Greatest Money In The Bank Cash Ins

In this edition of The Wrestling Estate roundtable, we discuss the greatest Money in the Bank cash ins.

Do you like the Money in the Bank concept?

Devonte Grant: I love it. It adds a realistic unpredictability factor to the WWE. At any time, either of WWE’s World Champions is subject to be challenged by the MITB holder and it keeps you guessing when the world champion can lose the title.

David Gibb: Not really. It’s basically just a promise from the promoter to hotshot a fan favorite to the top without building a satisfying storyline to actually show them breaking into the top tier. To use a video game analogy, it’s a code: it allows you to do fun stuff by cutting corners, but beating the game that way will never be as satisfying.

Anthony Mahalis: I LOVE the Money in the Bank concept. It is one of the best ideas that WWE has come up with in my lifetime as a wrestling fan.

Chad Gelfand: I do enjoy the Money in the Bank concept. I like the idea of a person having the option to cash in a title opportunity at any time within a year. It makes subsequent matches with the champion more exciting as you wonder in the back of your head if this will be the match that the briefcase finally gets cashed in.

Jack Goodwillie: I do, and I would even compare it to baseball where, in a more extreme case, people are still finding new ways to play the game within the confines of the rules even though it’s our country’s pastime. With proper booking of the match, pre cash in and post cash in, the briefcase can still make stars in a WWE desperately in need of them.

John Corrigan: Yeah, it has been a fun element to WWE over the past decade. Sometimes, it has even gotten us out of jams (coughBrockRomancough).

Adam B. Yuro: I love it, but I wish it was even crazier, more like the 24/7 rule of the old Hardcore Championship. I want to see someone get RKO’d at Wendy’s and pinned.

Should it have its own pay-per-view or should it have stayed a part of WrestleMania?

Grant: Initially, I didn’t think it made sense for MITB to have its own PPV. However, I think it makes sense now and it has become one of the newer PPVs that I look forward to watching. Plus, there are a number of memorable matches that took place at MITB that weren’t even the ladder match itself.

Gibb: I think it makes sense to do it in June, a few months after WrestleMania, since that show already sees the Royal Rumble winners get their guaranteed title shots. With that said, I’m not a fan of the match-themed monthly shows at all. So, I guess what I’m saying is it should happen around this time of year on a show called “No Mercy” or “Conflagration” or some garbage like that.

Mahalis: MITB at WrestleMania was cool, but I like that it’s not overshadowed now. It deserves its own event. Outside of the big four PPVs, I look forward to Money in the Bank the most.

Gelfand: I think that the Money in the Bank match is strong enough to have its own pay-per-views built around. They are almost always guaranteed to be great matches or at least exciting, and if there are two of them on a PPV, I think that it’s strong enough to carry a show. The first five MITB matches appearing at WrestleMania were important, though, in establishing the legitimacy and the prestige associated with the match.

Goodwillie: I’d like to see it back on WrestleMania, but I guess I’m just old school! Having it as its own pay-per-view is nice, but I also think the tournament concept is tried and true. Why not make two stars, one in MITB and the other in the finals of the King of the Ring tournament?

Corrigan: WrestleMania lost some luster when MITB broke out onto its own. Instead of a bunch of midcard guys getting a big opportunity on the Grandest Stage, now they’re thrown in a meaningless battle royal. And a couple years ago, they went back to multi-man ladder matches at Mania, anyway.

Yuro: I like that it has its own PPV, especially now that it is about both genders.

What was the best cash-in?

Grant: Seth Rollins hands down. He stole the show, THE BIGGEST WRESTLING SHOW, when he cashed in. Hats off to Seth for that. My other favorite would have to be Rob Van Dam. RVD was the first wrestler to announce his cash-in before the match. When he wrestled and defeated John Cena at ECW’s One Night Stand for the WWE Championship it was such a crowning moment. It was great to see RVD finally win the WWE Championship, from one of WWE’s biggest stars, in an ECW environment. One Of A Kind!

Gibb: I liked Punk’s first cash-in a lot because it played off the story of Edge being a previous MOTB winner, and it really felt like a moment in which someone new had broken into the main event at a time when things had been pretty stagnant for several years.

Mahalis: Seth Rollins. I don’t think there is a close second. The way that was executed was brilliant. It was such a huge surprise to have a cash-in during the main event of WrestleMania. It doesn’t get better than that.

Gelfand: Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 31. I don’t think it can get any better than cashing in the briefcase in the main event of WrestleMania. That cash in will live on as one of the greatest moments in WrestleMania history.

