Note: Out of respect for his victims, I don’t talk about Chris Benoit unless I have to talk about Chris Benoit, and the only things I have to do are be Black and pay rent.
Before Money in the Bank was its own event, challenging Survivor Series for its spot in the “Big Four” pay-per-view rotation, the match itself was a staple on WrestleMania, first introduced in 2005 at WrestleMania 21. The event that would solidify WWE’s two new leading men also introduced the company’s Resident Evil 3-style “you never know when they’re coming to get you!” cash-in stipulation. As time went on, it would have less than ideal winners and less than imaginative cash-ins. Early on, winning that match was a shot in the arm to the show and a shot to the moon for its victors.
Here are the men who made the match, what they contributed, and what happened after the bank was broken.
Opportunity Knocks
The first Money in the Bank winner is the person who likely benefitted from it the most. Edge, who’d been a vampire, a vapid geek, and a smiling star in the SmackDown Six, had finally found his … you know.
Real life relationships led to a strong story that saw Edge become a hated, selfish jerk of a man, willing to do anything and everything to get ahead. As far as actual action in the match, he’s probably tied with Kane for the least amount of “things done,” but being the one to introduce a chair into the match that had been strictly ladders and moves, and that leading to his victory, both pissed off the crowd and solidified his willingness to do anything to get ahead.
Edge held onto the briefcase until the following year’s “New Year’s Revolution” and successfully cashed in on John Cena after he’d successfully defended the WWE Title in an Elimination Chamber Match. Edge become Cena’s first true rival and eventually a mainstay in the world title picture for the rest of his tenure in WWE. To this day, he’s one of wrestling’s most enduring figures and a WWE Hall of Famer.
No Stopping Him
With Brock Lesnar’s departure after Wrestlemania 20, the following year’s WrestleMania was the true coming out party for the rest of the OVW 2002 monster developmental class. John Cena and Batista became world champions for the first time and Randy Orton was given the almost as good Undertaker WrestleMania match spot.
The fifth member of that class, Shelton Benjamin, had separated himself from the tag team ranks, and went into the first Money in the Bank ladder match as the reigning Intercontinental Champion. Leading off with an insane Tope Con Hilo, he’d create most of the matches memorable moments, including his run up the ladder clothesline that was so new, they started including it in the WWE2K games. He’d follow up with even more incredibly athletic feats the following year, and while he never won the match, he was a standout in all the following recaps and video packages over the years.
Even with his outrageous output, Benjamin never reach world champion status. Benjamin is still doing his thing. Somehow, with time passing and size added, he’s still hyper-athletic and can hang with the best around.
Wonder Wall
In 2005, very few wrestlers were as “complete” as Chris Jericho. The ultimate floater, he was a believable world title contender that never felt “demoted” if he was in a program outside of that level.
While Benjamin created the moments, the actual movement of the match was appropriately applied by the man who thought it up. Watching a short cut, bearded Jericho hit moves like his inside to outside dropkick remind you just how long ago 2005 was, but he was constantly in motion, constantly involved in the action, and the match wouldn’t have been fluid for 15 minutes without him.
Jericho went into the match as its most decorated competitor and would extend that legacy out even further, with his ability to constantly reinvent himself leading to a nearly unparalleled career.
Oh Captain, my Captain
It’s pretty crazy to look at a ladder match with both Edge and Christian as heels, but without any real connection between the them. Christian had found a new partner in heavy Tyson Tomko, had defeated Jericho at the previous year’s WrestleMania, had Trish Stratus on his arm, and an endorsement from the People’s Champion himself.
After a lot of success in the mid-card, Christian was included in this “next up” match, where he’d get help from Tomko to almost secure a victory. This match was notable for Christian in that he probably took the brunt of the punishment from the other competitors. Maybe it’s his penance for all that ladder match success early on, but he definitely seemed like the dude to beat on most of the match. He’d follow up the appearance by chastising new champ Cena, who he’d face once he was drafted to Raw.
All that momentum wasn’t recognized by the folks in charge, so he’d finally win his first world title after jumping to TNA, and would parlay that into a World Heavyweight Title win upon his WWE return. He’d reinvent himself as the no sleeve Turtleneck widow-wooer in AEW, where he and his past partner are still flourishing.
Fire Starter
Kane would round out the list of competitors and served as the big man in the match to provide the power moves and reach guys clean off of the ladder without needing to actually climb it. Kane … Kane had been doing weird shit the last year. He fought Matt Hardy for Lita’s love, inadvertently caused miscarriages, and all kinds of other … yeah, weird shit. He also filmed ‘See No Evil’, a horrible horror romp where he plays a bad character with a bad name reading a bad script with a bad plot. But… he did make an annoying girl swallow a cell phone, which was cool.
Like Jericho, you forget just how athletic Kane was. At this time, his top rope to the outside clothesline was still a great visual. He’d go on to be ECW World Champion, World Heavyweight Champion, and be part of the impossibly entertaining Team Hell No with Daniel Bryan. Now, he puts spikes on park benches in Tennessee so the homeless don’t have anywhere to sleep.
Match MVP: Shelton Benjamin
The match is what it is not just for the outcome, but Shelton finding brand new ways to utilize a ladder years after the match had been a WWE staple. There’s creativity, there’s athleticism, and then there’s art. Buddy was in his beret that night and the picture was forever painted
Best Defensive Player: Christian
He was getting his ASS WHOOPED so many ways! It must’ve been a short star deal, because wow.
Clutch Moment of the Match: Edge with the chair shot
Go back and listen to the crowd. They were absolutely disgusted that a man would bring a chair to a ladder fight!
Unsung Hero: Chris Jericho
He didn’t do the best thing, but he absolutely did the most things, and in a match like this, with no real lulls, that’s to be saluted.
Fun Note: Elite Company
All of the match participants that are still active wrestlers are in AEW and have held either the World or World Tag Team Titles.
(Not So) Fun note: Standardized Gold
Shelton Benjamin, the standout from the first two Money In the Bank matches, is the only participant in them to never hold a world title.
Ok, get in your time machine. What is your favorite Money in the Bank ladder match ever? Let us know in the comments!
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