Top 5 WWE Money In The Bank cashing-ins!
The Shield has been one of the most dominating stables in all of professional wrestling in the last decade or so, with each individual from the group venturing into singles competition and capturing multiple world titles.
This was the summer of 2016 and Roman Reigns became the champion overcoming the COO, Triple H at the grandest stage of them all! Seth Rollins was previously the WWE World Heavyweight Champion before having to vacate the title due to an injury. Seth returned a month back to challenge the then title holder, and fan favourite Roman Reigns!
The main event of MITB PPV was set in stone, Roman Reigns defending his title against Seth Rollins. Seth Rollins, even though he was playing the perfect heel (negative character) was getting cheered heavily during the course of this match.
After a match going back and forth between these 2 absolutely dominant character and amazing in-ring performers for about 30 minutes, Seth Rollins came out on top and pinned Roman Reigns for the 1-2-3, and became the NEWWWWWW WWE World Heavyweight Champion!
Now the story does not end here. Earlier in the same night, the MITB ladder match had taken place. This ladder match has a story of its own, but Dean Ambrose defeated the likes of Alberto Del Rio, Cesaro, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn to win the MITB contract.
Coming back to Seth Rollins, he was just raising his newly won title and barely realising the fact that he won back his WWE title, Dean Ambrose's music hits and while Seth looked toward the entrance ramp, Dean appeared from behind and hit Seth with his newly won MITB Briefcase, cashes-in and hits Seth with Dirty Deeds to pin him and became the WWE Champion for the first time ever in his career!
FUN FACT: All 3 members of the Shield were WWE champions in this same night!
4. RVD cashing-in at the ECW One Night Stand 2006
E-C-Dub!! E-C-Dub!! The Summer of 2005 saw the first ever ECW One Night Stand, and proved to be immensely successful. WWE looked at it as an opportunity to revive ECW as its third brand (alongside Raw and SmackDown) and organised another ECW One Night Stand PPV.
Rob Van Dam was the hottest commodity in all of pro-wrestling around that time and at WrestleMania 22, he overcame the best of the best in Bobby Lashley, Finlay, Matt Hardy, Ric Flair and Shelton Benjamin to win the MITB contract.
With the intentions of the third brand starting after the ECW PPV scheduled, RVD announced that he would be cashing in his contract for a match at the aforementioned event for the WWE Championship.
John Cena had the biggest pops in all of 2005 as he won the WWE Title for the first time in his career which made him WWE's biggest babyface and poster boy of the new era. He dropped the title once but won it back within a month, and went into WrestleMania 22, in 2006 (just a few months before ECW One Night Stand) against the veteran Triple H and the audience had shifted loyalties and started booing John Cena. With the build up for One Night Stand going strong, it had become cool to boo John Cena and I still remember the audiences in the Hammerstein Ballroon, the site for ECW One Night Stand and one of the most vocal crowds of all time saw them having signs that read "If Cena wins, we RIOT!" and Cena entered to the biggest boos that I have seen, even till date!
John Cena in his trademark style entered the ring to remove his merchandise t-shirt and threw it into the crowd, the crowd immediately threw it back on Cena! John tried to throw it again into another direction in the crowd, and the crowd reacted the same way and threw it back at Cena a number of times, if the boos were not insulting again, this was a spit in the face of the biggest babyface being humiliated in front of the capacity crowd of E-C-Dub loyalists chanting "Fuck you, Cena", "Same old shit", "Overrated" and "You can't wrestle".
The match itself did absolute justice to the build up with RVD being a high-flyer and quite unlike any of the other opponents Cena had faced till then. After going back and forth for about 20+ minutes, and both the wrestlers had their moments in the match. Towards the end as Cena looked to win, Edge, who had won a number-one-contender's match to challenge the title holder at the next PPV, appeared out of nowhere and, interfered with a spear to John Cena!
This made RVD capitalise and hit Cena with a 5-star Frog Splash and try to pin him, since the referees were outside incapacitated, the former ECW owner, Paul Heyman ran to the ring acting as an official and made the 3 count for the win.
The whole of ECW locker emptied into the ring and cheered with the NEWWWW WWE Champion - Rob Van Dam.
