The story has been told a million times before, but the origins of the Money In The Bank Ladder Match carried a very simple premise. It was a vehicle to get a bunch of talented performers on the WrestleMania 21 card that didn’t otherwise have a way of getting there. It’s a necessary evil in wrestling sometimes. Not every wrestler can have a nice, juicy storyline they can sink their teeth into at all times, so there’s going to be times when the “creative has nothing for you” line gets used. That’s unfortunate at any point in the year, but for a WWE wrestler heading into WrestleMania, that’s quite the kick in the dick/slam in the clam.
Because it’s “easy” to write for the main event scene, this allowed for many midcard and rising stars to be placed in the early versions of Money In The Bank. Creating new main event stars was a great added bonus to the match.
Edge? He won the first Money In The Bank shot and cashed it in to win his first World Title.
Rob Van Dam? He cashed his shot in to win the WWE Title, with the company finally taking advantage of his popularity and pulling the trigger on pushing him to the top.
CM Punk? Jack Swagger? The Miz? Daniel Bryan? Dolph Ziggler? They all owe their main event stints to Money In The Bank.
Every year, it seemed like we were getting a new main event star created with the match. It was wonderful. Then, at some point, the focus of the match began to shift a bit. We started to get winners like John Cena, Randy Orton, Sheamus, and Brock Lesnar. You know… people who have won a million World Titles in their career without the need for Money In The Bank to catapult them to the top. The shift wasn’t happening every year, but it was definitely something that you would notice when you looked at the yearly results from the past and then the present.
I love the format of the match being used to create new stars. Money In The Bank, like the Royal Rumble match, is a wonderful way to elevate someone to the upper tier. I’m not saying it should be that way, without fail, every single year, but I think it is something that should be utilized more often than not.
So what about this year?
When I look up and down the WWE roster, there are definitely some names that could use the boost that would come from winning Money In The Bank. I figure this is as good a time as any to discuss some of those names. This isn’t about predicting who will win Money In The Bank this year, so don’t hold me to any of this. By the time this column gets posted, some of the names on this list may have already qualified for Money In The Bank. There may also be names that have already lost their qualifying matches, but as we’ve seen in the past, there will probably be “second chance” qualifiers, which means they won’t be completely out of the running yet. Also, the list will be in alphabetical order, not order of who I think needs it most, who is most likely to win, and so on.
Butch: When it comes to pure in-ring skills, the Artist-Formerly-Known-As-Pete-Dunne is about as good as they come. This whole Butch gimmick is… something. I will say this, though… there could be some entertaining television with Butch in possession of the Money In The Bank briefcase. He’s already out of control as it is, so can you imagine Sheamus and Ridge Holland trying to reign him in as he tries to cash in on any and everyone, whether they’re a champion or not? On the flip side of things, this would also be a great opportunity to turn him back into more of the Pete Dunne character, minus the name. A more focused and serious Butch, biding his time and waiting to cash in, could be a lot of fun to see.
Chad Gable: At one point, there didn’t appear to be a chance in hell that Chad Gable could ever be considered as a Money In The Bank winner. Then, somewhere along the way, things finally began to click. He found a gimmick that seemed to work. There was more mic time, allowing him to build that part of his character. He was involved in longer matches, whether they were wins or losses. The man even got to team with Otis and have a two-month reign as a Raw Tag Team Champion. He has been able to hold his own in the ring with the likes of Randy Orton, Riddle, The Usos, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Rey Mysterio, and more. If you place him in the main event scene, he’s going to be able to “go” with anyone he’s in the ring with. That part isn’t going to be a problem. He went through a bunch of nonsense after American Alpha and before his pairing with Otis, so it would take a lot of effort to make him “believable” in the eyes of many WWE fans. Of course, winning Money In The Bank goes a long way in doing that all by itself.
Damian Priest: This entry would’ve been different a week or two ago, before the angle where Judgment Day attacked Edge and replaced him with Finn Balor. With Edge as the group leader, and with Priest as the Money In The Bank winner, that would be an easy story to write where either Priest or Edge could turn face down the road. That story isn’t quite so easy to tell with Balor, unless you’re going to do the long-term thing and have Priest hold the briefcase for nearly the entire year. Priest has done very well for himself since being called up from NXT. Good matches, most of which have been given a very good amount of time. A very protected finisher. The longest United States Title reign since Dean Ambrose was the champion for nearly a full calendar year in 2013-2014. He could be a very good choice here.
Doudrop: I think we’ve all moved on from the hopes that the Doudrop name would be dropped, right? Even with the silly name, her character has taken a much more serious turn, which should probably help her out a lot. She’s someone that is in the next-in-line group of women on the roster that are just waiting to reach the top tier. For the love of Joe Pesci, though… if she wins Money In The Bank, keep her as far away from Bianca Belair as physically possible. After losing approximately 274 consecutive matches to Bianca, she’d probably still be viewed as the underdog, even with the briefcase.
