playMike CoppingerOct 5, 2026, 09:32 AM ETCloseMike Coppinger has covered boxing since 2010 with roles at USA Today, Ring Magazine and The Athletic before he joined ESPN in 2021. You can follow him on Twitter: @MikeCoppingerMultiple AuthorsOpen Extended ReactionsEditor’s note: This story was originally published before the 2022 Money in the Bank event. It has been updated to reflect the 2026 edition.Nineteen years ago, WWE was attempting to develop a new match format that would creatively drive storylines forward and present a platform to create new stars.Since 1988, the Royal Rumble offered an opportunity each January for WWE superstars to grab the proverbial brass ring and launch their careers into a new stratosphere. The winner of the 30-man battle royal was guaranteed a title shot at WrestleMania.
The Rumble was the sole event on the WWE calendar that ensured a wrestler would vie for the grandest prize in sports entertainment. That remained until April 3, 2005, when the inaugural Money in the Bank ladder match was unveiled at WrestleMania 21 at Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.Eighteen years later, Money in the Bank is far more than just a launching pad for rising stars in the company. Since 2010, when WWE introduced the annual Money in the Bank pay-per-view, it’s been a staple of the promotion’s shows and has slowly but surely grown into a fifth tentpole event. Earning the moniker Mr. or Miss Money in the Bank has become one of the most tried-and-true kingmakers for a wrestler’s career.The concept: Climb the ladder and grab a briefcase dangling above the ring.
Inside that briefcase is a contract that guarantees its owner a WWE championship opportunity at a time of their choosing for up to a year.On July 6 in Toronto, seven men and seven women will compete in separate matches with the briefcase on the line and the chance to become the next WWE champion. The success rate for the Money in the Bank winner in that eventual title challenge: 85%.The men: LA Knight, Jey Uso, Carmelo Hayes, Andrade, Chad Gable and Drew McIntyre.The women: IYO SKY, Chelsea Green, Lyra Valkyria, Tiffany Stratton, Naomi and Zoey Stark.Before they step into the ring and climb the ladder, ESPN pulls back the curtain on the making of the first Money in the Bank match. The participants in that first endeavor: Edge, Chris Benoit, Christian (with Tomko), Chris Jericho, Kane and Shelton Benjamin.Interviews — edited for clarity and brevity — with Edge, Jericho, Kane, Shelton Benjamin and WWE executive Michael Hayes tell the story of that first MITB match at WrestleMania 21 (Christian’s remarks are from a 2009 ESPN interview).Part 1: The IdeaChris Jericho: From a storyline standpoint, we always say I invented it, but from a reality standpoint, if it was a song, I co-wrote it with Brian Gerwitz, who was the head writer at the time. We were just looking for a WrestleMania match.
It was one of those years, there was nothing really going on for a lot of us, which is kind of a drag. There were a few ideas thrown around. One of them was a three-way submission match between me and Edge and Chris Benoit. That’s lame.
Submission matches are hard to begin with, and it’s a three-way submission match, and Edge didn’t really have a submission. And then Kane didn’t have anything to do, and Shelton didn’t have anything to do. Same for Christian. Just a lot of fairly big-name guys that didn’t really have much to do.Shelton Benjamin: It was Jericho’s idea.
But at the same time, Edge is a pro wrestling genius. Between the two of them, that’s what really made the match what it was. I would definitely credit Jericho with the invention, and Edge with the innovations.Jericho: I remember I was driving in New York City, probably going to a show at The Garden. I said, what if we do some kind of a ladder match where the winner gets a title shot the next night on Raw?
And Brian said, well, what if we do it where you can cash it in for a year? At any point in the next year you can have a title shot whenever you want it.I don’t think it was really created at the time where you could just cash it in in five seconds. That kind of evolved. So, Brian and I honed it, and then Brian pitched it to Vince and he called me back and said Vince loves it.
He said the only thing that Vince insists on is that the contract has to be in a briefcase. All right, if that’s what he wants, put it in a f—ing briefcase.Kane: I think the most important element is still the briefcase with the contract in it because the storyline dynamic that was driving everything was the chance at the WWE championship. And also the fact that you could cash it in any time.Jericho: It’s one of those things where if it was just a piece of paper on a pole, it wouldn’t really be all that impressive. That was typical Vince where he sees everything a little bit differently than everybody else.
Suddenly a new merchandise item is created.Michael PS Hayes: I thought it was a really, really cool concept. I was one of the producers of the match, one of the guys that was responsible for putting it all together, which, considering the guys that were involved in there, it wasn’t that hard to do really. A lot of them were very, very good ladder match people and others were just possessed with really good athleticism which comes into play hugely in ladder matches.Kane: At first I wasn’t thrilled to be part of this frankly, because I was like, I’m just gonna go out there and kind of be the sore thumb. But I got built up as the biggest threat in the match because Kane is able to pretty much dominate and physically chokeslam everybody.
So once I got over my initial, ‘Oh man, what can I do off of a ladder?’ and realized all the tools that we had and where I was being positioned, I think that the way that it was built, Kane would’ve been the betting favorite to win the match. So that, of course, sold me on it.Benjamin: By being in this match I get to appear on WrestleMania, so of course I’m overjoyed. That was gonna be my first outing alone. My previous two WrestleManias I had been in the tag team division with Charlie Haas.
Those were great, but this is my first time out on my own. So, whatever I do was on me. So I was excited. I was looking forward to it.
Because I had such trust in the guys around me, I was a kid in the candy store. I couldn’t have asked for a better position.Edge: There was some convincing for me to be part of this match. It was just sold to me as, ‘Hey, we got this ladder match and it’ll be a briefcase over top and six guys and the winner has a contract that he can go for the world heavyweight title anytime within a year.’ Explained to me that way it wasn’t a great sales pitch. And I went, ‘Nah, I’m good.’I truly took the mindset and I said, if this is my only way onto ‘Mania this year, I don’t need to be on ‘Mania.
I’ll get on ‘Mania next year. For whatever reason, I don’t know why I was so steadfast on that, like, a ladder match again? I go from ladder match, ladder match to I’m in a match for a shampoo endorsement and then I have two years off from a broken neck. And I’m back in a ladder match again.
So it just felt like I hadn’t made any kind of traction in that time. Not only that, I got a double fusion in my neck. By that point, ladder matches probably aren’t the healthiest thing for my neck.Hayes: I tried to at least give Edge what I thought were the positives of being in that match. And obviously Edge winning — it may have played a role in his final decision.
Jericho, he probably might have been a front-runner to take it all, but the fact that it was his idea, I think negated that from happening.Jericho: Of course, I would’ve wanted to win the match. It just wasn’t in the cards. Vince wanted Edge to win.Edge: The concept of even cash in anytime, anywhere — like none of that was talked about initially. That to me was the key selling point because now, that makes it really interesting.
Now it’s not just, I challenge Jo
Leave a Reply