Has Money in the Bank ever led to a good world championship reign?

Since 2005, the Money in the Bank briefcase has become a seemingly effective catapult to vault promising midcarders into the main event. After all, the coveted Halliburton all but guarantees the holder a reign with one of WWE's two world championship belts, so in theory, it's an EZ Pass to stardom in the world's biggest wrestling promotion.

However, that hasn't worked out for many former Money in the Bank winners. Of course, we know about the handful of people who have failed to parlay the briefcase into a world title reign, but their more successful counterparts arguably haven't fared much better as consistent headliners.

Thanks to WWE's trademark questionable creative decisions, many -- if not all -- of the MitB winners that became world champion ended up with title runs that you could generously call disappointing. You might have some doubts about that, especially if one of your favorite wrestlers falls into that category, but hopefully, going through all of the briefcase winners' stanzas with the major belts will show how WWE has fallen short with the concept.

So, how did the Money in the Bank winners that became world champion fare?

As we know, there have been A LOT of MitB winners, so it will be easier to start this endeavor with the inaugural "Mr. Money in the Bank".

2005- Edge; Championship reign (as recognized by WWE): 20 days

By the end of 2005, Edge has established himself as a future main eventer. He started that year with a win over Shawn Michaels in an oft-forgotten gem at the Royal Rumble. Then, he won the first Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 21. A few months later, he retained the briefcase to end an extended blood feud with Matt Hardy.

When the calendar flipped to 2006, the inevitability of Edge becoming WWE Champion turned into a reality. After John Cena survived a grueling Elimination Chamber match to seemingly end the New Year's Revolution pay-per-view, Mr. McMahon came out and told Cena that he had one more title defense to make.

This brought out "The Rated R Superstar" and a couple of minutes later, he unseated Cena as WWE Champion. It was the culmination of a steady climb up the card for the future Hall of Famer. And while the "cash-in on an exhausted champion," trope has become overused and predictable, the novelty of MitB and the uncertainty of how a wrestler could use it made this a shocking moment.

So, how did WWE follow up on Edge's crowning achievement? Well, for starters, he and Lita held a "live sex celebration" to commemorate Edge's big win (which Vince McMahon coerced them into doing as a gross ratings ploy). A week later, he beat Ric Flair in a fun TLC match, recording his first successful world title defense.

Two weeks later, it was over. Cena got his rematch with Edge at the Royal Rumble, and after 14 minutes of middling action "The Champ" got his spinner-adorned strap back.

In total, Edge's maiden reign as champion lasted less than a month and featured one successful defense against a then-56-year-old man. It's not exactly how you signal to your fans that they're witnessing the rise of a superstar. With one mediocre match, Edge went from an ascending attraction to "Just another guy on the roster who had a fluky world title run". Who knows how things would've worsened had he and Mick Foley not stolen the show at WrestleMania 22.

Was this a good reign?: Absolutely not. Thank goodness Mick Foley wanted to put him over at 'Mania because that hardcore match rescued Edge's momentum.

2006- Rob Van Dam; Championship reign: 21 days

As a popular babyface, Rob Van Dam took a different approach with the MitB briefcase. Instead of attacking then-WWE Champion John Cena while he was weakened, Van Dam told him when he wanted to cash in his title shot: at the second-annual ECW One Night Stand PPV.

Van Dam's use of the briefcase is still the optimal cash-in scenario for a babyface. Him choosing a title match at an ECW PPV in front of a crowd that resented Cena's top babyface status (to put it kindly) gave him an obvious advantage (which is the actual point of MitB), and him cashing in ahead of time effectively contrasted him from wormy heel Edge.

At One Night Stand, Van Dam didn't waste his chance. Yes, he received some help from Edge, but he scored the deciding fall after hitting the Five Star Frog Splash, so some slight interference doesn't tarnish the win.

Unfortunately, Van Dam's reign as WWE and ECW World Champion (he was awarded the latter belt thanks to his win at One Night Stand) handled that task. As easy as it would be to blame the lackluster run on his suspension, things weren't going great before his company-enforced hiatus.

