Money in the Bank ladder match

professional wrestling ladder match promoted by WWE

The Money in the Bank ladder match is a multi-person ladder match held by the professional wrestling promotion WWE. First contested at WWE's annual WrestleMania event beginning in 2005, a separate Money in the Bank pay-per-view was created in 2010.[1]

The 2009 Money in the Bank ladder match was fought at WrestleMania XXV
The 2011 Raw Money in the Bank ladder match

The winner of the match gets a contract that they can use anytime to get a match for a championship of their choosing within the next 12 months. Originally the winners could only cash in on their brand's world/women's championship. This restriction was removed in 2022.[2] A women's variation exists since 2017.[3]

History

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Edge was the first "Mr. Money in the Bank" in 2005

In WWE storyline, the concept for the Money in the Bank match was introduced in March 2005 by Chris Jericho. Jericho then pitched the idea to Raw general manager Eric Bischoff, who liked it and promptly began to book the match for WrestleMania 21. Edge won the first match and held the contract until New Year's Revolution in January 2006. There, he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract against WWE Champion John Cena, who had just successfully defended the title in an Elimination Chamber match. Edge defeated Cena to become WWE Champion and quickly establishing the precedent of "cashing in" on a vulnerable champion.

 
CM Punk is the only two-time Money in the Bank ladder match winner
 
Seth Rollins cashing in his Money in the Bank contract at WrestleMania 31
 
Carmella was the winner of the first women's Money in the Bank ladder match in 2018

The 2017 Money in the Bank pay-per-view took place on June 18 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri as a SmackDown-exclusive event, this was the only single-branded Money on the Bank event.[4] It also featured the first women's Money in the Bank match, which was won by Carmella.[3]

