r/SquaredCircle • u/Subrick 69 ME, DON! • 2d ago
(Forbidden Door media scrum SPOILERS) Tony Khan clarifies stipulation going forward Spoiler
In response to MJF’s antics vis a vis the Casino Gauntlet contract, Tony Khan has made it official that all contract executions going forward must be enacted with at least one week’s notice to prevent “cash in” type scenarios.
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u/Rspies Who Can Stop The Path of Cage 2d ago
Ah so now it’s Gift of the Gods
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u/gamesk8er Cowboy Sh*t! 2d ago
Been saying that it should be this since they started doing it. Gift of the Gods is one of the best ideas LU had and I'm surprised no one has used it yet. Especially making it a defendable belt and the whole medallion thing. Provides a constant story to lean on.
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u/weaksaucedude 2d ago
Not just making it a belt but the belt having the medallion pieces that wrestlers had to earn just to compete in the match for the belt. I'm not sure how that hasn't been copied by someone by now
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u/annoyinglyclever Anxious Millennial Cowboy 2d ago
I need it to be a thing. Do qualifier matches leading up to the ppv to earn each medallion and then the 6-8 way title match at All In.
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u/TheYetaaay 2d ago
It was an incredible idea. Your midcard belt becomes a guaranteed stepping stone to the top title as it should be. After it's used you get a reset and can go in a whole different direction with it, and earning the medallions gives you a whole new set of fun, fresh match ups. They used that period to incorporate existing storylines and start new ones. Luchs Underground was so well booked.
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u/CrissCrossAppleSos 2d ago
I support this because it’s what the world’s greatest (fictional) wrestling promoter, Dario Cueto did
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u/Unfolded_Taco89 2d ago
No authority figure has come close to Dario, dude was so great.
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u/InternationalObjects 2d ago
He was a shoot murderer tho
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u/thore4 I have half the brain that you do 2d ago
You had me thinking the actor that played Dario was in prison lol
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u/El_Gran_Redditor 2d ago
Gotta disagree and say that the run of hyper-competent British GMs WWE had briefly with Regal in NXT, Paige on Smackdown and Drake Maverick on 205 Live was perfect. Just babyface GMs who are good at what they do.
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u/Unfolded_Taco89 1d ago
Paige I disagree with, not because of anything she did, but I feel WWE didn’t really let her sink her teeth into the role before it was dropped. Regal and Maverick were good, but I just can’t go against my boy Dario.
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u/heartbreakhill Alexa, play Superman by Goldfinger 1d ago
I mean in Kayfabe she was the one who facilitated Smackdown getting a billion dollar deal from Fox
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u/TheUndetectedHero 2d ago
A heel lucha libre stable with him as the leader in AEW would be incredible
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u/foxthebloodied ~shrugs and looks confused~ 2d ago
Best heel authority figure ever; he never let being evil get in the way of good business.
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u/twjackfoley 2d ago
Tony Khan stealing a page from Dario Cueto. Awesome.
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u/ShoryukenFTW 2d ago
Next he needs to build himself a little office right beside the ring so people can jump off its roof.
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u/Rushjordan 2d ago
Angelico has entered the chat
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u/Brochismo91 I DON'T KNOW!!!!! 2d ago
That jump happened 10 years ago....
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u/KneelBeforeCube marchiearchie 2d ago
He'll start carrying a sculpture of a red jaguar around.
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u/ArchDukeNemesis 2d ago
I'm pretty sure that was actually a bull.
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u/KneelBeforeCube marchiearchie 2d ago
Dario had a bull, but since TK's family owns the Jaguars...
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u/annoyinglyclever Anxious Millennial Cowboy 2d ago
Make it a golden jaguar. Matches the team colors and just makes more sense
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u/HouseOfH From Parts Unknown 2d ago
I always liked that it made total sense with Dario as he wanted to promote the match and make as much money as possible.
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u/twjackfoley 2d ago
Yeah, since he was a promoter he wanted to promote the title match. It was so simple and so logic and great.
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u/Dozens86 1d ago
And then the rule was abandoned because of bribery, which again makes sense for the Cuetos
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u/blankblank89 2d ago
now steal the Gift of the Gods belt concept
medallions and all that shit
make em poker face cards idk
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u/annoyinglyclever Anxious Millennial Cowboy 2d ago
I just need him to make something like the Gift of the Gods tournament/title now. Would be perfect for ROH.
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u/heartbreakhill Alexa, play Superman by Goldfinger 1d ago
Just buy the rights to LU and make Dario the on screen GM. That’s the dream
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u/viralbop 2d ago
I laughed when Renee suggested they strip Max of his contract, and TK gulped hard.
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u/One-Spring-4271 2d ago
Good. It is such a WWE trope that other companies look bush league following suit.
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u/filthysize 2d ago
Yeah he didn't mention MITB by name but he specifically said AEW needs to be their own thing and not copy other companies' gimmicks.
