The Money in the Bank Match idea was a stroke of genius. Having a wrestler ascend the ladder and win a championship opportunity at their discretion is brilliant. It allows a young wrestler to gain some notoriety and ushers those in the upper mid-card into the main event.
The titular match is the biggest selling point of the PPV. It generates buzz from the fans as they wait to see who will get their chance at a WWE Championship run. However, the match is not always the best of the night. Several times, the WWE Championship match outshines the Money in the Bank match.
Below we will look at some of these matches.
CM Punk v John Cena (Money in the Bank 2011)
This is most likely the match that springs to everyone’s mind when Money in the Bank comes up. CM Punk was white hot leading into this main event. His Pipe bomb promo was making headlines all over the world, and not just in wrestling corners. His breaking of the fourth wall excited fans and lead to the product being more relevant than it had been in years.
The lead-up to the match contained some great promo work from both John Cena and Punk but it was in the ring that the real story was told. The desperation shown by Punk throughout the match sold the urgency of the contest. It was a great battle between two of the best in the world and the raucous Chicago crowd put a cherry on top of the night.
Punk winning the WWE Championship was a massive shock to anyone watching. It capped off one of the year’s best matches and overshadowed any ladder match.
CM Punk v Daniel Bryan (Money in the Bank 2012)
CM Punk was fantastic as the WWE Champion. His reign was one of the longest in the modern era and despite this, he was never booked well by WWE. It was a shame that he was on the receiving end of the terrible booking, but it didn’t stop him from having some fantastic matches, this one at Money in the Bank being one of them.
Punk and Daniel Bryan had a ton of history before this match. They came up through the indies together and were the darlings of the WWE Universe. It plain sucked that they weren’t in the night’s main event because their match was downright fantastic. Their technical skill was unmatched and both men worked well with the No DQ stipulation. It added a WWE flare to a match about professional wrestling.
It sucked that WWE decided to keep this match in the middle of the card. It outshone the main event by a country mile and should have closed out the night.
Seth Rollins v Dean Ambrose (Money in the Bank 2015)
Seth Rollins turning his back on The Shield was a huge story. It created a massive heel, in Rollins, and set up an eventual feud of the year between Dean Ambrose and his former stablemate. The program between Rollins and Ambrose was one of the most personal in WWE history and it produced a great main event at Money in the Bank.
Normally, a 30-plus minute ladder match is not an ideal situation. It can drag and get increasingly dangerous for the wrestlers. Thankfully, Ambrose and Rollins were able to tell a great story and mix in some glorious spots to keep everyone on the edge of their seats. Their animosity between the two men was incredible, pushing it from a good match to a great one.
It was a match deserving of the main event and one that is one of the lasting impressions of the Money in the Bank PPV.
Seth Rollins v Roman Reigns/ Seth Rollins v Dean Ambrose (Money in the Bank 2016)
The implosion of The Shield was compelling television. The three men established themselves as one of the best stables of all time and their eventual demise was the best part of WWE programming. It also produced some great matches and moments, the best of which came at Money in the Bank 2016.
Rollins taking on Roman Reigns was a great if not lengthy match. The natural chemistry between the two men bled into every aspect of the match. They were able to keep the action going while being given a 26-minute match time.
Seth going over Reigns, for the finish, produced a great shock ending for the audience but that isn’t where the shocks ended. Soon after the win Ambrose, winner of the Money in the Bank match, blindsided Rollins and won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. It was a great ending to the night that saw all three Shield members hold the big strap. A memory that takes precedence over the Money in the Bank match.
Seth Rollins v A.J Styles (Money in the Bank 2015)
This was a dream match if there ever was one. Both men were two of the best workers in the company and their paths didn’t cross very much, which is a rarity in this day in age.
AJ Styles was a new draftee to Raw during this time and fought his way through two matches to challenge Rollins for the Universal Championship. There was not much in the way of a heel/face dynamic to the build-up, it was more built around mutual respect. Which when done well can be as good as this program was.
Of course, both put on a great match for close to 20 minutes. Styles and Rollins had worked well off one another, and their move sets meshed beautifully. This was the beginning of Rollin’s reign with the strap so there wasn’t much doubt about the finish with Rollins retaining with the Stomp. But there was a great moment of mutual respect between the men after the match.
This match was a well-worked match with a perfect finish. Unlike the terrible main event that saw Brock Lesnar stealing the Money in the Bank briefcase.
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