Money in the Bank ladder match

*For the pay-per-view event named after this match, see Money in the Bank.*

The **Money in the Bank ladder match** is a multi-person ladder match held by the professional wrestling promotion WWE. First contested at WWE's annual WrestleMania event beginning in 2005, a separate Money in the Bank pay-per-view was established in 2010. The prize in the match is a briefcase containing a contract for a championship match, which can be "cashed in" by the holder of the briefcase at any point in the year following their victory. If the contract is not used within the year of winning it, it will be invalid, but this has yet to happen. From its inception until 2017, ladder matches only involved male wrestlers, with the contract being for a world championship match. Beginning with the 2017 event, women also have the opportunity to compete in such a match, with their prize being a contract for a women's championship match.

The first match was contested in 2005 at WrestleMania VI, after being invented by Chris Jericho. At the time, it was exclusive to wrestlers of the Raw brand, and Edge won the inaugural match. From then until WrestleMania XI, the Money in the Bank ladder match, now open to all WWE brands, became a WrestleMania mainstay. 2010 saw a second and third Money in the Bank ladder match when the Money in the Bank pay-per-view debuted in July with WrestleMania no longer featuring the match. Unlike the matches at WrestleMania, this new event included two such ladder matches—one each for a contract for a WWE Championship match and a World Heavyweight Championship match, respectively.

Before the establishment of the annual Money in the Bank pay-per-view, wrestlers were allowed to use the contract to claim a match for any world championship in WWE. After the establishment of the pay-per-view, the Money in the Bank contracts were specifically aimed at one or the other championship. With the unification of the WWE and World Heavyweight titles into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in December 2013, there was only a single contract in play. This went into effect beginning with the 2014 event.

The brand split returned shortly after the 2016 event, but the 2017 event was SmackDown-exclusive and the contract was a match for its world championship, the WWE Championship (formerly WWE World Heavyweight Championship). The 2017 event also included the first-ever women's Money in the Bank ladder match, with the winner receiving a contract for a SmackDown Women's Championship match. The event became dual branded beginning with the 2018 event, involving both the Raw and SmackDown brands with one men's match and one women's match with participants evenly divided between the brands; the respective contracts guaranteed the winner a championship match for the top title of their respective brand, allowing Raw wrestlers (should they win) to cash-in on the World Heavyweight Championship or Raw Women's Championship, though in 2019, it was made so that the respective winners could challenge either brand's champion.

## Concept

The Money in the Bank ladder match can involve anywhere from 5–10 participants, with the objective being to retrieve a briefcase that is suspended 20 feet above the ring. The match was originally only for male wrestlers until 2017 when women began to have their own ladder match. The briefcase contains a contract that guarantees a match for a world championship, and beginning in 2017, a women's championship (also referred to as a world championship). The original match at WrestleMania VI was exclusive to the Raw brand, with the contract guaranteeing a match for Raw's top title at the time, the World Heavyweight Championship. After this, wrestlers had the option between the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship, regardless of the brand the wrestler belonged to. In 2006, ECW's world title, the ECW Championship, became a third option until 2010 as in February that year, the ECW brand along with the title was deactivated (despite being an option, no contract holder cashed in on the ECW Championship).

## Matches

### **Record**

 World Heavyweight Championship | 8
 WWE Raw Women's Championship | 1
 WWE SmackDown Women's Championship | 2

### **Cash-in matches**

#### **Women**

 2
 2