Money On The Bank Cash-ins is the moments that still make WWE exciting and unpredictable. For 15 years, the Money in the Bank cash-in has been a hallmark of WWE television and is still one of the most well-liked angles. You never know when Mr/Mrs. Money in the Bank’s music hits, and he/she runs to the ring with the briefcase. It’s only exciting since cashing in one’s briefcase doesn’t always ensure championship pleasure.
WWE has produced some iconic and extraordinarily powerful cash-ins during the Money in the Bank event’s history. Some have culminated in decades-long climbs to the top, while others have been the fulfillment of young dreams. However, each of them has changed the Superstars’ lives, for better or worse.
You sometimes wish for a superstar’s successful cash-in, while other times you don’t if you hate that guy so much. And that was the case with this year’s Money in the Bank (2022), where Theory won the briefcase even though, till the very end, he wasn’t even scheduled to be in the match. Everyone hated him for winning among the other fan favorites like Riddle and Seth Rollins. Will he cash in on “The Tribal Chief,” Roman Reigns, and win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship? We’ll just have to wait and see. Until then, let’s count down the Top 12 Money In The Bank Cash-ins Of All Time.
12. Daniel Bryan On The Big Show (TLC 2011)
Now, this wasn’t the most exciting cash-in terms of actual entering action, as Big Show had already been knocked out by Mark Henry, who was angry at losing his championship to him in a Chairs Match just before. And yes, that Chairs Match was every bit as thrilling as it sounds. Bryan’s entire cash-in lasted just seven seconds but finally gave him a world championship in the big leagues. It also made him the first NXT call-up to become world champion, and look how many they’ve been since (I actually don’t know how many they’ve been since maybe Rollins… you know why ignore that).
It also kick-started Bryan’s obnoxious heel persona and YES chants, which of course, led to him shattering the glass ceiling. You are lucky and happy when you are the one cashing in the Money in the Bank, not when you are on the other side taking it. And Bryan was on both of these sides, winning World Heavyweight Championship in 2011 cash-in the briefcase and then losing the WWE Championship in Summerslam 2013 to Rany Orton’s cash-in.
11. Kane On Rey Mysterio (Money in the Bank 2010)
Again this wasn’t the most exciting cash-in from a pure in-ring standpoint, but we’ve decided to include it for its sentimental value. Up until this point, Kane had never won a world title since that one-day reign back in the 90s unless you can’t win the ECW Championship, which you shouldn’t because it was f”inn dreadful.
Interestingly this match also represents the first time the briefcase was cashed in on the same night as it was won. Followed by Alex Bliss’ cash-in on Ronda Rousey for Raw Women’s Championship in 2018 and then in this year’s Money In The Bank (2022), Liv Morgan’s cash-in on Ronda Rousey for Smackdown Women’s Championship, unlucky Ronda. One more interesting fact when Kane was cashing-in on Rey, Rey was in a match with Jack Swagger, who a year earlier won the World title by cashing-in his briefcase.
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10. The Miz On Randy Orton (Raw November 23rd, 2010)
Due to little fault of his own, The Miz’s Championship reign is one of those periods in the title’s history that fans would like to forget. On a 2010 episode of Raw, he took advantage of a wounded Randy Orton to fulfill his lifelong dream, starting the most miraculous run of his career.
Following The Viper’s narrow victory over Wade Barrett of The Nexus to defend his WWE title, Miz quickly took advantage of the third-generation star’s wounds to perform the Skull-Crushing Finale and earn the biggest win of his career. His expression conveyed how meaningful the occasion was to him, while one teenage girl in the crowd gained the title “Angry Miz Girl” due to the disgust that was permanently engraved on her face.
9. Edge On Undertaker (Smackdown May the 11th, 2007)
This cash-in is especially noteworthy as it was on the Undertaker, who, as we all know, rarely loses. Yes, he just survived a steel cage match with Batista, and yes, he had been attacked afterward by Mark Henry. But that’s just another day at the office for the Deadman and to see him go down to Edge was still a massive surprise regardless.
