From Edge to Baron Corbin - How Money in the Bank changed Careers and Lives
WrestleMania 21 was indeed a Landmark event for the WWE. No, Not because WWE made bonafide superstars out of three of their homegrown talents in John Cena, Batista and Randy Orton and certainly not because it featured a long due clash between two of the best wrestlers in the world.
It was WrestleMania 21 that started the trend of bringing multiple top-tier superstars, without a prominent 'Mania program, together in a matchup together. It was WrestleMania 21 that gave birth to the phenomena known as Money in the Bank.
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Edge, Christian, Shelton Benjamin, Chris Benoit, Kane and Chris Jericho - This was the illustrious sextet of wrestlers that made history that night by stealing the show in Los Angeles.
Who would have thought 13 years back, when Chris Jericho first pitched this idea on Raw, that it would become the staple of WWE's post 'Mania schedule in the coming years.
It started a new tradition, just like Royal Rumble, where a new superstar was born every year courtesy of a win in this match.
Money in the Bank has made careers, has destroyed careers and has seen various phases throughout its 13 years presence.
#1 2005-2010: Turning Superstars into Megastars
All the six superstars that participated in the inaugural match were superstars in their own right - three were former World Champions, and the other three were also established mid-carders. In my previous article in which I ranked all the MITB wins, I rated Edge win as the best among the lot.
Edge's victory in 2005 started a phenomenal main event career that ended with 11 World Titles in 2011 and was rightfully honoured with Hall of Fame inclusion in 2005. Not just Edge, all the remaining five superstars achieved superstardom, and so did the match.
RVD finally got the prize of his hard work and crowd support with a win in 2006, a win that lead to simultaneous reigns with WWE Championship and ECW Championship and a run as the top dog of the company.
CM Punk's double wins, first as an ECW superstar and other as a Raw superstar, launched his Main Event career that had five World Title Reigns, including the legendary 434-day reign between 2011 and 2013.
Jack Swagger's win in 2010, although underwhelming, gave the superstar a shining point in his overall dull career in the form of a World Title reign, even though it all went downhill for him afterwards.
Kennedy, on the other hand, had the biggest moment of his career when he won the match 2007, and what happened with him after that is well known to everyone.
The first six MITB wins led to four fresh World Title Reigns, and, realising the importance and success of the match, WWE gave the match its own pay per view in 2010.