Matches

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Raw brand SmackDown brand
Year Event Prize Winner Other competitors Time
2005 WrestleMania 21 World Heavyweight Championship match Edge Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Shelton Benjamin, Kane and Christian 15:17
  • In the 2005 WWE draft, World Heavyweight Champion Batista was drafted to SmackDown and WWE Champion John Cena was drafted to Raw, thus enabling Edge to challenge for the WWE Championship instead.[5]
  • Successfully defended his contract against Matt Hardy in a Ladder match on the WWE Homecoming episode of Raw on October 3, 2005.
  • Edge held the contract for 280 days.
2006 WrestleMania 22 Winner's brand's world championship match Rob Van Dam Matt Hardy, Shelton Benjamin, Ric Flair, Finlay and Bobby Lashley 12:14[6]
  • Successfully defended his contract against Shelton Benjamin in a contract vs. championship winner take all match at Backlash, winning Benjamin's Intercontinental Championship in the process.[7]
  • Van Dam is the first winner to choose the event where he cashed in the contract.
  • Van Dam held the contract for 70 days.
2007 WrestleMania 23 Any world championship match Mr. Kennedy Edge, Jeff Hardy, CM Punk, King Booker, Finlay, Matt Hardy and Randy Orton 24:10[8]
  • Lost his contract against Edge on the May 7, 2007 episode of Raw.[9]
  • Mr. Kennedy held the contract for 36 days.
  • As a result of the switch, Edge became a member of the SmackDown brand, marking the first time this occurred.
  • Edge held the contract for 1 day. (4 days according to WWE, due to the episode of SmackDown airing on tape delay.)
2008 WrestleMania XXIV Any world championship match CM Punk Mr. Kennedy, Chris Jericho, Shelton Benjamin, Carlito, John Morrison and Montel Vontavious Porter 15:12[10]
  • As a result of the cash-in, the World Heavyweight Championship transferred back to Raw, marking the first (and only) time this occurred.
  • CM Punk held the contract for 92 days.
2009 WrestleMania XXV Any world championship match CM Punk Christian, Shelton Benjamin, Kane, Finlay, Montel Vontavious Porter, Kofi Kingston and Mark Henry 14:32
  • CM Punk was the first back-to-back Money in the Bank winner.
  • CM Punk held the contract for 63 days.
2010 WrestleMania XXVI Any world championship match Jack Swagger Shelton Benjamin, Christian, Kane, Matt Hardy, Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston, Evan Bourne, Montel Vontavious Porter and Dolph Ziggler 13:44
  • Swagger was transfered to SmackDown after his victory
  • Swagger held the contract for 2 days. (5 days according to WWE, due to the episode of SmackDown airing on tape delay.)
Money in the Bank World Heavyweight Championship match Kane Christian, Matt Hardy, Big Show, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes 26:18
  • Kane is the fastest winner to cash-in the Money in the Bank contract and the first wrestler to cash-in the contract on the same night as winning it.
  • Kane held the contract for 49 minutes.
Money in the Bank WWE Championship match The Miz Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Edge, John Morrison, Evan Bourne, Ted DiBiase and Mark Henry 20:26
  • The Miz held the contract for 127 days.
2011 Money in the Bank World Heavyweight Championship match Daniel Bryan Wade Barrett, Kane, Cody Rhodes, Sheamus, Sin Cara, Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater 24:27
  • Bryan's first cash-in and win against Mark Henry on the November 25, 2011 episode of SmackDown was nullified. This marks the first time that a successful cash-in was reverted.
  • Bryan held the contract for 154 days.
Money in the Bank WWE Championship match Alberto Del Rio The Miz, Rey Mysterio, Jack Swagger, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, Evan Bourne and Alex Riley 15:54
  • Del Rio held the contract for 28 days.
2012 Money in the Bank World Heavyweight Championship match Dolph Ziggler Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Christian, Tyson Kidd, Sin Cara, Tensai and Santino Marella 18:23
  • Successfully defended his contract against Chris Jericho in a career vs. contract match on the August 20, 2012 episode of Raw.
  • Successfully defended his contract against John Cena in a Ladder match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs.[11]
  • Ziggler held the contract for 267 days.
Money in the Bank WWE Championship match John Cena Chris Jericho, The Miz, Kane and Big Show 20:15
  • Cena is the first wrestler to not win a world championship in a cash-in match.
  • Cena held the contract for 8 days.
2013 Money in the Bank World Heavyweight Championship match Damien Sandow Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett, Dean Ambrose, Jack Swagger, Fandango and Antonio Cesaro 16:24
  • First wrestler to cleanly lose a cash-in match
  • Sandow held the contract for 106 days
Money in the Bank WWE Championship match Randy Orton CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Christian, Sheamus and Rob Van Dam 28:38
  • Orton held the contract for 35 days.
2014 Money in the Bank WWE World Heavyweight Championship match Seth Rollins Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Rob Van Dam and Dean Ambrose 23:10
  • Rollins is the first to cash in at WrestleMania, and the first to cash in while a championship match was in progress.
  • Rollins held the contract for 273 days.
2015 Money in the Bank WWE World Heavyweight Championship match Sheamus Dolph Ziggler, Kane, Kofi Kingston, Neville, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns 20:50
  • Sheamus held the contract for 161 days.
2016 Money in the Bank WWE World Heavyweight Championship match Dean Ambrose Sami Zayn, Cesaro, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens and Alberto Del Rio 21:38
  • Ambrose held the contract for 57 minutes.
2017 Money in the Bank WWE SmackDown Women's Championship match Carmella Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Natalya and Tamina 13:20
  • This was the first Women's Money in the Bank ladder match.
  • SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan stripped Carmella of the briefcase two days after the event because of interference by Carmella's manager James Ellsworth, who retrieved the briefcase for Carmella and dropped it to her. A rematch was scheduled for the June 27 episode of SmackDown.
  • Carmella held the contract for 2 days.
Money in the Bank WWE Championship match Baron Corbin AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Dolph Ziggler, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens 29:45
  • Corbin held the contract for 58 days.
SmackDown Live WWE SmackDown Women's Championship match Carmella Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Natalya and Tamina 24:00
  • This was a rematch ordered by SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan after he stripped Carmella of the briefcase following the controversial finish at the Money in the Bank PPV. As a result of his actions during the original match, James Ellsworth was banned from the arena, though Ellsworth still interfered in the match on Carmella's behalf.
  • This was the first Money in the Bank ladder match to not air on pay-per-view, as well as the first to take place on SmackDown.
  • Carmella held the contract for 287 days, which is the longest of any wrestler to hold the contract.
2018 Money in the Bank Winner's brand's women's championship match Alexa Bliss Ember Moon, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Natalya, Lana, Naomi and Sasha Banks 18:30
  • Bliss held the contract for 2 hours and 52 minutes.
Money in the Bank Winner's brand's world championship match Braun Strowman Finn Bálor, The Miz, Rusev, Bobby Roode, Kevin Owens, Kofi Kingston and Samoa Joe 19:53
  • Successfully defended his contract against Kevin Owens at SummerSlam.
  • Strowman held the contract for 70 days. To make his announced cash-in match at Hell in a Cell official, Strowman relinquished the briefcase on the August 27th, 2018 episode of Raw.

