Roman Reigns vs LA Knight: WWE Must Take the Title Off Roman at Money in the Bank 2026

The Money in the Bank fields are locked, the card is set, and WWE heads to the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Saturday, October 10, with one question that matters more than any briefcase.

Roman Reigns vs. LA Knight for the World Heavyweight Championship is the match WWE has to get right. Roman is never around, everything around him has gone stale, and after one of the worst weeks of Raw and SmackDown in a long time, the company needs a champion people actually want to watch.

Here is where both ladder matches stand, what went wrong this week, and why the title needs to change hands in New Orleans.

The Full Money in the Bank Card

Five matches are on the board heading into the final week, according to the confirmed card after SmackDown:

That women’s title match is the one to watch on Monday. Becky and Liv are colliding with a title shot on the line, and a messy no-contest finish that turns New Orleans into a triple threat would surprise nobody. It might even be the best version of that match.

Roman Reigns vs LA Knight: Take the Belt Off Roman

Start with the obvious take: Roman Reigns is the biggest star in the company, and a part-time champion still moves the needle on the big shows. That is the argument WWE has leaned on for years.

Here is the problem. He is never around. When he is, everything he does with this group is boring. The champion of the flagship show should be the reason to tune in on a Monday, not a name on a poster for the next premium live event.

LA Knight is the opposite. He connects with a crowd instantly; he shows up every week, and he has been one of the most consistently overacts in WWE for three years without ever getting a real run with a world title. Give the belt to LA Knight. Give fans a champion they can watch and a show worth watching.

We have argued before that the Bloodline is stuck in its own post-nWo doldrums, and this week only made the case stronger. Roman Reigns vs LA Knight is the cleanest exit WWE is going to get. If Roman retains, it should be because WWE has a genuinely better plan for Knight, and nothing on television right now suggests it does.

Raw Hits Bottom: Bloodline Brawls and a Car Angle

Raw this week was abysmal. It was one of the worst episodes in a very long time.

Almost every match ended with some form of interference. One run-in is a story. Five in one night is a booking crutch, and it trains fans to stop believing any finish is real.

Then came the closing angle. Royce Keys slammed a door on Jacob Fatu in the parking lot, and Jaida Parker, making her Raw debut with 946, ran him over with a car, then claimed she “didn’t see him there.” It is the kind of segment that keeps the Samoans being written off television in increasingly ridiculous ways while the brawling never ends.

Come on. All gas, no brakes, no point. Who is supposed to care about any of this by now? The Bloodline story had an all-time peak. That peak is a long way back in the rear-view mirror.

Dragon Lee Beats Big Cass, and the Oba Femi Question

One Raw match did land. Dragon Lee pinned Big Cass with a quick roll-up, and it answered a simple question: who does WWE believe in more? The guy with talent.

That is two straight losses for Cass since his return, and it is fair to ask why he and Baron Corbin were brought back at all if WWE has already lost faith in them. At some point, the honest move is to send both to AAA.

It also explains why Oba Femi gets Bronson Reed in New Orleans instead of Cass. That is the right call. Oba vs. Cass could have been ugly. Feeding Bronson Reed to Oba is more fun and a much better match, and Reed is a legitimate talent who will make Oba look like a monster. If you have followed Oba Femi’s rise this year, this is the next step: a big body who can go, and a clean win.

SmackDown: One Great Main Event and a Whole Lot of Nothing

SmackDown was barely better than Raw. The main event saved it. Kevin Owens beat Johnny Gargano and Cody Rhodes to take the final spot in the men’s ladder match, with Randy Orton pulling Cody out of the ring before Owens hit a pop-up powerbomb on Gargano. Strong match, strong story, and a real reason to watch next week.

Everything else was filler or worse.

• The six-man nobody needed: Ricky Starks and the War Raiders against Rey Fenix and Fraxiom, complete with a noticeable Fenix botch. Why was that on television? And when did the War Raiders stop being AAA tag team champions? WWE never bothered to explain.
• Blake Monroe vs Julia: Monroe got her first SmackDown win, but Julia hitting her head on the ring post as the finish left the crowd confused. If that was the plan, it was a lame one.
• The cabin backstage: A Chelsea Green segment in a strange new backstage set with Nikki Bella and Paige, with Danhausen lurking in the background. Different, sure. Also baffling.

The Sami Zayn Promo Only Gunther Could Save

WWE Champion Sami Zayn opened up the floor, and the line formed fast. Je’Von Evans said he would win Money in the Bank and come for Sami. Penta came out and said the same thing, which is strange considering he had just been talking about cashing in on Roman Reigns over on Raw. Trick Williams said “me too.” Finn Balor reminded everyone he also wants a title shot.

It was a long, flat segment that kept asking the same question: are any of these guys really going to be champion? Then Gunther walked out and laid out Finn and Sami, and Danhausen caught some of it too. Suddenly the segment had a pulse. That is what a top guy does.

Sami’s reign has been shaky since the messy finish that started it, and the briefcase now hangs over both world titles. Whoever wins the men’s ladder match has two champions to pick from, and Gunther is circling one of them.

The Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match Looks Fantastic

This might be the deepest men’s field in years. CM Punk and Kevin Owens elevate the match on name value alone, and the history between them gives it a built-in story. We covered how Punk’s spot saved last week’s SmackDown, and now Owens is in there with him.

Bron Breakker brings the violence. Penta and Je’Von Evans will provide the highlight reel. Trick Williams is the interesting one: it is a big spot for him, and how WWE uses him here will say a lot about where he fits. As we wrote when the qualifiers began, Evans may not be ready for this level yet, but on a ladder he will steal moments.

The Women’s Ladder Match Has One Real Star

The women’s Money in the Bank ladder match is the opposite problem. Sol Ruca, Lola Vice, Jacy Jayne, Roxanne Perez, Lash Legend, and Tiffany Stratton are a field full of potential and short on established stars.

Tiffany is the biggest star in it by a wide margin. She grabbed the final spot on SmackDown with a Prettiest Moonsault Ever onto Candice LeRae and Tatum Paxley, and she should be the one climbing the ladder at the end. A Tiffany cash-in on Stephanie Vaquer, or on whoever survives Becky and Liv, writes itself.

The Raw build helped a little. Lola Vice beat Roxanne Perez clean, and Perez and Raquel Rodriguez jumped Vice and Sol Ruca afterward. At least three of the six now have a reason to hate each other.

Reality Check: WWE Needs Money in the Bank More Than It Admits

The Reality: WWE spent this week airing interference finishes, a car angle and promo segments with five challengers and no stakes. The one thing that worked was the one thing with real consequences: a qualifying match with a spot on the line. Money in the Bank is a reset button, and WWE should press it hard. Take the belt off Roman Reigns, put a briefcase in the hands of someone who can carry television, and stop pretending fans will sit through another month of Bloodline parking-lot brawls. If New Orleans ends with Roman still holding the title and nothing changed, this company deserves the tune-out it is going to get.

The Bottom Line

The men’s ladder match is the best thing on the card, and the women’s match lives or dies on Tiffany Stratton. Oba Femi vs Bronson Reed is a smart, physical match. But the show will be judged on one result.

Roman Reigns vs LA Knight is WWE’s chance to give Raw a weekly champion again. Get the belt off Roman. Give it to LA Knight. Full Money in the Bank picks are coming on next Friday’s Wrestling Uncensored with Dave Simon and “Genesis” Johnny North.

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