WWE Money in the Bank is similar to the Royal Rumble, in that it's a chance every year for WWE to hold a match where the winner will get a future world title shot. Unlike the Royal Rumble match, where the winner goes on to main event WrestleMania, Money in the Bank is a chance to cash in a title opportunity any time the winner wants to, even if the champion just finished a grueling match.
However, while the ladders and title contract make the match exciting, they also limit the anticipation that someone new and exciting could win. The past seven years have seen the following Money in the Bank winners: Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman, Baron Corbin, Dean Ambrose, Sheamus, Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, and Damien Sandow. Out of those winners, the most surprising in terms of their position on the card were Corbin and Sandow — and both men failed their cash-in attempts.
In 2019, exciting mid-carders like Ali and Ricochet were involved in the Money in the Bank ladder match. At one point, Ali was on top of the ladder, ready to pull down the contract, when Brock Lesnar came out, knocked him off, and won the match. As exciting as Ali and Ricochet are, no one expected them to win because they were in no way ready for a world title run. If they did win, most fans expected their Money in the Bank run would end with a failed cash-in. But that could all change in 2020.
In a slightly surprising twist, oddsmakers have Otis of Heavy Machinery with the third-best odds of winning the Money in the Bank ladder match for the men. Only Aleister Black and AJ Styles have better odds, meaning that Otis is viewed as the most likely winner of the SmackDown combatants, which also include Daniel Bryan and Baron Corbin — two former Money in the Bank winners. These odds seem strange because at first glance, no one could honestly see Otis becoming the new WWE Universal Champion.
However, that isn't Otis's plan. In an interview with Digital Spy, Otis said that if he wins the match, he doesn't plan to use the briefcase to cash in for a world title shot. "If I get the briefcase, we're challenging for the Tag Team titles," he said. Otis went on to mention that there is no rule limiting which title a winner could challenge for. Therefore, if Otis wins, he will use it to give himself and Tucker Knight a chance to cash in for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship.
This twist could change everything about the Money in the Bank ladder match and make it even more exciting to watch. If a guy like Ali could use the briefcase to cash in for the United States Championship, that is realistic for his place on the card. It could also be an excellent way to build up newer stars without hot-shotting them into the world title scene before they are ready. Someone like Ricochet could win in the future and go for the mid-card title, then move on from there into the main event scene and challenge for the world title later in his career.
Even though Otis just competed in a singles match at WrestleMania against Dolph Ziggler, he is a tag team wrestler. Realistically, his ceiling is as a successful tag team star, and Otis isn't someone who is ever likely to challenge for a world title -- even the United States Championship might be a bit of a stretch. However, if a tag team title cash-in were available, this could be a significant moment for Heavy Machinery, who are still looking for their first tag title reign.
Money in the Bank needed refreshing. Brock Lesnar's surprising last-second win last year may have placed the briefcase with a big star, but it seemed to disrespect everyone else in the match who put their bodies on the line for half an hour. This year, WWE is trying something different with the fight taking place in WWE corporate headquarters in a battle to the roof. Yes, this is different from How Money in the Bank has worked before. But an even more significant change could be to let the winner choose whatever title he wants to cash in for, whether it be a world title, a mid-card title, the tag team titles, or even an NXT title or Cruiserweight Championship. If every title across WWE's three brands goes up for grabs anyone could win, and that would make Money in the Bank more exciting than ever.