WWE Money in the Bank 2011: Ranking the Winners of Past MITB Matches

The Money in the Bank match was created in 2005 for Wrestlemania 21. It became an annual staple of Wrestlemania until 2010, with the first Money in the Bank pay-per-view.

In seven years, there have been eight MITB matches. Six of these took place at Wrestlemania, with the other two occurring at last year's Money in the Bank PPV.

This Sunday, the ninth and 10th MITB matches will be contested at the second annual Money in the Bank PPV. The show is the most anticipated PPV of the year, mostly due to the John Cena vs. CM Punk main event.

In the lead up to the show, I am looking back at past Money in the Bank matches, and ranking the winners. Note: I am ranking the winners' reign with the briefcase and subsequent world championship reign. 

8. Mr. Kennedy

The worst of all 'Mr. Money in the Banks' is none other than Mr. Kennedy (now known as Mr. Anderson in TNA).

Kennedy is the only winner of a MITB match to not cash in the contract. This is because on the May 7 episode of RAW, he lost the MITB contract to Edge.

In reality, Kennedy lost the contract because he had suffered a serious injury. However, according to Mr. Kennedy, it was a misdiagnosis, but the creative team had already decided to have him drop the briefcase to Edge.

Regardless of why it happened, Mr. Kennedy is the obvious pick for worst Money in the Bank winner, as he never cashed it in, hence achieving the least.

7. Jack Swagger

Jack Swagger won the Money in the Bank match at Wrestlemania XXVI. In that same week on Smackdown, he cashed in on Chris Jericho, after he had been speared by Edge. This was the beginning of Jack Swagger's first world championship reign.

On paper, Swagger fared well as champion, successfully retaining the championship three times, once against Edge and Jericho in a triple threat match on Smackdown.

The other two successful defenses came at Extreme Rules and Over The Limit, facing Randy Orton and Big Show respectively. 

However, it was apparent that Swagger was not getting over as a heel champion. He retained his championship cheaply, and failed to get over with a serious, suit-wearing persona that Jericho perfected. 

Signs of this are apparent in the followup to Swagger's title loss to Rey Mysterio at Fatal Four Way. He was pushed back to the mid-card, and stayed there for over six months until Michael Cole called him to be his trainer for his Wrestlemania 27 bout against Jerry Lawler.

6. CM Punk (2009)

CM Punk became the only person to win two Money in the Bank matches in succession at Wrestlemania 25. Following this win he was drafted to Smackdown, and after a feud with Umaga, cashed in the contract on Jeff Hardy at the end of Extreme Rules, winning his second World Heavyweight Championship.

Following this win Punk successfully defended the title against Edge and Jeff Hardy in a triple threat match, and disqualified himself against Hardy at The Bash. 

Punk would go on to lose the title at Night of Champions, however it was during this time that he developed his straight-edge heel gimmick that he used for over a year.

Overall it wasn't an impressive reign from Punk, and worse than his initial MITB world title reign in 2008.

5. CM Punk (2008)

CM Punk won his first Money in the Bank match at Wrestlemania 24. After being drafted to RAW in June, he made an immediate impact, cashing in on Edge after he had been attacked by Batista. 

Punk held his first world championship for two months, successfully defending the title against JBL and Batista, before being forced to forfeit the title due to an attack from Legacy during Unforgiven.

CM Punk's first reign with the World Heavyweight Championship, while better than his second, was nothing special, hence the middle ranking.

4. Rob Van Dam

Rob Van Dam won the second ever Money in the Bank match at Wrestlemania 22. He went on to defeat Shelton Benjamin at Backlash for the Intercontinental championship, however he lost it back to Benjamin weeks later.

After RVD was drafted to the new ECW brand on May 29, he announced he would face John Cena at ECW One Night Stand for the WWE championship. This produced one of the greatest crowd reactions of all time, as the small crowd of ECW faithful were completely against Cena.

