Money in the Bank (2026)

Background

Money in the Bank is an annual premium live event (PLE) produced by WWE since 2010, generally held between May and July. It was originally broadcast exclusively via pay-per-view (PPV) before it also became available via livestreaming in 2014. Along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, it is considered one of the promotion's five biggest events of the year, referred to as the "Big Five".^[1][2] The concept of the show comes from WWE's established Money in the Bank ladder match, in which multiple wrestlers use ladders to retrieve a briefcase hanging above the ring. The briefcase contains a contract that guarantees the respective men's and women's winners a match for a championship of their choosing at any time within the next year.^[3]

New Orleans, Louisiana was originally set to host WrestleMania 42 in April 2026, but on May 22, 2025, it was revealed that the city would no longer be hosting the event. This came as part of a larger agreement with New Orleans, in which the city would host a future WrestleMania as well as the 2026 Money in the Bank.^[4] The following day, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque confirmed the date for the 17th Money in the Bank as Saturday, August 29, 2026.^[5] However, the event's date would be pushed back twice, as on October 22, 2025, WWE announced a new date of Sunday, September 6, 2026, with the venue confirmed as the Smoothie King Center,^[6] but on June 8, 2026, WWE revealed that Money in the Bank would instead take place one month later on Saturday, October 10 at the same venue,^[7] with Sunday Night's Main Event taking place on September 6, at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.^[8] This will be the first Money in the Bank to take place in October, also making it the latest calendar date for the event, and it will feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions.^[7] Fightful Select reported that the change to October was due to a scheduling conflict with broadcast partners, while Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online said it was more so due to conflicts with WWE's touring dates in September as production trucks could not get to New Orleans in time.^[9]

Broadcast outlets

In addition to airing on traditional pay-per-view worldwide, it will be available to livestream on ESPN's direct-to-consumer streaming service in the United States, Netflix in most international markets, and SuperSport in Sub-Saharan Africa.^[10] This marks the first Money in the Bank to livestream on ESPN in the United States, as WWE's contract with Peacock to air main roster PLEs expired at the conclusion of Clash in Paris in August 2025.^[11][12]

Storylines

The event will include matches that result from scripted storylines. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television programs, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.^[13][14]

Qualifying matches for the men's Money in the Bank ladder match consisted of six triple threat matches held across episodes of Raw and SmackDown, with three spots for each brand. The first spot was determined on the September 7 episode of Raw where World Tag Team Champion Bron Breakker defeated Ethan Page and Rey Mysterio.^[15] Qualifiers continued on the following episode where Je'Von Evans earned the second spot by defeating World Tag Team Champion Austin Theory and Big Cass.^[16] The third spot was determined on that week's SmackDown, where WWE United States Champion Trick Williams defeated Randy Orton and AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fénix.^[17] The fourth spot was determined on the September 21 episode of Raw; originally, Solo Sikoa was set to participate in the match, however, the 946 (Royce Keys, Bronco Nima, and Lucien Price) attacked and abducted Sikoa. Raw General Manager Adam Pearce announced Penta as Sikoa's replacement, who went on to defeat Dominik Mysterio and Dragon Lee to qualify.^[18] The fifth spot was determined on that week's SmackDown where CM Punk defeated Gunther and Finn Bálor.^[19] The final spot was determined on the following week's SmackDown, where Kevin Owens defeated Cody Rhodes and Johnny Gargano.^[20]

Qualifying matches for the women's Money in the Bank ladder match consisted of six triple threat matches held across episodes of Raw and SmackDown, with three spots for each brand. The first spot was determined on the September 7 episode of Raw where Sol Ruca defeated Lyra Valkyria and Maxxine Dupri.^[15] Qualifiers continued on the following episode where Lola Vice earned the second spot by defeating NXT Women's Champion Kelani Jordan and WWE Women's Intercontinental Champion Raquel Rodriguez.^[16] The third spot was determined on that week's SmackDown, where WWE Women's United States Champion Jacy Jayne defeated Alexa Bliss and Jade Cargill.^[17] The fourth spot was determined on the September 21 episode of Raw where Roxanne Perez defeated Iyo Sky and AAA Reina de Reinas Champion La Catalina.^[18] The fifth spot was determined on that week's SmackDown where Lash Legend defeated Charlotte Flair and Giulia.^[19] The final spot was determined on the following week's SmackDown where Tiffany Stratton defeated Candice LeRae and Tatum Paxley.^[20]

On the August 3 episode of Raw, as Roman Reigns celebrated his successful World Heavyweight Championship defense at SummerSlam, he was interrupted by LA Knight who wanted a title opportunity. Reigns denied Knight's challenge and stated that he is sick of giving opportunities to non-deserving people.^[21] Later that night, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide General Manager Rey Mysterio proposed something to Reigns,^[22] which was later announced as a tournament where the winner would face Reigns for the title on the September 14 episode of Raw in Mexico City.^[23] Penta won the tournament,^[24] however at the show, Reigns retained the title. Following the match and after Raw went off air, Knight came to the ring and attacked Reigns with a BFT. Reigns subsequently accepted to face Knight for the title at Money in the Bank and the match was made official.^[25]