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Thanks to my buddy Virtue for the topic idea! Next weekend, the WWE will host yet another Money in the Bank Pay Per View. As I discussed in my last column, the Survivor Series show has been displaced as a "big" annual show for the WWE. However, the Money in the Bank show has quickly climbed up the WWE event ladder. Why? Well, Ladder Matches are possibly the best gimmick matches around. Then again, if that were the case, then why are the TLC Pay Per Views lacking as a draw? Oh, there's that briefcase... Winner of the Money in the Bank Ladder Match wins a briefcase that contains a contract to receive a WWE Title show whenever and anywhere they wish. Even after the current WWE Title holder just had a brutal match or as you just saw at Wrestlemania 31, during the match! Thus, this event has an added "sense of urgency"... In the majority of cases, the winner of the Money in the Bank match will become a future World Champion. In fact, only 2 wrestlers who have held the Money in the Bank briefcase (besides Kennedy, who lost the briefcase to Edge) did not become World Champions. John Cena for 2012 and Damien Sandow for 2013. Otherwise, it has been a virtual guarantee that the winner of the MITB match will become champion. HOWEVER - That does mean that winning the Money in the Bank briefcase guarantees that it will make and develop a successful champion. Why? Because only Rob Van Dam and John Cena announced their World Title challenges in advance. The rest of the briefcase winners have used opportunities, such as a wrestler finishing a brutal match, to cash-in. The "blood in the water" approach as the shark (MITB holder) usually cashes in when the WWE Title holder successful defends the title but is wounded from the match. While that might create a great MOMENT, it cheapens the WWE World Title(s). In the past, and you can watch this on your WWE Network, much of the great World Champions in the WWE started off (a) as midcarders and worked their way up to eventually earn (b) midcard titles based on growing fan reactions. They would hold that Intercontinental Title/US Title, maybe win it several additional times, until the (c) fan reaction is so loud that bookers have to consider a promotion. Then, the wrestler (d) chases the World Title and usually convinces bookers that they are ready for the promotion when they (e) have a HUGE main event match or series of matches that solidifies them as a top wrestler. Then, when the moment is right, (f) the #1 contendership is earned and (g) World Title is won in a big match. That simple... But the Money in the Bank briefcase skips MOST of those steps. Instant gratification is what the current WWE Creative Team has sought and it has hurt the business in terms of growing new stars. With time, Vince McMahon and his Executives (Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, and Kevin Dunn) have forgot how to run a professional wrestling company and have believed that a World Title can turn anybody into a main event drawing wrestler. In the majority of cases, the Money in the Bank cash-ins have not helped the wrestlers. In several cases, it has actually HURT the wrestlers long term. Others have bounced back but only from their own actions independent of the briefcase win. In fact, many consider CM Punk's first WWE Title victory that headlined the Money in the Bank 2011 event as far more legitimate of a win than his previous 2 Money in the Bank cash-ins where he actually won the World Heavyweight Championship twice. In fact, most forget those MITB induced title reigns for Punk. Let's evaluate each and every Money in the Bank winner and see how it affected their World Title reign immediately after cashing in and also their careers long-term. You'll see a pattern... 2005 - Edge - Edge was ready to be World Champion during 2002. I'll say it right there. He had a red hot angle with Kurt Angle that resulted in a classic "hair vs. hair" match which Angle lost cleanly. Edge was red hot and continued that momentum as one of the key members of the "Smackdown 6" that wrestled amazing matches night after night. His tag team work with Rey Mysterio was amazing. Then, Vince wanted Prince Albert to become a main eventer and forced the issue on Paul Heyman's booked Smackdown. Poor Edge had the task of making this future Lord Tensai wrestler look good. The injuries caught up to Edge and he was forced out with a neck injury. Edge came back, rebuilt his career, and won the 1st ever Money in the Bank. Because his World Title reign was long deserved and overdue, this winning was legitimate. Plus, he gets the benefit of being the FIRST to do the surprise cash-in. It was new, it was fresh, but it worked for Edge because his World Title reign was long overdue in my opinion. 