Penta WWE Gamble: Money in the Bank 2026 Went to a Man With No Plan

Money in the Bank 2026 ended in New Orleans with a ladder match nobody on our panel called correctly, and Penta WWE fans finally got the payoff they have wanted since his match with Roman Reigns in Mexico City.

Penta climbed, grabbed the briefcase, and beat Bron Breakker, Je’Von Evans, Trick Williams, CM Punk, and Kevin Owens for the men’s contract. Great for Penta. Here is the uncomfortable part: I don’t think Penta’s WWE push has a plan behind it, and a briefcase with no plan is just a very expensive prop.

Ben Simon and I broke the night down live on the post-show, and this is my full take on what worked, what dragged, and what WWE still has not figured out. I gave the show an 8 out of 10, which is a very high number for me.

Penta WWE Won the Briefcase, but Nobody Has a Plan for It

We did not predict this one. I figured WWE would hand the contract to Bron Breakker, because Bron looks like a future WrestleMania main eventer and one of their big stars. Instead, WWE went with the momentum Penta built in the Roman Reigns vs Penta match that proved Raw needs more Mexico. Fans started seeing him as a potential main eventer, and here we are.

That’s the thing about this win. Everybody is happy, me included, and nobody can tell you where it goes. I picture the conversation going like this: Who wins? Penta, we like Penta. What’s the plan? We’ll figure it out. Come on. The Penta WWE decision looks like a hot hand being rewarded, not a story being told. The contract is good for a full year, so WWE can afford to wait, but waiting is not a plan.

Here is how I see the cash-in options. Roman Reigns is unlikely, because Roman is not on Raw every week, so there is no beaten-up champion for Penta to ambush. Sami Zayn, the SmackDown champion, is the realistic target, and beating Sami is the easiest way to slot Penta into SmackDown, where a program with CM Punk and Kevin Owens practically writes itself. Penta against Punk is a program. WrestleMania is in April, so we are six to eight months from any real answer, and nobody knows who the champions will be by then.

I even floated the idea that WWE could have him cash in on the AAA champion and make it part of AAA if they run out of time. That is a contingency plan, and it proves my point. None of this is a knock on Penta. His in-ring work is great; WWE presented him like a superstar with the entrance and the production, and the character works. The promos need work. The Penta WWE run is off to a strong start; I just want a destination.

Dave Simon called Roman Reigns vs LA Knight the match of the night at Money in the Bank, and the New Orleans crowd was a big part of it. LA Knight pacing and hyping them up, a powerbomb through the table, Roman kicking out. Did it feel like a world title match to you? Watch the clip and weigh in.#WWE #RomanReigns #LAKnight

— Ringside Report Network (@RingsideReport) October 11, 2026

Roman Reigns vs LA Knight Stole the Show

Roman Reigns beat LA Knight in about 27 minutes for the World Heavyweight Championship, finishing with the spear. I called it the match of the night, and I stand by that even though both ladder matches were excellent. It had a big fight feel from the moment LA Knight paced the ring and hyped up a crowd that was on its feet, going nuts.

It was an old-school wrestling match between two big, athletic guys. Knight hit the powerbomb through the table, dragged Roman back into the ring, and Roman kicked out. The match had great false finishes, an atomic drop followed by a clothesline, and very little talking from Roman. He sold like a man who respected Knight and took him seriously, and his facial expressions were excellent.

There was no interference either, which I appreciated. We expected the 946 or Solo Sikoa and the Usos to cost Roman the title, but the brawl came after the finish. Less salad dressing, fewer goons. LA Knight loses nothing because he took Roman the distance, much like the Penta WWE match where Roman was almost done. People like me have doubted the greatness of Roman Reigns, and credit is due: when he faces wrestlers who will not do the cinematic style, he matches them at their level. In our preview, we argued WWE had to take the title off Roman, and WWE disagreed, but the match gave them a decent defense.

I was surprised they opened the show with it. The only rationale that makes sense is preventing cash-in thoughts. It was still a good move, because the crowd was on fire from bell one, and an opener of Bronson Reed against Oba Femi would not have gotten the same pop.

Money in the Bank 2026 Results at a Glance

Here are the full Money in the Bank 2026 results with my one-line verdict on each match.

Oba Femi vs Bronson Reed Was Something for Oba to Do

Oba Femi beat Bronson Reed, and the match was okay. It just happened. Logan Paul, Maxxine Dupri, and Austin Theory interfered and distracted the referee; Paul Heyman watched from backstage on a screen, trying to see who he would pledge his allegiance to, and Reed hit Oba with brass knuckles. Oba kicked out of the tsunami, and they never got me to believe Reed would win, even with all the help. The finishing powerbomb on a man still around 250 pounds was amazing, and it is why the Oba Femi WWE push keeps rolling.

