Finishing up with this year’s fantasy booking for extra Money in the Bank briefcases, let’s go even stranger and focus on the question “What if this gimmick was happening in AEW instead of WWE?”
Obviously, this entails using only wrestlers who are on the All Elite Wrestling roster, rather than WWE. It also assumes the match would be booked in a typical WWE style, rather than having major adjustments to become an AEW thing in its own right. Maybe AEW will do something similar to this down the line and we’ll look back in retrospect with fresh eyes on this “what if” fantasy booking.
With this setup, there are two matches to take into account: one for the women’s division and one for the men’s singles division.
Let’s dive right into this with my breakdown of how I personally think this would go down, and I invite you to do the same in the comments below!
Women’s Division – List of Competitors
Note: For this and the men’s division, I’m working with less knowledge than WWE about who is available during this pandemic and who can’t travel or refuses to work. Perhaps some of the choices I make would be unavailable at this time for those reasons. However, this is a fantasy booking thing that will never happen as it is, so let’s just ignore that for now.
- Bea Priestley — I see no reason why she should be overlooked.
- Big Swole — Part 1 of the power game. She wouldn’t stand much of a chance to win, but she’d more than do her fair share of work here.
- Britt Baker — Arguably the one to watch.
- Hikaru Shida or Riho — I’m not sure which of these two I’d rather have in the match. Ideally, Shida would be out of it and just become a contender in her own right. That would allow Riho to be able to bounce around as the tiniest girl in the mix. However, if you’re going for as many potential winners as possible, I’d nix Riho and put Shida in there, instead.
- Kris Statlander — Part 2 of the power game and one of the most viable contenders.
- Penelope Ford — Very underrated in what she has to offer with her agility.
Shout out to The Bunny and Sadie Gibbs, who could have been solid people in this, too. Gibbs hasn’t been pushed too much, though. Most of the others wouldn’t deserve a spot at all. Nobody would believe Emi Sakura or Shanna would win this over any of the names above, nor would anyone be livid that Mel was passed over.
With that being the field of competitors in the match, which one of them would more than likely walk out with the briefcase?
Winner and Plans
I’m going Britt Baker all the way. Money in the Bank is much better as a heel tool than a babyface launching pad. I get that Nyla Rose is a heel and the next to hold the belt should be a face, but who’s to say Baker couldn’t just cash-in on the person to beat Rose?
For example, Shida beats Rose and Baker beats Shida down the line. That’s the best case scenario, to me.
Men’s Division – List of Competitors
With so many people to choose from, this was extremely hard to pick just six people. I made a bunch of different versions of this list before settling on this one, and I think there’s a case to be made for all sorts of variations that are just as legitimate.
- Darby Allin — He’s AEW’s Jeff Hardy. There’s no way he’s not in this match, as he will do the spots to make it interesting and will be someone to root for.
- Luchasaurus — The big man to toss people around. I gave a lot of thought to Jungle Boy instead, but we have Allin and needed a tall person. I also thought Jake Hager, Lance Archer or Brodie Lee could fit that spot, but I wouldn’t have them win, so I took them out so they wouldn’t have to lose.
- MJF — Obvious.
- PAC — Someone from the upper-midcard who could believably win, do some flips and brawl all at the same time.
- Sammy Guevara — This guy’s great, would represent The Inner Circle and would be a believable winner.
- Scorpio Sky — The babyface you’re rooting for to have a breakout moment and become a future world champion.
So why not some other people who could easily have been in this match? Well, I had 20+ ideas, but had to narrow it down to 6 to fit with WWE’s current lineup.
Cody can’t challenge for the title, so he’s out. Chris Jericho and Matt Hardy have beaten themselves up enough and deserve a break.
I figured I’d take Adam Page and Kenny Omega out because they’re tag team champions. The Young Bucks and The Lucha Bros are tag team acts, too, and wouldn’t fit in this singles division match.
Colt Cabana, Jimmy Havoc, Joey Janela, Kip Sabian and Shawn Spears were also options, but they felt less important overall than the picks I went with.
Winner and Plans
Look. We all know this is MJF. The guy has a gimmick based on money. His character would lord this over everyone. He’s a chicken shit heel who could back out of multiple attempts and try to capitalize on a downed Jon Moxley like a coward.
It just makes sense. Going with anyone else would feel strange, as great as they are.
Those are my thoughts on the issue, but how would you imagine AEW would do this if it were to happen? Tell us your fantasy booking scenario in the comments section below!
