Likely by the end of the night, WWE is going to announce the participants of the 2016 Money in the Bank ladder match wherein the five to ten competitors will duke it out to earn one of the best prizes in the company: a title shot at any given moment of their choosing.
It’s an incredibly powerful tool that has allowed nearly every winner to eventually go on to become a world champion with a near perfect success rate, so the choice of this year’s winner should not be taken lightly.
There are plenty of people on the roster that could be on both extremes of the great or terrible choice spectrum, but who would be the worst potential picks? For this 3-Count, I’m going to point out some of those names who stand out to me as horrible options.
NOTE: Keep in mind that my choices are within the realm of plausibility. Of course, someone like the indefinitely suspended (aka “when can we fire this guy?”) Adam Rose is not going to be involved.
Darren Young
At first glance, it might seem like I’m already breaking my rule of realism. Surely, WWE wouldn’t give such a prestigious storyline McGuffin to someone like Darren Young, right?
However, think of what has happened in the past. History has shown that once in a while, WWE really digs something silly and they go overboard with it despite the importance of what is going on. Hornswoggle was both Mr. McMahon’s son and the Anonymous Raw General Manager. The Slammy Awards could be something legitimate, yet it’s been used for laughs (or attempts at laughter) with ridiculous categories over the years.
“Make Darren Young Great Again” is just the type of stupid idea that someone backstage could really find hilarious and want to make an example out of by proving that he’s on the road to redemption with a lot of potential by winning the briefcase, building up to a potential cash-in.
Thankfully, I would bet every dollar I have that this won’t be happening, but that’s why it’s on the worst ideas list here, because there’s no possible way that this wouldn’t end in disaster. Already, this new gimmick with Bob Backlund has run its course and you just don’t invest money in a dead property, no matter how much you think it might get a chuckle out of the audience because of its lunacy.
Even if you try to justify it by saying it’s tempting to spice things up and have another person lose their cash-in, just look at Damien Sandow’s career direction after his loss and you’ll see that you’ll be saddling that person with a noose.
Insert Any Repeat Winner/Champion
Take your pick between Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Randy Orton, Kane or John Cena. Hell, for that matter, throw Big Show in there as well even though he’s never won a briefcase, because he’s a multi-time world champion who doesn’t need this in the slightest bit, which is the same for all the others listed.
I’m a fan of some of these guys to quite a large extent, but none of them are in a position where it’s worth putting the briefcase in their hands. Some of them aren’t on the right level anymore to be interesting as a potential challenger while others can just cut a single promo declaring their intentions to fight for the title and suddenly receive a championship match.
Out of all the options out there, would you really want to see any of these guys win another world title over the next year? Essentially, that’s what you have to assume will happen, so if the answer is no, then you should rule them out, as the alternative option is for them to lose their cash-in, which brings us back to an argument made above in the Darren Young section.
This is basically just retreading similar ground we’ve seen before to bring us to a conclusion that’s happened multiple times in the past—the opposite of this “new era” that’s being promoted. None of the people on this list need the briefcase this year to help put their careers back on track, nor do any of them seem like they’re being built up for the role.
The Wyatt Family
First off, can you see any of these four men holding a golden briefcase for the next couple of months? I doubt it.
Second, there’s only one member of the quartet with any real credibility, and he’s currently out with an injury—Bray Wyatt. Also, if you want to talk about who “needs it” and who can achieve main event status without the briefcase, Bray Wyatt has wrestled The Undertaker at WrestleMania, had segments with The Rock, feuds with Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose and Daniel Bryan and more. That guy might not have the credibility to win the belt at any moment like John Cena, but he can challenge for one and the fans won’t question it.
The other three are just not on par. Luke Harper is easily the best in the ring, but he’s out with an injury as well, and the biggest accolade to his career so far is a short Intercontinental Championship reign which was merely a transitional phase. Erick Rowan is a complete jobber for the squad and Braun Strowman isn’t progressing fast enough to trust in a singles match, let alone as a world champion. The latter two mentioned are so insignificant that they’ve been kept off television while Wyatt and Harper heal up because there’s no way they could carry themselves without those two being by their side!
While I do think there’s a certain level of fun that could take place with a random flickering of the lights, the quick shriek, and Wyatt popping up in the ring with the briefcase to cash it in for a title shot, I don’t think the next 12 months are going to be a good time range for a title reign for him and the Money in the Bank briefcase would just get in the way of any other character development that could take place without it.
Who do you think would be the worst realistic choices WWE could make for this year’s Mr. Money in the Bank? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and stay tuned for my companion piece to this article, the best possible choices!
