Advice for WWE Creative: Examining Past Failures with Money in the Bank

Advice for WWE Creative: Examining Past Failures with Money in the Bank
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1Addressing the Situation
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2There Needs to Be a Game Plan
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3Understanding the Heel and Babyface Dynamics
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4The Briefcase Doesn't Protect Superstars from Becoming Losers
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5Failed Cash-Ins Are a Waste of Everyone's Time
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Advice for WWE Creative: Examining Past Failures with Money in the Bank

Jun 28, 2021

Advice for WWE Creative: Examining Past Failures with Money in the Bank

One of WWE's greatest gimmicks is the Money in the Bank ladder match, which sees a briefcase hanging above the ring that gives the winner a title shot at any moment they choose.

It's led to some amazing, company-changing moments. Champions fell victim to sneak attacks, entire brands were upended by a new Superstar's ascension and careers have been made with one pinfall.

Two more briefcases will be on the line in this year's edition of the pay-per-view, which is set for July 18, and now is the time WWE has to plan how that is going to play out.

In the past, there have been several major flaws with Money in the Bank runs, so it's time to give some advice to WWE Creative to keep the writers on their toes and remind them of some mistakes not to make again.

Addressing the Situation

At its best, Money in the Bank is arguably the second- or third-most important match of the year behind Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber heading into WrestleMania.

At its worst, it's a silly briefcase prop someone carries around for a while before fans are let down by the sheer waste of its potential.

There have been great uses of the briefcase, like when CM Punk turned heel on Jeff Hardy or when Kane cashed in on the same night to win his second world title.

However, recently, WWE's had some major disappointments.

For example, last year's matches were horrendous, and the outcomes weren't great.

Asuka was gifted the Raw Women's Championship by a pregnant Becky Lynch and then spent the next year being treated like an afterthought. Despite holding the title, she was consistently pushed aside in favor of putting more focus on other feuds like Nia Jax putting Lana through a table or bringing over The Golden Role Models from SmackDown to steal the spotlight.

Otis was a disaster as the men's briefcase holder. He won it as a joke, did nothing with it for 193 days as he faded into obscurity and eventually lost it to The Miz. The A-Lister was successful in winning the WWE Championship from Drew McIntyre but lost it two weeks later to Bobby Lashley, so it all felt cheap.

Even someone as big and imposing as Braun Strowman was a failure with the briefcase in hand. The Monster Among Men was ambushed by Brock Lesnar, and a Hell in a Cell match wound up ending in a no-contest. He didn't even get revenge on The Beast Incarnate for interfering, so it was all pointless.

WWE is in dire need of rehabbing the Money in the Bank concept by restoring it to its roots and reestablishing how dangerous a Superstar is once they obtain that contract.

There Needs to Be a Game Plan

What is the likelihood WWE had this in mind when giving the briefcase to Otis?
What is the likelihood WWE had this in mind when giving the briefcase to Otis?

First and foremost, WWE should only choose someone to win the Money in the Bank briefcase if there is a drive to push that person for more than the brief moment they win it.

A Superstar wouldn't win the Royal Rumble if there was no intention for them to receive a title shot at WrestleMania, right?

Everything in WWE should matter. The moment something doesn't matter is the moment none of it matters.

Being the sole survivor at Survivor Series should lead to a push. Winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal should have value rather than being a graphic that pops up on the lower-third for about two weeks.

The briefcase is a powerful tool that can make or break someone's career and change the entire roster for months. It can reset the power structure, lead to the main event of WrestleMania, save the company from disaster if the champion gets injured and even turn a midcarder into a main event player.

It should not be treated like any other win, so it shouldn't be given to just anyone.

Like most of WWE's creative problems, this can be solved by sitting down, having a discussion about the roster and who could be pushed in the coming months and why they would make the most interesting Mr./Ms. Money in the Bank. Then a strategy has to be developed to flesh out that storyline so there is a solid direction to head toward.

When WWE thinks "we'll figure it out down the road," things fall apart and it all becomes worthless. Management writes it off as yesterday's news, essentially tells fans to suck it up and forgive and forget while moving on to the next passing fancy.

That is what makes people no longer care about an idea like Money in the Bank.

