WWE Money in the Bank 2017: High road to heavyweight title will be tough call

The WWE Money in the Bank for 2017 has been announced courtesy of Commissioner Shane McMahon during the May 23 edition of SmackDown. The field was initially supposed to be a five-man battle, but Kevin Owens found a way to squirm his name to the mix.

The initial five names were AJ Styles, Baron Corbin, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler and Shinsuke Nakamura. Owens was added after the "Prizefighter" mouthed and used all means to get in. And as one would expect, tensions rose when all combatants took the ring, according to WWE.com.

WWE Money in the Bank 2017 takes place on Jun 18 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. It will be the eighth WWE MOTB PPV, yet this one will be exclusively for the SmackDown brand. The winner will eventually face reigning champion Jinder Mahal, who is booked to defend his title in the same event against Randy Orton.

The winner of the 2017 Money in the Bank can technically cash in on the same day depending on the turn of events. That would depend on the state of the 2017 MOTB winner and whoever emerges as champion in the main event.

Of the six men battling for the MOTB briefcase, the favourites are obvious. Styles, Owens and Nakamura are the top picks as the next SmackDown heavyweight champion.

Then again, this should not discount the chances of Corbin, Zayn and Ziggler. Of the three, Ziggler has competed in previous MOTB matches (2015, 2014, 2012 and 2010). The “Showoff” won the event in 2012 and held the contract for 267 days. He cashed in the briefcase on the April 8, 2013 edition of WWE Raw, winning the heavyweight title from Alberto Del Rio.

But despite Ziggler’s experience, all that could be out the window. The push given to WWE stars still matters, hence the reason why Styles, Nakamura and Owens are one up over the rest.

Styles has been doing fine on his own and could easily become the no. 1 contender without the MOTB benefit. But like most, getting a privilege of cashing in at any point is something the “Phenomenal One” is unlikely to shy away from.

Nakamura should be the favourite of the mix, seeing how he has been growing in popularity. Owens could be a winner as well, so it all depends on what the creative team has up its sleeve.