WWE Money in the Bank 2012: Key Losses That Will Have Lasting Impact

Money in the Bank was an interesting show. Pay-per-views are usually the marquee attraction in any given month. However, with the 1,000th episode of Raw right around the corner, the show served more as a stepping stone toward that.

This led to a lack of surprising results. It seems the WWE is saving up all of their surprises for next Monday night. Still, some superstars suffered defeats that will have a lasting impact.

Let's take a look at three wrestlers who fall into that category.

Cody Rhodes

At times during Rhodes' extended Intercontinental title reign, which stretched from last August until WrestleMania, he looked like a rising star. He's really fallen off as of late, however, and that downward trend continued in the SmackDown Money in the Bank match.

Not only did Rhodes lose out to Dolph Ziggler, but he was overshadowed by several other superstars throughout the match. It illustrated exactly how far down the pecking order he has gone since dropping the mid-card title three months ago.

While Rhodes still has a lot of talent, his outlook isn't very promising for the near future. Any momentum he gained from that previous run is gone, which means he'll need to start fresh whenever his next push does come.

Daniel Bryan

Bryan's losing streak at PPVs remained alive at Money in the Bank in a loss to WWE champion CM Punk. The fan favorite has now lost five straight times at the biggest events and his main-event run appears in serious danger of ending.

If the WWE planned on giving him a chance to prove himself as the company's top title holder, it would have likely happened already given the number of chances he had. Instead, he's been put into a marriage angle with AJ.

That's a clear sign the creative team doesn't have an immediate plan available for him. He's come a long way over the past year, so it would be disappointing to see him slide back down the card too far. The next few weeks will be crucial.

Big Show

After receiving one of the biggest pushes of his long career, Big Show has now lost to John Cena at two straight PPVs.

He first lost in a steel cage match that led to the removal of John Laurinaitis, and then in the Raw Money in the Bank match last weekend.

The funniest part of the show was Big Show getting buried under a mountain of ladders. Not only was he literally getting covered in props, but it seemed like he was getting buried in a wrestling sense at the same exact time.

It's always nice to see long-time veterans like Big Show getting a chance to shine. He just doesn't have what it takes to lead the programming, though. Therefore, he'll likely fade away as the build toward some terrific SummerSlam matches begin.