Much like his world champion counterpart on SmackDown, Rey Mysterio, Van Dam got the dreaded "champion that's not a top guy" treatment. Sure, he wasn't losing countless non-title matches, but he was clearly the third fiddle to the likes of Cena and the reunited D-Generation X. Case in point, Van Dam's lone PPV title defense over Edge came on a show where the two matches above him featured...John Cena (facing Sabu) and DX (facing the Spirit Squad in a handicap match).

Was this a good reign?: No. The suspension was an easy scapegoat, but if you watched closely, you could tell the company had little faith in him from the beginning.

2007: Edge (won from Mr. Kennedy); Championship reign: 69 days

After dealing with some injury issues in 2005, Mr. Kennedy rose through the SmackDown ranks in 2006 thanks to his brash personality and unique entrance, which consisted of him acting as his ring announcer. Eventually, he got a shot at then-World Heavyweight Champion Batista at the 2007 Royal Rumble. Despite losing in forgettable fashion, WWE clearly had bigger plans for the Green Bay, Wis. native.

Those plans came in the form of the MitB briefcase, which he won at WrestleMania 23. All that was left to do was cash in and become world champion. Sadly, Kennedy got injured again (and making matters worse, the injury turned out to not be as bad as originally feared), so WWE booked old reliable Edge to beat him for the title shot.

Then, once the Undertaker needed to be written off of TV to deal with injuries of his own, WWE called on Edge to fill in for him, and one cash-in later, he became World Champion.

Following three straight retentions over Batista, Edge appeared ready to settle in as SmackDown's top heel...until the dreaded 2007 injury bug caught up to him. During an angle with Kane, Edge tore his pectoral muscle, and a week later, he vacated the world title.

Was this a good reign?: Well, WWE (and Edge) certainly wanted it to be, but bad luck struck. The Great Khali becoming champion after Edge made it seem better, at least.

2008: CM Punk; Championship Reign: 68 days

Former Ring of Honor star CM Punk spent the better part of two years as one of the few bright spots of the revived Extreme Championship Wrestling under the WWE banner. He reached the pinnacle of the brand after winning the ECW Championship and once he dropped the title to Chavo Guerrero, he graduated to winning the MitB ladder match at WrestleMania 24 (a win supposedly intended for Jeff Hardy).

Several months later, Punk used the briefcase to give then-World Champion Edge a taste of his own medicine. The champion gloated about how Raw didn't have a world champion on their show following the WWE Draft, and this earned him a beatdown from Batista and a title loss to Punk, who cashed in on Edge the same way the Toronto native had done to several others in the past.

On one hand, the title change worked as ultimate comeuppance for Edge. On the other, it pigeonholed Punk as a fluke champion who couldn't hang with the real stars. Aside from a win over John "Bradshaw" Layfield at SummerSlam 2008, Punk's matches as world champion ended with either a non-finish or a clean loss. He didn't even get pinned to lose his title; it ended after Randy Orton punted him in the head before Punk's scheduled defense at Unforgiven 2008. Punk never got his revenge for this transgression.

Was this a good reign?: Nope. Booking like this makes you realize why Punk got so frustrated during his first WWE run.

2009: CM Punk; Championship Reign: 48 days

CM Punk's second consecutive MitB win didn't go over as well with the fans. The Houston crowd mostly booed Punk when he collected the briefcase at WrestleMania 25, likely because they remembered how his last world title reign went.

Cashing in on the beloved Jeff Hardy didn't endear him to those fans, either, but it did lay the groundwork for Punk's heel run as a sanctimonious straightedge gasbag. Punk and Hardy played hot potato with the world title a couple of times during their top-notch feud before Punk won the penultimate match -- a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match -- at SummerSlam 2009.

It's too bad WWE fed Punk to The Undertaker a couple of months later.

Was this a good reign?: You know what, it was. The post-cash-in reign didn't last long, but it produced some good television, and the loss to Hardy led to Punk's full heel turn. It was short but effective.

2010: Jack Swagger; Championship reign: 78 days

"The All-American American" Jack Swagger holds the distinction of winning the final MitB ladder match held at WrestleMania, cementing his legacy as a career trivia question answer. Swagger's questionable win isn't a case of hindsight buyer's remorse, either; even at the time, most fans went "really, him?!" once he pulled down the briefcase.