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u/Dozens86 1d ago
But ironically, Lucha Underground did the "cash in but give a week's notice" gimmick already with The Gift Of The Gods.
Not taking a swipe at AEW though, it's definitely the way to approach it. And sadly even LU betrayed their own rule, but at least it was because The Cuetos love a bribe.
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u/Tronvillain 2d ago
Unless I'm mistaken, only RVD has ever used the briefcase and gave the champion prior notice, right?
I'm pretty sure THAT was basically the intent of MITB originally, then Edge asked Vince: "I'm a heel, why wouldn't I cash this in when the champion is weakest?"
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u/Rspies Who Can Stop The Path of Cage 2d ago
Cena did as well as Braun but both of them failed
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u/One99Two_Gunner 2d ago
Mox with an asterisk. He hadn’t won MITB yet, and he did cash in post-match against a vulnerable champion but he did give Seth and Roman a six-day notice that if he won, he’s cashing in on the whoever the champion was no matter what.
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u/nWo1997 nwo 2d ago
If so, then iirc Drew also has an asterisk. I think he said that if he won, he'd cash in that night, and it was taken seriously to the point that Seth and Priest pulled out the big guns early and kept an eye on the ramp. Like, part of the story of their match was that Drew was going to come down soon
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u/wrasslefights 2d ago
Also Drew gets fizzled because he called the shot which let Punk know to be ready to spoil it.
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u/lottolser 2d ago
CM Punk did that for the 2nd cash in. Punk told Jeff and Edge whoever won that ladder match he was cashing in on. He just happened to get killed by Umaga every week until he won that rivalry that same night and because of that everyone kinds forgot.
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u/10567151 2d ago
he did cash in post-match against a vulnerable champion
Yeah but he also ambushed Rollins coming out from the crowd.
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u/real-darkph0enix1 2d ago
Mr Kennedy tried to as well, but he gave notice he was cashing in on the main event of Mania, then got injured, and between this and the PED fuck up (claiming to be completely drug free on an interview the week before being popped on the scandal that took down like ten people) they moved the case to Edge, who cashed in on an injured Taker.
Not saying that Kennedy was innocent, but he just made it so much easier for Cena and Orton to politic him out of a job when he was being elevated to their level.
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u/WingedRegent 1d ago edited 1d ago
Quick correction on the Kennedy thing: The PED scandal was after the MITB situation already happened. The MITB thing was that he was diagnosed with a torn triceps, so they moved the briefcase to Edge because Mr. Kennedy was going to be gone for a lengthy period of time, and then Edge cashed in on Undertaker, so the briefcase was no longer in-play. Later, it turned out that it was a misdiagnosis, and Kennedy was only gone for a few weeks rather than the expected six+ months.
Now, why they'd need to move the briefcase off of the guy who promised he'd cash-in at Wrestlemania itself when his prospective injury time still fell short of Wrestlemania is another question to be asked, but yeah the PED situation came about later that same year.
Edit: So apparently, Kennedy was going to cash-in before Wrestlemania. He was basically supposed to do what Edge did because Undertaker was working hurt, so Kennedy was going to be World Champion that night. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj18nagkMZM
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u/MayorKarl 2d ago
Sandow too if I remember right, called his shot a week in advance but still lost.
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u/Capable-Education724 2d ago
Against a one-armed Cena (Cena’s other arm was in-storyline destroyed and hurt). Lol
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u/tylerjehenna The Era of Rain 2d ago
RVDs cash in is perfect imo cause he basically said "ill give you notice, but we will be in my turf where you won't have ANY help
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u/LarryDavison 2d ago
Big E?
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u/NewRoryAndMalDrop 2d ago
He did tell Bobby and Randy he was cashing in that day but he still did it after the match. A heel move but it’s Big E and we all love him so nobody bated a eye
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u/LemonStains Prefers his women "sheepish" 2d ago
Bobby kinda had it coming since he needlessly attacked Randy after match. A face can get away with cashing in on a vulnerable opponent if the champ is being enough of an asshole to thoroughly deserve it.
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u/NewRoryAndMalDrop 2d ago
True I just still wish Big E didn’t cash in so Vince could try and compete with Monday Night Football like an idiot and waited till a big event so him and Bobby could get a actual semi main event PLE match
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u/FreshBurt 2d ago
No, he still cashed in on a shitty position, but he did say he was going to do it a week in advance.
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u/Jcritten 2d ago
Also wasn’t this around the time Bobby was beating the shit outta Kofi and Xavier
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u/TJLynch howdy 2d ago
I think Bryan and Kennedy both, in story, also initially planned to cash-in at WrestleMania the next year, but plans changed; Bryan cashed in a few months before, meanwhile Kennedy lost the briefcase due to injury-related circumstances and WWE panicking so we wouldn't know if the story was planned to be that or if it was gonna be like Bryan and he would've cashed in sooner.