Gunther: I don’t know about you, but I think there is MONEY to be had in Gunther taking on people like Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar at the top of the WWE card. Recent reports have said that Gunther has been making fans of WWE management due to his willingness to move to the United States, get into better physical condition, and to do whatever has been asked of him without complaint. Sure enough, he then went out and won the Intercontinental Title right away. Winning that title shouldn’t have to mean he’s out of the running for Money In The Bank. It might, of course, as a title defense could be on the MITB card, but then again… this is the Intercontinental Title we’re talking about here. In an amazing stat, the Intercontinental Title has not been defended on pay-per-view since WrestleMania 37, when Big E dropped it to Apollo Crews in a Nigerian Drum Fight. That was 14 months ago!!! Will Gunther give a boost to the prestige of the title? That remains to be seen, but if we’re going to continue the streak of not having it defended on pay-per-view, that certainly blows the door wide open for Gunther as a favorite in Money In The Bank. With the winner having a full year to cash in, he can keep it and defend his championship without any issues.
Liv Morgan: At this point, she has to be the sentimental favorite to win the briefcase, and she might even be the betting favorite, too. She has continued to improve in the ring, and it has translated into bigger matches and bigger spotlights for her. With an 0-7 record in title matches (singles and tag) on television and pay-per-view, it might be time for WWE to shit or get off the pot when it comes to really and truly pushing her. This is the time that makes the most sense, in my opinion. As an added bonus, she’s going to give Vince McMahon the “moment” that he craves so much. She gets so emotional when her matches are over, and has cried on numerous occasions. Can you imagine the tears that will be shed if she pulls that briefcase down and becomes the Money In The Bank winner? She’ll probably bawl like a baby.
Madcap Moss: Not that long ago, he was one-half of the most annoying act in all of wrestling, right up there as one of the most annoying acts in wrestling history. Since then, he’s had a face turn, a gimmick change (albeit to something of a gimmick-less thing), a new look, and it is rumored that a new, shortened name could be on the way. Is that a sign of bigger and brighter things in Madcap’s future? I think so. Could that list of bigger and brighter things include winning Money In The Bank? We might need to pump our brakes on that. It wouldn’t shock me or anything. I just think it would be a huge jump right now. While we’re on the subject of a huge jump…
Mustafa Ali: Can you imagine how shocking it would be for Ali to win Money In The Bank? He has a 2-6 record on television and pay-per-view since returning from his lengthy hiatus, and one of those wins was by disqualification. When you remove his match at Hell In A Cell, Ali’s matches on Raw have averaged 3:47 since returning. He hasn’t won two consecutive televised singles matches since the end of 2020, and those matches were nearly two months apart. Go ahead and ask when he last won three consecutive televised singles matches. The answer is… never. As talented as he is… to go from everything I just described to winning Money In The Bank would be one of the biggest leaps in the history of the business. It would be great to see him pushed and treated as a legitimate contender. I’m just saying that if you’re predicting him to win here, and then it actually happens, you’ll want to go right out and buy lottery tickets, because you’re about to become stupid rich.
Raquel Rodriguez: Now we’re back on track. There is more depth in a rain puddle than there is in the WWE women’s division right now. The company is desperate for someone new to push to the top. Raquel brings something different to the table, and she can be almost everything Vince McMahon could want in a woman that represents his company. Smackdown, specifically, is in need of top shelf challengers for Ronda Rousey, and we’ve already seen Ronda and Raquel battle it out. Raquel was allowed to look really good in her initial loss, but it makes for intriguing potential matches in the future. It’s one thing when a smaller, “underdog” wrestler wins the briefcase and basically stalks the champion(s) for a while. However, it’s an entirely different thing when a larger, “monster” wrestler wins the briefcase. Even if Raquel remains a face, she is a terrifying presence with that briefcase in her hands, taking up residence in the heads of the Raw and Smackdown Women’s Champions until she makes a decision on what she wants to do with her title shot.
Ricochet: Here’s someone who seemingly gets a bit of a push every so often, only for that push to fizzle out and disappear out of nowhere. He has been the Intercontinental Champion once and the United States Champion once since being called up from NXT a little more than three years ago. There were also feuds for both the Raw and Smackdown Tag Team Titles, and even had a WWE Title shot against Brock Lesnar at Super Showdown in February 2020. That makes him a lot more successful than many other wrestlers that you might automatically group him in with. Because of that, he’s a lot closer to this level than one might think. He remains very popular with live audiences, and for good reason. His offense is about as exciting as it gets. It’s exactly the type of offense that really gets to shine in Money In The Bank matches. Let’s be real… we’ve seen crazier things than Ricochet being pushed to the top.
