WWE Money in the Bank: The contract winners need better booking
When WWE first introduced the Money in the Bank concept in 2005, it felt fresh and innovative. Thirteen years later, it needs an overhaul.
There are few matches that gin up fans’ excitement and anticipation like the Money in the Bank ladder match. It isn’t hard to see why; the match usually features non-stop, exhilarating action and the winner is almost guaranteed a world title run (unless he or she criticizes a WWE doctor).
Matches with stakes this high should sow fertile storyline seeds for WWE. Outside of the usual “winner cashes in on prone champion” trope, the company’s creative ideas for MitB winners tend to dry up. A tool used to elevate WWE’s most promising midcarders, the creative team has misused the MitB briefcase more often than not recently. Something has to change.
Regardless of who leaves the Allstate Arena as Mr. and Ms. Money in the Bank, WWE should consider shaking up the booking of the winners.
Counterproductive booking
If WWE still sees Money in the Bank as a feather in the cap for a burgeoning star, they should portray that lucky wrestler as, well, a star. Over the last couple of years, the company has kept MitB winners on the treadmill of 50/50 booking that plagues the majority of the company’s midcard roster. Sometimes, the briefcase holder suffers a worse fate: taking loss after loss with Vince McMahon having the misguided hope that a cheap championship win will restore his or her credibility. You know, because that worked out so well for The Miz. And Daniel Bryan. And CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Sheamus, Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler and plenty of others. Basically every contract winner outside of Edge and Rob Van Dam.
Those were just the wrestlers that won the title. The ones that fail to cash in, such as Baron Corbin, are branded as chokers who waste opportunities. No matter how you look at it, WWE seldom promotes the MitB contract holder as a star.
This, of course, damages both the performer and the championship that he or she chases. If the winner claims the title in the usual cheap manner, he or she also acquires the stigma of a paper champion who doesn’t have the skill to earn the title through honest means. It’s even worse if a babyface cashes in using the same methods. That style can work for some heel characters, but it shouldn’t be the norm for every MitB winner.
For better or worse, McMahon has always built his promotion around wrestlers that rarely lose matches and earn their titles the honorable way. That’s how you build new stars in a simulated-sports environment. You don’t have them lose all the time before winning a title in the weakest way possible.
What must change
For unique cash-ins, Van Dam’s use of the briefcase in 2006 still stands out the most. As a valiant babyface, Van Dam gave then-WWE Champion John Cena several weeks notice before cashing in, a stark contrast to the way Edge utilized his title shot earlier that year. Of course, Van Dam scheduled his match for that year’s ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view, setting up a “home field advantage” situation. It made the challenger look smart, especially when he beat Cena for the title. It was fresh, logical and fantastic.
Edge’s original cash-in was innovative and cool at the time. But, like everything else WWE does, the company ran it into the ground. Now, fans almost expect that type of cash-in whenever a champion is in a precarious situation.
Instead of opting for the usual, WWE should explore different ways to use the MitB contract as a storytelling device to revitalize the concept and elevate new stars. Have someone who has never received a world championship match win the briefcase and tell the story of that competitor having a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in the palm of his or her hands. Book a babyface to win, have him or her announce a cash-in at WrestleMania (or some other show) and build him or her up beforehand. Heck, dust off the old Rollins cash-in. Just give us something different.
And please, do something meaningful with the wrestlers after they cash in, win or lose. There are plenty of storyline possibilities on both paths. WWE could use MitB as either a crowning achievement for a shiny new headliner or as the first part of a long-term narrative for the wrestler who comes up short. No matter what they do, WWE should focus on using MitB to prop up stars, not as a crutch for their retread ideas.
Of course, everyone, that wins MitB won’t become a household name. But WWE should do what they can to pull promising talent out of the mundane midcard. Fixing the equally humdrum MitB trope would help immensely.