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u/ItsFuckinRawwwww 2d ago
I’ve always believed the plan was gonna be Kennedy cashing in sooner than WrestleMania tbh. Has anyone ever asked him what the end goal was?
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u/WingedRegent 1d ago
According to this interview, Kennedy was basically going to do what Edge did and cash-in on Taker because Taker himself was working hurt, so they were going to nix the Wrestlemania thing and use Kennedy to get the belt off of Taker. When the diagnosis came in, they did the switch to Edge because they still needed Taker to lose the belt. The original plan might've been Wrestlemania for Mr. Kennedy if not for that, though.
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u/HitmanClark 2d ago
Kennedy called his shot a year in advance. Then he was an idiot on Nancy Grace or whatever and ended up both suspended and in the dog house permanently.
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u/seanreidsays 2d ago
Before he lost the briefcase, Mr Kennedy also announced he’d cash in on whoever was champion at Wrestlemania
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u/AhistoricalRanger 2d ago
Not only that, but even in WWE it is a booking albatross and has been for years.
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u/Patjay WE THE PEOPLE 2d ago
It's the coolest shit ever hen it's handled correctly but it seems like such a colossal pain in the ass to book around. Can't blame HHH for basically just burning the contract immediately last year.
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u/Key_Amazed 2d ago
They did it to perfection on both ends this year. But man were the Tiffany and Damien MITB cash-in bookings atrocious. Obviously the payoff was worth it, but that doesn't always justify the other 99% of the time where they make the briefcase holder look like a complete buffoon.
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u/theirishembassy CSS / design mod. 2d ago
last two men’s cash ins IMO.
theory’s was stupid no matter how much some people here pretend otherwise, and rollins needed a surprise ON TOP OF a surprise to illicit a reaction.
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u/bruhstevenson 2d ago
I don’t think anyone’s defending Theory’s cash in, but Priest’s was great and I loved Seth’s as well
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u/theirishembassy CSS / design mod. 2d ago
go check the thread the week after, i was seeing way too many comments about how "it made perfect sense".
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u/Adams5thaccount 2d ago
well yeah
you're saying the writing was stupid and those people are saying theory thew character was stupid..which is also what the announcers said as he did it
you're conflating two different things
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u/theirishembassy CSS / design mod. 1d ago
no they thought it made sense from a writing and character standpoint.
roman was always surrounded by the bloodline, therefore theory couldn't cash in on him. they thought this explanation made sense from a writing standpoint and that theory made a great point.. except the bloodline was already fracturing and the month before roman was on TV solo. they even addressed him being alone with a segment where he was calling the rest and asking why they weren't in canada. also, the bloodline broke up later that year, still within the limit of the contract.
so yeah.. i'm not conflating the two, just saying that it was really stupid and pointing out that people bent over backwards to make it seem like it wasn't stupid.
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u/Adams5thaccount 1d ago
The characters on TV all thought the dumb guy was being dumb. The fans who enjoyed it thought the cjaracter was being dumb. Nobody anywhere fictional or real world thought the character made a smart move.
The writing making sense for that guy doesn't make his decision smart.
You are absolutely conflating the two things and you know it. That's why you waited til no one would be looking to try this bullshit.
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u/theirishembassy CSS / design mod. 1d ago
Nobody anywhere fictional or real world thought the character made a smart move.
ok.. well.. the post show thread says completely differently.
You are absolutely conflating the two things and you know it.
not at all. i know there's a difference between dumb writing and a character written to being dumb. most people do!
That's why you waited til no one would be looking to try this bullshit.
waited.. till no one was.. looking.. on the internet..
sir, i don't know how else to explain to you what the internet is..
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u/nWo1997 nwo 2d ago
And the sad thing is that it doesn't have to be. It's just a guaranteed title shot. You can use it for so many things!
New champion in a shocking moment. Maybe just a reason for a title match. You can even use it to turn people heel (like Punk) or even face (for example, if a heel announces ahead of time, and then you can build on that honor).
Sidenote: this is part of why I prefer multiple World titles. If you're going to do a long-term story with one and really don't want anything like "lightning in a bottle" disrupting it, then keep the other around for more creative freedom.
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u/broncosandwrestling LUCHA! 2d ago
Lucha Underground didn't! Eventually we'll see Tony colluding with someone to arrange their cash in in advance but in secret, like Dario did with Jake Strong when he exchanged the Gift of the Gods Championship
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u/Kumomeme 2d ago
it is overused troupe too. when it happen first and second time its still okay. but now it is like they comfortable to just recycled the idea. it is also encourage repetiting heel angle of where 'weak defeat the strong' by cheating over and over again.
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u/Chitose87 2d ago
I would disagree with this pretty heavily. Just bc something is a wwe trope don’t mean other promotions should avoid it.
