WWE's original plan for Dolph Ziggler's Money in the Bank cash-in
Dolph Ziggler says WWE’s decision-makers originally wanted him to repeatedly hit Alberto Del Rio with the Money in the Bank briefcase before his memorable cash-in.
Ziggler successfully cashed in the contract on Del Rio on the post-WrestleMania 29 episode of RAW to win the World Heavyweight Championship. The dramatic cash-in is widely considered to be one of the best in the history of the Money in the Bank briefcase.
Speaking on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast, Ziggler discussed the initial idea that he was given before the show:
“Originally that was supposed to be… I hit Del Rio with the briefcase five times and pin him," said Ziggler. "I go, ‘Please, guys, I lose every night, and since I got this briefcase I’ve lost twice a night! Let me take them on a two-minute rollercoaster ride and have it all make sense.’”
4/8/2013
Dolph Ziggler cashed in to defeat Alberto Del Rio to win back the World Heavyweight Title on RAW from the IZod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey
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Ziggler eventually got his way and ended up defeating Del Rio after a back-and-forth two-minute exchange. He failed with a pinfall attempt and reversed a Cross Armbreaker before hitting the Zig Zag to pick up the victory.
Dolph Ziggler thinks WWE fans were instrumental in his MITB success
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Dolph Ziggler held the Money in the Bank briefcase for 267 days between July 2012 and April 2013. During that time, it looked as though he might fail with his cash-in due to the amount of defeats that he suffered.
The current NXT Champion added that the support of WWE fans ultimately led to his crowd-pleasing Money in the Bank cash-in:
“They [fans] were told, basically, through television, like, ‘Don’t care about this guy. Don’t root for him,’ and they did anyway," Ziggler continued. "They were like, ‘We did this.’ They really did. The crowd was part of it.”
Ziggler recently won the NXT Championship from Bron Breakker on the March 8 episode of NXT. He will defend the title against the up-and-coming superstar at NXT Stand & Deliver on April 2.
Please credit After The Bell and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.