WWE Sets Reigns vs. Knight to Open Money in the Bank

WWE has decided that Roman Reigns’ World Heavyweight Championship defense against LA Knight will open Money in the Bank 2026, giving the first bell of the night to one of the promotion’s most heated programs of the year.

The feud has been simmering for months, but it kicked into high gear after SummerSlam, when Knight stepped to Reigns on Raw and openly questioned the champion’s reputation. That confrontation set the tone for a rivalry built as much on personal credibility as it is on the title itself, with Knight positioning himself as the guy willing to say out loud what a lot of fans have been thinking about Reigns’ standing at the top of the card.

Putting the match first on the Money in the Bank card is a notable choice. Opening slots on premium live events are often reserved for matches that need to set the tone early and get the crowd locked in right away, and it signals that WWE sees real heat in this pairing rather than treating it as a placeholder bout. It also means Reigns and Knight won’t be competing for the show-closing spot against whatever the ladder match or other marquee angles are building toward, letting their story breathe without the pressure of being the final memory of the night.

For Knight, this is about as big a spot as he’s had in the Reigns era. He’s spent years building a connection with crowds through sheer charisma and persistence, and a World Heavyweight Championship opportunity on a premium live event is the kind of moment that can turn that connection into something more concrete. A strong showing here, win or lose, keeps him squarely in the championship picture heading into the back half of the year.

For Reigns, defending against Knight continues a run that has seen him work through a rotating cast of challengers since reclaiming the World Heavyweight Championship. The RAW confrontation gave this particular matchup a sharper edge than some of his recent defenses, framing it less as a simple title defense and more as a referendum on whether Reigns still deserves to be considered the measuring stick of the brand.

WWE hasn’t detailed the rest of the Money in the Bank 2026 lineup alongside this news, so it remains to be seen how the ladder match and any other title matches will be slotted around this opener. But putting Reigns and Knight first tells its own story about how seriously the company is treating this rivalry going into the event.

Expect the build on the go-home editions of Raw to lean further into the credibility angle Knight opened up after SummerSlam, as both men look to make their case before the bell even rings in what’s shaping up to be one of the more personal title feuds WWE has running right now.