Since its inception in 2005, the Money in the Bank ladder match has become one of WWE's most important events of the year.
In many ways, it is on par with winning the Royal Rumble, as it awards the winner an opportunity to fight for a championship of their choosing at any point over the next year.
This has resulted in numerous title changes that have shifted the entire roster, had major implications for the Road to WrestleMania and seen some names finally break through.
After 17 years and 26 matches, there is a lot of history already tied to the gimmick, so let's look back on some stats and records to keep in mind ahead of the 2022 edition.
Win-Loss Percentages
While the MITB contract makes it easy for someone to steal a championship, it isn't an actual 100 percent certainty.
Despite being able to pick the best moment when a titleholder is incapacitated, a few Superstars have managed to botch their cash-ins to throw off the success rate.
However, that isn't true when it comes to the women's division. Out of the four ladder matches so far, every Ms. Money in the Bank has been able to win the title on their cash-in: twice each for the Raw and SmackDown women's titles.
When adding the men's records, though, that is where the win-loss numbers shift.
All three of the men's titles have had one failure, with the WWE Championship actually being 9-2. This has resulted in an overall success rate of 84.6 percent with 22 successful cash-ins over 26 attempts.
That only factors in official attempts, though. There have been significantly more tries from Money in the Bank holders who get ready for their shot but back out before the bell rings. As those are considered invalid cash-ins, they don't count.
Time Before Cash-Ins
With winners being given a full year to choose their time to cash in, some wait months for the right opportunity while others have challenged for a belt on the same night.
Kane holds the record for the shortest wait with only 49 minutes between his win and cashing in the contract. Dean Ambrose is next at 57 minutes, followed by Bayley (85 minutes) and Alexa Bliss (172 minutes).
The combined time for all four women holding the MITB briefcase is 288 days and just shy of four-and-a-half hours, but 287 of those days come from Carmella's win in the first-ever women's ladder match in 2017, which is the overall record for the most time someone held a briefcase without cashing in.
Second to her is also the men's inaugural match, which Edge won in 2005. He held it 280 days before cashing in, just one week longer than Seth Rollins at 273 days.
As a side note, The Architect was the first person to cash in while a match was in progress.
Multi-Time Briefcase-Holders
While there have been 26 ladder matches, there are actually more than 26 Superstars to have held the Money in the Bank briefcase.
Two wrestlers, Mr. Kennedy and Otis, actually lost their briefcases in matches where they were set to defend them. On both occasions, the men who beat them for the MITB contract went on to win their cash-in.
Those victors were Edge and The Miz, respectively. Both had also previously won a men's Money in the Bank ladder match, putting them in a small club of two-time winners.
CM Punk is the only Superstar to have outright won two Money in the Bank ladder matches legitimately, grabbing the briefcase in back-to-back years in 2008 and 2009. He also won the title on both of his cash-ins.
Participation in Ladder Matches
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again, right? Well, that may not be quite so true about Money in the Bank, considering the number of entrants who have appeared in the ladder match without winning.
Some have a 100 percent success rate: Bayley, John Cena, Braun Strowman, Brock Lesnar, Big E and Otis all won the only ladder match they have been in.
Others have had a rougher go. Kofi Kingston has been in seven and never won once, which makes him the worst overall competitor, despite how much fun he brings to each performance. Kane has also been in seven, but he did win one ladder match.
Natalya has the distinction of the worst female record, being 0-5.
Most Cashed-In On
As great as Money in the Bank is for the Superstar wielding the briefcase, it's an immeasurable threat to anyone holding a title.
Being a champion while the contract is still in play is dangerous, as you're always vulnerable and can have your belt stolen at any given moment.
Two Superstars know that better than others. John Cena and Charlotte Flair hold the record of being cashed-in on the most amount of times at three.
Cena was the first and second champion to fall victim to a spontaneous cash-in, but the third time was the charm when he successfully retained his title over Damien Sandow.
Outside of the second cash-in, which was Alexa Bliss over Nia Jax, Flair has been the only woman to suffer this misfortune, losing her titles to Carmella in 2018, Bayley in 2019 and Nikki A.S.H. last year.
Miscellaneous Other Statistics
Rounding out this list are a few other stats to be aware of, including:
- The longest men's ladder match was Baron Corbin's 2017 win at 29:45. The shortest was Rob Van Dam's WrestleMania 22 win at 12:14.
- The longest women's ladder match was Asuka's win from 2019 at 22 minutes. The shortest women's bout Carmella's win at 13:20 in 2017.
- The WWE Championship has been targeted most frequently with 11 attempts, followed by the World Heavyweight Championship with eight and all three other remaining belts just twice.
- Cena was the first person to fail to win the title on his cash-in. He did win the match, though, but by disqualification, so the belt didn't change hands.
- The first to fail to win the title and also lose the match itself was Sandow in 2013, followed by Baron Corbin in 2017. Both lost to Cena, ironically, meaning he was directly responsible for all three failed cash-ins at one point.
- This changed the following year when Braun Strowman's cash-in was ruled a no-contest after Brock Lesnar attacked both him and defending champion Roman Reigns.
Will Reigns, Bianca Belair or Ronda Rousey still be holding their titles when the men's and women's Money in the Bank winners decide to cash in this year, or will others have to hold their titles in fear?
New stats and records will appear when Money in the Bank returns on July 2.
Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, Spotify and everywhere you find podcasts. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
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