Money in the Bank ladder match

For the pay-per-view event named after this match, see WWE Money in the Bank.

The Money in the Bank ladder match is a multi-person ladder match held by the professional wrestling promotion WWE. First performed at WWE's annual WrestleMania event beginning in 2005, a separate Money in the Bank event was established in 2010. The prize of the match is a briefcase containing a contract for a championship match of the winner's choice, which, within WWEs fictional storyline, can be "cashed in" by the holder of the briefcase at any point in the year following their victory. If the contract is not used within a year of winning it, it will be invalid, but this has yet to happen. From its inception until 2017, the match only involved male wrestlers, with the contract being for a world championship match. Beginning with the 2017 Money in the Bank event, women also have the opportunity to compete in such a match, with their prize being a contract for a women's championship match. As of the 2022 event, winners can use the contract on any championship.

The 2011 Raw Money in the Bank ladder match

The 2009 Money in the Bank ladder match was performed at WrestleMania 25

The first match was contested in 2005 at WrestleMania 21, after Chris Jericho invented the concept. At the time, it was exclusive to wrestlers of the Raw brand and Edge won the inaugural match. From then until WrestleMania XXVI in March 2010, the Money in the Bank ladder match, now open to all WWE brands, became a WrestleMania mainstay. The 2010 Money in the Bank event saw a second and third Money in the Bank ladder match when the eponymous event debuted that July, with WrestleMania no longer featuring the match. Unlike the matches at WrestleMania, this titular event included two such ladder matches: one each for a contract for a WWE Championship match and a World Heavyweight Championship (2002–2013 version) match, respectively.

Before the establishment of the annual Money in the Bank event, wrestlers were allowed to use the contract to claim a match for any world championship in WWE. After the establishment of the event, the Money in the Bank contracts were specifically aimed at one or the other championship. With the championship unification of the WWE and World Heavyweight titles into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the 2013 TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs event, there was only a single contract in play. This went into effect beginning with the 2014 Money in the Bank event.

The brand split returned shortly after the 2016 Money in the Bank event along with a new world title. The 2017 event, however, was SmackDown-exclusive and the contract was a match for its world championship, the WWE Championship (formerly WWE World Heavyweight Championship). It also included the first-ever women's Money in the Bank ladder match, with the winner receiving a contract for a SmackDown Women's Championship match. Due to the controversy surrounding the ending of that match, the first non-pay-per-view/livestreaming Money in the Bank ladder match occurred on the June 27 episode of SmackDown. Brand-exclusive pay-per-view and livestreaming events were discontinued the following year, thus the 2018 Money in the Bank event involved both the Raw and SmackDown brands. It had one men's match and one women's match with participants evenly divided between the brands; the respective contracts guaranteed the winner a championship match for the top title of their respective brand, allowing Raw wrestlers (should they win) to cash-in on the Universal Championship or Raw Women's Championship. Beginning with the 2019 Money in the Bank, the respective winners could challenge either brand's champion.

At the 2020 Money in the Bank event, while the rules of the match remained the same, a "Corporate Ladder" gimmick was added on top of the match; both the men's and women's matches, which were held at the same time, took place at WWE's Titan Towers in Stamford, Connecticut, in which the participants began on the ground floor of the building and fought their way to the roof where a ring and ladders were located with the briefcases suspended above the ring; this change was brought about due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The matches returned to their regular format for the 2021 Money in the Bank event. While the contract was originally only for a world championship match, 2022 winner Austin Theory was the first and so far only to cash-in on a non-world championship when he unsuccessfully challenged for the WWE United States Championship.

Concept

The Money in the Bank ladder match can involve anywhere from 5–10 participants, with the objective being to retrieve a briefcase that is suspended 20 feet above the ring. The match was originally only for male wrestlers until 2017, when women began to have their own ladder match. The briefcase originally contained a contract that guaranteed a match for a world championship, and beginning in 2017 also a women's world championship—as of 2022, the contract can be used on any championship. The original match at WrestleMania 21 was exclusive to the Raw brand, with the contract guaranteeing a match for Raw's top title at the time, the World Heavyweight Championship (2002–2013 version). After this, wrestlers had the option between the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship, regardless of the brand the wrestler belonged to. In 2006, ECW's world title, the ECW Championship, became a third option until 2010, as in February that year, the ECW brand along with the title was deactivated; despite being an option, no contract holder cashed-in on the ECW Championship.

Beginning with the 2010 Money in the Bank event in July, it included two ladder matches, one for the Raw brand and one for SmackDown; Raw's ladder match was for a contract for a match for its top title at the time, the WWE Championship, while SmackDown's contract was for a match for its top title at the time, the World Heavyweight Championship. Although the WWE brand split ended after the 2011 event, a ladder match dedicated to each championship continued through the 2013 event. In December 2013, the titles were unified as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The next three years' events included a sole ladder match with a contract guaranteeing a match for the unified title. The brand split returned after the 2016 event. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship was made exclusive to SmackDown and renamed back to WWE Championship, while Raw established the WWE Universal Championship as their top title. Despite this, the 2017 event was SmackDown-exclusive and the contract was for a match for its world title. The 2017 event also saw the first women's Money in the Bank match with its contract for a SmackDown Women's Championship match.