2006 - Rob Van Dam - I wasn't crazy about Rob Van Dam winning this, as he just never felt like a Main Eventer in the WWE. He was great in ECW but his style and personality always seemed out of place in WWE. However, his victory was awesome because of how he cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase. Announcing weeks in advance, he was able to create HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE by determing where and when it would happen. The challenge would occur at ECW One Night Stand Pay Per View (before WWE tarnished the ECW brand) and the victory in that atmosphere was so sweet. In my opinion, this was the last truly great moment for the Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion and brand. Finally, one of their longtime guys was legitimized by a bigger company. IN MY OPINION, this was the best ever cash-in for the World Title. Home field advantage should be pushed harder in the WWE (sort of was for Punk, sort of is for Cena). 2007 - Kennedy - Mr. Kennedy got injured, thus Edge could defeat him and steal his briefcase to cash in later. Just added to Edge's many World Title reigns that he'd see for years to come. History makes it hard to dictate whether or not Kennedy could have been a decent World Champion or not. He had some momentum during 2007 but his work in TNA wrestling wasn't exactly mindblowing. However, that's TNA... The WWE machine could have molded him into a bigger star if he didn't get hurt. 2008 - CM Punk AND 2009 - CM Punk - We can lump these together. As I said above, do you remember these reigns? It's like every other WWE World Title win for Punk. He wins the title and then WWE doesn't do much with him. He's only allowed to beat certain wrestlers and WWE doesn't promote him strong as a main eventer. WWE never treated him like a top guy during 2008-2009 and thus the reigns fell short. He was ready to be champion during 2011 when he was getting over based on his contractual threats to leave the WWE. 2010 - Jack Swagger - How is this wrestler doing these days? Yep, thought so. This one was a complete rush job and Swagger remains one of the worst WWE World Champions date because of this early booking of him to be champion. Wish the guy the best, but WWE's overhyping of him and rushing him to the title did long term damage. When the WWE repackaged the guy and tried to have him challenge for Del Rio's World Heavyweight Title, nobody cared... 2010 - Kane - Kane was long overdue for a World Title reign after his brief 1998 reign. I guess this was a nice gesture, but Iittle too late. What about those 12 years in between? WWE damaged him with those Triple H feuds during 2002-2003 and they could have easily moved a credible Kane into Smackdown's void after Brock Lesnar left during 2004. 2010 - The Miz - As you can see now, he's forever stuck in the midcard. Some guys just don't have "it" to become Main Eventers. WWE management liked his US Title reign and thought it could translate into a successful WWE Title reign. In Miz's defense, he immediately feuded with a 60+ year old Jerry Lawler... But even getting some Wrestlemania rub from John Cena and the Rock couldn't help this guy. As you can see from the highly produced Titantron entrance and the many title shots/reigns he receives, WWE management still loves the guy. He just lacks that top drawing personality that fans want to pay to see. 2011 - Daniel Bryan - He was NOT ready to become Champion during 2011. It wasn't until 2012 when Bryan's personality started to shine through but for 2011, he was a midcarder who could put on great matches with not much else to offer. He was climbing the ladder when WWE Creative had him win the briefcase. Then, Bryan gets a cheap win over Big Show to steal the World Heavyweight Championship. However, his reign was treated as a joke and WWE Creative tried to flush him away when Sheamus destroyed Daniel Bryan in 18 seconds at Wrestlemania 28. 