Understanding the Heel and Babyface Dynamics

Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton were both heels who won their cash-ins and were babyfaces who got cashed in on.
Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton were both heels who won their cash-ins and were babyfaces who got cashed in on.

Typically, the more you do something, the more lessons you learn about how to do it better. Strangely, WWE occasionally seems to forget those lessons.

After 24 briefcase-holders of varying characters, certain trends and tropes have established themselves. There is a natural order WWE can't just ignore.

One of those is that a babyface holding the briefcase shouldn't hold it for too long. If they fight with honor, they will want to cash in as soon as possible to get their title shot because they have earned it.

The longer they wait, the more it seems like they are a coward, and it reflects poorly on them. That, or it makes fans assume they will turn heel and we're all waiting for it to happen.

That's because the concept of the "cash in your title shot at any moment" idea is much better suited for a heel. They can swoop in and steal a belt when the champion is vulnerable, and it makes sense why they would adopt that strategy.

It's an easy way to give them heat, and it works every time. The formula is simple yet effective. And it's even more special if a babyface turns heel because fans get two shocking moments for double the wow factor.

Likewise, if a babyface dethrones a heel, fans would be elated to see the villain get their comeuppance.

WWE must recognize that when picking who gets the briefcase, the current champions have to be taken into account. You shouldn't give it to a hero if another babyface is champion unless that belt is changing hands to a heel or Mr./Ms. Money in the Bank is going to turn with their cash-in.

Otherwise, you end up with someone sitting around with a title opportunity they aren't using because there's no story to tell and everyone has to wait.

The Briefcase Doesn't Protect Superstars from Becoming Losers

Sandow was great and this killed his career instead of pushing him to the next level.
Sandow was great and this killed his career instead of pushing him to the next level.

All too often, WWE thinks that when someone holds the briefcase, they are impervious to the damage done by losing matches.

The moment they grab that contract, that particular Superstar starts to lose for weeks or even months as if it's more of a curse than a gift.

WWE does this because it thinks they can take the hit to put someone else over and the mere idea of holding the briefcase will keep fans from thinking they are a loser. Then, when it's time to cash in, it will be all that more shocking that they won and will wipe clean all the negatives from their losses.

The trouble is that WWE doesn't recognize how self-defeating its booking can be.

Many times, when a Superstar loses incessantly, it creates this stink that they are a loser. The fans stop caring, so WWE thinks it's the Superstar's fault. Suddenly, they lose their push.

Just as people say "fake it until you make it," WWE sometimes unintentionally puts a wrestler in a box and then judges them for being inside it, falling victim to working themselves into a shoot, so to speak.

Perception is reality. When WWE treats a wrestler like a big deal, people tend to go along with it. When someone is dismissed as garbage, they will eventually start to stink like it.

Don't give the briefcase to someone and then book them to lose. It's as illogical as having a champion who has to constantly get pinned to set up title defenses.

Failed Cash-Ins Are a Waste of Everyone's Time

When a wrestler wins Money in the Bank, there's an understood agreement between WWE and its fans that this is someone to pay attention to and invest in.

After a while, if that person loses after their cash-in, there's a brief moment of a surprise that isn't worth the fallout, which is disappointment and resentment.

Instead of being shocked it all led to nothing, fans reject it as a waste of time. It seems more like a joke, with CEO Vince McMahon pointing and laughing that we all got our hopes up and are idiots for falling for it.

Baron Corbin and Damien Sandow never quite bounced back from losing after their cash-ins. Otis hasn't been the same since he lost his briefcase.

People value cash-ins like Edge's first on John Cena because it made good on the premise of the gimmick. Dolph Ziggler's was a crowning moment for his career. The Miz sealed his legacy by stealing the title from Randy Orton and getting Angry Miz Girl's reaction as he finally became world champion.

Nobody watches an action film to see the bad guy get arrested three-quarters of the way through rather than have to have an epic showdown with the hero. There's no value to a murder mystery that never reveals the killer.

Why bother with a story that goes nowhere? That is how you convince fans that the next Money in the Bank won't mean anything because the previous one didn't.

Serious cash-ins, like Edge taking the title from The Undertaker, create positive buzz. Failed cash-ins, such as Strowman being trashed by Lesnar, trigger resentment from fans who want refunds on the time they have invested.

                                         

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.

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