Money in the Bank 2026: Je’Von Evans Is in the Wrong Match

The Money in the Bank 2026 field is half set, and the most interesting name on it is the one who probably should not be there. Trick Williams became the third man to qualify on Friday’s SmackDown; Je’Von Evans and Bron Breakker were already in, and the women’s side now has Sol Ruca, Lola Vice, and Jacy Jayne. October 10 in New Orleans is still three weeks of television away, which gives WWE plenty of time to fix what already bothers us.

Who Has Qualified for Money in the Bank 2026

The event lands at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Saturday, October 10, the first Money in the Bank held in October and the first to stream on ESPN in the United States. Each ladder match needs six competitors, so half the spots are still open on both sides.

I was a little surprised to see Trick Williams get the spot ahead of Randy Orton, but Randy and Cody are still busy with each other, so it is not over. The bigger problem was the match itself. Johnny North thought it was horrible: poorly paced, with the timing off on move after move, punches that looked worse than usual, and corner kicks that never should have aired. His theory is that Fenix and Trick were holding back to protect Randy, and three different styles crammed into one match made it awkward. I called it a weird matchup that never quite worked, and I think they were being careful with Randy.

Bron Breakker Is the Money in the Bank 2026 Favorite

Three of the six men are locked, and Bron Breakker should be the favorite. He has the size, the momentum and the push, and the staredown with Oba Femi suggests WWE has bigger plans for him than a midcard briefcase. Trick Williams is in the match, and I do not think he wins. That is not a knock; it is just where the booking has him.

Oba Femi is the other name that would instantly become a co-favorite if he gets a qualifier. Johnny North asked whether Oba will get a shot, and I would not be surprised. Oba is hanging around with Otis now, and Johnny floated an Otis-and-Oba tag team against Austin Theory and Breakker for the tag titles as something he would happily watch. Theory and Big Cass both lost their qualifiers. For more on how thin the middle of the roster is, see our look at the Raw versus SmackDown roster problem.

Je’Von Evans Is in the Wrong Match

Here is my problem. Evans qualified by beating Theory and Big Cass in a triple threat, and a ladder match suits him because he is bouncy and creative. I understand why he is in it. I am not mad at it, and I think he will be fun. But WWE has to be careful about putting him in high-profile matches just to put him in high-profile matches, because eventually the audience stops believing he can win.

If you keep putting him in there as a novelty act, that is all he will ever be. A guy who does flips.

— Dave Simon, Wrestling Uncensored

The damage is real. High-profile ladder matches take miles off a body, and Evans is young, so it adds up. Every time he does cool things and does not win, he looks a little more like a highlight reel than a contender. My prescription is to skip Money in the Bank 2026 entirely and give him a tag team with someone like Dragon Lee, then let them win matches and a belt.

Johnny North sees it differently. Evans is still young, his character is coming together slowly, and he is getting over with the people, which matters most. A big ladder match adds to a highlight package that is still short. Johnny even admits he will need an Intercontinental or tag team title to keep the momentum going, so we agree on the destination and disagree about the route. My worry is the Kofi Kingston route, where you become a novelty in the bank every year, bounce around the midcard and never actually win. Kofi needed the New Day and Kofi Mania to get anywhere, and Evans has neither.

The Women’s Field: Tiffany Stratton, Charlotte and a Cash-In Warning

The women’s side has Sol Ruca, Lola Vice, and Jacy Jayne, and Johnny North isn’t excited about any of it. Tiffany Stratton is expected to qualify. She did a promo with Chelsea Green, the champion, saying she will answer a qualifying match and hopes that is OK. That should ring a bell, because Stratton has done this before: hang around the champion with a briefcase, then turn on her, exactly as she did to Nia Jax.

Charlotte Flair is also in a qualifier, and Johnny believes Giulia and Lash Legend are in that match as well. He goes with Charlotte, and I said possibly. I will add that you never count out Lash Legend. Never.

Roman Reigns vs LA Knight: The Announcement Nobody Saw

WWE also announced that Roman Reigns will defend the World Heavyweight Championship against LA Knight on the same show. Johnny North says it happened after Raw went off the air, which makes no sense on Netflix, where WWE can simply extend the broadcast. I only found out because I was reading the Money in the Bank card on Wikipedia and assumed it was fake. WWE is treating its own main event like a footnote, and after the Bloodline storyline problems we covered last week, Knight deserves better than that. The official Money in the Bank page confirms the match.

Reality Check: WWE Is Wasting Its Most Athletic Young Star

The Reality: Putting Je’Von Evans in a ladder match he will not win looks like a reward and works like a tax. The audience gets a highlight reel, Evans gets bruises, and nobody gets a new star.

Money in the Bank 2026 Frequently Asked Questions