5 Wrestling Innovations That Did As Much Harm As Good
3. Money In The Bank
The Money In The Bank concept was - operative word - a triumph.
It allowed WWE to make use of rudderless midcard acts and headliners-in-waiting alike. The structure of the match itself practically guaranteed excitement, if not quality. Latter incarnations have suffered from a noticeable transparency - too often, two men exchange sequences with the ladder in the ring as the rest of the field sell past the point of credulity outside of it - but the insane stunts and bumps compensate for the inherent lack of believability.
Beyond the match itself, it offered WWE a shortcut to crown a new World Champion (and by that logic, a new headline act), and added an extra dramatic wrinkle to most title programmes. Thing is, WWE being WWE, the Edge formula was drilled into the ground. The returns of the legendary New Year's Revolution 2006 angle soon diminished.
The briefcase was thought to be a star-maker in itself, when in fact Edge had been positioned as a prospective headliner months before he was anointed as one. CM Punk later won it out of nowhere in 2008. Ditto Jack Swagger in 2010. The briefcase itself acted as a symbol of main event readiness, but WWE did not ready those stars for the main event. The Money In The Bank concept has really only acted as a platform for one new headliner. CM Punk did eventually become one (sort of - he rarely went on last) but the briefcase hindered his progress as much as it helped it.
The success of the multi-man singles format also enabled WWE to substitute the lowly Intercontinental Title as a prize, years later, at WrestleManias 31 and 32. Several men were not given a dedicated storyline, and were instead asked to risk serious injury for a meaningless trinket.