The aftermath saw him being awarded the ECW Championship too as a result and till date, he is the only superstar to ever carry both the WWE and ECW Titles on his shoulders.
E-C-Dub!! E-C-Dub!! The Summer of 2005 saw the first ever ECW One Night Stand, and proved to be immensely successful. WWE looked at it as an opportunity to revive ECW as its third brand (alongside Raw and SmackDown) and organised another ECW One Night Stand PPV.
Rob Van Dam was the hottest commodity in all of pro-wrestling around that time and at WrestleMania 22, he overcame the best of the best in Bobby Lashley, Finlay, Matt Hardy, Ric Flair and Shelton Benjamin to win the MITB contract.
With the intentions of the third brand starting after the ECW PPV scheduled, RVD announced that he would be cashing in his contract for a match at the aforementioned event for the WWE Championship.
John Cena had the biggest pops in all of 2005 as he won the WWE Title for the first time in his career which made him WWE's biggest babyface and poster boy of the new era. He dropped the title once but won it back within a month, and went into WrestleMania 22, in 2006 (just a few months before ECW One Night Stand) against the veteran Triple H and the audience had shifted loyalties and started booing John Cena. With the build up for One Night Stand going strong, it had become cool to boo John Cena and I still remember the audiences in the Hammerstein Ballroon, the site for ECW One Night Stand and one of the most vocal crowds of all time saw them having signs that read "If Cena wins, we RIOT!" and Cena entered to the biggest boos that I have seen, even till date!
John Cena in his trademark style entered the ring to remove his merchandise t-shirt and threw it into the crowd, the crowd immediately threw it back on Cena! John tried to throw it again into another direction in the crowd, and the crowd reacted the same way and threw it back at Cena a number of times, if the boos were not insulting again, this was a spit in the face of the biggest babyface being humiliated in front of the capacity crowd of E-C-Dub loyalists chanting "Fuck you, Cena", "Same old shit", "Overrated" and "You can't wrestle".
The match itself did absolute justice to the build up with RVD being a high-flyer and quite unlike any of the other opponents Cena had faced till then. After going back and forth for about 20+ minutes, and both the wrestlers had their moments in the match. Towards the end as Cena looked to win, Edge, who had won a number-one-contender's match to challenge the title holder at the next PPV, appeared out of nowhere and, interfered with a spear to John Cena!
This made RVD capitalise and hit Cena with a 5-star Frog Splash and try to pin him, since the referees were outside incapacitated, the former ECW owner, Paul Heyman ran to the ring acting as an official and made the 3 count for the win.
The whole of ECW locker emptied into the ring and cheered with the NEWWWW WWE Champion - Rob Van Dam.
The aftermath saw him being awarded the ECW Championship too as a result and till date, he is the only superstar to ever carry both the WWE and ECW Titles on his shoulders.
Before there was the concept of a MITB cash-in, the WWE Universe had no expectations on how the MITB contract was supposed to be used. Edge was the winner of the first ever MITB contract in 2005 at WrestleMania 21, which was the same event where John Cena had won his first ever WWE Championship. He carried it throughout the rest of 2005 being built as the top babyface and became the biggest draw for the company in the longest of times.
As time went by, and 2006 got closer, the first PPV of the year was scheduled in the first week of 2006 on January 8, 2006 aptly titled New Year's Resolution! This event saw the comeback of the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship where John Cena was supposed to defend against 5 other superstars, the likes of up and coming stars like Carlito and Chris Masters, along with veterans like Shawn Michaels, Kane and Kurt Angle.
This was an extremely long match having went on for around 30 minutes and despite the odds stacked against him, the heavily bloodied John Cena last eliminated Carlito to be announced as the winner and STILL the WWE Champion. As the crowds cheered and the Elimination Chamber was being raised, Vince McMahon appeared on the stage and announced that there is going to be a MITB contract 'cashing-in' (the first time this phrase was used!).
Edge came out to confused crowds who did not know how to react to this development and the referee rang the bell as soon as Cena got on his feet, Edge immediately speared Cena and tried to pin him but Cena kicked out! Cena was barely able to stand again and Edge speared him again and this time he pinned him for the 1-2-3 as the crowds reacted in disbelief having witnessed what had happened in the ring.
