11 Things You Didn't Know About WWE Money In The Bank
4. Rob Valiant Dam
As mentioned, only one person has successfully cashed-in the briefcase in a valiant manner, and that person is Rob Van Dam. It is a moment that sticks in the memory, a rabid crowd cheering their hero to victory over the company man, a rebel getting his moment in the sun in front of an adoring faithful. Okay, Edge helped RVD defeat Cena, but that wasn’t RVD’s fault.
It remains the only time that a briefcase winner has announced the cash-in ahead of time, stuck to that decision, and come out a champion. A number of other babyface winners have named their date, but only RVD has been successful. John Cena was thwarted by Big Show interference back in 2012, while Braun Strowman saw Brock Lesnar ruin his chances in 2018. With Money in the Bank, it doesn’t pay to plan ahead.
It is somewhat surprising that WWE hasn’t utilised the announced cash-in on more occasions. Yes, the entire concept lends itself to an opportunistic babyface, but announcing a cash-in ahead of time provides the creative team with a championship story that writes itself.