Another edition of Money in the Bank is upon us. Over the years, the concept has managed to reserve a special place in the WWE calendar and this year, the stakes are as high as ever. WWE has lined up some exciting names to compete for the briefcase, and with the brand split coming up, the importance of the same has sky rocketed.
Money in the Bank has a rich history and has had some interesting winners during its course, some good and some bad. As we will get one more Mr. Money in the Bank winner soon, here is a look back at some of the worst briefcase winners from the past.
Alberto Del Rio
Mexico’s greatest import, Alberto Del Rio achieved a lot during his initial run in the WWE. The Money in the Bank win in 2010 was one among his achievements. Del Rio won the briefcase by defeating The Miz, Kofi Kingston, Alex Riley, Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger, R-Truth and Rey Mysterio. And as Del Rio was the clear cut favorite to win, it was not a surprise to many.
Del Rio tried to have his first cash in on CM Punk, but the champ managed to escape through the crowd. Eventually, Del Rio did successfully cash in on Punk thanks to an interference from Kevin Nash. The title reign of Del Rio, however, did not last long as he dropped the championship to Cena in the next pay-per-view itself.
Daniel Bryan
The reason why Daniel Bryan is in this list is because of how poorly he was booked by the WWE after the Money in the Bank win. He won it after a great match involving Superstars such as Cody Rhodes, Sin Cara, Kane, Wade Barrett, Sheamus, Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater and had a successful cash in on Big Show as well. Bryan’s career actually took off after his cash in on Big Show.
But after he won the match, Bryan was kept off the limelight. He did not make it to pay-per-view cards and the initial plan was to let him cash in at WrestleMania which apparently didn’t happen as well. Taking away the momentum after his win was not too smart on the WWE’s part and that, unfortunately, gets Bryan into this list.
Jack Swagger
Jack Swagger’s Money in the bank win was nothing short of epic. He outclassed nine other entrants including the likes of Shelton Benjamin, Kane, Matt Hardy, Kofi Kingston and some more. The match had a string of potential winners but WWE went with Swagger and surprised many.
Swagger did not waste much time as well as he cashed in on the SmackDown after WrestleMania, making it one of the fastest cash ins at that point. He did win the championship, but all his momentum was short-lived as it did not have any lasting impact on the career of Swagger, even though that is the major aim of the MITB concept.
Sheamus
Sheamus was a solid Money in the bank winner. He had a great cash in but the period between his actual cash in and his Money in the Bank win was nothing less than forgettable. He went on to have a feud with Randy Orton that took away all of his momentum and most of the fans actually forgot that Sheamus has the briefcase with him.
He cashed in on Roman Reigns to win the title, but from the moment he won it, everyone knew that he was simply a transitional champion that was designed to take away the heat from Reigns.
Mr. Kennedy
The fans might have some fond memories of Mr. Kennedy. He had tons of potential and was destined to be a major star in the promotion. However, thanks to some backstage politics and his attitude, Kennedy soon fell off the pace.
He had won the Money in the Bank briefcase back at WrestleMania 23 against names like Booker T, CM Punk, Randy Orton, Edge, Jeff and Matt Hardy, and Finlay and the WWE apparently had plans to make Kennedy the champion. But as he then suffered from a torn tricep, WWE decided to take the briefcase away from him, giving Edge the opportunity to cash it in on Undertaker to win the title.
Damien Sandow
Damien Sandow was recently released from the WWE and unless he makes a return, he will always be remembered as a wrestler that WWE failed to use properly. One such instance that made us realize that WWE is underusing him came back in 2013. Sandow went on to win the SmackDown Money in the Bank when he outclassed names like Dean Ambrose, Jack Swagger, Cody Rhodes, Fandango, Cesaro and Wade Barrett.
After his win though, Sandow went on to have a losing streak and saw his briefcase being thrown into the Gulf of Mexico. He did come up with a waterproof briefcase but then again, he failed to cash in successfully after he was defeated by John Cena.
John Cena
The whole point of having Money in the Bank briefcase is the surprise factor. You get an advantage over the champion thanks to the element of surprise that you have, and it’s the best part about having that briefcase. Everyone expected Cena to be a typical Money in the Bank winner when he won the briefcase back in 2012.
However, Cena had other plans. The extra-good John Cena decided to announce his cashing in ahead of time. He said that he would be facing CM Punk for the title at Raw 1000 and went on to become the first person to unsuccessfully cash in the MITB briefcase.
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