Money in the Bank ladder match

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The Money in the Bank ladder match is a professional wrestling ladder match held by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) at their pay-per-view event, WrestleMania. The match can feature anywhere from six to eight wrestlers, with the objective being to retrieve a briefcase that is suspended above the ring. The briefcase contains a contract, which guarantees a match for any of the WWE's three World Titles; the WWE Championship, ECW Championship, or the World Heavyweight Championship.^[1] The contract is valid for one year from the date the briefcase is won, and the briefcase holder (dubbed Mr. Money in the Bank) can cash in the contract for a World Title match (any of the three), at the date, place, and time of their choosing.^[2] The briefcase may also be defended in matches, similar to how championships are defended.^[3]

The Money in the Bank ladder match was incepted in 2005 at WrestleMania 21, since it's inception, three additional Money in the Bank ladder matches have been held at WrestleMania; the most recent being held at WrestleMania XXIV. The first winner of the Money in the Bank ladder match was Edge, who won at WrestleMania 21, with the most recent winner being CM Punk, who won at WrestleMania XXIV.

Contents 1 History 1.1 2005 1.2 2006 1.3 2007 1.4 2008 2 Match history 2.1 Official Money in the Bank ladder matches 2.2 Money in the Bank defenses 2.3 Money in the Bank cash-in matches 3 References 4 See also

[edit] History

[edit] 2005

The idea for the Money in the Bank match was introduced in early 2005 by Chris Jericho. He announced the idea on an episode of RAW and General Manager Eric Bischoff signed it for WrestleMania 21, naming Chris Jericho, Christian, Chris Benoit, Edge, Kane, and Shelton Benjamin as the participants.

Edge won the match,^[4] then carried and used the briefcase as a weapon for the next nine months -- including once putting it on the line in a ladder match against Matt Hardy at WWE Homecoming, in a match where the loser had to leave RAW. During his time in possession of the contract, he was known on-screen as "Mr. Money in the Bank".

Edge cashed in his contract in January at New Year's Revolution 2006, where he defeated WWE Champion John Cena in less than two minutes just after Cena had retained his title against five opponents in an Elimination Chamber match.^[5]

[edit] 2006

The Money in the Bank idea was revived by Carlito on a February 2006 episode of RAW. Mr. McMahon approved the suggestion and set up "qualifying matches" for the match that would take place at WrestleMania 22. It was later announced that the match was to be "interpromotional," and SmackDown!'s General Manager Theodore Long also set up "qualifying matches" to select three members of his roster to compete.

In the RAW brand qualifying matches, Rob Van Dam defeated Trevor Murdoch, Shelton Benjamin defeated Chavo Guerrero, and Ric Flair defeated Carlito. On SmackDown!, Finlay defeated Bobby Lashley, Matt Hardy defeated Road Warrior Animal, and Lashley won a "last chance battle royal."

Rob Van Dam won the WrestleMania 22 Money in the Bank ladder match after pushing Benjamin and Hardy off a ladder, while he was on another ladder, and retrieving the briefcase.^[6] That April, he defended the contract and won the Intercontinental title in a "contract vs title" match against Shelton Benjamin at Backlash 2006.^[7]

Rob Van Dam cashed in his contract at One Night Stand 2006 and defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship. The match ended with Cena losing after Edge, the #1 contender to the title, interfered on behalf of Van Dam and speared Cena through a table. RVD then hit the Five-Star Frog Splash and Paul Heyman counted the pinfall.^[8]

[edit] 2007

The third Money in the Bank ladder match was held at WrestleMania 23, and was the first to feature eight participants from RAW, SmackDown!, and ECW. Qualifying matches began on the February 19 episode of RAW.^[9]

On an edition of Raw the two former Money in the Bank winners, Edge and Rob Van Dam faced off, with Edge coming out on top to earn the first spot in the match.^[10] The next night on ECW another cross-brand match took place, with CM Punk defeating Johnny Nitro to qualify.^[11] On that week's Smackdown King Booker defeated Kane in a Falls Count Anywhere match following interference from The Great Khali to become the third man to qualify.^[12]

On the next edition of Raw Jeff Hardy pinned Shelton Benjamin in a match to become the fourth man to qualify.^[13] The next night on ECW Mr. Kennedy defeated Sabu in an Extreme Rules match to earn the fifth spot.^[14] Two qualifying matches took place on the next SmackDown with Matt Hardy defeating Joey Mercury and Finlay coming out on top in a Triple Threat Match against Montel Vontavious Porter and Chris Benoit to qualify.^[15] What was to be the final qualifying match took place on Raw between Carlito and Ric Flair. The match was deemed a no contest when The Great Khali interfered and attacked both men.^[16] The match was rescheduled for the next week on Raw, with Randy Orton kayfabe bribing his way into the match up, which was to be an Elimination match. Orton pinned both Flair and Carlito after performing an RKO to each of them.^[17] Edge and Randy Orton had recently stopped teaming together and there was a lot of tension between them. They both attempted to get the other taken out of the Money in the Bank ladder match. Both failed, as Edge ultimately won a "last chance" Battle Royal after feigning injury to retain his slot.^[18] and Orton was forced to fight Bobby Lashley on ECW to retain his.^[19]

