Is Money in the Bank a good concept to push young superstars to main event status?

[Dragonfirez]

Recently, I was looking back at what became of the winners of the 5 Money in the Bank matches (excluding Mr Kennedy) and it made me think about how that match boosted them to main event status, let's recall what became of the winners:

First off we have The Rated R Superstar Edge who despite winning the MITB match only once and cashing that in to beat Cena and become WWE Championship for the first year, he beat Mr Kennedy for his briefcase and cashed in against the Undertaker ultimately winning the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time. Ever since them wins, he has been pushed further by the WWE therefore winning more titles and being more successful than he was.

Secondly we have RVD, who after winning MITB and cashing in to capture the WWE Championship was pushed as a main eventer on the new ECW brand and remained like that until he left WWE.

Thirdly we have CM Punk, who having won MITB two times consecutively successfully cashed in both times and won the World Heavyweight Championship both times. As a result of this I believe, CM Punk was drastically pushed to main event status until around late 2009 when he was dropped back down to mid card.

Finally we have Jack Swagger, who we have yet to see what becomes of him, however he has already competed in main event matches against top names after winning MITB and cashing in for the World Heavyweight Championship.

My question regarding my points listed above is: Do you think the Money in the Bank is a good concept for WWE to help push young/experienced mid card superstars to main event status?

 

[DexVendetta88]

The concept of MITB is an excellent concept of pushing young stars to main event status. MITB also typically guarantees that a title change is imminent since most of the winners (with the exception of Mr. Kennedy) won either the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship. The MITB concept basically takes a young star, gives them time to get over with the crowd, then cashing it in when the time was right. I like this concept because it seriously gives a young star the opportunity to get over with a crowd long enough before cashing in, and it will hopefully keep them in the main event picture for many years. I think the MITB concept is far better than the King of the Ring concept where it had the same concept of pushing a young superstar and getting them over, but they only got bragging rights out of it for the whole year (and in some cases a new gimmick), and no guaranteed world title matches. I have yet to see a MITB winner fail to get over with the crowd just like with several King of the Ring winners (i.e. Mabel, Billy Gunn). Anyways, I hope that the WWE keeps using this concept for years to come because this is probably one of the best concepts being used to push young stars to main event status effectively in wrestling today, and it keeps us watching and guessing when the MITB winner will cash in which makes its unpredictability quite unique since they can cash in anytime.

 

[El Rev sXe]

dude....didn´t you just answered yourself??!!hahahaha. I mean with the exception of mr. kenanderson, as you said every wrestler was on the spotlight and in the main event picture. look at CM Punk, okay yeah I know that right now he isnt exactly a maint eventer but look what that briefcase did for his career!!!in the case of Edge..c´mon man is pretty obvious the answer. so HELL YEAH!!MitB is good concept to push young superstars to main event status. the question now is if Swagger can do it too.IMO I have serious doubt but that doesn´t mean shit, he can prouve me wrong you know...

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

The MITB concept basically takes a young star, gives them time to get over with the crowd, then cashing it in when the time was right. I like this concept because it seriously gives a young star the opportunity to get over with a crowd long enough before cashing in, and it will hopefully keep them in the main event picture for many years.

None of the guys who've held MiTB have had that. Edge is the only guy to hold the case for more than 3 months. And they didn't do that to get him over, because he was already well over 3 or 4 years before that. He was also having ME fueds with guys like HBK before cashing in, so MiTB simply gave Edge the chance to re-brand himself as the Rated R Superstar/Ultimate Opportunist.

RVD had been over so much before entering WWE that he eventually got a World title when Vince decided to leach of ECW's legacy for a few quick bucks. He won the WWE title in 2006. His first WWE title shot was in 2001, 5 months after he debuted.

Kennedy was over, super over, and had also been given ME fueds before he won MiTB with 'Taker and Batista.

CM Punk spent a solid year on ECW connecting with the WWE Universe and was already well over before winning MiTB, and then they started having him job to just about everyone, and when he won the title, the only person he ever beat was Bradshaw.

