WWE: 8 Things You Might Not Remember About Money In The Bank
Not all winners have been a success.
WWE.comThe Money In The Bank match and the resulting Mr. Money In The Bank briefcase have been fixtures in the WWE for a decade now. Fourteen WWE superstars have won the match, and fourteen WWE superstars have cashed in the briefcase and accompanying contract for a main event title shot, with varying degrees of success, fame and fortune as a result. But what do you really know about the Money In The Bank ladder match? In celebration of the fifth Money In The Bank pay per view coming up this Sunday, heres a few highlights, lowlights, key statistics and analysis that may surprise you about one of the most popular events in the WWE calendar 8. Chris Jericho Invented The Money In The Bank Ladder Match?
WWE.comIts one of those little bits of received wisdom thats been passed around wrestling fans for a decade now: Y2J himself, Chris Jericho, came up with the idea of the Money In The Bank match. Its true that on Monday Night RAW on 28th February 2005, Chris Jericho pitched the idea of a Wrestlemania ladder match in an in-ring promo, which the next week General Manager Eric Bischoff was to accept and officially make the match for Wrestlemania 21 a month later. Jericho claimed that he wanted to be a part of history, and suggested a six-man ladder match be added to the card and so the Money In The Bank match was born. But did The Ayatollah Of Rock N Rollah actually invent the match itself? No, of course not, and the real life Chris Irvine confirms this in the second volume of his wrestling memoirs, Undisputed. Discomfited that Wrestlemania was fast approaching and there were no decent plans for him, Jericho called RAW head writer Brian Gerwitz, who excitedly told him all about the proposal he was working on for a Hollywood Dream ladder match. Gerwitz initial plan was that the match would star Rob Van Dam, Kane, Christian, Edge, Shelton Benjamin and Chris Benoit and now, Jericho himself - and that the winner would get his own personal WWE dream fulfilled, like rubbing a magic lamp and getting a wish. The idea was that RVD would win and wish for the return of ECW. WWE had acquired everything to do with the defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling two years earlier, and the unexpected and massive popularity of the ECW merchandise theyd produced (including the Rise And Fall Of ECW DVD documentary) had them exploring ways of bringing back the brand on WWE programming. In the end, this was to lead to the two highly successful One Night Stand pay-per-views, and eventually WWEs own anaemic third-brand version of the promotion, ECW on the Sci-Fi cable channel. A few days later, Gerwitz called Jericho again and confirmed that Vince McMahon hated the Hollywood Dream gimmick, but was up for booking the match if a less ridiculous prize was at stake. Jericho suggested that the winner of the match got a title shot the next night on RAW, Gerwitz amended it to within a year of winning, and McMahon himself added the idea of the prized briefcase, as they clearly needed something to be hanging above the ring for there to be a point in having the ladder match in the first place. So there you have it. Y2J certainly had a hand in the development of the match, but the idea came from collaboration between himself, the WWEs head writer and the boss, with arguably the lions share of the credit belonging to Gerwitz.