Analyzing Each Potential WWE Money In The Bank 2017 Winner
3. Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn is one of the best workers in the company. His selling and earnest demeanor makes him the perfect underdog babyface. Him winning the Money in the Bank briefcase would be akin to Daniel Bryan’s victory in 2011.
If Sami won, the fans would eat it up. In last year’s Money in the Bank match, the crowd went absolutely mental when he came within inches of winning. They would be behind him in a heartbeat, and his cash-in would likely be met with rapturous applause, especially if it was against someone like Baron Corbin or even Kevin Owens.
The idea of Money in the Bank is to give a boost to someone just at the cusp of stardom, and Zayn is a perfect candidate in that respect.
The cons that come with Sami’s potential victory lie mainly with how WWE would portray him. Having a face win Money in the Bank is tricky, because unless there’s poetic justice in the cash-in (see: Dean Ambrose), ultimately, you have a good guy performing the cowardly act of striking on a prone champion. Of course, they could always have Sami announce his cash-in prior to the match a la RVD or John Cena, but those are the only times in the 12-year history of the briefcase that has occurred.
Really, the concern lies in the fact that WWE likely wouldn’t make Sami look credible as Mr. Money in the Bank. Given his underdog appeal, they try to do what they think constitutes an underdog, but usually, that means losing constantly and looking like a kid at the adults’ table. You see, in WWE’s mind, us viewers can’t relate to someone who’s confident and good at things. Our personal avatars have to be losers who look like chumps (see also: Bayley).
Now obviously, this is a very doom and gloom, and if Sami does win the match, yours truly would be very happy to be proven wrong by WWE. Sami’s not the most likely to win the briefcase, but given he’s one of the three men in the match who’s not a former world champion, and since SmackDown is in desperate need of new main-eventers, that gives him a better chance.