Women’s Money in the Bank: Great Match, Questionable Winner

Tiffany Stratton, Roxanne Perez, Lash Legend, Lola Vice, Jacy Jayne and Sol Ruca went hard, and I will give the women’s ladder match a slight edge over the men’s. Tiffany took a nasty Swanton fall to the floor, landing on her head, and kept going. It looked bad enough that I wondered about a concussion. Jacy Jayne then kicked her in the mouth, Lash Legend booted Roxanne off a small ladder, and Sol Ruca hit a Sol Snatcher off the ladder. The craziest moment was an accident: Jacy and Lola Vice fell onto a ladder bridged on a rope; it slid, and they both tumbled out of the ring.

The Tiffany Stratton Money in the Bank win is where I have a beef. Tonight was the night to give it to Roxanne, with Liv Morgan winning the title. There is already friction in Judgment Day, and that story has been building for about two years, which impresses me given how fast WWE usually breaks up groups. Fans want to see Roxanne beat Liv. Instead, we get Tiffany and Chelsea Green as friends all of a sudden, with a friendship so new that testing it means nothing. It feels forced, and it feels like a rehash of her last run. My alternative: Tiffany cashes in on Liv, which sidesteps the Chelsea Green conflict altogether.

Liv Morgan Retakes the Women’s World Title

Liv Morgan beat Stephanie Vaquer and Becky Lynch to take the Women’s World Championship back. The match was fine, a good house show match, and most of the quality came from Vaquer. My read is that her win was a temporary run built around the South America tour, since she is from Chile, and WWE always planned to go back to Liv. I wanted her treated as a more legitimate champion. Two babyfaces chasing a heel makes more sense than the reverse, but we have seen this Liv and Stephanie story since before WrestleMania.

The Men’s Ladder Match: Penta WWE, an Ambulance and a Wooden Roof

The men’s ladder match was violent and very good. Bron Breakker took a lot of bumps, which impressed me. Kevin Owens stood on CM Punk’s crotch while Punk hung upside down on the ladder, because there are no rules in the match. Owens always makes me cringe given how he got hurt the last time with a nasty ladder bump. For the build to this, see the CM Punk Money in the Bank spot on SmackDown.

Then came the spot of the night. Bron speared Je’Von Evans, who was taken away on a stretcher in an ambulance, then returned driving the ambulance with his feet strapped together. Wrestlers steal ambulances all the time, and nobody ever does anything about it. Je’Von then went through the roof from a 15-foot ladder, and you could see wood when it broke. What ambulance is made of wood? It was gimmicked, obviously, but it was a cool crash. For how this field came together, see our Money in the Bank qualifiers breakdown. The Penta Money in the Bank finish was undramatic: he took care of a couple of guys and climbed up, getting rid of Bron Breakker on the way. Check his official WWE profile for the full bio.

Reality Check: Penta WWE Is a Utility Man, Not an Investment

The Reality: WWE sees Penta as a tool it can use when it needs something. Say Roman gets an ankle injury and is out nine months. Penta cashes in, Roman takes a couple of moves, one, two, three, and the picture changes with no planning. That is a smart safety net and a poor investment. The Penta WWE presentation is excellent, but I am not convinced they know what they are doing with him, and right now the prize is the briefcase itself.

WWE Turned the Volume Up and Should Keep It There

WWE has been soft this year, and the main criticism of the product is that it is not violent. AEW is more high-impact and more real-looking, and WWE looks watered down in comparison. In the late 90s, WWF answered ECW with its own version of that style. I am not asking for blood and guts. I want suplexes, body slams, and stiff punches that connect.

Once in a while, in a special match at a special event, run the thumbtacks or the barbed wire. They used to do it, and fans love it in the video game. Kofi Kingston showed what he can still do against Bandido on Dynamite this week, the stuff he used to do before he settled into the routine WWE wanted, with four-minute matches and no room to build to big dives. Tonight they turned the volume up. LA Knight had a big welt on his head, and Tiffany may have been concussed. This was their most violent, hard-hitting show of the year, and it still does not compare to AEW.

The Pacing Problem: About 100 Minutes of Wrestling

Adding up the match times, I counted about 100 minutes of actual ring time in a show that ran over three hours. That is about an hour and twenty minutes of filler. The Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua TKO boxing promo aired far too many times; there were commercials for belts and T-shirts, and the same commercial aired twice in a row before the men’s ladder match. Entrances are long and elaborate now, and nobody sprints to the ring. Give me an Ultimate Warrior, please. Ben came in at 7.5 for those reasons, and I understand it.

Final Verdict: 8 out of 10

Despite the filler, this may be the best pay-per-view WWE has done all year, with nothing bad on the card and a New Orleans crowd that was underrated. I would pencil the Penta WWE story as the one to watch. My call: if Penta cashes in before WrestleMania, the target is Sami Zayn, not Roman. We will break it all down again on the next Wrestling Uncensored.

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