It didn't take Swagger long to cash in. Less than a week after WrestleMania 26, Swagger beat Chris Jericho to become World Heavyweight Champion, a hasty move likely influenced by WWE's need to get the briefcase off of TV before the inaugural Money in the Bank PPV.

WWE also seemed anxious to wash its hands of Swagger's title reign. As another champion that the company didn't believe in, he seldom won matches clean and often fell short against the big names. In fairness to the promotion, Swagger did little to show that the lack of faith was unwarranted.

Was this a good reign?: Even Michael Cole clowned Swagger's title reign while he was aligned with Swagger. That should tell you everything you need to know.

2010: Kane (SmackDown); Championship reign 153 days. The Miz (Raw); Championship reign: 159 days

We've now reached the MitB PPV era of the briefcase, so we'll combine some of these for the sake of brevity.

We'll start with Kane, who won the SmackDown MitB match and cashed it in on Rey Mysterio hours later to become world champion. To be fair, Kane was cutting some great fiery promos around this time, vowing vengeance on whoever put The Undertaker in a vegetative state. Unfortunately, Kane was revealed as the assailant, setting up the 339,458th feud with his kayfabe brother.

It led to a trilogy of terrible matches, and he followed up with another terrible feud with Edge, which centered around Edge -- the babyface -- torturing and seemingly killing Paul Bearer (this was the same year Edge promised to rid WWE of stupid segments).

Was this a good reign?: Bad matches and spooky nonsense don't equal good title runs.

With heel Michael Cole cheering him on, the Miz won the Raw MitB match, and after his feud with Daniel Bryan over the United States Championship wrapped up, he cashed in on Randy Orton to become WWE Champion.

For months, Miz and Cole told anyone who would listen that Miz was "The most must-see WWE Champion of all time", but WWE portrayed him as anything but. His only clean win came against then-61-year-old Jerry Lawler and once The Rock returned to set up his eventual match with John Cena, Miz became a distant third wheel in his own WWE title feud with Cena.

Was this a good reign?: It wasn't, no matter how many times Miz's character brags about beating Cena at WrestleMania.

2011: Daniel Bryan (SmackDown); Championship reign: 104 days. Alberto Del Rio (Raw); Championship reign: 34 days

When Daniel Bryan signed with WWE in 2009, few thought that he would become world champion despite his obvious talents, but even the most bullish fans didn't think he'd rise up the card as quickly as he did. Within a couple of years, he won the MitB ladder match.

Bryan's win marked the start of a troubling WWE trend of booking briefcase winners to constantly lose to make their cash-in feel like more of a surprise. Reneging on his vow to cash-in at WrestleMania to screw the Big Show out of the world title amplified the shock factor. Once all of that wore off, Bryan became another weak champion who kept the belt warm for the wrestler they really wanted to push: Sheamus.

Was this a good reign?: Bryan had his fun moments as the annoying, uppity heel champion (the emotional abuse by his character to AJ Lee was not, though), but he was a clear placeholder for Sheamus. Yes, it backfired and Bryan got over, but like most things in Bryan's WWE career, that happened in spite of WWE.

Unlike Bryan, Alberto Del Rio was the WWE's pet project at the time, as the company was searching for its next Latin superstar (to give you an idea of how that went, it's 2024 and WWE is still searching). He won the 40-man Royal Rumble in January 2011 and even after losing world title matches to Edge at WrestleMania 27 and Christian at Extreme Rules 2011, WWE continued to push him.

This led to him winning the Raw MitB match, but his title reign came at the wrong time: right in the middle of "The Summer of Punk 2011". WWE had him beat Punk at SummerSlam 2011 so that he could go into a Mexico house show tour as WWE Champion, but between him trading the belt with John Cena and Punk exposing the cracks in his persona, it didn't work out.

Was this a good reign?: Del Rio's post-cash-in reign is best remembered for halting Punk's magma-level momentum (though WWE made other dumb mistakes to finish the job). Plus, no one wants to look back at Del Rio fondly for other reasons.