Thus began the saga of Edge being labelled as the "Ultimate Opportunist" from earlier being called "Mr Money in the Bank" and the crowds started expecting the unexpected with the cashing-ins coming at the most unexpected times with the title holders always looking in the rear-view mirror to be cautious of the MITB holders.
As time went by, and 2006 got closer, the first PPV of the year was scheduled in the first week of 2006 on January 8, 2006 aptly titled New Year's Resolution! This event saw the comeback of the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship where John Cena was supposed to defend against 5 other superstars, the likes of up and coming stars like Carlito and Chris Masters, along with veterans like Shawn Michaels, Kane and Kurt Angle.
This was an extremely long match having went on for around 30 minutes and despite the odds stacked against him, the heavily bloodied John Cena last eliminated Carlito to be announced as the winner and STILL the WWE Champion. As the crowds cheered and the Elimination Chamber was being raised, Vince McMahon appeared on the stage and announced that there is going to be a MITB contract 'cashing-in' (the first time this phrase was used!).
Edge came out to confused crowds who did not know how to react to this development and the referee rang the bell as soon as Cena got on his feet, Edge immediately speared Cena and tried to pin him but Cena kicked out! Cena was barely able to stand again and Edge speared him again and this time he pinned him for the 1-2-3 as the crowds reacted in disbelief having witnessed what had happened in the ring.
2. Dolph Ziggler, Raw after WrestleMania 29
The Monday Night Raw shows on the night after WrestleMania has always had a distinct crowd from the remainder of the Raw shows in the year. Superstars have returned, newer stars have debuted and quite like WrestleMania, Raw after WrestleMania (WM) has its own moments. One such moment which will forever be etched in my mind would be from 2013, on the Raw after WM29 on April 8, 2013.
Dolph Ziggler had won the MITB contract on the namesake PPV in 2012 overcoming the likes of a unique set of performers, Christian, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Santino Marella, Sin Cara, Tensai and Tyson Kidd. If you think about these names in 2020, none of these superstars are competing in the WWE anymore!
Ziggler was Mr Money in the Bank throughout the remainder of 2012 and Q1 of 2013 carrying it through WrestleMania 29 and put him in a unique position (this was the first time a MITB contract was valid at a WrestleMania since the earlier winners had already cashed-in earlier) and if you would have asked me at the time, I would have guaranteed that Dolph would probably cash in his contract after the World Heavyweight Title match on the night of WM29!
Dolph Ziggler had won the MITB contract on the namesake PPV in 2012 overcoming the likes of a unique set of performers, Christian, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Santino Marella, Sin Cara, Tensai and Tyson Kidd. If you think about these names in 2020, none of these superstars are competing in the WWE anymore!
Ziggler was Mr Money in the Bank throughout the remainder of 2012 and Q1 of 2013 carrying it through WrestleMania 29 and put him in a unique position (this was the first time a MITB contract was valid at a WrestleMania since the earlier winners had already cashed-in earlier) and if you would have asked me at the time, I would have guaranteed that Dolph would probably cash in his contract after the World Heavyweight Title match on the night of WM29!
WM29 came and went by and Dolph had not cashed in his contract. The night after was Raw and Alberto Del Rio who was the World Heavyweight Champion was scheduled to defend his title against Jack Swagger and his manager Zeb Colter. Alberto got injured during his match but was able to retain the title and when was least expected from anyone in the WWE Universe, the speakers in the arena went, "I am here to show the world....." (Ziggler's theme song) and the CROWD ERUPTED!
This has been one of the biggest pop, if not the BIGGEST that I have ever seen in the history of watching WWE.
One could see people jumping up and down since they knew what was about to happen next! Out came Dolph Ziggler through the Gorilla on to the stage and down the entrance ramp, in what was the best crowd reaction thanks to the very vocal Raw-After-WrestleMania crowd.
