BANK RANK!
A Look At The Biggest Money In The Bank Winners
Best of Bulldog
(Originally published July 9, 2013 and updated for 2014)
WWE's Money In The Bank pay-per-view is this weekend, and at first glance, it may seem difficult to rank previous winners of the prestigious briefcase against one another. After all, the winners almost always go on to win a title, right? And this year's main event MITB winner automatically gets the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
But there's a way to do it. Using the following quasi-mathematical formula, I've come up with a way to rank the winners of WWE's annual prize: (Length Of Title Reign x 10) + (Subsequent Title Reigns x 20) + Push Factor.
What the hell does that mean? Length Of Title Reign represents how long in months the person held the championship for that they won by cashing in the MITB briefcase. Each month is multiplied by 10. Subsequent Title Reigns should be self-explanatory; each additional title reign following the briefcase being cashed in brings you twenty additional points, given that said MITB winner may have not received another championship had he not first won MITB. And similarly, the Push Factor is an intangible score (out of a possible 10) I assign based on my opinion what winning MITB meant to that person's career.
Two disclaimers:because CM Punk won more than one MITB briefcase, I've combined points, while disqualifying his second title reign because it was also a Money In The Bank cash-in. And Randy Orton has had two "subsequent" title reigns after his initial cash-in last year, first when he won the vacant WWE Championship in November and again when he unified the WWE and World titles the following month.
All clear? Let's climb the ladder to see who did the best (and worst)!
Alberto Del Rio (Overall score: 77). While ADR's run with the briefcase led to a brief title reign, it also led to more championship opportunities and a sustained push.
CM Punk (Overall score: 150). Without winning back-to-back briefcases, Punk may very well still floundering in ECW... before he left WWE, that is. And a record-setting second title reign didn't hurt his ranking either.
Damien Sandow (Overall score: 5). Sandow failed to successfully cash in Money In The Bank last year, and his career has gone downhill since then.
Daniel Bryan (Overall score: 120). Without that first briefcase, Bryan's current push may have never happened. Three subsequent title wins since then a huge push have only helped his overall score.
Dolph Ziggler (Overall score: 34). Ziggler had a decent first run, but hasn't really done much since then, hurting both his score and his career, ultimately.
Edge (Overall score: 220). If anyone ever defined Money In The Bank, it's Edge. The Ultimate Opportunist used his first reign (technically less than a month) as a springboard to 10 more championships and a career defined on overcoming the odds.
Jack Swagger (Overall score: 35). Does anyone even remember when or how Swagger cashed in his briefcase and won the championship? Sure, the opportunity helped to elevate him a bit, but not massively.
John Cena (Overall score: 48. The fact that Cena unsuccessfully cashed in his Money In The Bank opportunity (winning only by disqualification against CM Punk at Raw 1000) lowered his score considerably. Two title runs and later and a continually strong push have offset some of the initial loss.
Kane (Overall score: 56). While Kane didn't really need MITB to have a decent career, his cash-in led to a relatively-lengthy title reign and continued push.
Mr. Kennedy (Overall score: 3). While everyone remembers Cena was the first guy to unsuccessful cash in MITB, let's no forget that Kennedy never even cashed his in! The ensuing push didn't really go far, either.
The Miz (Overall score: 65). Much like Edge and Punk, Money In The Bank transformed Miz from mid-carder to main eventer (and then back to mid-carder again, but what are you gonna do?). The guy headlined WrestleMania and that's nothing to sneeze at.
Randy Orton (Overall score: 58). The Viper is another person who didn't need MITB to make his career, but over the past year, his cash-in and subsequent run as "The Face Of WWE" haven't hurt his longevity any.
Rob Van Dam (Overall score: 17). RVD's Money In The Bank win should have meant a lot more, but an arrest weeks after he cashed in and then unified the WWE and ECW championships put a bullet in any larger plans Vince McMahon may have had for him.
