Tomorrow night is the Money in the Bank Pay-Per-View. I would like to take this time to reflect on the past winners of Money in the Bank and how the effect the cash-ins had on their careers.
Edge won the first Money in the Bank ladder match at Wrestlemania 21. He cashed in on John Cena at New Year’s Revolution in 2006 to win his first WWE Championship. He lost it back to Cena three weeks later, but his win put him in the main event picture for the rest of his career. Edge was money.
RVD was the second winner, he also cashed in on Cena, at ECW One Night Stand in 2006. He defeated Cena to win his first WWE Title. He lost in three weeks later after being caught with weed and suspended for 30 days. I would say he was cursed, but from what I remember reading at the time, he was going to lose the title to Edge soon enough regardless. I would say he’s a split because it was a good feel good moment, even if he didn’t have a long reign.
The third winner, Mr. Kennedy won the briefcase at Wrestlemania 23. He said he was going to cash in at Wrestlemania 24, but that didn’t happen. He got injured and lost the briefcase to Edge, who went on the cash it in on The Undertaker and win his first World Heavyweight title. Kennedy was definately cursed because his career never fully recovered from this point through his release in 2009.
CM Punk’s first Money in the Bank win was more of him being the benefit of circumstance, seeing has how it’s been made known that Jeff Hardy was supposed to win that match, but he got suspended before Wrestlemania 24, thus giving Punk the victory. Punk cashed in on Edge to win his first World Heavyweight TItle, but was just a guy stuck in the middle of the card holding the belt. When the title was taken off him, he was still in the mid-card, so nothing changed. I would say curse here because his win didn’t change his placement on the card.
Punk’s second Money in the Bank victory is a different story. He defeated Jeff Hardy and turned heel on his second cash in. This propelled him the main event level and he became the star of Smackdown for months. He lost the title to The Undertaker, but he didn’t fall back into the mid-card. Cash-in number two for Punk was money.
Jack Swagger won the Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania 26, and cashed in on Chris Jericho five days later to win his first World Heavyweight title. His reign was far from memorable and a year later Michael Cole even said about Swagger, “Nobody even remembers him being a World Champion.” Swagger is a former World Champion, but his win cursed him because he didn’t have a memorable reign, and never really got back to the main event level.
In 2010, WWE took the Money in the Bank ladder match off of Wrestlemania and created the Money in the Bank Pay-Per-View. Kane won the briefcase for the World Heavyweight Title and cashed in on Rey Mysterio to win the World Heavyweight Title. It was a legit title reign that Kane deserved and kept the title relevant. Kane was money. The Miz won the Raw briefcase and cashed in on Randy Orton to win his first and only to date WWE Championship. His reign lasted 151 days, but he was basically an afterthought the whole time. He went back to the mid-card level not long after he lost the title and remains there to this day. Miz was cursed.
In 2011, Daniel Bryan won the World Heavyweight Title shot and Alberto Del Rio won the WWE TItle shot. Del Rio was the first of the two to cash in, at Summerslam on CM Punk. Del Rio then lost the title to Cena the next month, won it back from him, then lost it to Punk. I would say Del Rio was more cursed than money because while he did go on the win the World Heayweight Title twice, he never got back to the main event level completely. Daniel Bryan cashed in on Big Show to win his first World Title, but lost to Sheamus in 18 seconds. That loss was supposed to bury Bryan, but it actually started the Yes Movement, therefore I would say Bryan was money.
In 2012, John Cena and Dolph Ziggler were the Money in the Bank winners. Cena cashed in on Punk the next week, but didnt win the title because the match ended by DQ. I would put N/A here because Cena only won the set-up the match with put, therefore you can’t say he was money or cursed. Dolph on the other hand suffered a concussion shortly after he cash-in and lost the title in his first defense. He has yet to recover from this, but still remains over, but still, I say Dolph was cursed.
In 2013, Damien Sandow and Randy Orton won the Money in the Bank ladder matches. Orton cash-in successfully at Summerslam and later became the first WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Orton was money. Sandow became the first superstar to cash-in and lose the match. He he failed to really be relevant since. Sandow was definately cursed.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKty_uXHFtM[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18gcO4Rtr5E[/youtube]
With only one title now, it’s going to be harder for someone to be successful coming out of Money in the Bank. It helped more people get to the World Title level, rather than the WWE Title. With only one title, the list of credible contender’s is small and no matter who wins the match for the briefcase, I don’t see any of them winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the next year. That somewhats curses the money in the bank as a whole. Hopefully it will be a good show though.
Until next time, watch out for cursed money,
-Nick
