Baron Corbin won the Money in the Bank briefcase at the MITB pay-per-view on June 18, but he couldn’t cash it on Jinder Mahal at SmackDown Live on Tuesday, and he didn’t receive a title. Due to Corbin’s interference, John Cena beat Mahal via a DQ and Corbin was just about to cash in his briefcase while Mahal was laying down hurt. However, a Cena distraction allowed Mahal to sneak up on Corbin and defeat him just after the bell.
Chad Matthews of Lords of Pain doesn’t like how Wrestling Inc treats Corbin, and he wrote on Twitter: “I don’t know how I feel about that. Seems like a statement of how WWE feels about Corbin, who has underwhelmed this year for the most part.” Meanwhile, BR’s Kevin Berge and Aaron Oster of Rolling Stone wrote this respectively: “If Corbin wins on Sunday, he can start building major momentum and still win the WWE Championship soon. #SDLive,” and “Jinder had his feet under the ropes as it happened. Any chance they give the briefcase back due to ref error? #SDLive.”
At SummerSlam, we will watch Corbin vs. Cena, whereas Mahal will defend his title against Shinsuke Nakamura. At Money in the Bank, besides Corbin, we saw AJ Styles, Nakamura, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens as well. Corbin attacked Nakamura before the fight and then wiped him out together with AJ Styles later in the match, thus securing the contract. With the victory, Corbin booked a WWE Championship duel at the time and date he chose, which was why everybody thought that they were looking at a new champion.
Only two superstar’s in WWE history cashed in the Money in the Bank contract and failed to win the title in the following match. We should mention that the former NFL offensive linemen fell short to beat Dean Ambrose for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 33, but he quickly recovered and was one of the favorites to win Money in the Bank.
Even though Corbin still needs to improve his in-ring perspective and him handling the microphone, there is no doubt that WWE wants to see him move forward despite having these setbacks time after time. However, with the loss, Corbin joined a dubious group of superstars who couldn’t win despite having the advantage of being Mr. Money in the Bank. Will the loss strengthen Corbin and give him a much-needed experience? Or will it be detrimental to him, just like it was to Damien Sandow in the past? For now, we have our eyes set on Corbin and Cena, who will face off on Sunday.
