WWE wrapped up Money in the Bank 2026 from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Saturday with Penta capturing a guaranteed world championship shot. Elsewhere across the card, Roman Reigns successfully defended his World Heavyweight Title against LA Knight, Tiffany Stratton earned the women’s Money in the Bank briefcase, Oba Femi kept rolling against Bronson Reed, and Liv Morgan regained her Women’s World Championship.
As we march toward WWE’s next premium live event in November, here’s five takeaways from the “Big Easy.”
LA Knight made a point in the lead-up to Saturday night to note the last time they squared off for heavyweight gold, Roman Reigns needed The Bloodline to ensure he kept the belt around his waist. But the duo opened the show at Money in the Bank with a certified banger, with Knight pushing the limits to take gold and Reigns showing he’s a different kind of champion in 2026.
While it felt like a near certainty that Reigns would march into Crown Jewel next month with the belt around his waist (assuming there are no setbacks given the current situation in Saudi Arabia), WWE’s ability to coax fans into suspending disbelief was remarkable. Knight hit a slew of BFTs, a spear, put Reigns through the table but just could not close the door. Ultimately, Reigns hit two Superman Punches on Knight, followed by a spear to hold onto the World Heavyweight belt.
After his successful defense, Reigns was met by the 946, who appeared threateningly from the stands. The Bloodline arrived as backup and the six men brawled out of the arena.
This iteration of The Bloodline doesn’t have the same emotions or depth of story, but one could argue it’s developed a more well-rounded version of Reigns. He’s been fantastic in the ring this year, in what could be his best run of matches yet.
My gripe remains solely with WWE’s decision to pigeon-hole itself into single-lane visions of stories it wants to build. The options are there to continue threading the 946 alongside The Bloodline, Knight and Reigns in a complicated path that doesn’t have a natural conclusion, while potentially building multiple legitimate world title contenders. Instead, we’re fed the same beginning and end we’re accustomed to, and it’s become formulaic.
Knight has spoken at length about feeling like a world title reign is overdue. The logic years ago of Reigns holding onto the title before dropping it to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40 added to the significance of that moment — Rhodes’ triumph may not have been the same if Reigns had stumbled at any point in the build-up to him finally losing. But in 2026, when the collective men’s world titles have swapped hands six times, the time has never been better for Knight to become world champion. The crowd continues to be there for it. We never fully expect it to happen. And if it ever does, we’ll be kindly reminded of what makes wrestling so special. It’s simply disappointing at this point that it doesn’t appear Knight will ever claim his moment.
After pushing Reigns to his limit last month, Penta has been rewarded with the Money in the Bank briefcase.
Saturday’s men’s main event had a little bit of everything, with Kevin Owens and CM Punk wrestling like veterans who’d participated in their fair share of ladder matches. Bron Breakker came away looking like an absolute monster, spearing everyone in sight and eventually sending Je’Von Evans crashing through the roof of an ambulance that he’d used to return to the match after being speared and taken away earlier in the night. Trick Williams never quite found his footing in the match, while the biggest reaction of the night was reserved for Penta pulling down the briefcase after a Mexican Destroyer on Breakker on top of a ladder.
Penta’s win opens a variety of paths forward. The most logical would be a jump to “SmackDown,” where he’d fight the likes of Sami Zayn, Owens, Punk, Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton for the WWE title. That feels more realistic in Penta actually capturing a world title than taking the belt from Reigns. Penta’s stock has potentially never been higher.
For Punk and Owens, they look set on continuing their blood feud, while it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Evans and Breakker spin up a feud from here based on how Saturday night ended. Probably the biggest bright spot of the night would be Evans stepping into a program with Breakker, with the latter clearly seen as world championship material. It would be a huge opportunity for Evans to firmly break out on the roster should that come to fruition.
WWE has had no shortage of emerging talent at the top of both weekly shows, and the organization had an opportunity Saturday for another challenger to emerge on the cusp of stardom. Instead, WWE used the moment to reignite Tiffany Stratton into the world title picture by claiming her second Money in the Bank briefcase.
The action was brutal, between Stratton’s Swanton Dive onto the back of her head outside the ring, Lola Vice and Jacy Jane doing a falling-backward spot off a ladder onto another ladder before toppling out of the ring, and Sol Ruca splashing Lash Legend through a ladder on the outside. The end was frenetic, with each challenger climbing the ladder and teasing stealing the briefcase before Stratton knocked Legend down to win the match.
You could’ve made the case for any of the six women to walk out of New Orleans with the briefcase. Roxanne Perez was perhaps the most interesting challenger, as WWE loves nothing more than teasing internal dissension between the Judgement Day. Legend looked like a star upon her debut, but has felt pushed into the background over the past year. Sol Ruca seemed destined for a world title reign after her permanent move to the main roster, and Lola Vice or Jacy Jayne would’ve been perfectly acceptable, fresh challengers. There’s something safe about Stratton claiming the briefcase yet again.
With so many options for something “new” Saturday night, it was discouraging to see the trend across the first half of Saturday’s Money in the Bank card to be sticking what’s worked in the past instead of trying something different.
Oba Femi seemed to have met his match with Bronson Reed (and to a broader extent, The Vision), a month ago at Sunday Night’s Main Event. But after Reed laid out “The Ruler” with a series of Tsunamis over the past month, Femi was indestructible in their one-on-one showdown in New Orleans.
Reed had no shortage of offense, hitting Femi with everything in sight, including brass knuckles and multiple Tsunamis. But it wasn’t enough to keep the future champ down, who hit a Fall from Grace for the pinfall.
Femi is clearly WWE’s big star — he’s not next, he’s already arrived. It seems written in the stars that next year at WrestleMania, the organization will crown him with his first world championship. Until then, he’ll bide his time running through the rest of the roster.
But Reed has all the tools to be a world champ and face of the promotion, and a win over a guy the caliber of Femi would do worlds to establish him even more than he has been. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that WWE prescribes to lifting everyone collectively.
We’re almost one year to the day since Reed pinned Reigns in Perth, Australia, and it’s baffling that the way his match played out against Femi didn’t end with his hand being raised. What’s clear is WWE is determined to make Femi the next Brock Lesnar, regardless of who stands in his way.
Liv Morgan is once again the WWE Women’s World Champion.
After an unusual off-television title change that put the Women’s World Title on Stephanie Vaquer, Liv Morgan has her belt back.
Saturday’s triple-threat match was a fantastic use of three women fighting at the very pinnacle of WWE. Vaquer was the focal point of the match, simultaneously battling with Morgan and Becky Lynch for most of the action. No contender ever really seemed to have a strong hold on closing the match out, as each sought a window of opportunity. The finish saw Morgan hit ObLIVion on Vaquer quickly after Lynch got catapulted onto a table outside the ring, giving her the three seconds she needed to claim the title.
It’ll be interesting to see how WWE builds from here. Vaquer has seemed to find more success in the chase than holding the championship. Lynch’s insertion into the world title picture feels like it has more legs in fighting Vaquer for the No. 1 contender spot and continuing her trend in 2026 of elevating talent, than necessarily competing for the world title. It’s just as fathomable to imagine Morgan holding the belt over Lynch and Vaquer in the coming months as it is for Tiffany Statton to cash in her briefcase on Monday night. There feels like plenty of options on the path forward here.
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