Goodwillie: So many to choose from, but again, that lends itself to my earlier point about finding new ways to book the briefcase. Seth Rollins certainly makes a great case (pun intended), but I have to give it up to the first two winners, Edge and Rob Van Dam, for giving us the blueprint on two very different ways the briefcase can be used. Edge obviously opened our eyes to the idea that cashing in “any time,” really meant “ANY TIME,” and is great for developing heels (even though babyfaces routinely use this method as well. WTF?). On the other hand, RVD called his shot and used home court to his advantage by scheduling a match with John Cena at ECW “Two” Night Stand before riding a wave of momentum into the event and realizing his dream of becoming champ.

Corrigan: Seth Freakin Rollins saved us from a tragedy and provided the greatest ending to a WrestleMania.

Yuro: Dean Ambrose. All members of The Shield were champion within a five-minute span.

What was the worst cash-in?

Grant: Damien Sandow. Everything went wrong, everything.

Gibb: Ziggler. The angle where he kept looking to cash in on guys when they were down was 24/7 Hardcore Title level stupidity. Ultimately, they beat Del Rio up in a handicap match (which he won) and then had Ziggler cash in against him, giving Ziggler a heel title win that we were supposed to love and accept as a babyface title win… and then he feuds with Swagger and Del Rio. “That’ll put a lot of butts in the seats.”

Mahalis: I would say probably Damien Sandow. That was a total waste of time all around. Could and should have had Cody win that briefcase; instead, we have Sandow win and just blow it and lose to Cena.

Gelfand: Damien Sandow. That briefcase did nothing for him in general, and he lost the briefcase in a short, unmemorable match on Raw to John Cena after Sandow had viciously attacked Cena’s recently repaired torn triceps and elbow before the match. Sandow then beat on Cena for most of the actual match before Cena fired up and hit one AA on Sandow to pin him. That was the end of Sandow being taken seriously in the World Title picture.

Goodwillie: I won’t consider a “failed attempt” as a worst cash-in, but Jack Swagger makes a pretty strong case by virtue of it being a poorly acted segment on his part. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the idea of Jack Swagger as a main event talent in 2010, as a future John Cena rival and that gold belt really looked good on him. But to me, it seemed like he over acted on the build up to the cash in and when he hit Jericho with the gutwrench powerbomb and got the pinfall, the dude just went stoic, which made absolutely no sense. How are you going to no sell winning perhaps the most prestigious championship belt in pro wrestling history?

Corrigan: Sheamus’ cash-in was so bad, you all forgot about it. While most of the time we anxiously await the briefcase holder to strike, everybody was dreading the foregone conclusion of the stale Irishman attacking Reigns when he was ripe for the picking.

Yuro: Anything involving John Cena, mainly because all failed cash-ins involved him in someway.

Who never had Money in the Bank, but desperately needs or needed it?

Grant: I feel that Finn Balor needs it desperately. Ever since he had to vacate the WWE Universal Championship in 2016, he’s been given the runaround. If Finn gets it, I expect for him to eventually win a world championship and have a decent reign. In doing so, he’ll rise back to the top. Finn is one of the best to ever step in the ring, he just needs the right push to get him where he deserves to be.

Gibb: Cesaro. It might be the only hot air balloon that can pull him out of the midcard.

Mahalis: I don’t know if there is anyone who hasn’t won that desperately needs to win. There are a few guys that deserve to win, and a few guys that I would like to see win, but I don’t know if anyone absolutely needs to have it. I think it could be really interesting to give it to Kofi, though. Randy Orton ruined Kofi’s first attempted push – I think he deserves another shot.

Gelfand: My answer should come as no surprise to anyone who read my last article, as I would love to see Kofi Kingston finally win the briefcase. He has earned the chance to be in the WWE Championship picture. He’s also consistently been a highlight reel in the Money in the Bank matches that he’s appeared in over the years, so it would be great to see him actually win one of the matches finally.

Goodwillie: It’s Kevin Owens. With the support of even average booking, Kevin Owens has shown he has the goods to be a top-of-the-card heel and maybe even more. Think about his initial Universal Championship run. Then think about his time with S.C.U.M. in Ring of Honor. Then think about what he might be able to do with the Money in the Bank briefcase in tow and all of a sudden you’re feeling pretty giddy about the direction of his character.

Corrigan: This may sound crazy, but in retrospect, I would have had Christian win the first MITB instead of Edge. The Rated-R Superstar was going to make it to the top no matter what, the briefcase merely sped up the inevitable. As for Captain Charisma, he was riding a huge wave of momentum in 2005 before leaving WWE for TNA. He never really recovered. But if he had the briefcase, and spent months teasing a cash-in as the smarmy villain, his eventual title win would have cemented him as a top guy.

Yuro: I don’t think he ever needed it, but they should give it to Jericho before he officially retires.