Considering it was used that way by Christian, I got to assume this was the intent for its use with MJF. I wonder how that’ll change his use of it going forward. Can’t imagine his character would use it without finding some way to have it give him an advantage
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u/PeaceAlien Brad 'Brad Maddox' Maddox 2d ago
I see nothing wrong with it, plenty of big moments have been created via the MitB so why not have something similar.
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u/Chitose87 2d ago
idc too much either way, but i just think it's silly to go with "It's WWE's thing" Like WWE popularized Ladder matches. Can't imagine trying to claim AEW or TNA or whoever should never do a ladder match because "that's WWE's thing"
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u/Moist-Acanthaceae-37 2d ago
What a piece of shit Max is for reneging on his verbal commitments, what’s next he’s going to no show a meet and greet?
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u/FunnyMemeHere 2d ago
Didn't know so many people hated the MITB gimmick. I personally love it. It gave us great moments like Seth and Edge winning a world title for the first time.
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u/The_Dark_Vampire 2d ago
Done correctly, and it can be amazing.
Do it wrong, and it's absolutely awful
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u/Patjay WE THE PEOPLE 2d ago
It also basically requires you book the world champion around it the entire time the contract is out in the wild. People will bitch anytime the world champion gets beat down or hurt but not cashed in on
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u/HardcoreSects 2d ago
That's just the lazy approach. Have the briefcase holder tweet their frustration having already left the building or that they were in the shower. Or have their match earlier in the night be especially brutal. Show their stable members frantically trying to find them backstage leading to some embarrassing moment.
Plenty of options.
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u/NikonShooter_PJS 2d ago
It's amazing to me that the MITB concept has been around for 20 years and they've not even come close to utilizing it as a proper storytelling device for most of that period.
There is SO MUCH you could do to build suspense and drama around the cash in. Instead, we get some variation of the "Champion is hurt, wrestler is cashing in" concept 9/10 times.
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u/TatsunaKyo 2d ago
Yeah, I mean, the MITB basically grants a 24/7 rule to apply to the championship you cash-in to. It's absurd that all we got since its institution is cashing-in at a fixed date or cashing-in when the champion is hurt in the ring.
The best they have come up with is Rollins' cash-in at WrestleMania 31, but that's like basic usage of the MITB, as wonderful as that moment was.
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u/NikonShooter_PJS 2d ago
Edge's cash in on Cena was brilliant because he held it long enough that you forgot about it AND it was the first time it had been done that way.
RVD's cash in worked because he announced it ahead of time and used it to get a title match at a generational PPV in an all-timer of a moment and a match against Cena.
Seth's first cash in was brilliant because he did it in the Main Event of WrestleMania, which is the most logical thing anyone who wins the briefcase should want to do since that is the pinnacle of the sport.
Naomi's cash in worked because people expected her to cash in on the Smackdown champion and she had just gotten her ass kicked in a loss to Jade earlier in the show but, storyline wise, she saw an opportunity and took it which makes it seem spur of the moment.
Seth's second cash in was brilliant because he did it on someone he legitimately hates in universe and did it specifically to prevent him from being champion, which he had previously promised, AND did it with an incredible fake out.
Other than those, the briefcase has been used in the same boring ass way every single time.
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u/MrBrickBreak 2d ago
did it specifically to prevent him from being champion, which he had previously promised
Technically, he failed
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u/Jonoabbo 2d ago
I think this Naomi's really worked because her character work was fantastic and people wanted to see her elevated up the card, to be honest. If, say, Nia Jax or Charlotte Flair or somebody who crowds were more hostile towards had interrupted that incredible main event between Rhea and Iyo and nicked the title, I'm not sure it would have gone down so well.
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u/HardcoreSects 2d ago
Honestly, they need to give it to a comedy character. Music hits for a cash in after the champ is beaten down but the guy doesn't come out. Cut to the back and he got tangled up in some wires at gorilla. Or R-Truth literally trying to cash it in at a bank.
So, so many options.
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u/NikonShooter_PJS 2d ago
I have said this many times on this board but they need to give it to a more complex character whose personality is fleshed out more than "I am a wrestler and I want to win a championship."
I've long argued it should go to Chelsea Green. She should win it at a MITB pay per view in July and then spend months cocky and bragging about having the briefcase before getting to, say, the end of the year and realizing she is running out of time for the perfect moment.
She can then spend all of Mania season threatening to cash in but chickening out at the last moment because she's afraid of losing the biggest opportunity of her career.
Then, in the final few weeks before the contract's up, you start teasing a countdown to the contract expiring, ramping up the pressure on her to cash in ... at which point she starts complaining because "EVERYONE IS RUSHING ME!!!!"