Sami Zayn: Sami has shined, and shined brightly, with everything he has been given in WWE. Heel, face, champion, challenger, contender, jobber, with Kevin Owens, without Kevin Owens… it doesn’t matter. There is a lot to be said about wrestlers like that. Vince McMahon notices it. His current storyline, where it was revealed that he’s actually second cousins with Roman Reigns and The Usos (they’re my cousins, too, so I can verify this), makes this choice a lot more interesting than it might otherwise be. You can already picture the segments on television with Sami carrying the briefcase around and still trying to kiss up to Roman, Jimmy, and Jey. While I enjoy Sami’s work as a heel, you can’t deny the super pop that he would/could get if he eventually stands up for himself and cashes in on Roman at some point. Just throwing that out there.
Shinsuke Nakamura: I know, I know… we’ve been down this road before. Nakamura stays over, earns an invitation to the top of the card, fans rejoice, he gets his title shot(s), and then… nothing comes of it. If Nakamura were to win Money In The Bank, there’s a pretty good chance we could see that happen again. He’s still someone you have to mention at times like this, though. The man remains one of the more popular performers on the WWE roster. That means you can’t ignore the pop that he’d get by winning here. On top of that, we’ve already had a match with Nakamura and Roman Reigns teased. If you’re going to continue with that, Money In The Bank would be a good way to further the story.
Shotzi: To say she’s had a weird run on the main roster would be an understatement. She showed up in a tag team with Tegan Nox, but each of them lost half of their name upon their debuts. They started off hot, winning three straight non-title matches against the Women’s Tag Team Champions at the time, Natalya and Tamina. They never received a title shot, though, and the team was split up in the WWE Draft. As a singles competitor, Shotzi hasn’t exactly had the same level of success that she had with Nox. In fact, Shotzi hasn’t really won anything since her pairing with Nox was split up. Singles matches? Lost all six of them over the last eight months. Tag matches? Lost the one she’s been involved in. Six-woman tag matches? Lost the one she’s been in. Survivor Series elimination matches? Lost the one she was in. Royal Rumble matches? Wasn’t a winner there. Six-Pack Challenge? Lost that one, too. Dark matches? Lost all three of them that she wrestled in. House show matches? Huzzah! She’s been in 12 of them, and she has precisely one victory… over Xia Li. So, if you were in attendance at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland on December 29th of last year, know that you witnessed history. Nothing has made any sense since she left NXT, so it would almost be fitting if she won Money In The Bank out of nowhere, wouldn’t it? She’s unpredictable to begin with, but that would only get amplified with the briefcase in her possession. That can make her dangerous to Ronda Rousey.
Theory: In the Gunther entry, I talked about being a midcard champion and possibly already having a match on the Money In The Bank card. You could say the same thing about Theory here. The only difference is that, in the 14 months since the Intercontinental Title has been defended on pay-per-view, the United States Title has been defended three times. Still a sad stat, but still an improvement. I’ve seen a lot of theories (pun intended) about what could happen with Theory over the next few weeks. Some people think he’ll be the United States Champion when Money In The Bank rolls around with no defenses on the show. Others think he’ll drop the title to Bobby Lashley before then, or even at the show. Some think he’ll be facing John Cena that night, champion or otherwise. Sure, there are a lot of potential hurdles in the way of Theory being in the Money In The Bank match, let alone winning it, but do not ever… ever… EVER… underestimate being one of Vince McMahon’s favorite wrestlers. This is the career success that I was telling everyone Theory was looking at having several years ago. If there’s anything I’m good at, it’s looking to the future when it comes to prospects in wrestling, football, basketball, and baseball.
Xavier Woods: I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating here. Kofi Kingston won the WWE Title in 2019. Big E won the WWE Title in 2021. When Big E won the title, I half-jokingly said to pencil Xavier Woods in for a WWE Title reign in 2023. Well… here we are, halfway through 2022, and like E before him, Woods has a chance to elevate himself to the main event at Money In The Bank. That’s a pretty easy story to tell, especially with the added emotional aspect of Big E breaking his neck and having his career threatened because of it. When he has been asked to perform as a singles competitor, he has done very well for himself, including… an entertaining match on Smackdown with none other than Roman Reigns himself last November. Keep that in mind.
As you could tell because his name kept coming up, Roman Reigns is the important thing to remember when it comes to this year’s Money In The Bank winner. In a normal year, the winner had two champions to choose from. This year, there might only be the one champion, and that champion hasn’t lost a singles match by pin or submission since TLC 2019 when he lost to King Corbin (there’s a trivia answer for you) in a TLC Match. Winning Money In The Bank in a normal year means that you’re viewed in a certain light, both by WWE management and the WWE Universe. How are you viewed this year? If, for example, Xavier Woods wins this year, how will he be viewed as a contender to Roman Reigns, even with the nature of briefcase cash-ins? That alone makes this, arguably, the most interesting year for the men’s Money In The Bank match that we’ve ever seen.