2011 - Alberto Del Rio - If Alberto Del Rio won the MITB briefcase for the Smackdown roster, he would have been fine. He was chasing the World Heavyweight Championship and came up short against Edge at Wrestlemania 27. Then, the WWE moved him to the RAW roster... With no real hype or heat on the RAW roster, WWE Creative pushed him hard and then made him win the briefcase on the same night that CM Punk won the WWE Title from John Cena at Money in the Bank 2011. Del Rio cashed in after CM Punk defeated John Cena again at SummerSlam 2011. Because Del Rio appeared to get in the way of CM Punk's booking momentum, his reign wasn't allowed to succeed. As WWE management kept screwing with CM Punk, fans turned on Del Rio as champion. Eventually, Del Rio dropped the WWE Title to CM Punk at Survivor Series 2011. Del Rio was damaged goods in the WWE after that. 2012 - Dolph Ziggler - Wins the briefcase and then the WWE spends much of 2012 and early 2013 jobbing him out. That's right folks, here's your future World Champion and we're going to make him lose repeatedly! His cash-in after Wrestlemania 28 was a nice moment but you knew that WWE Creative wouldn't take him seriously. Ziggler would suffer a nasty concussion that didn't let us see what could happen... Since Ziggler's return from injury, the booking has not been favorable to him and even hasn't been since his good Survivor Series 2014 moment. WWE has already moved on... 2012 - John Cena - Leave it to the top WWE superstar to become the 1st ever briefcase winner to NOT win a World Title after the cash-in. And Cena became only the 2nd guy ever to announce his title match at least 1 week in advance. 2013 - Damien Sandow - The "B+ Player" Money in the Bank Match from that year. Easily, the thinnest line-up fighting over the briefcase. But someone had to win... Sandow won and he cashed in against John Cena who was attacked on RAW. To Sandow's credit, he put on a good match with John Cena to make the most out of the opportunity. WWE, however, hasn't taken him seriously ever since and gave him multiple gimmicks afterward to get through and overcome. No way was he ready to hold a WWE World Title during 2013 and shouldn't have been given the briefcase. Just not ready... 2013 - Randy Orton - I saw the SummerSlam cash-in coming from a mile away, especially when Orton didn't have a match on that card. In this case here, long-term, this hurt Randy Orton because he was in the way of Daniel Bryan's momentum. It was clearly a WWE Management choice to have him win the briefcase and then overcome Daniel Bryan. WWE kept trying and trying with Randy Orton through Wrestlemania 30. Nothing... As strong of a push that Orton received during late 2013 and early 2014, what does he have to show for it? 2014 - Seth Rollins - The Shield break-up has helped Seth Rollins the most as his heel turn and change of scenery gave his heel character lots to work with. I thought it was a good win but as WWE Champion, he's struggling... BUT WWE Creative is doing him no favors. Seth Rollins, himself, confirmed that the Curb Stomp finisher was banned by the WWE. Then, he's been arguing with Kane and feuding with 2 stiffs in Randy Orton and Roman Reigns. Just not working out and RAW has been consistently under 4 million viewers during his reign. Not good. As you can see from the above cases, WWE Creative has (a) rushed wrestlers to the Money in the Bank briefcase too early, (b) botched the cash-in to actually hurt all wrestlers involved with credibility, and (c) poorly booked the new WWE World Champions afterward. In particular, Daniel Bryan in 2013 and CM Punk during 2011 got over with the fans first and then pretty much banged down the door to earn their World Titles. Winning the Money in the Bank briefcase and then getting "cheap" World Title victories did nothing for either guy long-term. It doesn't help that WWE already has credibility issues with their World Titles and other titles anyway. John Cena has 15 World Titles, Randy Orton has 12, and Edge had 11 title reigns. WWE has endured "title inflation" for about 15 years now. They struggle to tell fans how #1 contenders are made and often making up stuff on the fly. You'll tune into RAW and during the 1st hour, the 20 minute long interview to start the show announces a Fatal 4 way to main event RAW that determines the #1 contender for the following Pay Per View. Huh? Where's the build-up? Where's the anticipation? Where is my "sense of urgency" to want to tune in each and every week? While the anticipation of cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase is sort of nice, its use cheapens up the World Titles. And again, it doesn't help that WWE Creative poorly books the wrestlers afterward. It's like they realize that the winning wrestlers are NOT over after winning the World Title and they quickly show impatience. In my opinion, if we are to keep the Money in the Bank, I would rather see more