WWE News: Vince McMahon Overlooked ‘Money In The Bank’ En Route To ‘SummerSlam’
Money In The Bank has offered some of the most memorable moments in WWE since its inception, whether at the pay-per-view itself or at some point down the line as a result of the outcome. Much like the winner of the Royal Rumble match automatically receives a championship opportunity at WrestleMania, the winner of the Money in the Bank ladder match earns a briefcase that enables them to cash in a title match anytime they choose.
The Money in the Bank concept began in 2005 when it debuted as a single match at WrestleMania 21, then developed into its own pay-per-view event beginning in 2010. Superstars who have memorably cashed-in their contracts have included Edge, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler. But arguably, Seth Rollins claims the most memorable when he cashed-in during the main event of WrestleMania 31.
Rollins held onto his Money in the Bank contract for 273 days, the second longest amount of time any wrestler held their contract. The most recent winner, Dean Ambrose, held onto his for 57 minutes before cashing in on Rollins the same night he won the briefcase, at last year’s Money In The Bank pay-per-view.
As of this writing, there are only six confirmed pay-per-views on the rest of the 2017 calendar after the Royal Rumble kicked off the schedule on January 29. Money In The Bank is one of them, slated for June 18 in St. Louis, Missouri. And though it hasn’t been publicly advertised as such, the show is currently penciled-in as a RAW-exclusive pay-per-view.
As noted, the Money In The Bank show has increased in popularity and notoriety over the last six years, surpassing Survivor Series as the WWE’s fourth-biggest show in the company in some eyes. However, by reintroducing the brand extension concept, it leaves WWE officials in a predicament. Should Money In The Bank be a dual-branded event or remain exclusive to one show over another as currently constructed?
Vince McMahon has recently run into that dilemma due to how he’s planning out the storylines for the WWE Universal Championship over the next six months. We laid out those initial plans last week, and Vince and company haven’t budged from them as of yet. Goldberg is set to capture the belt from Kevin Owens at Fastlane and go on to defend it against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania where The Beast is finally expected to conquer the icon.
Beyond those plans, Vince has laid out additional groundwork that would see Lesnar carry the title all the way into August, where he would finally be dethroned at SummerSlam. The only problem, as noted by Sportskeeda, is Vince forgot that Money In The Bank is in line to be a RAW-exclusive show. In the WWE, things are always subject to change, so it will be interesting to monitor what they decide to do.
During Lesnar’s last title run, he was kept off television for the majority of the football season from September to January, so not booking him for Money In The Bank is an option. And as it stands backstage, they are weighing three different options for what to do about the pay-per-view.
SmackDown Head Writer, Ryan Ward, is pushing hard for Money In The Bank to be a blue-branded show in 2017, so if RAW is able to secure a venue for an added June 4 pay-per-view, Money In The Bank will change brands. There have also been discussions about making the show a dual-branded event, thus elevating the show and making it a part of the new ‘Big 5’. RAW writers have also been instructed to come up with ideas if it stays a red-branded show, which could include making the ladder match the main event and not having Lesnar defend the belt that night.
It is worth noting that Vince is currently opposed to the idea of making Money In The Bank a major pay-per-view, preferring instead to keep the Big 4 as is. Elevating Money In The Bank would also require creating another special event for the NXT brand and producing four shows from the same city/venue over that particular weekend.
[Featured Image by WWE]
