(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Money In The Bank I – WWE WrestleMania 21

WrestleMania 21 was a pivotal show for WWE. It marked the coronation of two of the company’s biggest stars of the next decade in John Cena and Batista. It marked the first time that The Undertaker’s Streak became a marketing/storytelling device for the show. It also featured one of the best wrestling matches of all time in Kurt Angle versus Shawn Michaels. And then there was the second match on the card, something new that changed the landscape in WWE forever: Money In The Bank.

What started as an annual gimmick evolved into one of the most repetitive and successful match types in modern times has grown to have its own PPV/PLE. Not only does this match usually lead to plenty of exciting and daredevil stuntwork but the results of each match have wide-reaching implications. The entire course of WWE history has changed thanks to various MITB cash-ins. And while some might argue that the match has become repetitive and watered-down, there remains enough excitement in the match for it to keep coming back year after year.

And today we go back to where it all began.

The Story

This match had no story of its own; rather, it was a vehicle to get several wrestlers not figured into any other existing storylines onto the WrestleMania card. The match concept was the brainchild of Chris Jericho, who presented the idea to then-RAW GM Eric Bischoff. Jericho’s idea was that six men would compete in a multi-man ladder match (read: demolition derby) with the winner receiving a guaranteed world title shot anytime he wanted in the next twelve months.

The Match

This took place on April 3, 2005. It was rated ****1/2 out five by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer. On one hand I’m a bit surprised at that rating since, in the past, Dave tended to go the full five for first-time matches, which he did for WarGames in the 1980s and the first Hell in a Cell in 1997. On the other hand, 2000s Dave Meltzer was allergic to handing out five-star ratings, which led to a laundry list of famous matches not getting such a rating even though many people have argued that they should’ve. But I digress…

Everyone rushes Kane to start the match since he’s the biggest man in the match. Kane takes everyone out with throat thrusts and rushes towards the ring to pull out a ladder from under the ring. Three people cut Kane off and then both Edge & Benjamin give him a double suplex on the floor. Christian tries pulling a ladder into the ring but Jericho cuts him off and drives it into his face. Jericho and Benjamin fight in the ring until Jericho reverses a corner whip and hits a running bulldog. Edge and Benoit fight onto the apron but drops them both with a triangle dropkick. Jericho lands a plancha onto Edge and then Christian lands a triangle plancha onto the three of them. Then Benjamin lands a suicide dive onto those guys plus Christian’s ally Tyson Tomko. But wait, there’s more! Kane with a flying clothesline from the top turnbuckle to the floor, which leads to “Holy Shit” chants!

Kane brings a ladder into the ring and smashes one end into Edge’s gut. Christian tries a diving nothing and eats ladder as well. Then Jericho dives with a missile dropkick and this does manage to bring Kane down. Jericho drops Benjamin and Edge with the ladder but then Benoit hits Jericho with a German suplex that sends the ladder flying. Cool visual. Benoit sets up and climbs a ladder but Kane cuts him off and attempts a chokeslam. Benoit counters with a crossface. Edge tries cutting him off but Benoit locks him in the crossface. Kane folds up the ladder to use as a battering ram, sees Edge helpless in the crossface, and rams Benoit with it.

Kane traps Benoit’s arm in a ladder and smashes it several times. He turns around to eat a spear from Edge, who then gets into an interesting stare-down with Christian who is introducing a second ladder. We get an Edge & Christian reunion as they sandwich Kane with two ladders. Kane goes down but then Benjamin hits a springboard double clothesline on E&C. Benjamin brawls with Edge. Edge blocks a superkick and spins Benjamin around. Benjamin tries his dragon whip heel kick but Edge ducks and Benjamin hits Christian and his ladder instead. Edge places a ladder in a corner and launches Benjamin onto it. He goes for a spear. Benjamin counters with a flapjack to send Edge onto the ladder and then lands a big stinger splash.

Benjamin climbs a ladder and gets his hand on the briefcase but Jericho cuts him off. Christian sets up a ladder next to them, Benoit climbs that same ladder from the opposite side, and Edge introduced a third ladder as well. We get a five-way exchange with everyone atop a ladder. Christian takes Benoit down with a falling armbreaker to further destroy that weakened arm but hurts himself in the process as well. Benjamin knocks Jericho down but Edge stops him from reaching for the briefcase. Then Benjamin hits a T-Bone suplex off the ladder, which somehow doesn’t kill Edge.

Jericho gets up first and fights with Christian as Christian sets up a second ladder against another one. He dispatches Christian and reaches for the briefcase…only for Benjamin to run up the flat ladder and clothesline Jericho out of his boots and send him to the floor. I hope Benjamin got a FAT payday to cover all the muscle relief meds he needed for the back pain he suffered from carrying this match.

