The WWE Money in the Bank ladder match has launched the careers of several Superstars since its inception in 2005.

Edge set the tone for future winners when he captured the contract at WrestleMania 21, held it for a whopping 280 days and then cashed it in successfully to secure the first of his 11 WWE world championships.

As memorable as his title win was, it was the nine months leading up to that moment that truly cemented him as a star. He was booked well mostly and involved in multiple main event-level storylines with the likes of Matt Hardy, Chris Benoit and Ric Flair.

The same can be said for Seth Rollins, The Miz and Dolph Ziggler, but there have been plenty of other winners who barely benefited from their time with the briefcase.

Unsuccessful cash-ins are always disappointing, but what's worse is the way WWE will devalue the gimmick by having the contract holder endure countless losses beforehand and drastically hinder their momentum in the process.

One can only hope this year's Mr. and Ms. Money in the Bank will have better luck than these five former winners, whose runs with the briefcase will not be remembered fondly—if they're remembered at all.

5. John Cena (2012)

The primary purpose of the Money in the Bank concept has always been to give up-and-comers a chance to prove themselves, with the contract serving as a one-way ticket to the main event scene.

Having an already established name win it only works with the right story, a la Randy Orton in 2013 or CM Punk in 2009.

For all intents and purposes, John Cena had no business capturing the briefcase at the 2012 installment.

It was the most predictable path WWE could have taken that year, as well as the least interesting. One night removed from winning it, The Cenation Leader emerged on Raw to announce he'd be cashing it in the following week on the 1,000th episode of the red brand to challenge Punk for the WWE Championship.

Granted, it was a marquee match and a worthy attraction for such a special show, but the briefcase was wasted in this scenario, especially since their title clash ultimately ended in a non-finish.

Had Cena held onto the contract through WrestleMania 29 (instead of winning the Royal Rumble), that could have made matters much more compelling.

His disqualification loss to Punk marked the first time a Money in the Bank winner failed to cash in successfully. So, while history was made, it was for the wrong reasons.

4. Mr. Kennedy (2007)

Mr. Kennedy had a rapid rise to SmackDown's main event scene in 2006 after debuting the year prior, and thus it only made sense to have him secure the Money in the Bank contract at WrestleMania 23 in April 2007.

He outlasted seven other elite athletes in the annual ladder match to earn the opportunity to contend for any top title at any time of his choosing. It wasn't long after that he boldly proclaimed he intended to become the first man to cash in at on The Grandest Stage of Them All one year later.

Unfortunately for Kennedy, his stint as Mr. Money in the Bank was cut short due to an injury he seemed to suffer on a house show that May. WWE needed The Undertaker to drop the World Heavyweight Championship as soon as possible because he was injured as well, and the decision was made to have Kennedy lose the contract to someone who could cash it in instead: the inaugural Mr. Money in the Bank, Edge.

As it turned out, Kennedy wasn't as badly hurt as originally believed and was back in action within a matter of weeks. Therefore, he lost the contract when he didn't have to and was never pushed as aggressively again for the remainder of his run with the company.

Having held it for just 36 days, Kennedy didn't have a chance to do anything of note with the briefcase, causing his victory to become a footnote in the concept's history.

3. Baron Corbin (2017)

Believe it or not, there was a time when Baron Corbin as a world champion in WWE would have been believable.

He won far more than he lost in his first year on the main roster and racked up victories against the likes of Dolph Ziggler, Kalisto and Jack Swagger. He also competed for the WWE Championship on two separate occasions (the final SmackDown of 2016 and Elimination Chamber 2017) and had a strong showing in defeat both times.

With AJ Styles turning babyface and Bray Wyatt and The Miz moving to Raw, SmackDown needed fresh faces at the top of the card and Corbin could have realistically filled one of those spots.

It was perfectly logical for him to win the men's Money in the Bank ladder match in 2017 given he was on the right trajectory and just needed that extra something to take him to the next level, that being the coveted briefcase.

Capturing the contract was the peak of his push, though, as he wasn't portrayed as anyone important beyond that point.

He didn't come out on the winning end of his feud with Shinsuke Nakamura and was made out to look inferior to everyone he shared the ring with. His impromptu cash-in, which took place on the August 15 edition of SmackDown, was thwarted by John Cena and ended with him being rolled up by Jinder Mahal in roughly five seconds.

It was bizarre to see WWE go from being so high on The Lone Wolf and building him up as the next world champ to throwing away his golden opportunity and relegating him back to the midcard where he's resided ever since.

2. Otis (2020)

Even in the early days of the empty-arena era caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Otis was an extremely popular fixture on SmackDown thanks to his entertaining angle with Mandy Rose.

The two finally locked lips at WrestleMania 36 (which surely would have received a raucous reaction in a stadium full of fans) and that felt like the peak of the program. He maintained his winning ways coming out of that event, but the decision to have him win the men's Money in the Bank ladder match was a step too far.

Sure, it was a shocking development that no one saw coming, but it accomplished absolutely nothing. Otis rubbed elbows with several of SmackDown's main event players at that point and even teased tension with then-universal champion Braun Strowman, but an unexplained two-month absence from TV killed whatever momentum he had left from his 'Mania win.

It was also painfully apparent that WWE had no plans for Otis as Mr. Money in the Bank. He had random matches on television and never once came close to cashing in. Through it all, he was still mainly booked as a one-note comedy character.

During a feud with The Miz that fall, he put his briefcase on the line in a match at Hell in a Cell and lost after Tucker turned on him. Both former Heavy Machinery members were worse off afterward, and Otis' run as Mr. Money in the Bank was rendered irrelevant.

1. Damien Sandow (2013)

When WWE doesn't have a long-term plan in mind for a Money in the Bank winner to cash in the contract (albeit successfully or unsuccessfully), it turns into a total waste.

Damien Sandow was a prime example of that lack of logic in 2013.

The self-professed Intellectual Savior of the Masses had a good thing going heading into that year's Money in the Bank pay-per-view, but he was firmly slotted in the midcard at the time and showed no signs of being primed for the main event scene.

With Sandow being as talented as he was, WWE could have made the most of his time with the contract and slowly transitioned him into the world title picture. Instead, it took the opposite approach and had him lose at every turn.

Sandow embarked on a lengthy losing streak in the remainder of 2013 before randomly deciding to cash in on then-World Heavyweight champion John Cena on the October 28 edition of Raw. It was a competitive contest and he took Cena to the limit, but he became the first person to lose their cash-in by pinfall.

The aftermath was atrocious as well. WWE failed to capitalize on the strong showing he had in defeat that night and booked him to flounder in the undercard before releasing him in 2016, making his Money in the Bank win three years earlier a distant memory.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.