Over the years we have seen many WWE Superstars earn their big break by winning a Money In The Bank match, such as Edge, RVD, and The Miz who all went on to win world championships following the match. But, there has also been plenty of unexpected winner and surprising moments. Here’s are the top 5 most unexpected Money In The Bank winners.
5. Carmella – Money In The Bank 2017
Carmella won the very first women’s Money In The Bank match in 2017 with the help of James Ellsworth. While Carmella being the victor wasn’t surprising, the method in which she won was. This was during the women’s revolution, a period in which women’s wrestling began getting more attention, rather than quick two-minute matches that they had been relegated to in the past. So, having a male Superstar retrieve the briefcase for her seemed odd and a step in the wrong direction. The following Smackdown Live she was stripped of the briefcase and a rematch took place, which she won making the whole James Ellsworth story very pointless and not needed.
4. John Cena – Money In The Bank 2012
John Cena winning Money In The Bank in 2012 was very surprising, with the match typically serving to elevate a rising star. With Money In The Bank featuring two ladder matches at the time, it allowed a top star such as John Cena to win the match while still being able to give a rising star a win, Dolph Ziggler won the other match and successfully cashed in his briefcase. When it comes to Cena, he won his cash-in match via disqualification, but due to the rule that a title can’t change hands with a DQ, Cena walked away from the match without the WWE Championship.
3. Damien Sandow – Money In The Bank 2013
Damien Sandow won the Money In The Bank briefcase in 2013 and, while many fans were excited to see him win, it was a very surprising victory due to WWE failing to pull the trigger on him, something that remained throughout his career with him becoming a comedy act a short time later. Sandow would go on to be the first Superstar to outright lose a cash-in match, after losing the match against John Cena in October 2013. In the months that followed Damien Sandow began impersonating Superstars before going on to form a tag team with The Miz by becoming his stunt double, emulating whatever The Miz was doing in the ring. This new gimmick got over with fans and his popularity rose, so WWE did what they have a habit of doing and killed the gimmick before releasing him.
2. Brock Lesnar – Money In The Bank 2019
The Money In The Bank match has typically been used to help elevate a rising star, with Superstars such as Edge, Rob Van Dam, and The Miz using the win to be the catalyst for them entering the main event scene and becoming WWE Champion. 2019’s event saw Ali, Andrade, Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre, Finn Bálor, Randy Orton and Ricochet all compete in a fantastic ladder match, with Superstars such as Ali or Andrade really benefiting if they won the match. The finish of the match saw Ali climb the ladder and looked set to win the briefcase before the surprise entrant Brock Lesnar ran down to the ring, knocked him off, climbed the ladder and won the match for himself.
Brock Lesnar is one of the most famous WWE Superstars of all time, with him being a star in both WWE and UFC, as well as being a multi-time champion in both. So, the win didn’t benefit The Beast at all and felt pointless. This was just another example of WWE failing to pull the trigger on a Superstar with momentum behind them and giving them a shot and seeing what happens.
1. Otis – Money In The Bank 2020
Otis isn’t a bad wrestler, in fact, he is very good at what he does. But, WWE with their 2020 logic of booking decided to give Otis the Money In The Bank briefcase to create some comedy moments and for us to laugh at the fat guy, with no long term booking in mind. WWE then had The Miz beat him for the briefcase so he could cash in to become WWE Champion, so why not just have The Miz win in the first place? WWE booking has gotten incredibly weird at times and feels lazy quite often. In the grand scheme of things, this move likely hurt Otis more than it benefited him, which is a shame.
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