2012: Dolph Ziggler (SmackDown); Championship reign: 69 days

John Cena won the Raw MitB match, but he became the first person to fail their cash-in attempt, so we'll focus on the SmackDown MitB winner: Dolph Ziggler. It always felt like Ziggler was on the precipice of the main event, and he finally broke through when he beat Alberto Del Rio on the Raw after WrestleMania 29 to win the World Heavyweight Champion.

Before his reign got started, though, he suffered a concussion that caused him to miss Extreme Rules 2013. By the time he got healthy enough to defend his gold, Del Rio beat him as part of a double turn angle, and he never held the world title in WWE again.

Was this a good reign?: N/A. He got injured when his momentum was at his highest and lost the belt as soon as he recovered.

2013: Randy Orton (Raw); Championship reign: 28 days

Damien Sandow won the SmackDown MitB briefcase, but he became the first wrestler to outright lose after cashing-in (ending his hopes for becoming a top guy) so we'll focus on Randy Orton.

By this point in his career, Orton didn't need to win MitB to get a title shot, and his cashing in on white-hot Daniel Bryan to usher in The Authority storyline makes this look worse in retrospect. We didn't get much out of Orton's reign aside from the uninspired recycling of the "corporate champion" heel tropes with him, Triple H, and Stephanie McMahon. This was far from Orton's best work as a main eventer.

Was this a good reign?: Even fans who like the heel authority figure schtick couldn't think this was a good title run.

2014: Seth Rollins; Championship reign: 220 days

With the WWE and World titles unified at this point, we're back to one MitB briefcase, and in 2014, it went to The Authority's new crown jewel, Seth Rollins. Fresh off of treacherously tearing The Shield asunder, Rollins rose through the ranks as Triple H and Stephanie McMahon's handpicked star, and it led to one of the most memorable cash-ins of all time at WrestleMania 31.

What fans often forget is the title reign that came after that cash in. Don't let the length fool you, this was not a title run to remember for Rollins. It started with a bland feud with Randy Orton. Then, Rollins faced newly-minted babyface Brock Lesnar, getting almost no offense in on "The Beast" before getting bailed out by The Undertaker kicking Lesnar in the groin.

He finally had a great match at SummerSlam 2015 with John Cena, but it happened in the show's semi-main event and he only beat Cena thanks to Jon Stewart's baffling interference (he won the US Title from Cena in that match but dropped it to Cena the next month). From there, he had a silly feud with Kane and a match with Sting that was unfortunately marred by Sting suffering a serious neck injury.

Between all of that, WWE continued to present Rollins as a sniveling, petulant heel that even The Authority got tired of. Making matters worse, Rollins injured his knee before his fall/winter feud with Roman Reigns began.

Was this a good reign?: This was a bad, long one (the worst kind). At least the other ones were relatively quick and painless.

2015: Sheamus; Championship reign: 22 days

The zenith of Sheamus' "You look stupid" era. Thankfully, Sheamus has made it to the other side as a respected veteran, but this was the low point of his WWE run. You know it's bad when cash in on Roman Reigns during his extended run as an unliked babyface and the fans still respond the same way people do to most of Dwayne Johnson's acting performances.

This title reign also spawned the League of Nations, a group so terrible that it not only got Roman Reigns (temporarily) cheered despite some terrible one-liners from Reigns, but also turned heel groups like The New Day and The Wyatt Family babyface when they feuded with them.

Was this a good reign?: Well, it got Roman Reigns legit babyface reactions, so WWE may say it worked. No one else will.

2016: Dean Ambrose Championship reign: 83 days

Dean Ambrose's win and cash-in worked as long-awaited comeuppance for the man that turned on him a couple of years prior. After Seth Rollins beat Roman Reigns for the WWE title, Ambrose ensured that "The Architect's" second reign lasted a fraction of the first one, driving his head to the mat to claim his first world title in WWE.

This set up the anticipated Shield triple threat match at Battleground 2016, which Ambrose won, making him the theoretical top babyface on SmackDown following the second brand split. But WWE didn't see things that way, as Ambrose went back to doing silly comedy, made a soft title defense against Dolph Ziggler at SummerSlam 2016, and dropped the belt to AJ Styles in a match that saw the fans cheer Styles despite his designation as a heel.

