First event Money in the Bank (2010) | ||
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Money in the Bank is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, produced annually by WWE. It is named after the Money in the Bank ladder match, which previously only took place at WrestleMania. The Money in the Bank ladder match debuted at WrestleMania 21 in 2005. The Money in the Bank match would then be held at the next five WrestleMania events, after which the match concept was spun off on to its own pay-per-view beginning in 2010.
Contents
Concept
The "Money in the Bank" pay-per-view centers around a ladder match, the prize of which is a briefcase containing a contract for a championship match. The winner of the contract (contained in the various colored briefcases shown below) can then cash in the contract at a time and place of their choosing anytime within the next year - beginning the night they win the briefcase - for a championship match.
As long as the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship existed as separate titles, each of the annual pay-per-view featured two "Money in the Bank" matches, each contesting for a contract for one of the two championships. After the two titles were unified in December 2013, a contract for the now unified WWE World Heavyweight Championship became the prize of a single "Money in the Bank" match. However, in 2014 and 2015, the championship itself has also been contested in a ladder match.
Theme song
Money in the Bank is the only WWE pay-per-view event with a regular theme song, as all but the first event have used "Money in the Bank" by in-house WWE composer Jim Johnston as its theme song. This is in stark contrast to other pay-per-view events, which use songs sponsored by mainstream recording artists, which was the case with the first event using "Money" by I Fight Dragons. Before the advent of the pay-per-view, the "Money in the Bank" song was used as the entrance music for Donald Trump for his numerous guest appearances on WWE television.