Mr. Kennedy won at WrestleMania 23, after ramming CM Punk off the ladder using another ladder.^[20] During the next few weeks, he kept declaring that he would cash in the briefcase at WrestleMania XXIV. However, Kennedy suffered an injury, and on the May 7, 2007 episode of Raw, he lost the Money in the Bank briefcase to Edge in quick time. Edge then moved to SmackDown, and cashed in the briefcase after World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker had been injured by Mark Henry. Edge then speared The Undertaker to win the World Heavyweight Title on the May 11, 2007 episode of SmackDown.

[edit] 2008

Match	Date	Show	Winner	Qualifier Number	Notes
Jeff Hardy vs. Snitsky[21]	February 18	Raw	Jeff Hardy	#1	Hardy was removed from the match due to his 60-day suspension for violating the Wellness Policy.
Mr. Kennedy vs. Val Venis[21]	February 18	Raw	Mr. Kennedy	#2
Shelton Benjamin vs. Jimmy Wang Yang[22]	February 22	SmackDown!	Shelton Benjamin	#3
Chris Jericho vs. Jeff Hardy[23]	February 25	Raw	Chris Jericho	#4	This was a qualifying match for Jericho only.
Cody Rhodes vs. Carlito[24]	March 3	Raw	Carlito	#5
Montel Vontavious Porter vs. Jamie Noble[25]	March 8	House show	MVP	#6
CM Punk vs Big Daddy V[26]	March 11	ECW	CM Punk	#7
John Morrison vs The Miz[27]	March 14	SmackDown!	John Morrison	#8

[edit] Match history

[edit] Official Money in the Bank ladder matches

Year	WrestleMania	Participants	Winner	Time	Note
2005	21	Edge, Chris Jericho, Shelton Benjamin, Chris Benoit, Christian (w/Tyson Tomko) and Kane	Edge	15:17	Edge won by climbing a ladder and retrieving the briefcase hanging above the ring after hitting Benoit with a steel chair.[4]
2006	22	Rob Van Dam, Shelton Benjamin, Ric Flair, Finlay, Matt Hardy and Bobby Lashley	Rob Van Dam	12:21	Van Dam won by climbing a ladder, tipping over another ladder with Benjamin and Hardy on it, and retrieving the briefcase.[6]
2007	23	Mr. Kennedy, Edge, CM Punk, King Booker (w/Queen Sharmell) Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Finlay and Randy Orton	Mr.Kennedy	19:10	Kennedy won by climbing a ladder and grabbing the briefcase after hitting CM Punk with another ladder.[20]
2008	XXIV	CM Punk, Mr. Kennedy, Shelton Benjamin, Chris Jericho, Carlito, Montel Vontavious Porter, John Morrison	CM Punk	13:54	Punk won by climbing a ladder and grabbing the briefcase after trapping Jericho's leg in that ladder.[28]

[edit] Money in the Bank defenses

Money in the Bank holder	Challenger	Defense location	Result
Edge	Matt Hardy	WWE Homecoming	Edge defeated Hardy in a Loser Leaves Raw ladder match, where Edge retained the Money in the Bank contract and Hardy was forced to leave Raw.[29]
Rob Van Dam	Shelton Benjamin	Backlash 2006	Van Dam defeated Benjamin in a match where both Van Dam's Money in the Bank contract and Benjamin's Intercontinental Championship were defended, as a result Van Dam retained the Money in the Bank contract and won the Intercontinental Championship.[30]
Mr.Kennedy	Edge	Raw (May 7, 2007)	Edge defeated Kennedy to win the Money in the Bank contract.[3]

[edit] Money in the Bank cash-in matches

Money in the Bank holder	Cash-in locaton	Championship	Championship holder	Result
Edge	New Year's Revolution 2006	WWE Championship	John Cena	Edge defeated Cena to win the WWE Championship.[5]
Rob Van Dam	ECW One Night Stand 2006	WWE Championship	John Cena	Van Dam defeated Cena to win the WWE Championship after Edge interfered.[8]
Edge	Friday Night SmackDown! (May 11, 2007)	World Heavyweight Championship	The Undertaker	Edge defeated The Undertaker to win the World Heavyweight Championship.[31]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Ladder match
• WrestleMania

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