Even more surprising is the fact that Edge wasn’t even a member of SmackDown at the time, and this cash-in helped cement his status as the ultimate opportunist. This was the first episode in a two-year arc between Edge and Taker where they feuded on and off, and let’s just say that apart from this incident, the Rated-R Superstar didn’t enjoy the best of times, like burning in flames that too in a Hell in a Cell match.
8. CM Punk On Edge (Raw June 30th, 2008)
Another cash-in on television and another involving Edge, but this one goes to show that sometimes the Rated-R Superstar can’t play the victim. Unless it involves stealing your girl, oh… I’ve still not forgiven you for that Edge; you screwed Matt Hardy and stole Lita from him both on Tv and in real life. You screwed Matt… You screwed Matt… I’m sorry, I’m sorry I just really missed my Hardy, and I just want to wish him all the best in his latest feud.
I got a bit off-topic there, sorry. Anyway, CM Punk announced his arrival on Raw in the biggest way imaginable, ambushing Edge after a Batista beat down to capture his first world title, again, unless we are counting in the ECW Championship, which we’re most certainly find are not.
7. CM Punk On Jeff Hardy (Extreme Rules 2009)
Whoa, this list is becoming like a chain, liking a particular superstar to the next rank. So, this was Punk’s first true hellish act in WWE and the seed which led to his magnificent period as the straight-edge savior. Having won the Money in the Bank ladder match for the second year in a row, Punk again used the briefcase to full effect, attacking Jeff mere seconds after the rainbow-unicorn-sunshine-face-paint- warrior had won the World Heavyweight Championship from Edge.
And yes, indeed rainbow-unicorn-sunshine-face-paint- the warrior is an officially recognized nickname of Jeff Hardy; look it up if you want. Anyway, they sparked a magnificent feud between the two, even if the storyline was just a glorified excuse to write Hardy out of the company. Still, TNA took a chance on him, and look where that ended up; oh god Jeff… oh what were you thinking… oh my god.
6. Dean Ambrose On Seth Rollins (Money in the Bank 2016)
On June 19, 2016, Dean Ambrose won Money in the Bank, and he didn’t spend any time cashing in. He cashed in soon after Seth Rollins beat Roman Reigns to win the WWE Championship that evening in his new hometown of Las Vegas, fulfilling a lifetime dream.
Ambrose was the only member of The Shield who hadn’t already won the world championship, making him the odd man out. He significantly altered that, creating genuine excitement for the show and positioning himself to take on the role of SmackDown’s face in the organization’s future rebranding of the brand extension.
The very best? He contributed to the making of history when, for however little a period of time, fans saw every member of The Hounds of Justice carrying the WWE Championship as Reigns made his entrance with it, Rollins won it, and Ambrose cashed in to take it home. It is one of the coolest cash-ins ever, only based on that one fact.
5. Dolph Ziggler On Alberto Del Rio (The Raw After WrestleMania 29)
This was my first time witnessing a cash-in on live Tv, and I was confused as to what was going on (yeah, I started watching WWE late). In terms of sheer noise and energy, this cash-in is one of the most rapturously received of all time. To set the scene, Alberto Del Rio was down, nursing an injured ankle in the ring. Who injured his ankle, you might ask, was it the master of the whole Kurt Angle, was it the originator Ken Shamrock or was it Jack Swagger… it was the unsuccessful guy out of the three, you know who I am talking about.
Ok, then Ziggler’s music hit and sent that controversial Post-Mania crowd into space. Dolph marched onto the ring flanked by CM Punk’s wife and that guy from The New Day and won his second-ever world heavyweight championship. It should have been the start of a fantastic title reign, but Dolph actually only held the belt for 69 days, the most hilarious of numbers. Interestingly on the other side, Dolph was actually the heel in this scenario, and Del Rio was the babyface, a fact that everyone forgets when they watch that clip again on YouTube, so impassioned was the crowd’s reaction number.
