The Money in the Bank pay-per-view is just a couple of weeks away and it’s safe to say that the show has a solid history to showcase. The initial edition of the pay-per-view happened back in 2010 and though it’s been only six years, it has certainly made its mark.
While it is the Money in the Bank ladder match that always steals the show, most of the undercard matches of the pay-per-view have also been impressive.
As we are going to see one more Money in the Bank PPV soon, here is a look back at some of the most impressive matches in the history of the show.
Kane gets his moment (2010)
The 2010 edition was the first Money in the Bank pay-per-view. It had a stacked card and the show opened with SmackDown’s Money In the Bank ladder match. Big Show, Matt Hardy, Christian, Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, and Kane fought for a chance to be Mr. Money in the Bank.
The match nearly lasted thirty minutes and had some exciting spots. In the end, Kane ended up grabbing the briefcase. He cashed in the title just two hours later on an injured Rey Mysterio and this resulted in a good World Heavyweight Championship reign from the big red monster.
Ziggler makes history (2012)
Dolph Ziggler had a brief stint on top of the food chain and it all started back at the 2012 Money in the Bank pay-per-view. The 2012 pay-per-view, like its predecessors, had two separate matches for the Raw and SmackDown briefcases respectively, and Ziggler competed in the SmackDown one.
He was up against Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Christian, Tyson Kidd, Sin Cara, Tensai, and Santino Marella. The match that lasted around twenty minutes had plenty of spots and did have the fans on the edge of their seats. Ziggler successfully cashed in later and went on to add a brief but good title reign to his resume.
Jack Swagger vs. Rey Mysterio (2010)
Jack Swagger might not have many matches to showcase in his career, but this match would certainly be one worth looking into. Rey Mysterio was the reigning World Heavyweight Champion at that time and in a stacked card, this match was overshadowed apparently. Rey and Swagger only had ten minutes to put together their match and it’s safe to say that they did it perfectly.
Rey came out winning the match after delivering his trademark moves and retained the championship. However, unfortunately for Rey, Kane cashed the MITB briefcase on him and took the title away from the Master of the 619.
John Cena wins the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (2014)
Daniel Bryan was the reigning as the WWE World heavyweight champion back in 2014 but thanks to his injury, Bryan was stripped of the title. The Authority then decided to find the new title holder through a ladder match and stacked the match with names like Kane, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus, Cesaro, Bray Wyatt and John Cena.
The fact that anyone could win the briefcase made the match exciting but at the end of the day, it was Cena that went home with the WWE championship. It was title number 15 for Cena and he moved one step closer to breaking the record of the legendary Ric Flair.
Miz wins the briefcase (2010)
This is the third entry in the list for the Money in the Bank 2010 pay-per-view, so you would’ve already understood how great the show was. We earlier saw how Kane won the SmackDown edition of Money in the Bank and they had some big names lined up for the Raw edition as well.
Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Edge, John Morrison, Evan Bourne, Ted DiBiase, The Miz and Mark Henry fought in the match. Everyone expected the veterans to get a rub in, but WWE decided to go with The Miz which added extra heel heat on him. His gimmick got a big boost thanks to the win and he made complete use of this momentum.
CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan (2012)
CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan will always be a dream showdown for wrestling fans. While WWE fans are raving about the whole indy invasion these days, it was actually Punk and Bryan that kickstarted it all. Punk, who defeated Cena at Money in the Bank 2011 for the WWE championship and went on to have a long reign, defended his title against Bryan at Money in the Bank 2012 and it had a classic written all over it.
Punk and Bryan did deliver big time but for some reason, the match is not talked about much. Also, it did not find a place as a show stopper as it was the Money in the Bank match that headlined the show.
Seth Rollins does it (2014)
The reason why Seth Rollins is in this list is because of the huge implications that his Money in the Bank briefcase win had. Rollins, after breaking up the Shield was carried around by the Authority and was put into a stacked match against likes of Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose, Rob Van Dam and Jack Swagger.
It was a returning match for Van Dam and at the same time, the rivalry between Ambrose and Rollins acted as a huge subplot. In the end, when Ambrose was going to get the win, he was screwed over by the Authority and it gifted the win to Rollins, starting the new era in the WWE.
John Cena vs. Kevin Owens (2015)
WWE was apparently very high on Kevin Owens when he came in. He had an impressive run in NXT as the NXT champion and months later, Owens made his main roster debut by taking out none other than John Cena. The Cena and Owens storyline was spread across multiple pay-per-views and their showdown at Money in the Bank was one of the best outings from the lot.
Owens and Cena had a long match with a string of near finishes before Cena ended up getting the upper hand over Owens. After the match, Owens slammed Cena on the apron and went on to challenge him for a match at Battleground as well. However, Owens could not win the rematch either.
Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose (2015)
The feud between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose was perhaps one of the best feuds in recent times. It all started when Rollins backstabbed his brothers to break up the Shield and Ambrose, went completely insane and seemed addicted in inflicting pain to Rollins. They had some memorable matches in the feud that found its place in many pay-per-view.
At Money in the Bank, these two fought for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship of Rollins and the match was simply epic. Rollins did come out as the winner but Ambrose had nothing to be sad about as this match will go down in the history as one of the greatest ladder matches in the show’s history.
CM Punk vs. John Cena (2011)
Not having this match on top of the list would probably be a sin. CM Punk and John Cena are two veterans who can put together hits in a basement. And if they have the backup of an excellent storyline, then they are guaranteed to deliver a hit. The 2011 edition of Money in the Bank took place in Chicago and it was the last match on CM Punk’s contract.
These two put on a clinic lasting more than thirty minutes and to the surprise of most fans, CM Punk came out winning. He left with the WWE Championship and we got to see the exciting feud where Cena and Punk fought each other to unify the title.