scheduled cash-ins than surprise ones. Better yet, I have another stipulation to add to Money in the Bank... If a wrestler loses a singles match after winning the briefcase, they LOSE the briefcase. That way, the winner of the briefcase can string up some victories on their way to possibly becoming the WWE Champion. In addition, each match until they cash that briefcase in has a real "sense of urgency". Even better, the WWE could take the Edge/Kennedy approach and make the briefcase defended like a title. No non-title matches, either... That way, we can avoid the scenarios in which Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler were jobbed out repeatedly before they cashed in their briefcases. But just having BETTER BOOKING for any WWE Champion other than the "Class of 2002" beloved wrestlers (John Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar) would be a good idea. Seriously, Miz had to wrestle old man Jerry Lawler immediately after winning his first WWE Title. So.... That brings us to the 2015 Money in the Bank Ladder Match. According to WWE.com, here are the current participants: -Neville -Sheamus -Randy Orton -Roman Reigns -Kane -Dolph Ziggler -Kofi Kingston Are we sure that the Brand Extension hasn't returned? Looks like a Smackdown brand quality Money in the Bank... Ugh. In my humble opinion, NONE OF THE ABOVE should win the Money in the Bank briefcase. Sorry, but Randy Orton and Roman Reigns had multiple opportunities handed to them by WWE Creative. They stunk. Orton has had 12 World Title chances to draw... Did nothing. Roman Reigns just does not have the in-ring experience to excite a wider audience. He'll have to do 20 Superman punches just to get some kind of reaction. Dolph Ziggler has been "hot" and "cold" with WWE Creative for the past 4 years. After he won Survivor Series, Ziggler found his way in the doghouse and creative has trashed him ever since. Thus, I give up... Didn't Neville just debut recently? I know, he was added because he's a spot machine and he might look amazing in a Ladder Match. That's why Kofi Kingston was added despite having nothing in the recent storylines that would merit him this title shot opportunity. Neither guy has enough credibility in the midcard to even hold the US Title/Intercontinental Title at this point let alone possibly sniffing a World Title shot. Kane... The "Walking Glass Ceiling" continues to dominate on the WWE roster. I wouldn't doubt that Kane wins this and then threatens Seth Rollins repeatedly to take his WWE Title. But again, whatever. He's 48 years old, after all. And then there's one of Triple H's personal favorites, Sheamus. I have a bad feeling on this one... Like Randy Orton, this guy gets shot after shot despite fans struggling to accept them in the main event role. I often get Sheamus confused with Jack Swagger, Miz, and Alberto Del Rio as overpushed former Money in the Bank briefcase winners because Sheamus's overpushes feel like he's won a few briefcases. Instead, Sheamus doesn't need briefcases to get chance after chance since his debut. Just repeat pushes and repackaging. You can tell that the higher ups see all of the potential in the world in Sheamus and are probably upset at the fans rejecting him. None of these guys are presently worthy of the WWE Title. Who is? We could say John Cena but he's wrestling the WWE minor league champion, Kevin Owens. Before the internet gets huffy and puffy, NXT is the developmental system of the WWE and is therefore, the minor league of the WWE. Dean Ambrose is getting a WWE Title shot on the show. Where is Bray Wyatt? In my opinion, that's the best candidate to win a Money in the Bank briefcase. Why? The guy is a legitimate worker in BIG matches. His fictional character is holding him back along with inconsistent booking by WWE Creative. But in terms of appearing tough inside that ring, Wyatt has it. Rusev is injured... Bad luck. Ryback? Let him grow as Intercontinental Champion and then we'll see. Wade Barrett? That "King of the Ring" victory isn't doing much for him. He lost that "Bad News" momentum due to his last injury and time might have passed him by. Creative already appears bored of him. Hmmm... There is one way to salvage what appears to be a LACKLUSTER Money in the Bank match. Just hand a few thousand to a certain individual to make a special appearance. Granted, he's "suspended" according to the storylines, but WWE Creative has been wildly inconsistent on details before. In some ways, the WWE was hinting at this by having Paul Heyman on Steve Austin's podcast