You make it clear in kayfabe that she has until the Smackdown before the MITB ppv to cash in and as we get closer and closer to the end of the night, she gets flustered and with 25 minutes to go in the show, runs to the ring with a ref, tells the champion to get out there and we have an honest to goodness match of her vs. the champion to close the show out with a countdown showing how long is left in the show. (Because, if it's a time limit draw, it's a loss.)
I'd personally have her win the title legit in that main event match myself but you could have her lose that match and win the ensuing MITB match that weekend OR have her win the title but get cashed in the same night as that next PPV.
The options are far more entertaining with something like that than the same boring ass cash in every single time.
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u/HardcoreSects 2d ago
The only issue there is that it is a big investment. To put a whole year into it, they lack that dedication. The only way I see this happening is if she were to get a multi-month injury after winning, thus forcing WWE's hand.
Would be great though.
I would add in, have the championship won over the year by increasingly more undefeatable women, even further making it harder for Chelsea to cash in.
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u/NikonShooter_PJS 2d ago
To put a whole year into it, they lack that dedication.
This is what amazes me about WWE.
Their most iconic storylines, including the Roman Reigns Bloodline run, took patience and long-term storytelling and they are just so averse to doing that.
There's so many creative and captivating ways they could use the briefcase in storyline and yet, instead, they treat every year like the MITB is just an excuse to have a popular PPV with expensive tickets and then treat the ensuing cash ins like a chore they have to get past.
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u/dogsontreadmills 2d ago
isn't that how you'd use it if you had the briefcase? it happens often, bc it's logical. no?
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u/Jonoabbo 2d ago
But that means that your person who is almost definitely going to be a world champion isn't in the main event scene, and is getting the fuck kicked out of them somewhat regularly since the briefcase lasts for a year, which does little to establish their credibility when they do cash in.
It's a really hard balance to strike between "This person can't cash in because of X" while still making that person look strong and dominant enough that when they win the world title they are a credible champion.
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u/HardcoreSects 17h ago
With MiTB they don't need to look strong or dominant. Look at Miz. Neither of his cash-ins left him in some place where anyone thought he was deserving of the title or capable of defending. Look at Priest. Who, while strong, always had that "can he really win" thing hanging over his head the whole time.
The champion doesn't need to be the dominant one. Faces chase and have to overcome stronger opponents (even Cena was sold as the "Ultimate Underdog"). Heels can be chickenshit. It's not difficult to make this all fit.
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u/Jonoabbo 6h ago
They were both horrible champions because theres just no way they should have ever had the belt though. I don't want the main event of a PPV to be some bum.
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u/DonHalles 2d ago
Why would the MITB Holder in kayfabe leave the building early? That just makes him or her look like an absolute idiot.
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u/HardcoreSects 17h ago
"Hey MiTB holder. Why are you sticking around still?"
"To maybe cash in..."
"Dude, even after Cena is drug through a 30 minute match getting whipped, beaten with chairs, choked with chains and being electrocuted, once he get's his 5 moves in and gets the pin he is as fresh as when the match started. You know you aren't getting a chance unless it is Cena vs 5 other guys in a Elimination Chamber."
"...I know *starts crying*"
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u/Aether13 2d ago
That would require WWE to actually be creative instead of making their MITB holders have a false cash in 8 times in a row.
I will give them credit tho because that Seth cash in was probably the most creative thing they have done this year.
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u/Tornado31619 1d ago
At Fastlane 2023, after Judgment Day had lost the Tag Titles and before Seth and Shinsuke were about to have their Last Man Standing match, I recall Rhea telling Priest not to cash in because his head wouldn’t be in the right place.
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u/HardcoreSects 17h ago
Perfect example of how you can explain away someone cashing in at every possible moment.
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u/HackMeRaps 2d ago
I really enjoyed both MITB cash-ins this year. Was completely thrown off by both of them (definitely thought Seth was hurt) so I thought it was great as it wasn't something I was expecting at all.
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u/TemporaryBlock2998 2d ago
*Looks at Austin Theory
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u/InternetDad Hey Redeemer 2d ago
Or giving it to Otis (who was in his Mandy Roae storyline and always kills it with love crowds) who then loses it in "wrestlers court" to the Miz who got an 8 day reign after his cash in
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u/95Kill3r 2d ago
Problem with it is how well wins and losses are presented. WWE has absolutely fucked it over in the past few years with constant losses resulting in people just not caring. Sure wins might become predictable but that's what people want, you can do a loss here and there but don't make it a constant thing.
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u/The_Dark_Vampire 2d ago
TBF the Women haven't failed a cash in yet
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u/discofrislanders 2d ago
Most of the women have also cashed in in really quick fashion. From 2018-22, no woman held the briefcase for more than a day.
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u/Horror_Sail 2d ago
Also, WWE always has the MITB winner lose a bunch of midcard matches and just generally be irrelevant leading up to their win. Hell, even Seth, he loses to LA Knight and is selling a knee injury before his cash-in. Big E was on the Summerslam kickoff and had no other singles matches between win and cash-in. Priest is a tag team dude with like 4 singles matches in the 6 months before his cash-in.