What say you, ReaderLand? Who do you think wins this year’s Money In The Bank matches? Not only that, but who do you think needs the win the most, even if they’re not who you think gets that win? As always, hit me up in the comments section below, or on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), and let me know what’s on your mind.
Weekly Power Rankings
- AJ Styles vs Seth Rollins: A WrestleMania-worthy matchup, featuring two of the best in-ring workers of the last 20 years, and a spot in the Money In The Bank Ladder Match on the line. Was there ever any doubt that this would be really good?
- Drew McIntyre vs Sheamus: Speaking of things that were never in any doubt, these two had one helluva physical match. It’s always crazy to watch them try to beat the shit out of each other.
- Jon Moxley vs Kyle O’Reilly: Look, I like Kyle O’Reilly and all, but nobody on the planet thought he had any chance of winning this. We were right. The match itself was really good, to the surprise of nobody, but I just wish the winner of the Casino Battle Royale would’ve been someone with a little more chance to beat Moxley. Then again… based on the names involved in the match, who would that have been? Eddie Kingston? Keith Lee?
- Jay White: I still have to set aside some time to sit and watch Dominion, but congratulations to “Switchblade” Jay White for winning the IWGP World Heavyweight Title, putting a bit of a monkey wrench in a lot of Forbidden Door fantasy booking.
- Pac vs Buddy Matthews: Battle Of The Abs! Give these two a match together and you’re going to get ten minutes of action in a five-minute match, 20 minutes of action in a ten-minute match, and so on.
- Montez Ford vs Jimmy Uso: I’ve been saying for a while now that Montez Ford has what it takes to be a singles star. He proves that whenever he works a singles match. I don’t think it’s time to split The Street Profits up or anything, but it’s a valuable thing for WWE to keep on the back burner. Ford just isn’t human with everything he’s capable of doing in the ring.
- Riddle vs Sami Zayn: Riddle becomes the latest official challenger for Roman Reigns. You know the match is going to be good, but how many people really give Riddle a chance of winning?
- Trent Beretta & FTR vs Will Ospreay & Aussie Open: Ospreay showing up in AEW is a big deal, even if it’s simply as build to Forbidden Door. With that said, should he really have been on the losing end of his first AEW match? No, he wasn’t involved in the pinfall, but you should probably take advantage of his presence and make him look like a bigger deal. I know it might not seem like it, but there are people who watch AEW that don’t watch New Japan. They may have heard about this Will Ospreay character, but this was their first chance to see what the big deal was.
- The Creed Brothers vs Malik Blade & Edris Enofe: The challengers had a much better performance than I was expecting. I thought it would be a semi-squash to help continue building the Creeds as a big deal, but I’m glad to be wrong here. Even in a loss, Blade and Enofe showed that they’re capable of handling a lot more than they’ve been allowed to handle in NXT.
- Ricochet vs Gunther: Even though Ricochet dropped the Intercontinental Title here, he put up a ton of offense here and wasn’t made to look like a complete afterthought.
This Week’s Playlist: “Cash In Cash Out” by Pharrell Williams, 21 Savage & Tyler, The Creator… “Love Galore” by SZA & Travis Scott… “Doves In The Wind” by SZA & Kendrick Lamar… “Drew Barrymore” by SZA… “Pretty Little Birds” by SZA & Isaiah Rashad… “Numb” by Marshmello & Khalid… “Because” by Danger Mouse, Black Thought, Joey Bada$$, Russ & Dylan Cartlidge… “Sign Of Life” by Motionless In White… “Salt” by The Devil Wears Prada… “Game” by Kid Bookie & Corey Taylor… “Remember The Name” by Fort Minor & Styles Of Beyond… “Right Now” by Fort Minor, Black Thought & Styles Of Beyond… “Petrified” by Fort Minor… “In Stereo” by Fort Minor… “Kenji” by Fort Minor… “Lark On My Go Kart” by Asher Roth… “Interior Crocodile Alligator” by Chip Tha Ripper… “H-U-S-T-L-E (Remix)” by Murs & John Cena… “Juicy Juice” by Zion I… “If You Must” by Del The Funky Homosapien… “Superman” by Goldfinger… “Police Truck” by Dead Kennedys… “Jerry Was A Race Car Driver” by Primus… “When Worlds Collide” by Powerman 5000… “Let’s Ride” by MxPx… “Bomb Drop” by Less Than Jake… “Headup” by Deftones… “Blind” by KoRn… “Brackish” by Kittie… “Spit” by Kittie
