Ranking The Men’s MITB Participants
Who is the most deserving of retrieving the magical briefcase?
It is time for us to cash in again this Sunday. Money in the Bank is my favorite pay-per-view outside of the Big Four. Sure, they can deliver some lousy winners and poor outcomes (Sheamus and Damien Sandow come to mind), but generally the ladder matches themselves are exciting.
We have talented groups for both of this year’s matches. (Side note: why is there not a tag team Money in the Bank yet? Shouldn’t there be? Seems too easy to not do.) Anyway, I said in our roundtable Friday that I believe Ember Moon will win the female Money in the Bank match. I just have a feeling they want her to be legitimized among the other top females on Raw. That is not the best decision, though. Sasha Banks or Becky Lynch could use it much more than anyone else, as it seems like their careers have stalled.
In this piece, I will be taking a deeper dive into the men’s MITB match. The participants are: Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Bobby Roode, Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe, Rusev, The Miz and an undermined member of The New Day. Let’s rank the least worthy to the most deserving winners of the match.
10. Bobby Roode
Don’t get me wrong, I like Bobby Roode, but I don’t see any real reason why he deserves to win this match. Aside from a short United States Championship reign, he has been largely underwhelming since he got his call-up from NXT. It was a mistake from the jump for him to not be a heel – he doesn’t have the same luster as a face. Although the Glorious One will have a good match on Sunday, I would have much preferred to see Elias in this match.
9. Rusev
WWE basically screwed Rusev. After he lost to John Cena at WrestleMania 31, his career hasn’t recovered. He is booked so inconsistently that it is almost mindboggling. Sometimes you make him a joke, and other times he is beating Daniel Bryan CLEANLY to qualify for MITB. What are we doing here? I just don’t buy Rusev as a main eventer anymore.
8. Xavier Woods
Huge fan of Woods – he is dynamite on the mic, and really good in the ring when he gets his opportunities. However, I just cannot justify that he deserves to win more than the remaining seven superstars.
7. Big E
From here on out, there is a legitimate case to be made for any of these men to take home the briefcase. Big E is the powerhouse of The New Day, and he is also highly entertaining. It would be really fun to have the MITB contract in the hands of The New Day. I don’t think this would be unrealistic either, because we know Vince loves his strong guys.
6. Braun Strowman
I’m probably going to catch some heat for this, but hear me out: Strowman does not need to win this match. It doesn’t advance his character very much, and its’ simply inevitable that he will be in the main event picture again, anyway. Does Braun really need to cash in on a vulnerable champion? No one likes to see the Cena move of letting the champion know he will be cashing in, which makes more sense for Strowman. Let Braun beat Brock Lesnar straight up.
5. Kevin Owens
KO is great at basically everything he does in WWE. He is a top notch heel, terrific in the ring and great on the mic. I would definitely be fine with KO winning this match, but I wouldn’t prefer it over the remaining competitors.
Although I do have a personal preference or two, I would be happy with the outcome if any of the last four superstars were to win.
4. Samoa Joe
Joe has been on a roll lately. He has been cutting tremendous promos, and delivering in the ring. He would be such a menacing presence if he were to have the case. However, as I said with Strowman, I think Joe will organically be in the Smackdown main event sooner rather than later.
3. Finn Balor
I mean, come on, the man never actually lost the Universal Championship and still has not been given a one-on-one rematch for the title? You have to feel for Finn, he was probably on his way to a really good run with the championship if he didn’t get hurt in his SummerSlam match with Seth Rollins. How great would it be to have Finn cash in on a battered Lesnar to reclaim his gold?
2. The Miz
Miz is an absolute workhorse for WWE. He is quite possibly the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time. He is the top heel on the entire WWE roster. He does movies, TV shows, what more do we need? The man 100% deserves another run with the WWE Championship. He could have some great matchups with AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy and maybe Cesaro if he ever makes the leap to the main event picture. How great would his inevitable feud with Daniel Bryan be if it were for gold? Picture this scenario: Daniel Bryan becomes the number-one contender down the line, maybe at Survivor Series he defeats Shinsuke Nakamura or Samoa Joe for the championship, only for Miz to cash in. It would be outstanding.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-kxxFjiD6s
1. Kofi Kingston
Try and tell me with a straight face that Kofi does not deserve a run with the WWE championship. You can’t do it. I, much like my colleague Chad Gelfand, would love to see Kofi pull down the briefcase. I also agree with Xavier Woods in that this man deserves a title run more than anyone else in the company. He has won the IC, U.S. and Tag Team Titles multiple times, and has been a part of multiple Money in the Bank matches as well. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.
It is time to make Kofi a grand slam winner. It looked like he was on his way to a big push in 2009, when he had a feud with Randy Orton. However, it is widely speculated that Orton squashed Kofi’s push after a botched ending to a match. You can see Orton yelling “STUPID” at Kofi before he pins him. I will never forgive Orton for this. Kofi was on fire and he gets put back to the midcard because he made a mistake? Give me a break. Give Kofi the case! As I said earlier, it will be really entertaining for The New Day to possess the MITB contract.
I would love for Kofi to get this opportunity, as he has been one of my favorite wrestlers for almost a decade now. Unfortunately, I just don’t see WWE pulling the trigger on this one. It is much more likely that Strowman, Samoa Joe or Finn wins. My official prediction is that Samoa Joe takes it home on Sunday. Just think of how much more the briefcase would mean to someone like Kingston. Come on, WWE, this is long overdue.
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