The MITB Effect: WWE Money In The Bank winners — who soared, who sputtered and who never recovered?
Tiffany Stratton made the most of her WWE Money In The Bank win. But who wasn't so lucky? (WWE/Getty Images)
Assuming you aren't a new convert to WWE after the big Netflix move, you'll be familiar with the deal when it comes to Money in the Bank — the longstanding Premium Live Event (PLE) which returns for its 16th annual outing this Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
Out of all the big gimmicks in the WWE arsenal, Money in the Bank is the most geared toward propelling rising stars into the main title scene. Its premise is simple: Become the first wrestler to retrieve the famous MITB briefcase — via a multi-wrestler ladder match — and you win the right to challenge a WWE champion at the time of your choosing.
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In theory, then, MITB should be a turning point for the winner — both in terms of kayfabe and real life. But how well does that happen in practice? We revisited the past 10 years of MITB winners to see how much of a difference it made for them.
2015 MITB winner: Sheamus
Unlike most of the later winners, WWE's favorite Dubliner was already highly-credentialed at the time of his MITB victory, having already won the Royal Rumble and become WWE champ. But after fate (or more accurately Bray Wyatt) intervened to stop the ascendant Roman Reigns winning MITB in 2015, it was Sheamus who climbed the ladder to scoop the prize.
The Irish lad ultimately executed a successful surprise cash-in that November, launching an ambush attack on then-champion Roman Reigns. Within a few weeks, though, the apparent injustice was righted, with Reigns defeating Sheamus on 'WWE Raw' to reclaim the title, despite the efforts of Triple H and the corporate hierarchy.
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How has Sheamus fared since then? Ten years later, 'The Celtic Warrior' remains a much-loved part of the WWE roster, with a track record for scene-stealing matches. MITB may not have been crucial to his career, but it certainly didn't hurt him either.
MITB boost rating: 3/5
2016 MITB winner: Dean Ambrose
One year after the combustion of The Shield, Dean Ambrose (now Jon Moxley in AEW) was the only member of the trio to not have held the top prize in WWE. That all changed at the 2016 MITB match in Las Vegas, when 'The Lunatic Fringe' was able to get his mitts on the briefcase, setting up an instant showdown with WWE champion — and former Shield man — Seth Rollins, which Ambrose won.
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In Ambrose's case, winning MITB was probably less influential on his career than being picked for The Shield in the first place — something that effectively marked him out as a future champion. Even so, his MITB run set in place one of his best turns in WWE, as he went on to feud with AJ Styles for the WWE championship.
MITB boost rating: 3/5
2017 MITB winners: Baron Corbin, Carmella
The long-running Baron Corbin saga has to go down as one of the greatest examples of wasted potential in modern WWE history. In his near decade on the main roster, the two-time Golden Gloves winner never quite reached the heights many expected based on his superb run in the developmental territory.
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As much as we might blame the creatives, Corbin's failed MITB cash-in stands out as one of the bigger disappointments during that time. Not winning the title was bad enough, but to lose to an opportunistic roll-up from Jinder Mahal on a random episode of 'WWE SmackDown'? That's not the way you treat someone of Corbin's talents.
The 2017 event also debuted the first women's MITB match, with Carmella picking up the win with a 'comedy' finish involving James Ellsworth. As cringe as it might have been, it didn't stop her from becoming champion afterward, as the 'Princess of Staten Island' scored a big win over 'The Queen' Charlotte Flair.
MITB boost rating: Corbin 1/5, Carmella 2/5
2018 MITB winners: Braun Strowman, Alexa Bliss
By the time he got his hands on the fateful briefcase, Braun Strowman was already in the middle of a massive run. Sure, we may cringe at the moments like The Greatest Royal Rumble (where Strowman eliminated a record 12 competitors) and the Braun and Nicholas tag match, but they both carry the hallmarks of a major Vince McMahon push.
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For all his apparent invincibility, 'The Monster Among Men' eventually failed his cash-in — though not without a fight — falling victim to Roman Reigns and the reunited Shield. The defeat did little to dent Strowman's image: Six months later he was still being booked strong as hell, including taking multiple F5s in a showdown with Brock Lesnar.
The women's match was also won by a well-established talent, with Alexa Bliss emerging from a stacked lineup also featuring Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair. Wasting zero time, the pint-sized superstar cashed in her contract on the very same night, taking the title from her longstanding rival Nia Jax.
MITB boost rating: Strowman 2/5, Bliss 4/5
2019 MITB winners: Brock Lesnar, Bayley
The 2019 men's match saw one of the more controversial MITB decisions. Rather than use the match to elevate the likes of Drew McIntyre, Finn Balor or Mustafa Ali, WWE chose to hand the briefcase (almost literally) to a returning Brock Lesnar, who hardly broke a sweat after being revealed as a late entrant into the big match.
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Was there a method to the madness? Not really, given that Lesnar had ruled the roost in WWE for much of the past decade and would've been a solid contender for a Universal Championship shot on any day of the week. Why not just have him come back and stare down the champion at another time?
Luckily, things went much better on the women's side of things, with the former champ Bayley getting another shot at the big prize after a crowd-pleasing MITB win. The resulting cash-in made Bayley the first ever woman to become a Grand Slam champion, securing her place in wrestling history.
