James Ellsworth details Vince McMahon's "genius" reasoning behind controversial WWE MITB decision

Former WWE Superstar James Ellsworth recently spoke about Vince McMahon's bold idea behind Carmella's Money in the Bank angle from 2017.

The first-ever Women's Money in the Bank ladder match went down that year, and Carmella won the MITB contract thanks to some help from her then-on-screen ally, James Ellsworth. This outcome led to much controversy, as many believed Ellsworth's involvement overshadowed the significance of the moment for female competitors.

A subsequent rematch on WWE SmackDown saw Carmella definitively win the MITB contract. During James Ellsworth's recent appearance on the It's My House podcast, he detailed how the second women's MITB ladder match in 2017 was all part of Vince McMahon's original vision and not a consequence of fan backlash.

The former WWE Superstar said that he and Carmella were getting cheered during house shows back then, and McMahon wanted to "get some heat" on the duo.

"It worked. And what I mean by work is people, maybe your self included, think that they did that second Money in the Bank ladder match two weeks later on SmackDown because they got so much backlash - which is not true at all." Ellsworth continued, "They knew they were going to do the second one before we ever did the first. It was Vince's idea, Vince goes, 'We got to get some heat on Carmella and Ellsworth,' because, at the house shows we were getting cheered - me and Carmella."

NEW EPISODE 🚨I just had the pleasure of speaking to @realellsworth about:✅ Beating AJ Styles THREE times!✅ His debut against Braun Strowman and getting over!✅ Working with Carmella and the MITB controversy!✅ MUCH MORE!https://t.co/XujoDteGCGMake sure to subscribe! pic.twitter.com/z6uszBRi6G
— It's My House Wrestling Podcast 🎙 (@ItsMyHousePod) August 27, 2021

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James Ellsworth explains how Vince McMahon's idea got WWE fans talking

Ellsworth stated that the controversial finish to the first-ever women's MITB ladder match was booked in hopes of bringing more attention towards the rematch on WWE SmackDown.

Ellsworth and Carmella certainly received major heat, and the June 27th, 2017, edition of SmackDown drew a slightly increased viewership compared to the previous episode.

As a result of what this angle had accomplished, the former WWE Superstar stated that Vince McMahon is "a genius whenever he feels like being a genius."

"So the way we get the heat was Ellsworth climbs the ladder, he gives her the briefcase, and then we'll get a lot of backlash for it but then we'll pop a rating on SmackDown because we'll have another one, where she kind of grabs that herself, but this will be like her big moment. And he [Vince McMahon] was right. He was right about it all. That was the most talked about moment from that pay per view. And then the Smackdown, that we did a week or two later, and that second one 600,000 people more watched that Smackdown than the week before. He's a genius whenever he feels like being a genius," stated Ellsworth.