Was this a good reign?: It was another of those "you're the champion, but you're not the guy" reigns, so no.

2017 Carmella (women's); Championship reign: 130 days

Baron Corbin won the men's MitB match, but lost his cash-in to Jinder Mahal(!) as punishment for the heinous crime of calling out a doctor's concussion pseudoscience, so we have plenty of runway to discuss WWE's dunderheaded booking of the first women's MitB ladder match.

Most of the match is pretty fun, the booking Carmella to win wasn't even a bad choice, but that finish...whoever thought having a man (James Ellsworth) grab the briefcase IN THE FIRST WOMEN'S MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH for HEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAT was a good idea should never book another wrestling show again.

Of course, this was a ploy to set up a rematch, which Carmella won anyway thanks to Ellsworth's interference (despite Ellsworth being banned from the building). This cursed MitB run continued when Carmella cashed in on Charlotte Flair on the SmackDown after WrestleMania 34 to become the brand's women's champion.

Now, there's nothing wrong with beating Flair, but it coming after Flair ended Asuka's undefeated streak was the epitome of bad timing. It didn't help that Carmella later beat Asuka in a pair of mediocre matches with more Ellsworth shenanigans (including in a shark cage match).

Was this a good reign?: This was a troll title reign, nothing more, nothing less.

2018: Alexa Bliss; Championship reign: 63 days

Braun Strowman's cash-in led to one of the dumbest finishes in the history of Hell in a Cell, but Alexa Bliss' use of the briefcase was more in-line with its historical use. She interrupted an inexplicably entertaining match between Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax to win the Raw Women's Title.

Was this a good reign?: No. This was a transitional run for Bliss, as WWE needed a heel champion for Rousey to steamroll.

2019: Brock Lesnar (men's); Championship reign: 27 days. Bayley (women's); Championship reign: 140 days

Simply put, Brock Lesnar didn't need to win MitB to set up a rematch with Seth Rollins at SummerSlam 2019. It was prime WWE laziness, and it costing Mustafa Ali another potential main event push further frustrated fans. It led to a nothing title reign for Lesnar that only served to give Rollins a big win at WWE's second-biggest supercard.

Bayley's win and cash-in was much better received by the audience. After rescuing Becky Lynch from a Charlotte Flair post-match assault, Bayley decided to exchange her newly-won briefcase for a title shot. A couple of minutes later, she walked away with the SmackDown Women's Title.

After that, she renewed her feud with Alexa Bliss before her shocking heel turn. That resulted in her losing the title to Flair, ditching the hugger gimmick and embarking on an even longer reign as champion.

Was this a good reign?: It was fine, but it was the precursor for a more definitive Bayley title reign.

2020: The Miz (won from Otis) (men's); Championship reign: 8 days. Asuka (women's); Championship reign: 78 days

If you thought The Miz lacked the credibility to be a viable WWE Champion in 2010, you probably didn't feel any different a decade later. That didn't stop WWE from giving him the MitB briefcase to make up for mistakently giving it to Otis. Miz then took on the transitional champion role, helping move the WWE Title from Drew McIntyre to Bobby Lashley.

Was this a good reign?: No, but it wasn't supposed to be.

Asuka won the other COVID MitB match, but instead of winning a title shot, she won the Raw Women's Title, as previous champion Becky Lynch abdicated the belt due to her pregnancy. That represented the high point of Asuka's post "cash-in" reign; her feud with Nia Jax was far from scintillating and she only spent a bit of her feud with the Two-Woman Power Trip (Bayley and Sasha Banks) as champion.

Was this a good reign?: Middling is probably more accurate, but that's more on WWE than Asuka

2021: Big E (men's); Championship reign: 110 days. Nikki A.S.H. (women's); Championship reign: 32 days

Presumably frustrated with mostly working WWE's C-shows, Nikki Cross underwent a drastic gimmick change in 2021, repackaging herself as Nikki A.S.H. (Almost a Superhero). While fans were skeptical of this new character early on, many gave it some grace given that Cross pitched it to WWE, and the company rewarded this initiative with a MitB win and a swift win over Charlotte Flair for the Raw Women's Title.

