Welcome to another eWrestlingNews Question of the Day!

It was announced last night that qualifying matches to determine who competes in this year’s Money in the Bank ladder matches will start taking place soon, but WWE hasn’t specified any other information. At the moment, we don’t know how many WWE Superstars are going to be in each match, let alone how many come from each roster, who will be in the qualifiers, or who will win them to earn a spot.

It’s a lot of question marks, but that just leaves a lot of room for open-ended speculation on our part as fans.

My question for you today is “Who do you want to see end up in this year’s ladder matches?”

Remember to answer with your response in the comments below.

As far as my answer…

For the past few years, it seems WWE has been rather set on these matches having 6 or 7 competitors, rather than the 10 or so that have happened at various times over the years. They’re not beholden to anything specific, so the numbers can change, but I’m working with that assumption in mind—which is a shame, as I think these matches can be more fun and less brutal on the competitors when there are more bodies to throw around.

We know we can count out current champions, as well as some people that just wouldn’t make any sense. Gunther’s not going to be in this for both his style and because he already has a title shot lined up for two days later on Raw. I can also assume Logan Paul isn’t going to be in it after just wrestling at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

For my own personal tastes, I don’t think any champions should ever be involved in these matches unless absolutely necessary. That means I’m not counting Lyra Valkyria, Zelina Vega, Dominik Mysterio, or Jacob Fatu to be included, even though Fatu would be a lot of fun in particular and Mysterio was at one point my favorite to win before he captured the Intercontinental Championship.

When you also rule out enhancement talent or people lower on the totem pole, like how it’s unlikely Tyler Bate and Carlito get in here, and there’s no way Los Garza take up a spot or two, that narrows the field down considerably, but I still think there are far too many people to do a quick glance and have some easy predictions.

I’ve narrowed it down to 24 men and 16 women that I need to whittle down to just 6 and 6. Even that is a daunting task.

It’s easier overall to go with the women’s first, and I think the most likely candidates are going to be Giulia and/or Roxanne Perez, Rhea Ripley, and either Becky Lynch or Bayley on the Raw side, depending on when Bayley returns and how they handle that story with Becky and Lyra. I’d rather see Giulia, Perez, and Ripley in the match, personally. Someone like Zoey Stark just doesn’t strike me as a winner and unless they’d plan on utilizing her super well for a push after, I wouldn’t waste my time putting her in there.

Alexa Bliss, Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Chelsea Green, Jade Cargill, Michin, and Naomi are all in the running for SmackDown’s three. Belair could still be injured, Flair probably would sit this out, and Michin might be a throwaway addition as no one would think that she would win, despite how talented she is. Thus, I’m going with Bliss, Green, and then either Naomi or Jade, depending on if they have a plan for either of them. If Cargill and Naomi are still feuding by then, I’d consider putting Jade in and having Naomi interfere, cost her the match, and set up a gimmick fight between them to end the feud.

Ultimately, I’d go with Chelsea Green as my preferred victor for the briefcase this year.

On the men’s side, as much as I’d like to say Karrion Kross could get it and do something fun with it, he’s realistically not going to be given that spot. I think some talent like CM Punk, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, and other huge names are going to be considered “too big” to compete in this match, so I’m writing them off, too, and since Ludwig Kaiser was given an interview where Jackie Redmond said “You haven’t wrestled much. Anyway, there’s something more interesting happening behind you” essentially, that’s not a great sign for him to get a giant push and win this, either.

There’s a chance Seth Rollins wins this and uses it to beat Jey Uso. The same goes for Bron Breakker. But I’m actually kind of hoping Sami Zayn is the one to do capture the briefcase and that HE will turn heel and cash in on Uso instead to win the title down the line. With that in mind, I’m throwing Zayn in there, and I’m adding Penta and either Rusev or Chad Gable for the red brand’s three.

SmackDown’s three revolves a lot to me around the United States title picture. Damian Priest, Drew McIntyre, LA Knight, Jeff Cobb, Solo Sikoa—all of them are possibilities. I think Andrade or Shinsuke Nakamura are best as qualifying match candidates that lose. Aleister Black is a major option to be involved, as is Rey Fenix. Maybe Jimmy Uso could get a spot, and I wouldn’t be opposed to Carmelo Hayes competing for it by any means, but I don’t think either will be in there, especially as I can see Hayes losing to Black in a qualifier. Let’s go with Fenix, Knight, and Black to round this out.

The roster is so flooded with talent that almost any group of six men and women will result in fun matches, but for my money right now, I’d go with Aleister Black, Chad Gable, LA Knight, Penta, Rey Fenix and Sami Zayn for the men, and Alexa Bliss, Chelsea Green, Giulia, Jade Cargill, Rhea Ripley, and Roxanne Perez for the women.

What do you think? Drop your thoughts below!