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u/LinkSkywalker Rainmaker 2d ago
I'm not a fan just because it's a WWE trope. I've always said AEW should do as much as they possibly can to differentiate themselves from WWE
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u/LemonStains Prefers his women "sheepish" 2d ago edited 2d ago
This thread is full of revisionism for the sake of agreeing with Tony’s stance. MITB isn’t flawless but it’s always been widely regarded as one of the funnest concepts in all of wrestling.
AEW is making the right choice by putting their own spin on it and not lifting the concept directly from WWE. No, that doesn’t mean MITB suddenly sucks now. Two things can be true at once.
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u/Maximum-Summer-186 2d ago
Two things can be true at once.
sure, but not in this case, since you're just saying you like two things.
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u/Ferdinandingo 2d ago
having a widely-held critical opinion about one company's gimmick is revisionism
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u/ryanstrikesback 2d ago edited 2d ago
I don’t have a problem with MITB. But it does create some weird booking scenarios. Basically any time you make a champion look vulnerable at all you have to ask “and why isn’t MITB getting cashed in right now?”
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u/therealdanhill 2d ago
Do people really think that? The simple answer is because the mitb holder isn't ready to do it at that moment. Easy, consistent logical "fix"
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u/Sumeriandawn 2d ago
Fans always suspended their disbelief. Fans know wrestling isn't 100% logical, but they still enjoy it. Other examples of illogical things fans accept.
In no-dq matches, why are wrestlers wasting their time using punches, suplexes, clotheslines, etc. Why not immediately grab a weapon and use it exclusively?
In no-dq matches, why don't faces bring out other people to help them like the heels do? Why would a face agree to singlehandedly wrestle a heel that has a manager/other wrestlers helping him out?
If wrestling was 100% realistic, it would be boring.
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u/PsychoDaveDriver 2d ago edited 2d ago
I think that's the issue. It's like maybe 5 memorable times it's been cashed in, memorable in the way that other major title wins are memorable. The rest are just predictable hot swapping or devices to move forward existing feuds, if they're even booked decently in the first place.
"5" is hyperbolic, but it's been around for 20 years now, and more are forgettable than they are a defining moment for a wrestler.
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u/IntelligentFact7987 2d ago
I’d say there’s been more than that - just for starters these were all memorable in their own ways -Edge (original) -CM Punk (2009) -Ziggler (2013) -Rollins (2015) -Ambrose (2016) -Carmella (2018) - more for the unintentional comedy -Asuka (2020) -Big E (2021) -Liv Morgan (2022) -Damien Priest (2024) -Seth Rollins (2025)
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u/CutieButt 🏳️🌈 2d ago
I've always been a fan but the gimmick has largely been played out, I think this update on the req being a week is a good change.
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u/dogsontreadmills 2d ago
it's awesome when used right. honestly i think if they did it once every 2 or 3 years vs. every year it wouldn't bring down the rest of the product so much, like it sometimes can.
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u/Kumomeme 2d ago
it is overused. it become stale. it is cater more to 'wow' dopamine moment thats all.
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u/AnfowleaAnima 1d ago
It's just too entertaiiment like and AEW likes to draw a line for what they stand for. It's good they have something different. Plus, the contract doesn't hit the same as the briefcase.
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u/jimbsmithjr 1d ago
For me personally I think it's just been done to death. There is still cool stuff that hasn't been done but we've had MITB for 20 years now with multiple winners in a tonne of those years. Just makes me overall a little tired of the trope
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u/tehjarvis 2d ago
The problem is that the WWE gets lazy. They created a calendar they stuck to and used all of the same tropes at the same time every year.
The justification for a Hell in a Cell went from "OK, we've tried to settle this, but it's ended in a DQ, interference or a countout every time...so we need to contain these guys in a way where they HAVE To finish the match and no one else can get involved" to one wrestler challenging another to a HIAC match because....well, the Hell in a Cell PPV is next month. They need to only do it only once every 3 or even 4 years and only for vicious, long running feuds.
And the MITB holder is going to cash in after the main event of a big PPV. Every. Single. Time. And you know it's coming just by looking at the clock when the main event is crescendoing towards the end. And it's a match between two of your top guys, for your belt, that you can't advertise ahead of time. And it's basically a gimmick to treat your main belt like it's the 24/7 title
How about something like the challenger noticing there's a show coming up in his home town in two months, where he's and challenging the champ ahead of time in a venue where he has an advantage? Let the challenger hype up his home town for a couple of months. Say he wants to be like X and X teams that brought championships to his city. Really push for the hometown fans to be behind him to try to get the crowd as loud as possible for the match?
