One of WWE’s longest-running match concepts continues to draw big reactions from fans each year, but not every top superstar is on board with the idea. In fact, one current champion is not only unimpressed by the Money in the Bank Ladder Match but outright disgusted by it.

The first-ever Money in the Bank Ladder Match took place at WrestleMania 21 in 2005. It was created by Chris Jericho and featured a field of six WWE Superstars: Edge, Chris Benoit, Kane, Christian, Shelton Benjamin, and Jericho himself. Edge came out on top and held onto the briefcase for 280 days before cashing in at New Year’s Revolution in 2006, capitalizing on a vulnerable John Cena to win the WWE Championship right after Cena had survived the Elimination Chamber.

WWE launched the Money in the Bank premium live event in 2010, turning the match into an annual tradition with both men's and women's iterations. In 2017, Carmella won the inaugural Women’s MITB Ladder Match and went on to hold the briefcase in record-setting fashion. Across 36 total matches to date, 26 have been contested in the men's division. Yet, one major name has never stepped foot in a MITB match: World Heavyweight Champion Gunther.

Gunther, who retained the Intercontinental Championship at the 2023 Money in the Bank event against Matt Riddle, has made it clear why he has steered clear of the match. During a recent appearance on The Masked Man Show, the reigning champion shared his distaste for the entire concept.

“So, first of all, I wanna express my disgust for the Money in the Bank briefcase, whatever you call it , stipulation or , I remember back then when some of those big cash-in moments happened and some of those guys won a big title for the first time in their career and it’s because they run out with a briefcase and there’s an already beaten opponent who’s just, yeah… lay on top of him for three seconds. I don’t know. I never found that very gratifying. So that’s never something I was interested in participating [in]. As of right now, I don’t know. Maybe there’s a little bit of honor left in Seth Rollins to not use it like that. But yeah, I’m not too worried about it to be honest… It’s a shortcut. When you win something big, you wanna earn it. I don’t know. Never found [it] gratifying,” Gunther said.

Despite the match becoming a cornerstone of WWE programming each summer, Gunther stands firm in his belief that the Money in the Bank briefcase represents a shortcut rather than a triumph earned through hard-fought competition.

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