Penta’s WWE push may be getting much bigger than anyone expected just a few weeks ago. After his massive showing against Roman Reigns in Mexico City, people within WWE creative now view Penta as a heavy favorite to walk away with the Money in the Bank briefcase.
Joey Votes dropped the news during WrestleVotes Radio, revealing that WWE’s current thinking is very different from where things stood around SummerSlam. Penta apparently wasn’t originally positioned for the briefcase, but his recent run has changed the conversation.
“Those we spoke to within Creative also pointed to Penta as someone who is considered a heavy favorite to capture the Money in the Bank briefcase, which could ultimately play a role in a potential rematch. It said that was not the plan for Money in the Bank as of SummerSlam.”
That’s a pretty dramatic shift in a short period of time. Penta went from having no apparent Money in the Bank win penciled in around SummerSlam to now being viewed as one of the strongest possibilities for the briefcase. The reason doesn’t appear to be limited to crowd reactions either. TC explained that WWE was seeing huge movement across merchandise and online analytics after Penta faced Roman Reigns.
“I think they were even more blown away with, again, I’ll go to it, the analytics, the numbers I were told were exploding off the page after Penta had his showing on Monday, Monday night into Tuesday, Tuesday into Wednesday, continuing all through the week. His T-shirts were selling. A lot of items in certain sizes are sold out in WWE.com. The Google Analytics that they use, through the roof for Penta.”
TC said those are exactly the kinds of numbers that can change how WWE looks at a talent. Penta wasn’t simply getting people to react inside the building; fans were searching for him, buying his merchandise and keeping the conversation going after RAW ended.
“And that is going to get him a long way. And if you can wrestle a great match and put out something that people connect with and make you believe that he’s almost on the doorstep, on the verge of becoming not only a main event superstar, but the World Heavyweight Champion in the process, you get people to open their wallets, you get people to tune in, you get people to tweet, you get people to talk about it. That’s what WWE’s looking for. And Penta is the perfect example of all that put together.”
Joey then brought up another example of just how hot Penta’s merchandise has become. A special Mattel Creations figure carrying a price tag of around $65 disappeared almost immediately.
“TC, you mentioned the merchandise. Worth noting that Penta had a special edition Mattel Creations figure released only on mattelcreations.com. Can’t get it on WWE Shop, can’t get it at Target, Walmart. You have to go on there and—”
TC noted that the figure was being sold as a preorder before Joey revealed how quickly fans cleaned it out.
“It costs about 65. That preorder lasted 20 minutes.”
TC responded, “It’s all done.” Joey then confirmed, “Sold out.” That momentum carried into the September 21 episode of RAW, where Penta was inserted into the Money in the Bank qualifying match after Solo Sikoa was removed. Penta then secured his spot in the Money in the Bank match by defeating Dominik Mysterio and Dragon Lee.
The briefcase would give WWE an easy way to keep Penta hanging around the World Heavyweight Championship picture without forcing an immediate title match. More importantly, it would confirm that WWE’s reaction to his Mexico City performance wasn’t just talk — his place on the card really has changed.
Should WWE put the Money in the Bank briefcase on Penta, or would you rather see somebody else win while Penta chases Roman Reigns another way? Let us know your thoughts and feedback in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
