.

I think Jinder has been booked incredibly as a heel champion, if you ignore how he was booked until he became champion. He has a wonderful antagonistic energy in the ring that almost makes up for how average is in-ring work feels to me. That being said, despite my annoyance with the whole "JINDER IS FOREIGN THEREFORE HE IS HEEL" thing, the Punjabi Prison gimmick is, independent of the whole "foreign heel" thing, a cool concept. And frankly, these two need a gimmick match to keep their feud remotely interesting.

I do have to wonder, though, where Jinder will be on the card six months from now. He's got momentum on his side. I hope he is not forgotten.