Now obviously the 2nd time around he wasn't trying to get over was he? They used it to introduce a brand new heel to Smackdown. He passed the belt between himself and jeff for a month, re-did Montreal with Taker, and then lost it, and now look at him. Doing some of the best mic work in the 'E' today, putting on consistently good matches, and jobbing out the arse near enough every week.

Swagger was over, then became a low-level jobber, and is now suddenly the champ. Sure he's wrestling the ME'ers now, but he's still jobbing.

So how can you say that MiTB is designed for guys who aren't over to get a chance to promote themselves prior to a title victory, when the only guy who wasn't ridiculously over before getting the case, was Swagger?

I think the MITB concept is far better than the King of the Ring concept where it had the same concept of pushing a young superstar and getting them over, but they only got bragging rights out of it for the whole year (and in some cases a new gimmick), and no guaranteed world title matches.

But KOTR was a slow build up where talent developed credibility by defeating 4 or 5 guys in one night and being crowned undisputed King. Not everyone got very far, but Mabel was a huge mess and Billy Gunn was dumped back into DX after winning KOTR and then got injured, and then got injured on a regular basis, so they weren't likely to push him.

Anyways, I hope that the WWE keeps using this concept for years to come because this is probably one of the best concepts being used to push young stars to main event status effectively in wrestling today, and it keeps us watching and guessing when the MITB winner will cash in which makes its unpredictability quite unique since they can cash in anytime.

MiTB effectively forces the crowd to pay attention to a particualr superstar for winning one ladder match, and then they get awarded a title, in a fashion that actually makes an actual, proper World Title fued irrelevant in a matter of seconds.

Think about when Edge cashed in the first time. Cena had just had ana awesome EC match, where Carlito and Masters put on probably their best performances at that point in the 'E', and the next night all people could talk about was Edge's cash in.

Jeff Hardy spent a solid year trying to win the WWE title, and was shit on by Edge and HHH repeatedly, was screwed over by his brother, and then finally got his revenge by beating Edge one-on-one and then what happened? That wonderful happy moment where Jeff finally triumphed was ruined with a MiTB cash in for Punk.

Swagger's cashed in in the middle of totally different fued, and now it's no longer about Edge and Jericho's fued, it's now about Jack 'Honestly, why should we give a fuck' Swagger being the WHC.

The ONLY MiTB push that's been done properly was RVDs, because he didn't do a cheap run in cash in, he announced well before hadn where he wanted the title shot, and he was made to look like a true underdog in that match, and the feeling the crowd had when he won was astounding. It was reminiscent of Eddie G beating Brock Lesnar. On paper that sounds like horse shit, but that match was amazing for everyone who watched.

MiTB is a cheap shock trick to get viewers to watch Raw the next night and that's about it. It does nothing for the careers of talent because most of them are just handed the belt and are told 'Now go out there and be as good as Cena' and when they aren't they go back to where they were, and all you've done is waste 2 or 3 months worth of ME fueds.

 

[Ferbian]

I must say it's a little balanced really, seeing as it definitely put Edge out there pretty firmly.

But then on the other hand, CM Punk, where's he right now? oh that's right.. mid-card feud (upper mid-card to say the least but still mid-card!) although we can probably blame that pretty firmly on the way he dissed John Cena back a half years time ago.

So I'm pretty torn, seeing as winning a world title and carrying that briefcase puts you out there as a permanent contender for now, it puts you out there as a guy to be aware of, which does certainly elevate him just by carrying the briefcase, but seeing as some obviously gets dumped pretty easily after ending their reign (again, Punk) I would also have to say it's not all about the briefcase, and it's not what's gonna elevate you to a well placed main eventer.