MITB boost rating: Lesnar 1/5, Bayley 4/5
2020 MITB winners: Otis, Asuka
Five years after Covid-19 reared its ugly head, much of the pandemic-era WWE feels like a fever dream — and the infamous "Corporate Ladder" match at the 2020 MITB stands out as one of the maddest moments in the whole thing.
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Having the briefcase literally fall into the hands of Otis was always going to divide opinion. But the real shocker came a few months later, when the 330-pound superstar put his title shot on the line in a one-on-one match with The Miz — and lost it.
Since when was it possible to use the MITB briefcase as a stipulation to be traded like a futures contract? Half a decade on we've still never really had the answer to that question. Although the fact that it hasn't happened since suggests that WWE learned its lesson on that front.
Elsewhere at Titan Towers, it was Asuka who emerged as the women's MITB winner, fending off the ever-dominant Nia Jax and a promising Shayna Baszler. Rather than cashing in, 'The Empress of Tomorrow' was literally handed the Women's Championship 24 hours later, due to champion Becky Lynch going on family leave.
Despite the happy circumstances, it was an underwhelming payoff for Asuka. Thankfully, it did nothing to damage the rise of the former Kabuki Warrior, who consistently proved herself as one of the breakthrough talents of the era in the years to come.
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MITB boost rating: Otis 0/5, Asuka 3/5
2021 MITB winners: Big E, Nikki ASH
As the first PLE to have a live crowd in almost 18 months, the 2021 MITB event had a euphoric atmosphere from the kickoff. But the feel-good factor picked up even further when the ever-positive Big E scored a major babyface triumph in the MITB ladder match.
The good vibes surged again two months later, when the New Day member pulled off a successful cash-in on 'WWE Raw' to become World Champion for the first time in his career. After two years of MITB disappointments on the men's side of things, it was a welcome return to how things are supposed to work.
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In the end, though, Big E's run on top was undone by two unfortunate events out of his control. Firstly, the sidelining of Roman Reigns with Covid-19 (which led to Brock Lesnar winning the World Championship in a hastily reshuffled main card at WrestleMania Day 1), and secondly, the heartbreaking neck injury that Big E suffered two months later. He remains out of action more than four years later.
As for the women's match, it was former tag-team champ Nikki ASH who proved the victor in a strong field. While the Scottish star maintained the women's 100% cash-in rate by becoming champion, her star lost some luster in the post-Vince years.
MITB boost rating: Big E 4/5, Nikki ASH 2/5
2022 MITB winners: Austin Theory, Liv Morgan
When the 24-year-old Austin Theory was announced as a last-minute entrant in the MITB match in 2022, it looked like the next step in a monster push for the promising rookie, who clearly had the backing of Vince McMahon. As expected, the cocky upstart soon left Las Vegas as a MITB winner.
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Who could have predicted at the time that it'd all fizzle out for Theory, who ended up wasting his briefcase on a failed attempt to win the U.S. Championship (a prize he'd already held until recently) in a move that somehow managed to be both unexpected and massively underwhelming?
Things couldn't have been more different on the women's side, with the rising star Liv Morgan using her breakthrough MITB victory to score an instant win over the fearsome Ronda Rousey. The sheer roar from the live crowd as the title changed hands showed how positively the fans felt about Morgan's elevation.
MITB boost rating: Theory 1/5, Morgan 5/5
2023 MITB winners: Damian Priest, Iyo Sky
After an unexpected victory in London in 2023, Damian Priest waited almost a whole year before cashing in his briefcase, eventually using it to dethrone a humiliated Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 40.
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Not only was it a memorable cash-in, it also helped Priest launch himself as a credible world champion and push his WWE career to the next level — in other words, exactly what MITB is meant to be for. Two years after the big cash-in, he remains a solid upper mid-carder with the respect of the fan base behind him.
Priest's fellow winner, Iyo Sky, pursued a similarly impressive path, executing a successful cash-in at SummerSlam and embarking on a stellar run as WWE Women's Champion. Two years later, she has regained the gold — and sits firmly at the top of our latest pro-wrestling power rankings.
MITB boost rating: Priest 3.5/5, Sky 4/5
2024 MITB winners: Drew McIntyre, Tiffany Stratton
If we're taking a big-picture view, then Drew McIntyre's victory at last year's MITB is a tricky one to judge. On one hand it added another chapter to his superb psychodrama rivalry with CM Punk; on the other hand, it basically wasted the whole MITB concept to achieve something that could've been done in other ways.
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He may be one of the more compelling talents on the WWE roster, but can you honestly argue that winning MITB made any significant contribution to McIntyre's status in the long run?
As for Tiffany Stratton, the former cheerleader had been clearly marked for big things from the moment she received the call-up to WWE's main roster, so it was no surprise to see her walking out of the Scotiabank Arena gripping that briefcase (which she later refashioned in a dashing pink).
From there, Tiffy defeated her former friend Nia Jax in one of the biggest 'WWE SmackDown' moments of 2024, before going on to secure a massive WrestleMania 41 win over Charlotte Flair. In truth, you suspect Stratton would've reached stardom with or without MITB — but there's no denying she made the most of it.
MITB boost rating: McIntyre 1/5, Stratton 4/5
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