Baron Corbin Unsuccessfully Cashes MITB Briefcase vs. Jinder Mahal on SmackDown

After winning the Money in the Bank briefcase at the MITB pay-per-view June 18, Baron Corbin unsuccessfully cashed in on Jinder Mahal at SmackDown Live on Tuesday, resulting in him coming up short of the title.

John Cena defeated Mahal via a DQ due to Corbin's interference, and he would proceed to cash in his briefcase with Mahal in a vulnerable position. But as WWE shared, a Cena distraction allowed Mahal to roll up on Corbin and register the pin a mere moments after the bell rung:

Chad Matthews of Lords of Pain thought it was an indictment of how the company currently views Corbin, while Wrestling Inc was a fan of how it played out:

Bleacher Report's Kevin Berge and Aaron Oster of Rolling Stone wondered what this meant for Sunday's match:

Corbin will face off against Cena at SummerSlam, while Mahal will defend his title against Shinsuke Nakamura. 

At Money in the Bank, Corbin was part of a star-studded ladder match that also included AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Nakamura, Sami Zayn and Dolph Ziggler.

While he was something of an afterthought, The Lone Wolf made his presence felt by attacking Nakamura prior to the match and then wiping out both The King of Strong Style and The Phenomenal One in the latter stages to secure the contract.

With the win, Corbin guaranteed himself a WWE Championship match at a time of his choosing and gave himself a huge mathematical advantage in terms of becoming champion.

Prior to Corbin's cash-in attempt, only two Superstars in WWE history cashed in the Money in the Bank contract and didn't win the title in the subsequent match.

Corbin has quickly risen through the ranks in WWE, as he made his main roster debut at WrestleMania 32, winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal after a fairly short stint in NXT.

The former NFL offensive lineman was placed on SmackDown Live as part of the brand split draft, and it wasn't long before he was among the blue brand's top heels and a fixture on the card.

Although Corbin fell short in his attempt to beat Dean Ambrose for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 33, he quickly recovered and was positioned as a top contender to win Money in the Bank.

SmackDown has been a good place for Corbin, especially since the Superstar Shake-up due to the fact that it is lacking in terms of top-tier heels.

That was highlighted by WWE hot-shotting Mahal to the world title out of nowhere. Considering Corbin was presented as a bigger threat than Mahal at that time, it gave immediate hope that he could force his way into the WWE Championship scene moving forward.

While Corbin still has work to do from an in-ring perspective and when it comes to being consistently believable on the mic, there is little doubt that WWE has big plans for him moving forward despite this setback.

Even so, Corbin joined a dubious and small group of Superstars who were unable to capitalize on the advantage of being Mr. Money in the Bank.

While that proved detrimental to Damien Sandow in the past, Corbin seems to have a strong backing, and the loss could help strengthen his status as a dangerous, destructive heel due to the frustration over coming up short.

It can be argued that Corbin simply wasn't ready to be WWE champion yet, but getting some experience in a high-pressure situation should help him succeed the next time he gets a similar opportunity. Now all eyes will be on Corbin against Cena on Sunday.

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