WWE Should Retire the Money in the Bank Briefcase

After Sheamus’ lackluster cash-in at Survivor Series, is it time to retire the Money in the Bank briefcase?

Last night at Survivor Series, Sheamus finally cashed-in his Money in the Bank briefcase, swooping in to defeat Roman Reigns moments after he won the World Heavyweight Championship. Sheamus’ He did what so many others have done before, which is be the ultimate opportunist to claim the richest prize in all of professional wrestling. And yet unlike those other cash-ins this one lacked any kind of energy that usually accompanies it. Instead the prevailing feeling was “been there, done that”, and WWE has to find a way to change that, perhaps by shelving the MITB for a while.

Now, there will be some out there who will blame the general malaise on it being Sheamus who won, and some of that is true. There’s no excitement in a Sheamus title reign, and basically his winning feels perfunctory at best. There will be others who blame Roman Reigns, but that’s just silly. Reigns was in the perfect position to lose the title in exactly this manner, after months of climbing the ladder.  But that he lost to Sheamus, who earns his 4th title run in the process, is part of the overall problem.

ALSO ON DAILY DDT: Ranking All 28 WWE Survivor Series Main Events

The MITB is best when used to elevate a superstar to a brand new level. A look at the most memorable cash-ins begins, obviously, with Edge’s unforgettable defeat of John Cena at New Year’s Revolution, the one that defined the MITB for years to come. How about Rob Van Dam, also in victory over Cena, but in a match that elevated ECW, if only for one night, to legitimacy with WWE.  Seth Rollins shooting to the top of the WWE by cashing in against, of all people, Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, at WrestleMania. And then there’s Dolph Ziggler’s WrestleMania cash-in over Alberto Del Rio.

But other than Rollins, who had already proven he was the WWE’s top dog long before he cashed in, the MITB hasn’t elevated anyone. It’s not just about the surprise element, which perhaps gets overblown. It’s about using the briefcase as an impetus to chart a brand new course. WWE has been reluctant to chart that new course, and it’s a problem that extends far beyond the use of the briefcase. It’s just that the MITB is the most tangible example of their hesitation. Every time Sheamus walked down to the ring holding the MITB briefcase it lost a little more value.

Next: WWE Raw Preview: Road to TLC Edition

WWE has made a mistake by giving the MITB match its own PPV. It took away some of the novelty of it being part of the year’s greatest spectacle and turned it into just another monthly PPV event.  Their best course of action would be to quietly shelve the match for a year or two, then bring it back when they’re willing to use it for what it was meant to. The Money in the Bank winner should be somebody special, and thus the briefcase should only be awarded when a special superstar is ready to receive it.