4. Rob Van Dam On John Cena (One Night Stand 2006)
The only cash-in on this list is to be explicitly announced beforehand. RVD’s victory over Cena represents the last great hurrah for ECW. Having won the briefcase at WrestleMania 22, RVD deliberately scheduled his title match for One-night stand, knowing that the pro ECW crowd would absolutely love him and absolutely detest John Cena, and that’s exactly what happened.
Although his victory was hardly clean thanks to the interference of Edge, he was wearing a bike helmet for some reason. RVD won the match to become both WWE and ECW Champion. And the moral of the story is; don’t smoke weed, kids, especially if you’re on the cusp of the biggest push of your career – RVD massed it up so badly.
3. Randy Orton V Daniel Bryan (Summerslam 2013)
We wrestling fans don’t just enjoy seeing our favorites triumph on grand stages; we also occasionally want our hearts ripped out in the name of good storytelling. Just ask any Game of Thrones fan and then watch them melt into a quivering mess. Ooo.. is your favorite character dead on Game of Thrones… try watching the end of The Undertaker’s streak; that’s what real pain is. Daniel Bryan seems to have finally broken that pesky glass ceiling at SummerSlam, defeating John Cena clean as a whistle to win the WWE Championship.
Then after a shocking pedigree from guest referee Triple H (why would you have a trust Triple H), Randy Orton ran to the ring and cashed-in his briefcase. It was an absolutely heartbreaking moment, but it made Bryan’s eventual triumph at WrestleMania 30 all the more satisfying. Even though everyone was sad for Brian losing the title, I was a bit happy because he beat John Cena. Cena was my favorite at that time, and even today, I say “You Deserved it, Bryan”.
2. Edge On John Cena (New Year’s Revolution 2006)
Sometimes in life, the originals are the best, John Cena had just retained his WWE Championship in a bloody Elimination Chamber match besting Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Kane, Carlito, and Chris Masters (what a strange combination that is). Then as everyone’s favorite or least favorite Superman lay bloodied in the ring, Edge executed the first-ever Money in the Bank cash-in and demolished him with a pair of Spears. Not actual Spears… like his move “The Spear”, he didn’t use actual Spears… he’s not a monster unless you names Matt Hardy.
This was made even more special by the fact that Vince McMahon announced it, and I like that because these days, you get rude superstars rushing in, not even acknowledging the fact that they’re cashing-in to any authority figure, they don’t ask for permission. And I like that Edge asked Vince, and then Vince came out, and there was a big ceremony, it was very proper, good job edge.
1. Seth Rollins On Roman And Brock (WrestleMania 31)
Number one, and I’m pretty sure you may have already guessed what it is. That’s right, number one is Damien Sandow on John… oh sorry, I took the number one from the worst Money in the Bank cash-in. Okay, number one is Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 31 during Roman Reigns versus Brock Lesnar. This cash-in is called the Heist of the Century for some reason. It’s unlikely that Seth Rollins’s cash-in will ever be topped by another because it happened on the grandest stage of them all, and it was actually quite hard to see where WWE went from here. Now I’m sure you know the story already unless you’re literally two years old. The main event of Mania 31 looked to be headed for disaster.
Everyone was sure that Roman Reigns was going to go clean over Brock Lesnar in an absolutely awful move, and then suddenly Rollins appeared to bail everyone out and save the day. Never mind the fact that he was a heel, Seth sprinted down to the ring flanked by cheers on all sides and delivered a curb storm; there was a little bit of a match that went on, Lesnar almost won, Reigns almost won, and then finally. Finally, Seth Rollins delivered that final curb stomp and pinned Roman to take the WWE Championship. Personally, I didn’t want any of the three to win because I wanted John Cena to win the title even though he wasn’t in the match – I was just a teen-brat-John Cena fan back then.
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