I would really have to say it puts you in a firm non-champion position in the upper mid-card until you've been in proper main event feuds and carried yourself up there in a proper manner before you can truly say "now that's a main-eventer"

 

[Master_Awesome14]

I like the Idea because it gives younger superstars(not Kane) an oppertunity to become Champion at any time

 

[thegreatanurag900]

YES,IT IS DEFINITELY A GOOD IDEA.BUT THE PROBLEM IS THAT WWE HAS;NT USED THIS CONCEPT WELL IN 2008 AND THIS YEAR.IN 2008 THEY SHOULD'VE BUILDED C M PUNK AS THE UNSTOPPABLE FORCE BUT THEY DIDN'T AND PROBABLY JUST FOR THE SHOCK VALUE.THIS YEAR ALSO THEY DIDN'T BUILDED JACK AS THE UPPER MID CARDER.AND IT LOOKING THAT HE WILL LOSE THE TITLE SOONER THAN LATER.

 

[Showtime]

Excellent question, no, I think its done a terrible job pushing young superstars to the main event. Yes it did help crack Edge, and CM Punk to the mainevent, but look at the two years after. Edge won multiple title reigns, but he's grown the perception that he can only win through cheating and being added late into matches. CM Punk won the title both times, but WWE portrayed him as though he could only beat JBL or any other middle carder. They didn't give him any legitimate victories over any maineventer and now when I think of CM Punk I think paper champion. Swagger I have zero hope for so far and think when he does lose the World Title it'll be another 2 years or so before he gets back there. So looking at the winners, It took Edge something like 3 years after his first win for me to believe he is definite ME, and CM Punk 2 years after is still trying to get back there. Why is this, sneak in title matches after the champs had an exhausting match or has been beaten down. Yes, they are trying to promote MITB as a being able to be used at anytime and most likely the most opportune time, but in all those cases there's been zero build for the belt and the winner has gained zero credibility for what he's done.

The only time MITB did well building a successful champ was RVD cause everyone anticipated his victory. RVD turned out to be his own worst enemy and subsequently dropped back to middle card. Kennedy could've been the best example of MITB pushing a young wrestler to the top had he been able to use it at next WM like he wanted, but injuries led WWE to take it off him. MITB could be a good concept to push young stars, but these sneaky wins are doing nothing to build these young stars. It's simply showing us that they aren't goo enough to beat these guys in fair one on one matches and WWE isn't letting us believe they are by giving them clean upsets defending the belt. They either lose by DQ or straight up lose; push, title reign, main event status, over. MITB is simply a good way to shock the audience and give WWE a back up in case the champion gets injured, like in 2007. Other than that, it's doing little to push the young stars. Just look at the qualifying matches this year. Most were the entrant verse a jobber, the entries didn't beat anyone worth mentioning to get in, so no pushes out of that, and the winner didn't really beat anybody, just got lucky, so other than the fact he won a guarrenteed title shot, he's still no better than half the MITB participants. At least with KOTR the winner could say he best 3 equals. Long rant over, MITB, not the best way to push young kids to the top.

 

[Andy 2 Randy]

MiTB is only good for superstars that are nearly at main-event status, Edge for example was a big star before the MiTB match, after winning it he portrayed a whole new gimmick, an ultimate opportunist,which is needed for the top slots in WWE.
However if say Evan Bourne was to win it (no meaning that i don't like him, he's a great talent), he wouldnt work in Main Event status, he only really suits in US Title range.
So if, say John Morrison or The Miz would win it, it would fit perfectly as Miz is already propelling himself through RAW, as is Morrison on SD!.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

I think MITB is a gret idea, it helped get Edge his first world title, same goes with RVD, CM Punk (with the exception of ECW champion), and it has now given Jack Swagger the honour of holding the world heavyweight title.

I do think if they had given mr. Kennedy his chance back when he won it, he would probably still be with the "E".

Other than that, think at the ppv, there will be a new winner and that man will go on to win his first world title.

I think WWE should do something similar for the women, obviously not a ladder match, but something similar for them, and it would give them a contract, (unlike TNA where they had them lock boxes)