The prospect of an opportunity at claiming the biggest prize in the company, on paper, sounds like the opportunity to propel your stock to the stars, but in reality, the Money in the Bank briefcase can be a very different story.
While the likes of C.M Punk and Edge managed to cement their legacy and achieved huge success following the acquisition of the contract others like Damien Sandow have failed to capitalize on what should be a career defining chance.
Golden Cash-ins
The original concept of the MITB match was the idea of Chris Jericho who pitched the idea to general manager Eric Bischoff who then gave Y2J a resounding thumbs up as the match was then put in place and prepared ahead of WrestleMania 21.
The first cash in applied a glorious foundation onto the gimmick which was widely misused during its original creation, however, the arrival of the Rated R-Superstar following the introduction courtesy of Vince McMahon propelled Edge onto a new level of super-stardom and showed the WWE Universe the first major positive of the Money in the Bank briefcase.
Accompanied by his on-screen partner Lita, Edge saw off a battered and bruised John Cena who had successfully retained his title in an Elimination Chamber match at New Year's Revolution as two spears were enough to see The Rated R-Superstar crowned WWE Champion for the first time in his career.
With the first winner now an overnight sensation he earned the nickname; The Ultimate Opportunist, a name that would stick, and see him remain as one of the top names in the company until his retirement in 2011.
With a total of 16 cash ins already taking place since its introduction in 2006, the number of success challenges for the title has continued to grow but one of the most memorable happened in 2013, a whole seven years later as Dolph Ziggler finally got a crack at the big time and delivered with huge fan appraisal.
The Showoff strolled down to the ring towards a weakened Alberto Del Rio who had just competed in a two-on-one handicap match against Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter moments earlier and successfully overcome the Pride of Mexico, and win his second and what looks like being his last World Heavyweight Championship.
Ziggler's cash in was cheered on by the New Jersey crowd as he was ushered to the squared circle by AJ Lee and Big E Langston but this was to be the highlight of his reign as champion as his run lasted just 69 days as the former member of The Spirit Squad suffered a legitimate injury at a SmackDown taping prior to his title defense at Extreme Rules meaning the match would not take place at the pay per view, he would, however, hold onto the belt until Payback 2013 when Del Rio turned heel and took advantage of the champion's bad health and picked up the championship once more.
The Showoff's career reached a pinnacle that night and it is doubtful he will ever regain that same momentum, leaving his career as a downward spiral from that moment on, despite his this, his cash in earned rave reviews and widely remembered as one of the best moments in recent Raw history as those backstage caved in and listened to the calls for Ziggler to be given a main event push.
One of the more recent cash-ins happening just over a year ago as Seth Rollins made history by cashing in midway through a match - making it the first cash-in in WrestleMania history.
During the main event of Roman Reigns - Brock Lesnar, just when it looked as if the former Shield member was about to conquer the conqueror, Seth Rollins sprinted to the ring as referee Mike Chioda granted him his inclusion to the match to make it a triple threat for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
This cash in was believed to be a last minute decision as Reigns was supposed to be the victor in the original plan but Vince McMahon and co. have remained tight-lipped regarding the original plans.
However following a vicious Curb Stomp to his former Shield compadre, Rollins was able to leave Levi's Stadium, California as the new Champion in his first ever reign marking the finale of the show that many believe he saved from flopping.
Rollins would go on to hold the title for many months after until he suffered a severe ACL injury which led to him being out of action for six months, but upon his return at Extreme Rules last month, his past achievements have spoken for themselves as Rollins was welcomed back to the WWE ring with a serenading ovation from the crowd.
The Curse of the Cash In
With the good; comes the bad and every major opportunity can often bring failure but does this really spell the end of a WWE superstars career?
Many performers have lost high profile matches before getting back on the horse and climbing the ladder once more so how have many reputations been destroyed thanks to the Money in the Bank Briefcase?
