10 WWE Stars Who Should Have Won Money In The Bank

Before Kofi Kingston earned the reputation as the most dynamic and inventive force in Money in the Bank history, someone else held that crown.

If there is any one superstar who had the athletic skills to become a franchise player for WWE, it was Shelton Benjamin. A former collegiate wrestler whose amateur skills were second only to those of Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle, Benjamin was an immensely talented in-ring performer.

He was never quite able to get his personality across with audiences, though, until he let his actions speak for him in the inaugural Money in the Bank match.

He ran the rungs of the ladder and caught Edge with a wicked clothesline. He used one of the weapons as a catapult. At WrestleMania XXV, with the eyes of the wrestling world on him, he executed an incredibly dangerous senton off the top of a ladder, falling short of his opponents and crashing into the arena floor.

His stunts featured a high probability of danger and pain, but he executed them anyway because it was the one instance where he could prove to the fans, to management and to any doubters that he had a certain in-ring charisma that could not be manufactured through promos.

Unfortunately, he never had the chance to carry briefcase and gain any momentum that would have come with it. In the end, his inability to cut a convincing, Vince McMahon-style promo doomed him to mediocrity and cost him the opportunity to be a heavyweight champion.