10 Best Money In The Bank Cash-Ins Ever

One of the most exciting WWE matches of the year - maybe even more so than the Royal Rumble - is the annual Money in the Bank ladder match. Not only is it invariably an action-packed contest (multiple-man ladder matches always are), but the implications are clear - whichever superstar wins is just about sure to be a world champion within the coming year.

So far, six of seven men have qualified for this year's match on June 19 - Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Dean Ambrose, Cesaro, and Alberto Del Rio. Though it's hard to tell who's going to win (especially given that the last man hasn't been determined), a lineup like that suggests it will be one of the best MITB matches yet.

Still, even more exciting than the bout itself is the cash-in: over the course of the last decade-plus, 16 wrestlers have cashed in their Money in the Bank briefcases for shots at either the WWE or World Heavyweight Titles. The matches have usually been impromptu, and they've always been as high-stakes as it gets. Still, some have transcended even the excitement of the situation itself, becoming some of the most memorable moments in recent company history.

Here are the top 10 Money in the Bank cash-ins of all time...

Honorable Mention - Damien Sandow

The recently-released Damien Sandow's WWE career will be remembered for Sandow's considerable talent being met with botched company execution. This was in greater evidence than his Money in the Bank cash-in.

Sandow won the World Heavyweight Title briefcase at the 2013 Money in the Bank show, but his victory was basically a backdrop for a split with tag team partner Cody Rhodes. Rhodes turned face and won their subsequent feud, leaving Sandow looking like a bit of a lame duck with the briefcase.

With WWE deciding to unify the world titles later in 2013, they put the World Heavyweight Championship on John Cena and had to get Sandow's challenge out of the way before Cena's unification showdown with Randy Orton. Needless to say, that didn't work out too well for 'The Intellectual Savior of the Unwashed Masses'. He was defeated by Cena, becoming only the second Money in the Bank winner to fail to become champion.

Still, Sandow played his role so well that it could have been a win for him in the long run, had the company followed through. He confronted Cena, who had recently come back from an arm injury, and threatened the champ, but said he would cash in another time. He started to leave, but then attacked Cena, slamming the briefcase into his arm, smashing it on the steel steps.

Sandow proceeded to cash in and have a great match with Cena, though he ultimately fell to an Attitude Adjustment. Even so, his performance was superstar-level and he would later reflect on how proud he was of it.

Few eventual headlining WWE superstars have had as much difficulty reaching the top of the company as Daniel Bryan. At 2011's Money in the Bank event (one of the best shows in WWE history), Bryan won the World Heavyweight Title MITB match in a great bout, but according to later reports, he was originally supposed to be the first man to cash in his briefcase and fail to win the title.

At the TLC Pay-Per-View in December of that year, WWE's decision-makers changed their minds. The day of the show, they decided that they wanted to put Bryan over for the title that very evening, and so they contacted the future legend and told him the new plan. Bryan wasn't even at the show, but he was doing an appearance close enough that he could make it there in time.

In the event's World Heavyweight Title match, The Big Show defeated Mark Henry to capture the belt. Immediately afterwards though, Henry gave Show a DDT onto a steel chair. That brought out Bryan - who had been portrayed as Show's friend on TV - with his briefcase. He cashed it in, flipped Show on his back, and pinned him to win the belt.

The crowd went crazy for Bryan, but that was only the beginning of the story. By turning on his friend, Bryan had planted the seeds for a heel turn. Within a month, he was the most entertaining bad guy on WWE's roster, and his road to superstardom had begun.