WWE Money in the Bank: The best cash-ins from CM Punk, Edge and Carmella to Seth Rollins at WrestleMania on Brock Lesnar
Briefcase-chase wrestling showdown returns on June 17 and SunSport looks at the best cash-in moments
MONEY IN THE BANK is one of WWE’s most exciting pay-per-view events, with superstars climbing a ladder to nab a guaranteed title match contract – which they can cash-in at any time.
And this year it promises to be even more unique with those involved due to battle their way up through WWE's headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut and on to to the roof to grab the treasured briefcase that secures them a guaranteed title shot.
With Money in the Bank returning on May 10 exclusively on BT Sports and the WWE Network, SunSport looks back at the nine greatest cash-ins of all-time.
Carmella – Miss Money in the Bank makes history - SmackDown – April 10, 2018
Carmella deserves a nod for being the first woman to cash-in MITB.
But it was a fantastic segment too – everything that’s great about post-WrestleMania shows.
The crowd were pumped for the SmackDown debut of the IIconics – Billie Kay and Peyton Royce – who proceeded to put an epic beating on champ Charlotte Flair.
By now the fans are wise to WWE’s tricks and knew the cash-in was coming.
They were chanting for Carmella before her music had even hit.
The Staten Island Princess then charged down to the ring and nailed the dazed Charlotte with a big boot to become SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Rob Van Dam– Money in the Bank gets extreme - Once Night Stand – June 11, 2006
Unlike other MITB winners, RVD announced his intention to cash in ahead of time – challenging John Cena for the WWE Championship at the second ECW revival PPV.
It was a heated match, with the ECW faithful tearing Cena to shreds with chants of “You can’t wrestle!”
(Check out the hilarious moment when Cena throws his shirt into the crowd and the crowd keep throwing it right back – masterful heel work from Cena.)
Edge interfered in the match to help RVD get the win and became dual WWE and ECW Champion.
Unfortunately, RVD was busted for drugs possession weeks later and had to drop the titles.
CM Punk – Punk’s second chance - Extreme Rules – June 7, 2009
CM Punk’s first world title run in 2008 had been a dud.
But after winning MITB for a second time at WrestleMania, he had another shot Punk cashed-in on Jeff Hardy, after Hardy had beaten Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship in an exciting ladder match.
It was an underhanded move by Punk – Jeff was WWE’s most popular babyface at the time – and began a slow heel turn that saw Punk reborn as a sanctimonious straight-edger.
This was the moment that made Punk.
His feud with Hardy was a belter (check out their TLC match from SummerSlam) and Punk soon became the best heel in the business.
Randy Orton – The Authority strikes SummerSlam – August 18, 2013
Just minutes after Daniel Bryan defeated John Cena (clean, no less) to win his first WWE Championship, Randy Orton arrived with his MITB briefcase.
But there was a bigger surprise to come – guest referee Triple H turned heel and nailed Bryan with a Pedigree, allowing Orton to get a quick win. A sucker-punch of a cash-in.
It was a conspiracy all along – a crafty plan to ensure that “B+ Player” Bryan didn’t become WWE Champion.
The Authority was born, and Trips and Orton were on side for the first time since their Evolution days.
More importantly, this set the “Yes Movement” in motion.
Fans rallied behind Bryan so hard that WWE was forced to put him in the main event of WrestleMania XXX.
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The Miz – Miz upsets children - Raw – November 21, 2010
It was a tough night for Randy Orton. First he was beat down by the Nexus, then had to defend the WWE title against Wade Barrett, and finally Miz showed up to cash-in.
The once universally-hated Miz was on the ascent as a heel.
He had surprised everyone with his huge improvements both in the ring and on the mic.
Despite an injured leg, Orton fought back, but Miz reversed an RKO into a Skull-Crushing Finale for the victory.
It also gave us the hilarious “Angry Miz Girl” – a young girl in the crowd who was furious at Miz’s dastardly heel tactics.
Dolph Ziggler – The post-Mania pop - Raw – April 8, 2013
Fans had been rallying behind the super-talented Ziggler for years by this point, so he cashed-in on Alberto Del Rio the arena exploded.
Del Rio put up a fight and trapped Dolph in his cross armbreaker – but Dolph attacked ADR’s injured leg to escape and hit the Zig-Zag to win.
It was edge-of-your-seat stuff – and the reaction from the wild, post-WrestleMania crowd forced WWE to turn Ziggler babyface.
Unfortunately, Dolph dropped the title just two months later, following a real-life concussion.
Ziggler’s career has never reached those heights again.
Dean Ambrose – The final payback - Money in the Bank – June 19, 2016
Seth Rollins returned from injury and scored a shock victory over Roman Reigns to reclaim the WWE Championship.
But Ambrose – who had won MITB earlier that night – jumped Rollins from behind and hit Dirty Deeds to become WWE Champion.
It was a historic moment: all three member of The Shield were WWE Champion within the space of minutes.
It was also a great piece of storytelling – Ambrose finally got his revenge on Rollins, two years after “the Architect” turned on his Shield brothers.
Edge – The original cash-in - New Year’s Revolution – January 8, 2006
When Edge won the very first MITB briefcase at Mania 21, no one (including WWE officials) really knew what it meant.
Fans assumed Edge would announce his intention to cash-in at a later date – presumably at Mania – so when Edge ambushed a blood-soaked John Cena it was a genuine shocker.
Cena had just survived an Elimination Chamber match to retain the WWE Championship, but Edge hit him with two spears to steal the title.
This moment elevated MITB from a gimmick to the second most important title in WWE.
Whereas the Intercontinental Championship had once been seen as a stepping stone to the main event, from this point on it was the MITB briefcase.
Seth Rollins – The heist of the century - WrestleMania 31 – March 29, 2015
In the final moments of the Brock Lesnar v Roman Reigns main event (already a cracking match) Rollins charged to the ring to cash-in and make it a triple threat.
It was an unexpected twist that revolutionised the cash-in, which had become formulaic by now.
No-one considered that MITB could be used to hijack a match mid-action.
Rollins’ quickly won the WWE Championship – pinning Reigns with a Curb Stomp – making Seth an instant main eventer.
The image of Rollins holding the belt aloft is one of the all-time great WrestleMania images.
It was also an incredible twist ending that subsequent Manias have failed to live up to.