Final WWE star to qualify for men’s Money in the Bank 2026: Which name will book his spots in the ladder match?

WWE

This Friday on the October 2 episode of WWE SmackDown, we will see the final two qualifiers for this year’s Money in the Bank ladder matches.

On the men’s side we will see Cody Rhodes, Johnny Gargano and Kevin Owens face off; three stars that have a real claim at the Undisputed WWE Title.

With five matches confirmed for the card, the show will likely be finalized once these additions are confirmed, but who will earn those final spot in the men’s match?

Here is our prediction for the final WWE star to qualify for the 2026 men’s Money in the Bank ladder match.

Men’s Money in the Bank – Kevin Owens

Following up last week’s star-studded men’s Money in the Bank qualifying three-way between Finn Balor, GUNTHER and CM Punk, will be yet another stacked match this Friday.

The match, like last week’s, is very hard to call, as none of those involved would seem out of place in the ladder match on October 10 given how involved they’ve been in the main event picture on SmackDown lately.

While his ultimate goal has remained the Undisputed WWE Title, Cody Rhodes is the most external name involved as he has been more focused on Randy Orton than anything else over the past few months.

With Orton failing to qualify for Money in the Bank, it feels like WWE may also keep Rhodes out of the mix. However, “The American Nightmare” certainly has the most name value of the field, so WWE may still opt to include him in Money in the Bank for that reason.

Johnny Gargano is owed an Undisputed WWE Title shot by Sami Zayn after helping him win the gold on September 11 – and then retain it against Kevin Owens the following week. Zayn however, was not overly enthusiastic about the idea, despite trying to convince Johnny that it’s Nick Aldis that solely doesn’t want to give him that opportunity.

Gargano may qualify to make Zayn sweat a little bit about a future title match, but he still feels like the unlikeliest of the three.

Kevin Owens has the biggest right to feel aggrieved by his situation on WWE SmackDown lately, having been screwed out of two WWE Title opportunities since returning to in-ring action at SummerSlam.

With CM Punk being the reason Owens lost his last chance at the title – and then proceeding to qualify himself for Money in the Bank – the likeliest scenario, one would think, is KO joining his rival in the ladder match.

Being able to continue their feud in the match, Owens and Punk can be the reason that neither ultimately wins the briefcase, which could then lead to singles match after Money in the Bank.

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