10 Great Matches That Inadvertently Ruined Wrestling
3. Money In The Bank Ladder Match - WWE WrestleMania 21
The Money In The Bank ladder match concept was utterly brilliant - note the use of past tense.
It allowed WWE the luxury of grouping together main event prospects, tired veterans and aimless midcard acts alike into a bulletproof stunt match that guaranteed both quality and, in theory (and initially in practise) a new main event act.
The returns diminished, as they often do in wrestling. WWE misread Edge's initial smash success as the Ultimate Opportunist as if the briefcase he held possessed magical properties, allowing all who held it a literal ticket to main event stardom. Rob Van Dam's chances went up in smoke (ahem), but WWE at least had the nous to have him announce his title shot in advance. CM Punk's babyface character was allowed no such protection in 2008. He looked like a weakling when he cashed in on Edge.
Soon, WWE couldn't even bother itself with using the briefcase to fortify the men who held it. It was instead used as a building block unto itself. Jack Swagger's powerfully terrible 2010 World Heavyweight Title run indicted the trope as a shoddy creative shortcut. Match quality degenerated in parallel with the briefcase's prestige; the (still exciting) match became synonymous with total over-selling and contrived spots of oneupmanship.
In 2017, it is still utilised as a makeweight. Current holder Baron Corbin has a dire record against Sami Zayn, but it's apparently fine because he has it. That's not really how it works, but there you go.