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.
Click here for Part 2 of the WWE Money in the Bank Review
The Miz has stopped talking about the cashing in of the contracts. Next up, Money in the Bank became its own pay-per-view in 2010, with Raw and Smackdown both getting their own ladder matches.
The first Smackdown-only Money in the Bank ladder match included Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Christian, Cody Rhodes, Matt Hardy, Drew McIntyre, Kane and The Big Show. Probably the biggest moment in the match was when Kingston hit the Boom Drop from the top of the ladder onto McIntyre through the ringside table. The match even had a large 350 pound reinforced ladder for Big Show to climb. The end came when Big Show was buried under about seven ladders and Kane outlasted everyone else to win the ladder match.
The Raw-only match came up next immediately without going back to The Miz. This saw Randy Orton, The Miz, Mark Henry, Ted DiBiase, John Morrison, Evan Bourne, Edge and the returning Chris Jericho. The match was smartly booked and could have went to anyone, with Edge, Randy Orton and Chris Jericho looking like they could win it, but The Miz won the match and the briefcase.
The Miz then went through his journey to winning the title, beating up people with the briefcase, and then cashing it in to beat Randy Orton for the WWE championship. They even showed the iconic “Angry Miz Girl” in the footage.
The final Money in the Bank match on the first Blu-ray saw one of the least inspiring lineups so far. Kane was back for his fifth and Cody Rhodes for his second in this Smackdown match. Joining them were a number of rookies and former members of NEXUS, Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater and a pre-bearded Daniel Bryan. The other two competitors was Sin Cara and Sheamus. Unlike most of the Money in the Bank matches, this was more about power fighting. This was also the match that Daniel Bryan won to finally put him on the top.
Disc 2
The Miz introduces the second Blu-ray and mentions how winning the Money in the Bank put him on top of the business and when he lost, it also gave him a chance to get there again.
The Raw Money in the Bank in 2011 saw Alberto Del Rio, Kofi Kingston (4th time), Jack Swagger (former winner), Evan Bourne (3rd time), R-Truth, Alex Riley, The Miz (former winner) and Rey Mysterio. This was much more star studded than the Smackdown match of that year with two former winners. This was the strange match where The Miz (a bad guy) was helped out after an injury but when he limped back down and tried to win, the fans started cheering him, and when Rey Mysterio (a good guy) stopped him, the fans turned on Rey. Alberto Del Rio ended up winning the match.
We go straight into the 2012 Smackdown Money in the Bank match. Dolph Ziggler, Santino, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Tyson Kidd, Sin Cara, Tensai and Christian. This match started out sloppy thanks to botches by Sin Cara and Tensai but ended up as the first great Money in the Bank match since leaving Wrestlemania. Dolph Ziggler won this one and proved that the fans would even cheer a heel if he put it all out there to win.
The following matches showed a huge shift in strategy, with less emphasis on high impact moves and more emphasis on strategy and storytelling.
The Miz introduced the next match, the 2012 Raw Money in the Bank match that only included former champions. These men included Kane, Chris Jericho, The Miz, The Big Show and John Cena. The first big moment was Cena hitting the AA on Big Show through the Spanish announcer’s table. After that, they repeated an old spot where they buried Show under a bunch of ladders. The Big Show giant ladder returned in this match as well. John Cena won the match when he bashed Big Show in the head three times with the briefcase and tore it off the hook in the process.
We then move straight into the Smackdown 2013 Money in the Bank match. The combatants were Fandango, Dean Ambrose, Jack Swagger, Antonio Cesaro, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow and Wade Barrett. The interesting, and unique, thing about this match was the fact that two tag teams were in the match (Real Americans and Rhodes Scholars). The match had a big ending when The Real Americans worked together to try to win and The Shield attacked to help Dean Ambrose, but Damien Sandow turned on his partner Cody Rhodes to win the briefcase.
Once again, without going back to Miz, we head right into the 2013 Raw Money in the Bank match, which saw the return of Rob Van Dam to the WWE. Also involved in this match was Christian, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, Sheamus and CM Punk. For the second year in a row, the Raw match was an “All-Star” lineup. This was the match that Paul Heyman turned on CM Punk and Randy Orton won the briefcase.
The Miz ends the Blu-ray coverage by letting everyone know that John Cena was the only person up to this point that was not able to cash in his briefcase and win the title (that changed this week with Damien Sandow).
Click here for the Review of the WWE Money in the Bank Blu-ray Special Features
Blu-Ray Special Features
The anthology is all DVD purchasers get, but anyone who buys the Blu-ray also gets all the cash in attempts.
The first was from New Years Revolution 2006 and we see the very end of the Elimination Chamber match between John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Carlito, Kurt Angle, Chris Masters and Kane. We join the match with Cena, Masters and Carlito as the only three left. Carlito pins Masters and then Cena pins Carlito to win the match. Cena was a bloody mess and then Vince McMahon came out and presented Edge, who cashed in his briefcase. Cena actually kicked out of the first spear, but Edge became the first person to successfully cash in his chance.
Then we got our first of two full length matches when Rob Van Dam cashed in at One Night Only and beat Cena in front of a pro-ECW crowd in the Hammerstein Ballroom. It was easily one of the best WWE title matches when the crowd reaction is concerned.
Next, we saw Edge cash in after Mark Henry beat up The Undertaker on an episode of Smackdown, CM Punk cash in on Edge on an episode of Raw after Batista beat up Edge, CM Punk cash in at the Extreme Rules PPV after Jeff Hardy beat Edge in a ladder match, and Jack Swagger cash in on Chris Jericho, who was beaten up by Edge.
It was interesting to see that Edge was involved in five of the six first cash ins, either in the preceding moments, as the one who cashed in or as the one cashed in on.
Next up was the first and only time the WWE Money in the Bank was cashed in on the same show it was won. Kane won the MITB match, and then Rey Mystetrio successfully defended his title against Jack Swagger. After the match, Swagger beat down Rey but Kane saved him and beat up Swagger, chasing him to the back. Then Kane returned and cashed in to win it.
Next up was a very nice special feature. This was when The Miz cashed in on Randy Orton. After the match, the camera followed The Miz to the back where Triple H and Michael Hayes shook his hand in the Gorilla Position before Vince McMahon hugged him and told him he deserved it. He was then congratulated by wrestlers, including his old partner John Morrison. Miz said “I’m not the Jannetty” and Morrison said “neither am I.” The Miz hugged John Cena and thanked him for all the help. It was a great moment.
Then we saw Alberto Del Rio cash in on CM Punk and Daniel Bryan cash in on The Big Show. The full John Cena vs. CM Punk match was next where Big Show attacked Cena to cause the DQ and Cena was the first person to unsuccessfully cash in the briefcase. That was also the match where CM Punk attacked The Rock to start their feud. Finally, the last one was the Dolph Ziggler cash in against Alberto Del Rio.
The Analysis
This entire Blu-ray is full of fantastic matches, both exciting spot-fests and more strategic matches as well. Men like Shelton Benjamin, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan and CM Punk became stars thanks to their performances in the matches and there is not really a bad match in the entire set. Add in all the cash ins on the Blu-ray edition and this is an easy recommendation.