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 began simulcasting on WWE's livestreaming platforms in 2014. As of August 2021, it is considered one of the promotion's five biggest PLEs of the year, along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Five".^[2][3] The concept of the event comes from WWE's established Money in the Bank ladder match.^[4]

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.^[5] 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.^[6] 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,^[7] 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,^[8] with Sunday Night's Main Event taking place on September 6, at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.^[9] This will be the first Money in the Bank to take place in October, also making it the latest calendar date for the event.^[8] 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.^[10] As part of Money in the Bank weekend, WWE will have a merchandise store at the Smoothie King Center open from Thursday, October 8 through the end of the PLE itself on Saturday.^[11] A Milli by Lil Wayne was the Official theme for the event {13}

The Money in the Bank ladder match features multiple wrestlers using ladders to retrieve a briefcase hanging above the ring. The briefcase contains a contract that guarantees the winner a match for a championship at any time within the next year. The 2026 event will feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions; male wrestlers will compete for a contract to grant them a match for a championship of their choosing, while female wrestlers will compete for a WWE Women's Championship or Women's World Championship match contract.^[4]

Broadcast outlets

In addition to airing on traditional PPV worldwide, it is 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.^[12] 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.^[13][14]

Storylines

The event included matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television programs, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.^[15][16]

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.^[17] 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.^[18] 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.^[19] 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.^[20] The fifth spot was determined on that week's SmackDown where CM Punk defeated Gunther and Finn Bálor.^[21] The final spot was determined on the following week's SmackDown, where Kevin Owens defeated Cody Rhodes and Johnny Gargano.^[22]

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.^[17] 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.^[18] 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.^[19] 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.^[20] The fifth spot was determined on that week's SmackDown where Lash Legend defeated Charlotte Flair and Giulia.^[21] The final spot was determined on the following week's SmackDown where Tiffany Stratton defeated Candice LeRae and Tatum Paxley.^[22]

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.^[23] Later that night, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide General Manager Rey Mysterio proposed something to Reigns,^[24] 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.^[25] Penta won the tournament,^[26] 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.^[27] On October 9, it was announced that the match would be the opener of the show.^[28]

After Oba Femi defeated Brock Lesnar at Night 1 of SummerSlam,^[29] Femi started being referred to as the future of WWE, which upset The Vision's Bron Breakker. After some confrontations, a match between both men was scheduled for Sunday Night's Main Event,^[30] where Femi defeated Breakker by disqualification after interference from a returning Bronson Reed, who viciously attacked Femi.^[31] On the following Raw, The Vision (Breakker, Reed, Austin Theory, and Logan Paul) attacked Femi, sidelining him for a few weeks.^[17] On the September 21 episode, Femi returned and fended off The Vision.^[20] The following week, Femi revealed a contract for a match between him and Reed at Money in the Bank, with his signature already on the contract. Femi called out Reed, who accepted the challenge and signed the contract.^[32]

At Night 1 of WrestleMania 42, Liv Morgan defeated Stephanie Vaquer to win the Women's World Championship.^[33] Afterwards on the April 27 episode of Raw, Morgan's stablemates in the The Judgment Day (Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez) attacked Vaquer, sidelining her for months.^[34] After interfering in Perez's match on the August 3 episode of Raw, Morgan was confronted by a returning Becky Lynch, who wanted a shot at the title, turning face in the process. Vaquer returned afterwards and attacked Morgan in the ring before having a staredown with Lynch, also signaling her intentions for the title.^[23] Vaquer was granted a rematch for the title on the September 7 episode where despite Lynch trying to help Vaquer, Morgan retained the title against Vaquer after inference from Rodriguez and Perez.^[17] However, five days later at Night 4 of WWE's South America Live Tour, Vaquer defeated Morgan to win the title in a match that featured Lynch as the special guest referee.^[35] On the October 5 episode of Raw, Lynch and Morgan were scheduled for a match to determine the #1 contender for the title at Money in the Bank, however, after Vaquer appeared to fend off Perez and Rodriguez, both Morgan and Lynch accidentally hit Vaquer, which prompted Vaquer to attack both women, with the match ending in a no-contest. Vaquer called out Raw General Manager Adam Pearce and demanded to defend the title against Lynch and Morgan in a triple threat match at Money in the Bank, which Pearce agreed.^[36]

Preliminary matches

The PLE began with Roman Reigns defending the World Heavyweight Championship against LA Knight. During the match, Knight performed an Elbow Drop on Reigns for a nearfall. Reigns performed a Superman Punch on Knight for a nearfall. After Knight avoided a Spear attempt, he attempted a Superplex on Reigns, who countered. Knight eventually performed the Superplex and performed a Burning Hammer for a nearfall. After attempting a BFT, Knight performed a reverse DDT and went to the middle rope. Reigns made it to his feet and performed a Uranage slam for a nearfall. Outside the ring, Knight shoved Reigns into the ring steps. Back inside, Reigns performed a Superman Punch. A BFT and a Spear by Knight and a Spear by Reigns all resulted in nearfalls. Back outside, Knight sidestepped Reigns, sending him into the timekeeper's area. Knight performed a Powerbomb on Reigns through the announce table. In the end, Knight performed a top-rope Elbow Drop on Reigns and attempted another BFT. Reigns countered it, and performed two Superman Punches and a Spear on Knight to retain the title. After the match, The 946 (Royce Keys, Bronco Nima, and Lucien Price) showed up, followed by Solo Sikoa, Jey Uso, and Jimmy Uso. The teams brawled until Jaida Parker showed up in an SUV and took The 946 away.^[37]

The next match was the women's Money in the Bank ladder match, featuring Sol Ruca, Lola Vice, and Roxanne Perez from Raw and Tiffany Stratton, Jacy Jayne, and Lash Legend from SmackDown.^[37]

Main event