As Alberto saw Dolph inside the ring and handing over his MITB briefcase to the referee present in the ring, his face said it all. When Alberto stood up on both his legs, the referee asked for the bell and as soon as the bell rang Dolph started punching and kicking Del Rio as he fell down, Dolph went for the cover but Del Rio kicked out on 2.
Dolph and Alberto trade a few kicks with Alberto trying a submission manoeuvre with Ziggler capitalising on the bad leg and hitting him to break out of the submission. Ziggler then went for the Zig-Zag, and pinned Del Rio as the crowd shouted 1-2-3 with the referee to become the NEWWW World Heavyweight Champion, and if you think the crowd was not excited enough earlier, they erupted seeing Dolph's hands being raised by the referee and raising the Big-Gold-Belt version of the WWE's World Heavyweight title!
This has been one of the biggest pop, if not the BIGGEST that I have ever seen in the history of watching WWE.
One could see people jumping up and down since they knew what was about to happen next! Out came Dolph Ziggler through the Gorilla on to the stage and down the entrance ramp, in what was the best crowd reaction thanks to the very vocal Raw-After-WrestleMania crowd.
As Alberto saw Dolph inside the ring and handing over his MITB briefcase to the referee present in the ring, his face said it all. When Alberto stood up on both his legs, the referee asked for the bell and as soon as the bell rang Dolph started punching and kicking Del Rio as he fell down, Dolph went for the cover but Del Rio kicked out on 2.
1. Seth Rollins "Heist of the century"
I left the best for the last.
If Dolph appearing to cash-in on the Raw after WM29 was not the biggest pop ever. Seth Rollins' cash-in at WrestleMania definitely was!
Just to give you a little back story, this was the second time that a MITB contract winner was holding on to their contract on the day of a WrestleMania! Seth Rollins had won his contract at the Money in the Bank PPV event in 2014, going against Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston and Rob Van Dam. That was quite an eventful summer, where Seth had disbanded the Shield and aligned with the Authority to pursue singles competition. With the blessings of Triple H, Kane, Big Show and his own personal J&J security in the form of Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury accompanying him to his matches.
Seth held on to his MITB contract upto WrestleMania where he was scheduled to have a singles match with Randy Orton! This match has a life of its own, and included a WrestleMania moment quite unlike any other as well, a mid-air curb-stomp getting converted to an RKO (Outta Nowhere ofcourse!) as the finisher with Randy picking up the win.
The main event of that year's WrestleMania had Roman Reigns who won the Royal Rumble to challenge the reigning-defending-undisputed WWE Heavyweight Champion of the world, Brock Lesnar (did you read it in Heyman's voice?) in the final match of the show.
Roman Reigns despite being the babyface was being heavily booed ever since he won the Royal Rumble match since the fans realised that he is being pushed down people's throats in the road to getting established at the next top star and the new face of the company.
Brock Lesnar too was not favoured by any of the WWE Universe since he was a part-time performer and was barely seen on weekly television, despite being the company's top champion and hence the so-called flag-bearer!
At WrestleMania, both these superstars came out to mixed reactions from the capacity crowd at the Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. As the bell rang and the match started, Brock went all in trading suplexes, blows and F5s and this was when he uttered his famous catchphrase - "Suplex City, bitch!" As the match continued the traffic took a turn and Roman started dominating Brock with Superman punches and spears, with one of the Superman punches being converted into another F5 by Brock. Lesnar covered Reigns for the pinfall but Reigns kicked out before the whole 3 count (two-and-a-half, as Cole says). With both men lying inside the ring, Seth Rollins entrance theme started playing and to everyone's shock and awe, they got to witness the MITB briefcase holder, Seth Rollins running towards the ring!
Seth entered the ring and told the referee that he is cashing-in which made the referee convert the Singles match into a Triple Threat. As soon as the bell rang, Rollins kicked Reigns out of the ring and with the match being made official, Rollins performed a curb-stomp on Brock and then went for a second curb-stomp only to be converted into an F5 by Brock catching him in mid air and holding him on his shoulders only for Roman Reigns to deliver him a spear!
This saved Rollins, as Lesnar rolled out of the ring and Rollins capitalised hitting Reigns with a curb-stomp and went for the 3-count to be declared the NEWWWWW WWE World Heavyweight Champion as he raced back up the entrace ramp towards the stage.
