The 2018 edition of Money in the Bank goes down this coming Sunday. There will be one briefcase awarded to both a male & a female competitor. That will give them the right to a championship match against the main titleholder of their shared gender on their brand whenever they choose. It’s a big deal, as it’s almost a guarantee that the holder of the briefcase will eventually be a major champion.

There have been really successful uses of the Money in the Bank briefcase. There have also been really poor ones. This week we’ll look at both. Today, it’s the Top 5 Money in the Bank Briefcase Holders.

5. CM Punk (WrestleMania XXV-Extreme Rules 2009)

The best reason to pick somebody to repeat as MITB winner this year is the fact that CM Punk is the only person to win it twice. You know WWE wants to tie & break that record as soon as possible. Punk’s first win & cash-in was ok, but the second was much better because he turned heel on Jeff Hardy in the proceess. Playing heel against Jeff fit right into Punk’s straight-edge wheelhouse & completed his character for the WWE Universe.

4. Rob Van Dam (WrestleMania 22-ECW One Night Stand 2)

You know what I liked about this one? RVD didn’t try to take anybody off guard. He called his shot, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in front of his people. And he did it. He didn’t use the element of surprise. You gotta give him credit. If he hadn’t screwed up the title reign by being stupid, he’d be further up the list.

3. Seth Rollins (Money in the Bank 2014-WrestleMania XXXI)

From pure shock value, and the fact that it happened at WrestleMania, this has a strong argument for being number one. But I have to knock it down the list for the pure fact that it cut Roman Reigns’ balls off in the eyes of a sizable number of people, and I don’t think he’s ever recovered from it no matter what the YouTube views say.

2. The Miz (Money in the Bank 2010-Monday Night Raw 11/22/10)

Miz was on the borderline of the main event when he got the MITB briefcase. You weren’t 100% sure he could be WWE Champion. He got Randy Orton at a weak moment at the end of Raw & shocked the world. The crowd reaction was tremendous, and WWE caught the best reaction shot of all time.

We are all Angry Miz Girl. Well, not so much now. The Internet loves Miz these days. This time period was when he began to win them over.

Honorable Mention: Dolph Ziggler (Money in the Bank 2012-Monday Night Raw 4/8/13)

This really seemed like a star-making turn for Ziggler. It wasn’t. The pop he got for cashing in was the highlight of his career. It was all downhill from there.

1. Edge (WrestleMania 21-New Year’s Revolution 2006)

Edge’s MITB run made him into a main event character. He’d done great tag team with with Christian. His singles run afterwards lacked a little something. People weren’t quite buying in. The briefcase, along with the Lita/Matt Hardy stuff, bumped Edge up to the next level. People were ready to buy the Rated R Superstar as the top guy when he finally cashed in. He became known as the Ultimate Opportunist & it shaped his character for the rest of his career.

Sometimes, the first time is the best. Not in my case, but for the Money in the Bank angle it certainly was.