One name immediately springs to mind when you pair together the words 'Failed' and 'cash in' as one man who was unfortunately released just recently by the company was a major victim of the cruel cash in curse as Damien Sandow was unable to find his feet again following a rather emasculating defeat at the hands of the Face that Runs the Place; John Cena.
Sandow was handed the briefcase presumably via major fan backing and ultimately attacked Cena while the champion was suffering an arm injury, seeing his opportunity to take out the weakened title holder he cashed in but after a short amount of time, The Leader of the Cenation was able to win the match via pinfall on a night that marked a 'what could have been' for the career of the Intellectual Saviour of the Masses.
Despite the obvious element that Professional Wrestling is scripted, Sandow (real name Aaron Haddad) said of him not winning "Circumstances dictated otherwise" but in spite of this he said of his performance that he was "proud" and hailed it as a "performance of a lifetime" which stood as a promising sign for the future of Haddad but ultimately he never recovered from that night and was never taken seriously as a character again.
The All-American American was once seen as a real prospect for the future of WWE but after picking up his first World Heavyweight Championship (not the ECW Title) management quickly decided that he was not the future and his reign would quickly end sooner rather than later.
Jack Swagger picked up the title after cashing in on an episode of SmackDown against a wounded Chris Jericho, he become a more serious and ruthless figure following his victory but his reign was cut short and lasted until just June 20 when Rey Mysterio would pick up the title at the Fatal-Four-Way PPV ending his run as champion.
Swagger was never able to recover his lost momentum and is now one name that many are predicting will be released sooner rather than later, with him barely involved in a nothing feud with the United States Champion, Rusev, the 34-year-old has slipped majorly down the card with his most notable achievement a United States Championship reign lasting from January 16, 2012 until March 5 where he was defeated by Santino Marella.
Sheamus is something of a marmite superstar being that has achieved monumental success in the WWE as he has already picked up four World Titles as well as a United States Championship and was the winner of the 2012 Royal Rumble, but regardless of his impressive pedigree he acquired the MITB briefcase in 2015 despite being a low to mid-card performer at that time and was already a negative choice as a holder.
However, The Celtic Warrior was a laughable character with his briefcase with the constant fan chant of "you look stupid" stopping the WWE Universe from taking the Irishman seriously, he had up until Survivor Series 2015 been on a losing streak with no memorable wins to his name.
He took advantage of Roman Reigns who had already competed twice that night (against Alberto Del Rio and Dean Ambrose) and who was also distracted by Triple H meeting him face-to-face in the ring, he picked his moment and delivered a vicious Brogue Kick to the head of the newly crowned champion before repeating the same move to pin the exhausted Reigns.
Sheamus then aligned himself with The Authority and he maintained a smart new look as he donned a suit to match the stable in an interesting character switch, regardless of this and his subsequent successful title defense at TLC (thanks to interference from the League of Nations) he was essentially an interim champion as on an episode of Monday Night Raw, despite Mr. McMahon siding with the Irishman, Reigns was able to defeat him.
The Great White has not been able to recover since losing the title as the prestige of the LON stable tumbled when the silverware diminished as the foursome were made to look incredibly weak thereafter as despite a pinfall victory over The New Day at WrestleMania 32 they were beaten up by the returning 'for one night only' Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels and 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin.
Conclusion
Overall the majority of cash ins have indeed resulted in the superstar claiming the World Championship they were seeking with just two of the 16 cash-ins failing to see the gold change hands to the man with the contract but in spite of this; the prestige and meaning of the briefcase itself has since its creation lost its value, importance, and significance.
The original concept would be a 'shock value' with an unlikely performer claiming the briefcase to propel themselves onto the main event scene; this happened with the likes of Edge who was an upper mid card player at best, Ziggler who was never going to be handed the opportunity from a storyline perspective and also Jack Swagger but the latter was too young and raw to have been handed the opportunity and this has been a major obstacle in his career since.
Somewhere along the way, the true meaning of the briefcase and what it should mean to a performer has been lost, but with so many fresh faces at this years MITB, it may soon find its way back to being one of the greatest ideas in the WWE and grant hope to the next generation of performers.