Van Dam won the WWE championship when Edge interfered and speared Cena. On the next episode of ECW RVD was given the newly recreated ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Van Dam decided to defend both titles, successfully defending the WWE Championship against Edge at Vengeance. 

However it all ended as RVD lost the WWE title to Edge on the July 3 RAW, and the ECW championship to Big Show the next night. This occurred after a betrayal from Paul Heyman, who proceeded to suspend Van Dam for 30 days.

In reality, Rob Van Dam had been suspended and punished for a drug possession arrest.

What started off as a refreshing and watchable title reign quickly ended for Van Dam, who never held the world championship again, after giving the new ECW a great start.

3. Edge

Edge won the inaugural Money in the Bank match at Wrestlemania 21. Following that win, Edge spent the rest of 2005 embroiled in a heated rivalry with Matt Hardy, as well as Kane and Ric Flair. It was during this time that Edge dubbed himself the 'Rated-R Superstar.'

Edge wouldn't cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase until New Year's Revolution in January 2006. He cashed in on a depleted John Cena, who had just won an elimination chamber match. After two spears, Edge won his first ever world championship.

Sadly this reign would only last three weeks, dropping the championship back to Cena at Royal Rumble. His reign was highlighted by the 'Live Sex Celebration', on the RAW following NYR.

While the championship reign was forgettable, Edge's reign with the MITB briefcase was a long and memorable one, which shaped his 'Rated-R' character, and prepared him for the main event scene.

2. Kane

Kane won the first MITB match at the 2010 Money in the Bank PPV, and cashed in later that night, defeating Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight championship. 

It was about time, as Kane's only world title reign at the time was a one-day reign in 1998. As the new WHC, Kane was already busy finding the person who put the Undertaker in a vegetative state.

After retaining the title against Mysterio at Summerslam, Kane was found out to be the attacker, as the Undertaker appeared, only to eat a tombstone piledriver from Kane.

This was the start of another Undertaker vs Kane feud, which proved to be entertaining, as Kane went on to defeat Taker in three straight pay-per-views, the final being Bragging Rights, where he buried Taker.

Kane then went on to feud with Edge, successfully retaining the title at Survivor Series, but losing the WHC to Edge at TLC in a fatal four way TLC match.

During this long run Kane cut some of the best promos of his career. It was a fitting reign for one of the WWE's most loyal employees. It was also the second longest reign of anyone who won MITB, with 154 days. Second only to...

1. The Miz

Was there any doubt? With a lengthy 160-day reign, The Miz's first WWE Championship reign is by far the most impressive.

Winning the Money in the Bank match at MITB in 2010 was only the mid-way point of his rise to the top. It began a year earlier, with a feud against John Cena. It continued as he won the United States championship and Tag-Team championship.

He also competed at Wrestlemania for the first time, in a winning effort against R-Truth and John Morrison, with Big Show as his partner.

Following his MITB win, he was kept busy in feuds. This was until Nov. 22, when he cashed in on Randy Orton and won the WWE championship for the first time. Everyone wrote him off immediately (myself included) as being a transitional champion.

The Miz proved himself over the months, with successful title defences against Orton and Jerry Lawler. During this time the Miz became the top heel in the company, excelling on the mic, in interviews (earning the WWE publicity), and not doing too badly in the ring.

His most impressive feat was his successful title defense against John Cena at Wrestlemania 27. With everyone expecting him to lose, The Miz pulled out another victory, with an assist from The Rock.

The reign had to come to an end, with The Miz dropping the championship to Cena in a triple threat cage match at Extreme Rules. 

Unexpectedly, The Miz had the greatest world title reign of any superstar ever to cash in Money in the Bank.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this look down Money in the Bank's storied history.

Who will walk away as Mr. Money in the Bank this Sunday?

Will there Money in the Bank briefcase, and possibly world title, reigns be successful?

Personally my picks are Sheamus and The Miz (to preform a repeat.)

Thanks for reading.