Benjamin climbs the ladder but Benoit hits him with another ladder but then Kane boots Benoit. An awkward chokeslam leaves Benjamin tied upside down and distracts Kane long enough for Tomko to boot him down. Tomko helps Christian climb another ladder and even pulls a spot out of TLC II and literally pushes him up from below. Christian has one hand on the briefcase handle but Kane disposes of Tomko and then knocks the ladder over sending Christian onto Tomko.

Kane nearly unhooks the briefcase but Jericho cuts him off. He shakes the ladder so much it tilts over and both of them land hard. Benoit climbs a different ladder setup near a corner and lands a big diving head-butt onto Kane, busting himself open in the process. Both of those men recover and climb up a different ladder. Benoit blocks a chokeslam and head-butts the shit out of Kane. Benoit reaches up but here comes Edge with a chair to knock Benoit down. Edge climbs up and obtains the briefcase!

Winner of the first-ever Money In The Bank Ladder Match after 15:10: Edge

Review

Almost twenty years later and thirty-something Money In The Bank matches later the original still stands head-and-shoulders above the rest. This could’ve been easily dismissed as a turn-your-brain-off demolition derby without much thought to it but it had more than just high-spots. There was a sense of urgency from everyone involved. There were a few subplots that got the match going into high gear like Benoit overcoming both stiches in his forehead and his arm worked apart and coming fingertips away from getting that heroic story, only for Edge to steal it from him in a nefarious but understandable way. But most important, this is a spot-fest match that doesn’t go too far into overkill territory. There weren’t any glaring or laborious spots that didn’t justify their long setup. There weren’t any long teases, pauses, or delays designed to build up tension artificially since the chaos taking place made the match tense enough already. When these guys did go through long moments of setup the payoffs were almost immediate, like with the three ladders leading to Benjamin’s off-the-ladder Exploder or Edge & Christian reuniting to hit some tandem offense. It’s not often that a demolition derby has all that much common sense to it, which makes it more refreshing.

All six men got to shine in their own way. Edge won after pretending to be a non-entity in the match but then made his presence known at the right moment when it would have the most impact. Kane was the token monster yet despite not being as much of a “worker” as everyone else he manhandled people left and right. Plus, there hadn’t been that many men his size in ladder matches before in WWE so his involvement as a slower competitor added another layer of intrigue to it. Benoit was something of a favorite and competed from a more vulnerable position compared to everyone else. He also had some incredible moments of his own such as when he landed a diving head-butt from the top of a ladder or when he nearly killed a cameraman when his German suplex sent the ladder Jericho was holding flying towards the ropes at breakneck speed. Christian played the underhanded heel a bit more overtly than Edge since he couldn’t get ahead without Tomko’s help. Though that was something of an inconsistent decision here: if the match was No-DQ, why not have Tomko play a bit more of a role and then have someone wipe him out more emphatically like they did with all the seconds in TLC II? Anyway, Jericho was there and while he didn’t do any one thing that was all that spectacular, he was always in the right place do so something impressive to move the match forward.

And then, there was Shelton Benjamin.

Maybe this was WWE’s way of apologizing to him for not featuring him and his IC title in a singles match at WrestleMania, but Benjamin was the star of this match. He impressed more than anyone else with his athleticism and high-spots and he got the match over more than anyone else. Most of the match’s biggest moments involved him in some way, including spots that other wrestlers setup that probably weren’t intended for him to use in the first place. Both JR and Jerry Lawler went nuts for pretty much everything he did. And even though the crowd wasn’t as loud for this match as they were for other big ladder matches, you could still see them giving him a standing ovation for all the crazy shit that he did. Between what he did in this match and him almost getting decapitated by Shawn Michaels one month later on RAW, it’s no wonder some people felt WWE missed the boat with him when he was still a rising star.

Final Rating: ****3/4

This is a fun little stunt show that has aged very well despite having so many copycats. It went exactly the right length, not being too rushed nor dragging at any point. It had some of the most creative spots you’ll ever see in a midcard scramble-type match. While Edge winning kind of deflated the crowd it was the right call given his character and his career trajectory. Most people didn’t know what to expect with this match aside from token bedlam but it featured plenty more in the form of a gimmick that actually justified all the violence and chaos.

Not only did these guys have the pressure of living up to the sky-high expectations of competing at WrestleMania but they also had to get Money in the Bank over. Considering how much the gimmick has not only been used WWE but also copied or stolen in other places too, they more than succeeded here.

Thanks for reading.