Record

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Championship Successful cash-ins Attempts Success rate
WWE (World Heavyweight) Championship 8 10 .800
WWE Universal Championship 0 0
World Heavyweight Championship 7 8 .875
WWE Raw Women's Championship 1 1 1.000
WWE SmackDown Women's Championship 1 1 1.000
Total 17 20 .850

Cash-in matches

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Won match and title Won match but not title Lost match Match ended in draw or no contest
No. Case Holder Championship Date Location Event Results
1 Edge WWE Championship January 8, 2006 Albany, NY New Year's Revolution Edge defeated John Cena after two Spears to win the championship after Cena had successfully defended the title against Carlito, Chris Masters, Shawn Michaels, Kane and Kurt Angle in an Elimination Chamber match
2 Rob Van Dam WWE Championship June 11, 2006 New York, NY ECW One Night Stand This was an Extreme Rules match. Van Dam defeated John Cena after a run-in and Spear by Edge and a Five-Star Frog Splash to win the championship
3 Edge World Heavyweight Championship May 8, 2007 (aired May 11, 2007) Pittsburgh, PA SmackDown! Edge defeated The Undertaker after a Spear to win the championship after Undertaker went to a draw in a Steel cage match with Batista and was attacked by Mark Henry
4 CM Punk World Heavyweight Championship June 30, 2008 Oklahoma City, OK Raw CM Punk defeated Edge after a GTS to win the championship after Edge was attacked by Batista
5 CM Punk World Heavyweight Championship June 7, 2009 New Orleans, LA Extreme Rules CM Punk defeated Jeff Hardy after two GTSs to win the championship after Hardy had defeated Edge in a Ladder match to win the title
6 Jack Swagger World Heavyweight Championship March 30, 2010 (aired April 2, 2010) Paradise, NV SmackDown Swagger defeated Chris Jericho after a Gutwrench powerbomb to win the championship after an already injured Jericho was attacked by Edge
7 Kane World Heavyweight Championship July 18, 2010 Kansas City, MO Money in the Bank Kane defeated Rey Mysterio after a Tombstone Piledriver to win the championship after Mysterio had successfully defended the title against Jack Swagger
8 The Miz WWE Championship November 22, 2010 Orlando, FL Raw Miz defeated Randy Orton after a Skull Crushing Finale to win the championship after Orton was attacked by The Nexus following a successful defense of the title against Nexus leader Wade Barrett
9 Alberto Del Rio WWE Championship August 14, 2011 Los Angeles, CA SummerSlam Del Rio defeated CM Punk after a Step-up enzuigiri to win the championship after Punk had defeated John Cena to become undisputed champion and was then attacked by Kevin Nash
10 Daniel Bryan World Heavyweight Championship December 18, 2011 Baltimore, MD TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs Bryan defeated Big Show after an attack by Mark Henry to win the championship after Show had defeated Henry in a Chairs match to win the title
11 John Cena WWE Championship July 23, 2012 St. Louis, MO Raw 1000 Cena won his cash-in match against CM Punk via disqualification after Big Show interfered, but failed to win the title because championships cannot change hands via count-outs or disqualifications (unless the match stipulation says otherwise)
12 Dolph Ziggler World Heavyweight Championship April 8, 2013 East Rutherford, NJ Raw Ziggler defeated Alberto Del Rio after a Zig Zag to win the championship after Del Rio was attacked by Jack Swagger, who he had defeated along with Zeb Colter in a 2-on-1 Handicap match
13 Randy Orton WWE Championship August 18, 2013 Los Angeles, CA SummerSlam Orton defeated Daniel Bryan after a Pedigree from Triple H (who was the special guest referee) to win the championship after Bryan had defeated John Cena to win the title. This was the first cash-in to involve a guest referee
14 Damien Sandow World Heavyweight Championship October 28, 2013 Orlando, FL Raw Sandow attacked champion John Cena and immediately cashed in the contract, but became the first man to lose a cash-in match when Cena won the match after an Attitude Adjustment
15 Seth Rollins WWE World Heavyweight Championship March 29, 2015 Santa Clara, CA WrestleMania 31 During the main event between defending champion Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, Rollins cashed in his briefcase. The referee accepted the cash-in while the match was in progress and converted the singles match into a triple-threat match. Rollins then pinned Reigns after a Curb Stomp to win the championship. This was the first successful cash-in where the contract holder did not pin the champion.
16 Sheamus WWE World Heavyweight Championship November 22, 2015 Atlanta, GA Survivor Series Sheamus defeated Roman Reigns after a Brogue Kick to win the championship after Reigns had defeated Dean Ambrose to win the vacant title
17 Dean Ambrose WWE World Heavyweight Championship June 19, 2016 Paradise, NV Money in the Bank Ambrose defeated Seth Rollins after a Dirty Deeds to win the championship after Rollins had defeated Roman Reigns to win the title
18 Baron Corbin WWE Championship August 15, 2017 Providence, RI SmackDown Live Corbin interfered in a match between John Cena and champion Jinder Mahal and attacked Cena, who won by disqualification. He then cashed in the contract after almost departing, but after the match started, he attacked Cena who was standing on the apron and was then rolled-up by Mahal.
19 Braun Strowman WWE Universal Championship September 16, 2018 San Antonio, Texas Hell in a Cell The match ended in no contest, when Brock Lesnar give F-5 both. This mean Roman Reigns retain his title.

