Final two entrants in WWE men’s Money in the Bank ladder match: Which stars from SmackDown will close out the field?

WWE

The Monday, September 21 episode of WWE Raw saw Penta secure the fourth spot on in the 2026 men’s Money in the Bank ladder match, replacing Solo Sikoa in a qualifier after he was laid out backstage by 946.

With the last remaining spot filled on the Raw side of the field, all attention now turns to SmackDown and which final two names will close out the field.

Here are the two potential final entrants in the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match.

GUNTHER

As confirmed last week, the penultimate men’s Money in the Bank qualifying match will be a star-studded triple threat pitting CM Punk, Finn Balor and GUNTHER against each other.

This, is by far, the hardest qualifier to predict yet, as it wouldn’t have been a big surprise to see all three feature in the six-man field on October 10.

While CM Punk is probably the favorite on paper, he is also still very much embroiled in a feud with Undisputed WWE Champion Sami Zayn, as well as Kevin Owens.

With Owens and Punk both costing each other their respective WWE Title matches over the past two weeks, it wold make sense for ‘The Prizefighter’ to get involved once again and cost ‘The Best in the World’ his Money in the Bank opportunity.

With Punk out of the equation in this scenario, it would be a question of which of Finn Balor or GUNTHER would be the one to capitalize. And while Finn Balor would certainly be the popular choice, it’s hard to bet against GUNTHER here.

‘The Ring General’ has lost a great amount of momentum since retiring John Cena and AJ Styles, and needs to star re-asserting his dominance once again. It’s a shame that both he and Balor couldn’t both make the Money in the Bank field, as they have a feud going on that could have easily been carried over into the ladder match, but for now it appears as if only one will make the cut, and it’s likelier to be GUNTHER.

Carmelo Hayes

We don’t yet know who will make up the final Money in the Bank qualifying match, so guessing who’s going to win the thing is certainly a shot in the dark.

Big names like Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens have yet to receive a shot at the ladder match, so one would think they could be involved.

There’s also Johnny Gargano, who is now finally back up on two feet and in the mix on SmackDown once again; and in the main event picture no less. Damian Priest could do with a big statement win after turning heel two weeks ago, and Drew McIntyre is a wildcard name who could potentially make a big return and get involved in the proceedings.

While all those names would make for excellent choices, there’s probably nobody on SmackDown who needs the opportunity more than Carmelo Hayes right now. Hayes has been off TV for a month, and has taken a back seat in the United States Title picture that he was previously involved in for much of the year.

Having Hayes pull off a big upset win against two of the heavier hitters named above would go a long way in wiping away his questionable booking in 2026, and get ‘HIM’ back on track for championship gold once again.

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