1. Money In The Bank Doesn't Build Stars
WWE.comDespite being practically a dead cert for a title victory (until 2012, no one cashing in the briefcase had failed to win the title), championships arising from Money In The Bank wins have not traditionally resulted in long or distinguished title reigns. Edge held the title for 3 weeks and 2 months following his successful Money In The Bank cash-ins in 2006 and 2007, respectively. However, he stayed in the main event through hard work and sheer talent, capitalising on the increased profile hed gained. He was a genuinely hated heel his real life betrayal of best friend Matt Hardy helped cement that role with the crowd. Rob Van Dam might have held the WWE championship for longer than 3 weeks in 2006 had he not been arrested for drug possession a fortnight after beating John Cena for the title but probably not for that much longer. Money In The Bank didnt mean anything to Mr. Monday Night, though hed been due the main event in WWE for years, and was actually peaking in both popularity and in-ring ability when he was finally given the nod. CM Punks first Money In The Bank win saw him cash in on Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship a title he held for two months, never booked significantly, until losing it in a match he wasnt even considered worth booking in (he was knocked out backstage and replaced by Chris Jericho, who won the title). His second run the following year was slightly more significant, but really only because he turned heel (for the first time) against Jeff Hardy in the process, leading to his most important feud in the company so far. A natural heel, Punk would feud over the World Heavyweight Championship with first Hardy, then Undertaker for four months. However, neither angle really required the title to make it work, and Punk was booked to appear easily the Dead Mans inferior. CM Punks two Money In The Bank wins are memorable for being consecutive wins at Wrestlemania, but not for much else the man would have found a way to the top with or without the briefcase. Weve discussed the car crash booking surrounding the 2010 Money In The Bank matches elsewhere. However, its worth nothing that lame ducks Kane and the Miz held their respective championships for five months each. Presumably WWE had noticed that the rub that came with winning the ladder match tended to evaporate the second the briefcase transformed into a title belt. However, the following year the situation had returned to normal, with Daniel Bryans 3 month title reign being memorable only for his heel turn and subsequent 18 second title loss to Sheamus at Wrestlemania XXVIII. Meanwhile, Alberto Del Rios MITB win served purely to set him up as the foil to keep John Cena and CM Punk apart in the closing months of 2011, when he was finally to drop the title to Punk to usher in the longest running WWE Championship reign of the last twenty-five years. Dolph Ziggler was so popular during the 9 months that he held the briefcase that he briefly became a main event level babyface without actually turning when the post-Wrestlemania Raw crowd popped hugely for his World Heavyweight Championship win. Sadly half of his two-month title reign saw him on the bench due to a nasty concussion, and it appears that WWE are loath to push a man that they consider so fragile. Whatever the case, its clear that Ziggler got over through hard work and a connection with the crowd, and certainly not through possession of the MITB briefcase, let alone the abortive title reign that followed. To complete the round-up, Cena lost his MITB title match, as did Sandow, and Orton, an established star, may as well not have had the briefcase at all for all the importance it had in the Authority/Daniel Bryan angle. Only three previous winners of the Money In The Bank ladder match have become genuine stars afterwards: Edge, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. You would be hard-pressed to build an argument that the briefcase and subsequent title reigns were star-making moments in and of themselves for Bryan or Punk. Edge, the original King Of Money In The Bank, is the only person whose rise to the top is synonymous with the briefcase; and it can easily be argued that he worked more to get the briefcase over than the briefcase did him. All of which proves one thing to us, something that flies in the face of conventional wisdom winning the Money In The Bank briefcase does
not put you on the fast track to stardom, and has
not, historically, built WWEs biggest stars of the last decade.
What do you think? Are you looking forward to Money In The Bank 2014, or has the gimmick lost its shine for you? Tell us all about it in the comments!