5 Possible surprise participants in Money in the Bank matches
When it comes to RAW's participants for Money in the Bank, the field is set. Drew McIntyre claimed the last spot by defeating AJ Styles and Riddle in a "last chance match" on the latest episode of RAW.
Randy Orton was supposed to compete in the main event but was absent from RAW. Riddle fought to help his tag team partner earn a spot in the upcoming Money in the Bank ladder match, but was unsuccessful.
SmackDown technically only has one person - Big E - who has qualified for Money in the Bank. This week's show will see Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn battle for a spot in a Last Man Standing fight. That will still leave two spots for performers from the blue brand.
Presumably, the likes of Baron Corbin, Shinsuke Nakamura, Seth Rollins and Cesaro will compete in qualifiers in the coming weeks. When it comes to female combatants, however, SmackDown is severely lacking in women to fill spots.
There are currently six active women on the blue brand - Bianca Belair, Bayley, Carmella, Liv Morgan, Nattie, and Tamina. The latter two women are WWE Women's Tag Team Champs and shouldn't be in the match.
Belair won't compete in Money in the Bank due to being the SmackDown Women's Champion. Bayley may or may not be a part of the match since she pinned Belair last week.
Some would mention Sasha Banks, but she has been absent from WWE since losing her title at WrestleMania. Could she be a surprise entrant in this year's Money in the Bank match?
WWE is in a tough spot for the women's contest due to the disparity between the rosters of RAW and SmackDown. RAW still has Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax and Doudrop who failed to qualify for the match. Mia Yim could be a possibility but she has been away from WWE since RETRIBUTION disbanded.
Had any of those women been put on SmackDown TV, the problem wouldn't be as big of a deal. But due to several cuts to the rosters over the last few months, SmackDown desperately needs some returns and NXT stars to shore up the numbers.
Edge won't be a surprise participant either due to attacking Roman Reigns on SmackDown last week. So which surprise names could earn spots in the Money in the Bank matches? Here are five possibilities.
#5 A WWE Superstar could 'replace' an injured Money in the Bank participant
When the qualifying matches were announced for a recent RAW, several unhappy performers confronted Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville. They wanted to know why they didn't get a chance to qualify for the match.
During that conversation, Jinder Mahal brought up what would happen if someone with a spot was injured. RAW Superstars competed in a battle royal to determine the third participant in the last chance triple threat bout on the latest RAW.
Riddle won, but Damien Priest, Cedric Alexander, Mahal, and Jeff Hardy all had chances to make the match.
With all of RAW's spots filled, the final few weeks before Money in the Bank could see someone taken out due to an attack. It happened when Sami Zayn was injured in 2019.
Brock Lesnar took Zayn's spot in 2019 and shocked everyone by showing up at the last minute to win the match. Apollo Crews was also replaced at last year's PPV.
It won't be a surprise if the field that has been determined isn't the same field that competes in the match. Someone like Mahal or Lesnar could take the spot if someone is injured.