The Money in the Bank match itself is nothing massively revolutionary. It is a typical multi-man ladder match, with every man gunning for the same prize; a briefcase hanging over the ring. That's not to undermine it at all, Money in the Banks have pretty consistently been great matches on whatever card they're on. Some of the most exciting and innovative usage of ladders have come from these matches, making them some of the best ladder matches in existence.
The prize in question is what separates this match from the rest. Inside the briefcase is a contract which the winner can 'cash in' for a world championship match at a time of their choosing (within a year of winning it). So, obviously, the stakes are pretty high. Such an opportunity pretty much has 'championship win' written all over it, and the stats support this. Since its debut in 2005, there have been 17 Money in the Bank winners, 15 of which have won their cash ins. This formulates to a 88.2% success rate, so the odds are in the winner's favour. With the stipulation as it is, it enables for cash ins to happen at any time, sometimes not for a while after winning. There have been instances where the contract has been cashed in on the night it was won, most recently Dean Ambrose last year, and some cases where it has been held onto for the better part of a year, like Edge and Dolph Ziggler.
For the first six occurrences, the Money in the Bank match was exclusive to WrestleMania, appearing on 21 through 26. From 2010 on, the match began to be featured on a Pay-Per-View of the same name, furthering the importance and significance that the match has in WWE's storytelling. Many of the title changes resulting from cash ins have been pretty big, though saying that pretty much all world title changes are quite major. Though it has waned a little in recent years, the Money in the Bank has always had a bit of a feeling of giving those who might not be already in the main event picture, sometimes used as an elevation device. Examples of this can be seen with CM Punk in 2008 and 2009, Jack Swagger in 2010, Daniel Bryan in 2011 and Damien Sandow in 2013 (though his cash-in was unsuccessful)
Cash ins have produced some of the best and loudest pops in WWE history, from the initial surprise coming from the music hitting, and oftentimes a louder one when the title is won. Prime examples of these are Dolph Ziggler cashing in against Alberto Del Rio, and Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 31.
Now, getting the jump on your opponents like this is quite a bad guy thing to do, so with babyface winners, there have been instances of the contract being cashed in for a match scheduled ahead of time. This does kind of take away from the effect and excitement around the Money in the Bank, but this tactic has resulted in one of my favourite matches of all time, Rob Van Dam versus John Cena at ECW: One Night Stand 2006. (See it in full!: Dailymotion Link - WWE Network Link)
So, in effect, the Money in the Bank signals a very interesting and engaging time in the WWE calendar, with the fallout marking an intriguing and telling time in the company's story telling. This year, we've got the first ever Money in the Bank for female competitors, meaning that we'll be getting twice the amount of such events. I know I'll be watching with a close eye, will you?
That does it for my run down and explanation on the whole Money in the Bank thing. Something else in wrestling got you confused? Need some more explanation on something? Let me know and I can cover it in the next 'Wrestlintroduction'. Until next time, thank you for reading and I'll catch your ass down the road.
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