The WWE started holding the WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-views as a part of Wrestlemania with the 21st edition of the big show before moving it into its own pay-per-view a few years later. The WWE has collected all the matches into a DVD and Blu-ray collection, and the people who buy the Blu-ray also get all the cash in attempts as well.
Here is a look at the WWE Money in the Bank Blu-Ray and what you can expect.
Disc One
The DVD starts with part of the original Chris Jericho promo where he invented the Money in the Bank ladder match. We then jump right into the first one at Wrestlemania 21.
The first thing I noticed here is that Chris Benoit is in this match. The WWE edited out his entrance and all the commentary that mentioned him was muted while talking about him, but he is in this match. For those who have not seen it, this match was a HUGE one and set the bar too high for many that followed it to reach. The biggest highlight was Shelton Benjamin running up the slanted ladder and clotheslining Chris Jericho off the top of another ladder. Edge won this first one.
The DVD went straight into the second match, an inter-promotional one with Raw and Smackdown both involved. The first big move here was when Matt Hardy suplexed 57-year-old Ric Flair off the top of the ladder. It was pretty intense and the medical staff helped him to the back, although he returned later in the match. The most impressive move in the match was when Shelton Benjamin (again) hit an amazing move, leaping to the top rope and springboarding himself onto a ladder where he started punching Rob Van Dam. It was all for naught as RVD won the match and the briefcase.
After this, Miz walked us through how each of the first two winners cashed in. Edge cashed in on a beaten and bloody John Cena to win and RVD announced ahead of time he wanted to fight John Cena at One Night Only, where he won in an actual match.
Next up is Wrestlemania 23 where they increased the number of people involved to eight. Jeff Hardy made his return to the WWE for this one, his first Money in the Bank ladder match. CM Punk also was in this, the first to represent the ECW brand. It was an all-star affair – both past and future – with Mr. Kennedy, Randy Orton, Matt Hardy, Booker T, Fit Finley and Edge all in it as well. The big moment here was when Matt Hardy laid Edge on a ladder stretched from the ring to the barrier and then Jeff Hardy climbed to the top of the tallest ladder in the ring and leapt off with a flying leg drop onto Edge, breaking that ladder in half. Edge was stretchered out. Mr. Kennedy ended up winning the match.
The Miz showed us next how Mr. Kennedy started bragging too much and let Edge goad him into putting his briefcase on the line in a one-on-one match. Edge won that match and cashed in the briefcase four days later over The Undertaker to win the world title.
Jericho made his return for Wrestlemania 24, as did Shelton Benjamin after a one-year absence. Mr. Kennedy was the only return winner in the match, with John Morrison, Carlito and MVP the other wrestlers involved. There was a huge move right off the bat as Morrison hit a top rope moonsault to the outside of the ring while holding the ladder. Shelton was huge again, as Kennedy was trying to superplex Morrison from the top of the ladder and Benjamin leaped over both and hit a sunset flip onto Kennedy, which caused the superplex on Morrison. Amazing move. CM Punk won the match.
The Miz showed how Punk won the world title from Edge (I was at that event in Oklahoma City when it happened) but then quickly showed that Legacy took out Punk and cost him the title. Therefore, he returned the next year hoping to win another Money in the Bank ladder match to get another title shot.
One thing that Wrestlemania 25 showed was that this match was almost the same from year to year. Of the eight men in this match, only Mark Henry and Kofi Kingston were newcomers while Shelton Benjamin had competed in all but one, Finley was in his third, Christian was back and the previous year’s winner CM Punk was here as well. This was a great match, although there were nowhere the same innovative spots as the past four. Punk became the first person to win two straight, while Shelton Benjamin remained the best performer in the Money in the Bank ladder matches to never win one.
At Wrestlemania 26, a record 10 men competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match, and only one of them had ever been a world champion before, making the odds high that the winner would be someone looking for their first world title. Kane was the only former champion in the match while a lot of new faces showed up including Dolph Ziggler, Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger and Drew McIntyre. This match seemed a bit convoluted and honestly there was no reason for all 10. It was still good, but fell short of the previous five. Jack Swagger won.