recently. WWE must have BROCK LESNAR win the 2015 Money in the Bank Ladder Match. Simply have Brock attack Neville or Kofi Kingston for their spot, intimidate someone at the Authority to reinstate him (maybe attack Kane during the match to force it?), and then Brock hits F5 after F5 to simply walk up the ladder and claim the briefcase. There you go... Problem solved for setting up SummerSlam 2015. Money in the Bank CAN be a good concept... But in my opinion, the WRONG wrestlers are given the briefcase and then POORLY booked afterward. The TIMING as to when the briefcase is cashed in can also improve. ------------------------------------------------------------- PHAT QUESTIONS Now that I'm putting questions/answers in my column, more questions are flowing in... Question #1: Should I invest in WWE Stock? First and foremost, you do what YOU want. Anytime you invest in the stock market, you invest at your own risk. Right now, the WWE Stock is holding just below $15 per share with $0.48 per share as a dividend (3.2% annual yield). In my opinion, there are better and more profitable stocks out there. That being said, WWE has such a stranglehold on the pro wrestling industry. TNA will be circling the drain soon and Ring of Honor won't grow by joining the Destination America channel along with TNA. Thus, the WWE's only risk is itself. For the past 2-3 years, WWE has absorbed higher expenses in order prepare and launch the WWE Network. Right now, WWE's subscriber base is at 1,000,000 and growing. They are breaking even and potentially about to churn out revenues. It could be a sweet spot to possibly buy the stock. WWE's 1st Quarter looked decent. For the future, WWE might be adding more exclusive live events to WWE Network and Smackdown will move to USA Network in the future. I could get into other economic stuff, such as discussing how the Federal Reserve is bluffing on raising interest rates (which will keep stocks high), but this is a wrestling column. Question #2: Should WWE have an Off-Season? WWE's revenue stream is highly dependent on Live Event and Television revenue. Thus, an off-season would be a financial disaster to the company. To give fans a break from the same old Cena/Orton main event scene, the WWE just needs to diversify itself by having a stronger Midcard with credible midcard titles. Thus, with a credible Intercontinental Title or US Title, you could headline RAW with a well hyped midcard title match. Problem is that WWE's midcard is awful and thus makes their product too dependent on the Main Event scene to always deliver. But have an off-season? That's not financially best for business. Question #3: Can Lana be a top WWE superstar on her own? Can she wrestle? Nope... So, I don't know. Having non-wrestling females on the WWE roster hasn't exactly been that profitable for the WWE lately unless then want to herd them into Playboy again. In my opinion, WWE broke up Lana and Rusev TOO EARLY. They could have gone on for years as a couple and Rusev could have slowly turned her babyface by berating her like Macho Man Randy Savage did with Miss Elizabeth. Instead, shortly after his feud with Rusev, problems arise... Reportedly, Vince McMahon is crazy high on Lana and sees mega bucks in her character. Again, we're in the PG Era WWE here in 2015. Unless the WWE is ready to strut her out there like Sable, Lana is going to struggle. Question #4: Do you believe that Steve Austin will wrestle at Wrestlemania 32? Yes I do. WWE has to do something special to fill Jerry Jones's stadium in Dallas, TX which I believe has a capacity of over 100,000. As I mentioned in another column, WWE needs something special to pull wrestling fans in. I seriously believe that we'll see both Rock and Steve Austin wrestling at this event. With it being in Texas, it's a perfect setting for Steve Austin. Austin NEVER got to say goodbye in the WWE ring. He was falling apart physically and personally through 2003 and couldn't leave on his terms. WWE has 2 huge wrestlers on their roster who have never wrestled Steve Austin in Brock Lesnar or John Cena. It just writes itself... $$$$$. In my opinion, John Cena is the better match-up and the safer one for a 51 year old Steve Austin to wrestle. Brock Lesnar could be too dangerous for Austin with the German Suplexes and the F5 rattling his older body. SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE! Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments. © Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2015
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