Typically, heading into the annual WWE Money in the Bank PLE, the Superstars who shouldn't stand a chance at winning the men's ladder match are super obvious. They're usually smaller names clearly inserted into the match for spots and to eat pins while having no serious storytelling upside or believability as a top title contender.

But not this time—the biggest names in the men's match must fall.

Meaning, Jey Uso and Drew McIntyre.

Start with Jey. He's enjoyed massive success as a solo act with witty catchphrases and what are surely staggering merchandise sales figures. But this is one of those things that can work against Superstars—he's so popular that he doesn't need a briefcase.

It's a little more problematic than that, too. LA Knight is popular, but giving him a briefcase would at least be an entertaining twist that fans would embrace because who knows what might happen?

With Uso, the facade is starting to crack. He's flirting with upper-card purgatory more and more with time as he fails to actually win championships. While he's super-over with fans, he's not really in the faction-based Damian Priest title scene, nor is he going over as a believable threat to Cody Rhodes.

Some of it is Jey's reputation as a tag act more than anything else, with the limited promos, WrestleMania debacle and in-ring work not helping. Perhaps some of it, too, is that fans could buy the idea he's stuck in a holding pattern until the Bloodline narrative sucks him back in and doesn't let up.

McIntyre, on the other hand, isn't technically part of the ladder match just yet. But he's made his intentions very clear about winning a spot (and should given his opponents) and it doesn't feel like WWE would pull yet-another-CM-Punk-screwjob thing to ruin his chances at a spot.

Frankly, McIntyre doesn't need a briefcase to challenge for titles either and he's a more believable challenger than roughly 99 percent of the roster. We are still talking about the guy who took down Brock Lesnar and carried the promotion on his back through the pandemic era all those years ago and continues to dominate pretty much anyone he encounters.

That said, we should raise the point that McIntyre would look pretty silly with a briefcase, too. The visual of him lugging around a neonish-green box is funny more than anything else. And what would he do at entrances, have a sword in one hand and briefcase in the other?

So who should win the briefcase?

In an ideal world, the thing gets used as a tool to elevate talent who need the help, letting it serve as a slingshot of sorts for a Superstar and a mixer-upper to main-event scenes.

Last year with Priest was a good start. Though it is important to point out that his dopey booking after the fact and his refusal to use an entire faction to exploit an injured champion like Seth Rollins was horrific.

Even so, it isn't hard to make the case that a riser like Chad Gable or Carmelo Hayes should win the briefcase. For Gable, the heel-ish stuff would get amplified and there's the whole wrinkle that Otis has won the briefcase in the past, too, hanging over things.

And for Hayes, it would keep the former NXT standout in a prominent role after his two major losses since debuting around the draft in April have come at the hands of Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton.

Point is, both guys could use the spotlight (after winning a match involving Uso and McIntyre, no less), which would give them a chance to further prove they have what it takes under pressure to be a top champion and oversee main-event scenes.

The follow-up would require strong booking and storytelling, sure. Plus, an understanding that Rhodes is essentially untouchable, which narrows things down a bit. Even so, the briefcase gives fans a reason to pay extremely close attention to a Superstar in a way most things can't, so using it to boost newer names only makes sense.

Over the years, the briefcase itself has had major dips in prominence and usefulness. But in this new, refreshing era of careful storytelling, its presence as a tool to boost the likes of Hayes and Gable is something fans can feel good about.

So while Jey and McIntyre enter as favorites and perhaps preferred winners for most fans, a swerve away from them seems like the sensible move more befitting of this new era.