Then, WWE's "underdog" booking struck. A week after winning the title, Nikki cut the dorkiest babyface promo imaginable and ended the night losing clean to Flair in a non-title match. She followed up that loss by saying that it only mattered that she "almost" won (get it?). So, she's THE CHAMPION and she's satisfied with "almost" beating someone?

Nevertheless, her reign as the champion no one took seriously lasted a few more weeks before Flair won the belt back from her at SummerSlam 2021.

Was this a good reign?: Let's just say this: 2006 Rey Mysterio is looking at this reign and shuddering.

Big E's MitB win and cash-in felt like the culmination of his slow climb to the main event. Yes, WWE (somewhat) hotshotted the title onto him as a response to AEW catching them in the ratings, but that doesn't mean the company erred when strapping him up.

However, it did show WWE's lack of a long-term plan for him as champion. While holding the WWE Title, Big E played third fiddle to the comedy duo of Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins, lost clean to Roman Reigns at Survivor Series (keep in mind that WWE did everything possible to protect Drew McIntyre in defeat when he faced Reigns the year prior), and lost to Brock Lesnar to little fanfare. After that, WWE quickly moved Big E back down the card.

Was this a good reign?: Underwhelming, at the very least.

2022: Liv Morgan (women's); Championship reign: 97 days

We'll have to save laughing at Austin Theory failing his cash-in on the United States Championship for another day and focus on Liv Morgan. By now, we've seen the pattern of how these cash-ins lead to bad title reigns. Morgan's follows that path: fluky win over a well-pushed star (Ronda Rousey), a rematch with said star that ends with a bad finish (sloppy pin at SummerSlam 2022 after Morgan clearly tapped out), another lame duck defense (Morgan beating Shayna Baszler), and a definitive loss to a bigger name (losing to Rousey at Extreme Rules 2022).

Was this a good reign?: It wasn't a memorable on, and if you do remember it, I'm sorry.

2023: Damian Priest (men's); Championship reign (as of July 31): 114 days. IYO SKY (women's); Championship reign: 245 days

Damian Priest's post-cash-in title reign with the consolation prize world title is still ongoing, so we'll wait to gauge where it falls in the annals of history. However, it's not a good sign when you come across as the secondary character in your own reign. That started with his cash-in at WrestleMania XL, which centered more around CM Punk screwing Drew McIntyre than anything Priest did. Following a mundane defense against Jey Uso at Backlash, Priest faced McIntyre again, and again, it became about Punk and McIntyre.

Then in his title defense against Seth Rollins, another match that wasn't supposed to have outside interference, it turned into another chapter in the Punk/McIntyre/Rollins saga. Now, he's in a program with GUNTHER where the challenger has resorted to thinly-veiled racism and classism to garner cheap heat. These are not good signs.

Was this a good reign?: TBD, but things are shaky.

It's not saying much, but IYO SKY's cash-in on Bianca Belair might have led to the best post-cash-in reign. As we've seen, though, that's not saying much. Still, she had good matches on TV and PPV, and even though she sometimes felt like a background figure to Bayley, that played well into their eventual feud over the Women's Title going into WrestleMania XL.

Was this a good reign?: ...yes! It's somewhat by default, but SKY did some good work as champion.

So, what does this say about MitB?

Looking back at these reigns, we can surely say that winning Money in the Bank doesn't mean you'll have a permanent spot in the main event, even if you win the championship. Like anything in wrestling, it comes down to the booking as much as it does the talent of the wrestlers. If WWE scripts you as a loser or as an undeserving champion, it's going to be tough no matter how skilled you are in the ring and on the microphone. That long list of title reigns proves that.

Recently, some fans have called for WWE to retire the Money in the Bank concept, and its loss certainly wouldn't hurt the WWE canon if the company can't use it properly, but that doesn't invalidate it as a trope. In the right hands, Money in the Bank can be an effective tool for creating new stars.

Perhaps we'll see something different with current Ms. Money in the Bank Tiffany Stratton. All WWE has to do is the opposite of what they've done for the last two decades.