I mean what else can you even do with Money in the Bank at this point? It's time to move on
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u/PiousMage 2d ago
The justification for a Hell in a Cell went from "OK, we've tried to settle this, but it's ended in a DQ, interference or a countout every time...so we need to contain these guys in a way where they HAVE To finish the match and no one else can get involved" to one wrestler challenging another to a HIAC match because....well, the Hell in a Cell PPV is next month. They need to only do it only once every 3 or even 4 years and only for vicious, long running feuds.
To be fair they have fixed this in recent times. The only Hell in a Cell matches in the past few years have been Balor vs Edge and Punk vs McIntyre both of which were after long bloody feuds as well.
And the MITB holder is going to cash in after the main event of a big PPV. Every. Single. Time. And you know it's coming just by looking at the clock when the main event is crescendoing towards the end. And it's a match between two of your top guys, for your belt, that you can't advertise ahead of time. And it's basically a gimmick to treat your main belt like it's the 24/7 title
Stratton cashed in on smackdown last year to win the title, not a PPV as well.
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u/mosalahdosa127 2d ago
Tiffy's cash-in was textbook advertisement for MITB an cash-in done right and creatively. Other than Seth at WrestleMania.
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u/thelumpur 2d ago
Edge, Seth and Naomi are the only ones who have cashed in in the main event of a PPV, in history.
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u/Kumomeme 2d ago
And the MITB holder is going to cash in after the main event of a big PPV. Every. Single. Time.
me who havent watched WWE or long time, check up once in awhile and saw same angle i seen few years ago :
"wow they still repeat this stuff?"
nothing new, just same thing.
im not suprise if they still do this, 20 years later.
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u/skeach101 Your Text Here 2d ago
It genuinely devalues championships.
Once we started getting "You deserve it!" chants after a cash-in, that was the sign that we lost the plot.
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u/InfiniteKincaid 2d ago
Notice how they're both heels cashing in in a shocking, unique manner.
One of the many problems is that babyfaces often win it and do cash ins after a match, a fundamentally heel thing to do, but no one ever calls out what a bitch move it is.
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u/llamawithguns 2d ago
There are situations where it works.
Punk cashing in on Edge after Batista beat the shit out of him was great. Edge wasn't even meant to be there, he just showed up to make fun of JR and gloat that Raw no longer had a title. He talked shit and paid for it.
Big E cashing in on Lashley could have been really good of they had played up the fact Lashley had spent the past like 3 months tormenting Kofi and Xavier and he was getting revenge for them. (But obviously thats not what happened)
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u/InfiniteKincaid 2d ago
Punk cashing in that title fucked up his character for months in my opinion and he didn't recover until he found a clear direction with the Jeff Hardy feud.
Second thing is a hypothetical.
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u/InternationalObjects 2d ago
Seth and Edge were peak MITB. But for every one of them, we also have a Jack Swagger, Baron Corbin, Braun Strowman, Mizdow, and fucking James Ellsworth
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u/Duckyx44 2d ago
I personally like it, but i have friends and family members who think its so stupid. They dont like that a champion can have a match, and then someone can just come in and cash in to win. They think its super lazy.
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u/Jonofthefunk 2d ago
So like, I don't 'mind' MITB as a concept. Before I hated the idea cause (in my head) someone just losing the title off of it because it doesn't ACTUALLY put the guy winning the belt over, but we got great moments out of it. So clearly that's not true and it does work.
For me though, I would much rather prefer Money in the Bank to be like a proper tournament to win the briefcase. That way, whoever ends up winning the title from it actually had to do a great feat to earn it in kayfabe. Cause otherwise, you end up getting alot of champions that never actually went through the process of being pushed as top stars. And because of that, they don't feel like instant stars so much as midcarders that got lucky. The only time this isn't true is if the person cashing in is an already established main eventer or upper midcarder.
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u/Jonoabbo 2d ago
There are absolutely fantastic MITB moments, however I do feel it makes basically every reign that ends due to one feel a little bit cut off. I like my guys to win their belts or lose their belts in actual matches rather than just because they nicked it off a guy who was already mostly dead.
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u/Jonoabbo 2d ago
There are absolutely fantastic MITB moments, however I do feel it makes basically every reign that ends due to one feel a little bit cut off. I like my guys to win their belts or lose their belts in actual matches rather than just because they nicked it off a guy who was already mostly dead.
I think both cash ins this year were real good, but I'm also glad both briefcases are out of the way real early.
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u/ChoiceMath1949 1d ago
It can be executed well for sure but most of the time it just comes off as a lazy plot device
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u/theREVERSEsystem 2d ago
Ok so does this mean starting with MJF now?
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u/robedpillow3761 You can't rock with me - no stoppin! 2d ago
Thank god. AEW did not need its own money in the bank
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u/Aranel2689 2d ago
Don't understand why that wasn't the case beforehand, but at least now TK got it right
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u/Dinobot2_ 2d ago
I have mixed feelings about this.