Fun fact: Michael Cole called it the "Heist of the Century" since the main event of such a prestigious competition like WrestleMania was just changed by an undeclared competitor thanks to his posession of the MITB contract!
This was unheard of until then, and many of the legends criticised it in the aftermath of the event, but WWE is all about show business and this moment is truly my all time favourite and still gives me goosebumps to this day whenever I get to watch it again.
Please let me know if I missed out on any such moments, any feedback and comments are highly appreciated.
Also, which is the match you are looking forward to the most at this year's MITB? Make your presence felt in the comments section below, and I would be happy to participate.
Cheers!
I left the best for the last.
If Dolph appearing to cash-in on the Raw after WM29 was not the biggest pop ever. Seth Rollins' cash-in at WrestleMania definitely was!
Just to give you a little back story, this was the second time that a MITB contract winner was holding on to their contract on the day of a WrestleMania! Seth Rollins had won his contract at the Money in the Bank PPV event in 2014, going against Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston and Rob Van Dam. That was quite an eventful summer, where Seth had disbanded the Shield and aligned with the Authority to pursue singles competition. With the blessings of Triple H, Kane, Big Show and his own personal J&J security in the form of Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury accompanying him to his matches.
Seth held on to his MITB contract upto WrestleMania where he was scheduled to have a singles match with Randy Orton! This match has a life of its own, and included a WrestleMania moment quite unlike any other as well, a mid-air curb-stomp getting converted to an RKO (Outta Nowhere ofcourse!) as the finisher with Randy picking up the win.
The main event of that year's WrestleMania had Roman Reigns who won the Royal Rumble to challenge the reigning-defending-undisputed WWE Heavyweight Champion of the world, Brock Lesnar (did you read it in Heyman's voice?) in the final match of the show.
Roman Reigns despite being the babyface was being heavily booed ever since he won the Royal Rumble match since the fans realised that he is being pushed down people's throats in the road to getting established at the next top star and the new face of the company.
Brock Lesnar too was not favoured by any of the WWE Universe since he was a part-time performer and was barely seen on weekly television, despite being the company's top champion and hence the so-called flag-bearer!
At WrestleMania, both these superstars came out to mixed reactions from the capacity crowd at the Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. As the bell rang and the match started, Brock went all in trading suplexes, blows and F5s and this was when he uttered his famous catchphrase - "Suplex City, bitch!" As the match continued the traffic took a turn and Roman started dominating Brock with Superman punches and spears, with one of the Superman punches being converted into another F5 by Brock. Lesnar covered Reigns for the pinfall but Reigns kicked out before the whole 3 count (two-and-a-half, as Cole says). With both men lying inside the ring, Seth Rollins entrance theme started playing and to everyone's shock and awe, they got to witness the MITB briefcase holder, Seth Rollins running towards the ring!
Seth entered the ring and told the referee that he is cashing-in which made the referee convert the Singles match into a Triple Threat. As soon as the bell rang, Rollins kicked Reigns out of the ring and with the match being made official, Rollins performed a curb-stomp on Brock and then went for a second curb-stomp only to be converted into an F5 by Brock catching him in mid air and holding him on his shoulders only for Roman Reigns to deliver him a spear!
This saved Rollins, as Lesnar rolled out of the ring and Rollins capitalised hitting Reigns with a curb-stomp and went for the 3-count to be declared the NEWWWWW WWE World Heavyweight Champion as he raced back up the entrace ramp towards the stage.
Fun fact: Michael Cole called it the "Heist of the Century" since the main event of such a prestigious competition like WrestleMania was just changed by an undeclared competitor thanks to his posession of the MITB contract!
This was unheard of until then, and many of the legends criticised it in the aftermath of the event, but WWE is all about show business and this moment is truly my all time favourite and still gives me goosebumps to this day whenever I get to watch it again.
Please let me know if I missed out on any such moments, any feedback and comments are highly appreciated.
Also, which is the match you are looking forward to the most at this year's MITB? Make your presence felt in the comments section below, and I would be happy to participate.
Cheers!
Comments