Females

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No. Case Holder Championship Date Location Event Results
1 Carmella WWE SmackDown Women's Championship April 10, 2018 New Orleans, LA SmackDown Live Carmella defeated Charlotte Flair after a Princess Kick to win the championship after Flair was attacked by the debuting IIconics (Peyton Royce and Billie Kay).
2 Alexa Bliss WWE Raw Women's Championship June 17, 2018 Rosemont, IL Money in the Bank Bliss interrupted the scheduled championship match between defending champion Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey by attacking both competitors with her briefcase causing the match to end in a disqualification. After incapacitating Rousey, she cashed in the contract and defeated Jax after a Bliss DDT and a Twisted Bliss to win the championship.

References

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  1. Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE: History of WrestleMania. p. 59.
  2. Prateek, Arya (2023-06-16). "Triple H introduces new rule for upcoming 'WWE Money in the Bank' in ladder matches". republicworld.com. Retrieved 2024-07-17.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Full history of the Money in the Bank contract". WWE. Retrieved 2024-07-17.
  4. "WWE confirms that it is switching back to Raw and Smackdown dual brand PPVs". The Sun. 2018-02-17. Retrieved 2024-07-17.
  5. "Preview for WM21". WWE.com. Retrieved 5 July 2011. "Y2J had an idea. Eric Bischoff capitalized on it. When Chris Jericho had a plan for WrestleMania, which included six Superstars, a chance of a lifetime and a ladder; a light in Bischoff's head went off. The RAW General Manager immediately picked five other Superstars to participate in the match – Shelton Benjamin, Edge, Chris Benoit, Christian and Kane – and assigned the prize, a future opportunity at the World Heavyweight Championship. Who will walk away from the Money-In-The-Bank Ladder Match with the opportunity of a lifetime? Watch WrestleMania to find out".
  6. Dale Plummer and Nick Tylwalk (2006-04-03). "WrestleMania delivers big time on PPV". SLAM! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on 2015-04-19. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
  7. "Rob Van Dam def. Shelton Benjamin to become Intercontinental Championship". WWE. 2006-04-30. Retrieved 2008-05-23.
  8. Dale Plummer and Nick Tylwalk (2007-04-01). "Undertaker the champ, McMahon bald". SLAM! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on 2014-12-16. Retrieved 2009-03-08.
  9. DiFino, Lennie (May 7, 2007). "Gold Digging". WWE. Archived from the original on November 22, 2013. Retrieved 2008-05-23. The Rated-R Superstar struck gold when he defeated the loudmouth from SmackDown, Mr. Kennedy, for the Money in the Bank briefcase and its guaranteed World Championship opportunity. He did this by attacking Mr. Kennedy before the match actually started, giving the ultimate opportunist an advantage.
  10. Dale Plummer (2008-03-30). "Mayweather, Orton survive Mania; Edge, Flair don't". SLAM! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on 2012-05-23. Retrieved 2009-03-08.
  11. Styles, Irfan Nasir (2012-12-16). "WWE.com: Dolph Ziggler def. John Cena (Ladder Match for the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank contract)". WWE. Retrieved 2012-12-16. Dolph Ziggler def. John Cena (Ladder Match for the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank contract)