One one hand I like it that we don't have to worry that a hard fought entertaining match might be followed up by the cliche "cash in the contract when the winner had the shit beat out of them." And, like Tony said, it'll make it better for match promotions.
On the other hand, as overused as it has been in WWE, it still can be a useful tool for a heel in certain contexts. Christian using the TNT title contract on Adam Copeland after taking it from Luchasaurus at World's End 2023 is an example, where it wasn't just "guy who wasn't in the match comes in to cash in" (like he did at Revolution this year), but where he lost the match initially but then lucked into someone else reluctantly giving him the contract to use. I thought it could be a useful tool for MJF to use in a similar way.
But back to the first hand, then you run the risk of that method becoming overused and tired.
So yeah this probably for the best.
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u/christcanvas 2d ago
I like it this way though… because it ups the ante on Max’s heel antics. He tried to outsmart Hangman and it’s backfired on him multiple times. Now he’s completely lost any upper hand he had by removing the surprise factor.
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u/Peaky001 2d ago
Good. I wasn't looking forward to months of MJF faking cash ins or whatever. Hopefully this encourages them to do a bit more with the story.
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u/thatlad Your Text Here 2d ago
It's so much more interesting now. You can still have the heel bullshit, imaging MJF shit stirs Hangman's enemies into having a 4 way hardcore throw your balls in a vice match and in the run up to the PPV he pulls the contract out to fight the winner of that?
To me that is a lot more interesting as you spend the whole four-way match watching the psychology of trying to win but also knowing you need to conserve energy.
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u/Fallout-with-swords Push Dr. Tracksuit! 2d ago
People really can’t just be happy it’s different, got to now shit on the concept of a cash-in.
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u/SloppyJank 2d ago
Wish they had always been treated like this. It’s a title shot at the event of your choosing. The first Edge one worked because it was unique and fit his character and the Cena feud. RVD’s was great because it would be on his turf and it was a respectable move by a confident face. Every other one has just weakened the prestige of the championships and trained the audience to care more about seeing moments at the expense of building genuine emotion. When you have fans cheering despicable heels stealing titles from babyfaces you have completely lost the plot.
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u/DisMFer 2d ago
Personally, the entire idea of a cash-in for MITB ran its course a long time ago. It was shocking when Edge did it, and the next few were just cheap ways to get heels titles without having them beat the babyface. It became totally ridiculous when guys could cash in during title matches to force it into a three way match.
It's weird they didn't make this clear after All In since there was no reason not to just make that a rule outright.
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u/Persona4Memes Billy Fives was a good idea in theory 2d ago
They need to take it to the logical extreme and have someone pin the champ sleeping in their hotel room, 24/7 style. Complete with Alicia Taylor whispering into the camera “X is cashing in money in the bank”
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u/incredibleamadeuscho We're all fake Jamaicans now 2d ago
Personally, the entire idea of a cash-in for MITB ran its course a long time ago.
WWE literally just topped the cash in at Mania with the best cash-in moment of all time. Seth dropping his crutches is gonna be one of the top moments in WWE History. It increased the level of kayfabe WWE is willing to go to.
AEW never really understood how to get that right level of surprise and build, so I'm not surprised they are getting rid of it.
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u/Subrick 69 ME, DON! 2d ago
I think the last time MitB was truly shocking was Seth’s cash in at Mania 31 since it was the first time someone had cashed in while a match was going on, in addition to the meta reason of “Oh shit, they’re pivoting from Roman like we all wanted”. That was a literal decade ago, and since then MitB has just been all the same usual cash in scenarios.
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u/McAllisterFawkes has been drinking 2d ago
It's weird they didn't make this clear after All In since there was no reason not to just make that a rule outright.
It's pretty clear that Tony is making this the rule now because of the reaction to sloppiness of the MJF/Hangman feud.
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u/Kumomeme 2d ago edited 1d ago
honestly im tired of the money in the bank 'suprise' cash in. it rely more on 'wow' dopamine shock moment factor. it encourage cheap weak heel defeat babyface angle.
when in done 1-2 times at beginning it feels refreshing due to it bring unpredictability and uncertainty afterward but now it is overused. it getting stale. it become recycle lazy formula IMO.
i dont know how this idea from Tony going foward but i guess they will keep fine tune until they found what work well.
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u/MShawshank 2d ago
Good. I think the MITB concept has been more than overexposed for like a decade now. I hated when AEW introduced it and I'm glad Khan is course correcting now. Nothing wrong with the title shot portion, it's just the cash-ins are played out.
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u/FelstarLightwolf 2d ago
Thank god. If your pushing a sports centric wrestling promotion you cant do things like a quick cash in. I also like the kayfabe, kinda not kayfabe line of we need time to promote the fight. Because of course you do, guy cashing in big screws the company out of potential money with a fight to book.
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