10 WWE Money In The Bank Winners & Their King Of The Ring Counterparts
3. Edge (2005) & Stone Cold Steve Austin (1996)
After meddling in the mid-card for many years, Edge and Stone Cold Steve Austin used their respective Money In The Bank and King Of The Ring victories as launching pads into the main event. Each man challenged for their first WWE Championship within a year of these two accomplishments and never looked back.
Edge won the first ever Money In The Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 21 in 2005 and cashed in at New Year's Revolution 2006. Steve Austin became the 1996 King Of The Ring, thanks in part to the MSG Curtain Call, and was a main-eventer by the following Spring. Austin 3:16 had arrived.
Post-2005, Edge appeared in WWE or World Heavyweight Championship matches at WrestleManias XXIV, XXV, XXVI, and XXVII before retiring due to neck injuries. Stone Cold, who also had his career shortened due to a bad neck, headlined WrestleManias XIV, XV, and X-Seven. That's a combination of 7 WrestleMania WWE title matches between the two WWE superstars.
Aside from their accomplishments in the main event following a successful mid-card career, Austin and Edge used the King Of The Ring and Money In The Bank exactly as they were drawn up - to catapult them to the very top.