July 1’s Money in the Bank event broke numerous records and set many firsts at a raucous occasion in London, England. At an event that held sports fans, fans of WWE, online bookmakers players and TV audiences in its grasp, seven matches were contested and special appearances were noted all night. It certainly was a night to remember in the surrounds of the O2 Arena.
The 2023 Money in the Bank event was the 14th of its kind and the first to be held outside the United States. Indeed, this was England’s first taste of a live WWE event since Insurrextion held way back in June of 2003. 20 years British audiences had waited for a WWE live event of this magnitude, and fans were not to be disappointed.
And in headline announcements on July 6, the WWE revealed that the London Money in the Bank show was actually the highest money-making event of its kind in the 14-year history of Money in the Bank. Records were smashed and the organization proudly announced the most successful Money in the Bank edition of all time.
Not only did Saturday night’s Money in the Bank smash all records by becoming, quite staggeringly, the arena event with the highest-gross takings in the history of WWE, but that followed hot on the heels on records set the previous evening. That’s because Friday Night Smackdown, also held in London’s O2, also became the highest-grossing event of its kind in the WWE’s history. Combined, the gate for Friday Night Smackdown and Saturday’s Money in the Bank was a cool $5.4 million. Not bad for a weekend, and one outside the US too.
But there was even more for the WWE organization to celebrate. That’s because the 2022 viewership record was exceeded by a massive 17%. It also saw viewership numbers for a UK live WWE event exceeded by a massive 30%. Previously the record there had been Clash at the Castle, held in the Principality Stadium in Cardiff in 2022.
But the records just kept tumbling for the WWE over the course of the weekend in London. From a merchandise perspective, this was the highest-grossing WWE event held in an arena in the history of the organization, proving that the British crowds were eager to get their hands on WWE products. Sponsorship was up by 9% versus Money in the Bank 2022, while fan packages were also a major success with gross revenue far exceeding any arena event outside of Wrestlemania.
Unsurprisingly, social media viewership was also up by a remarkable number. The main event of Money in the Bank was the Bloodline Civil War tag team match-up between Jey and Jimmy Uso and bitter rivals The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa and Roman Reigns). Video viewership for this event reached an incredible 40 million in just the first two-days that the clip was available, marking an incredible 400% rise on the top footage clip from the WWE Night of Champions.
TV viewership was more than healthy too according to WWE figures: Friday’s Smackdown attracting 2.51 million FOX viewers, marking a rise of 17% on last year. Internationally this was the first livestreamed Mony in the Bank event to feature on Australia channel Binge.
As for the action, in the main match-up the Usos claimed victory in the Bloodline Civil War event, marking the first time since the end of 2019 that superstar Reigns had been pinned. There were ladder wins for Iwo Sky and Damian Priest, while Seth Rollins retained the World Heavyweight Championship title by beating Finn Balor. The WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship was won by Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, who defeated Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey. Another highlight of the event was the appearance – to the immense joy of the London crowd – of Drew McIntyre plus WWE and Hollywood legend John Cena.