Brand-exclusive PPVs ended following WrestleMania 34 in 2018, with all future events involving both the Raw and SmackDown brands. The Money in the Bank event now features two ladder matches, one for males and one for females, and each has eight participants evenly divided between the brands. The 2018 event was also the first year that the winners could challenge for the Universal Championship and Raw Women's Championship, respectively. For 2018, the winners received a contract for a match for their respective brand's world championship; in 2019, it was changed so that the winners could choose either brand's top championship. The 2020 event saw a variation to the match due to the COVID-19 pandemic: the men's and women's matches, featuring only six competitors each but still evenly divided between the brands, were moved to WWE's headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, and occurred at the same time, with all competitors beginning on the ground floor and fighting their way to the roof where the briefcases were suspended above a ring. The 2021 event returned to the standard rules, but the 2022 event saw an uneven number of participants in the women's match; there were seven participants with four from Raw and three from SmackDown. The men's match was originally booked with an uneven division but that was rectified just before the match occurred. The 2022 event winner changed the contract, allowing wrestlers the choice of any championship to challenge for; 2022 contract winner Austin Theory unsuccessfully cashed in on the WWE United States Championship. Also in early 2022, the WWE and Universal championships were unified as the Undisputed WWE (Universal) Championship, which became exclusive to SmackDown in 2023, with Raw subsequently introducing a new World Heavyweight Championship, while the Raw and SmackDown women's titles were renamed as the WWE Women's Championship and Women's World Championship, respectively.

The primary gimmick of the Money in the Bank briefcase is that it can be cashed in at the holder's sole discretion, at any time on any WWE programming. This enables the holder to take advantage of a moment's weakness in the champion, even if the champion had just finished a title defense for the night. This strategic use of the briefcase was popularized by Edge, the first Money in the Bank holder, who cashed it in at New Year's Revolution in January 2006, immediately after defending champion John Cena had finished a grueling Elimination Chamber match against five other wrestlers. Because Cena was exhausted and barely able to defend himself, Edge made quick work of the champion, thus setting a powerful precedent for all Money in the Bank holders to come. At WrestleMania 31 in 2015, Seth Rollins set a precedent that a cash-in can even occur while a championship match is in progress; Rollins cashed in during the main event match between Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, converting the match to a triple threat match, and pinned the challenger Reigns to win the title. The Miz attempted to repeat this at the 2020 TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs event; however, since his tag team partner John Morrison cashed in the contract on his behalf, it was ruled an invalid cash-in and the contract was returned to The Miz, thus enforcing that only the contract holder can cash in the contract. Drew McIntyre would then cash in during a match between Rollins and reigning World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest at the 2024 Money in the Bank event, which converted that match into a triple threat, but McIntyre failed his cash in due to an attack from CM Punk, which allowed Priest to retain.

The contract is valid for one year and the briefcase holder—dubbed "Mr./Ms. Money in the Bank"—can cash in the contract at the date, place, and time of their choosing. The briefcase may also be defended in matches, similar to how championships are defended. All of the briefcase holders have successfully defended and cashed in the contract except Mr. Kennedy and Otis, who both won the contract in the ladder match but lost the contract in defending the contract itself in a match. John Cena, Damien Sandow, Baron Corbin, Braun Strowman, Austin Theory, and Drew McIntyre are the only Money in the Bank contract holders to cash in and fail to gain a championship. To date, Cena, Charlotte Flair, and Seth Rollins have had the contract cashed in against them the most (three times), as Edge, Rob Van Dam, and Damien Sandow have all cashed in against Cena, Carmella, Bayley, and Nikki A.S.H. have all cashed in against Flair, and Dean Ambrose, Brock Lesnar, and Austin Theory have all cashed in against Rollins, who has the unique distinction in that all three cash-ins against him were for different championships: the WWE World Heavyweight Championship with Ambrose, the Universal Championship with Lesnar, and the United States Championship with Theory. Rollins was also involved in the 2024 cash in for the World Heavyweight Championship where he was originally the sole challenger for the title but contract holder McIntyre cashed in during his match, converting it to a triple threat in which Damian Priest won to retain. This also gives Rollins the distinction of being involved in the only two official cash ins that converted the singles match into a triple threat. Cena was also involved in the first three instances where the championship failed to change hands after cashing in the contract: once as the challenger, which he won by disqualification against CM Punk, the second time as champion by defeating Sandow via pinfall, and lastly as a distraction causing Corbin to lose to champion Jinder Mahal. Strowman was the first to fail by a no-contest ruling, when Brock Lesnar interfered during his Universal Championship match against Roman Reigns at the 2018 Hell in a Cell event and laid out both men.

McIntyre is the most recent wrestler to fail in his cash in, losing to World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest, thanks to an attack by CM Punk at the 2024 Money in the Bank. Edge, Daniel Bryan, and Seth Rollins are the only Money in the Bank contract holders to be given a title opportunity that was not their cash-in match: Edge won a championship tournament in 2005 on Raw to earn him a World Heavyweight Championship match against Batista, Bryan faced reigning World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry in a steel cage match on the November 29, 2011, episode of SmackDown, and Rollins received a title shot in a triple threat match, also involving Cena and reigning WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar at the 2015 Royal Rumble. Rollins and Lesnar also have a unique history of cash-ins with each other, as they are the only two contract holders to cash in on one another and win a championship: Rollins at WrestleMania 31 when he cashed in and won Lesnar's WWE World Heavyweight Championship and Lesnar at Extreme Rules 2019 when he cashed in and won Rollins' Universal Championship. Priest and McIntyre also have a similar history with one another; however, theirs was for the same championship, the World Heavyweight Championship, but in their case, Priest won his cash in while McIntyre failed.

Matches

• List of Money in the Bank ladder matches

External links

• Media related to Money in the Bank ladder match at Wikimedia Commons