WWF MONEY IN THE BANK 1991
Mr. Perfect vs Bret Hart vs Big Bossman vs Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs Rick Martel vs Texas Tornado vs The British Bulldog vs “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase
Eight men. One briefcase. One guaranteed shot at the WWF Championship. And a night where the biggest favorites might discover that being the best wrestler doesn’t always mean being the smartest man in the ring.
Madison Square Garden — 1991
The crowd is electric. Eight of the WWF’s biggest superstars are about to compete in a match nobody has ever witnessed before: Money in the Bank!
Hanging twenty feet above the ring is a black briefcase containing a contract guaranteeing the winner a WWF Championship match at any time, any place, for the next year.
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are at ringside trying to make sense of this dangerous new concept.
Gorilla: “There are no disqualifications, no count-outs, and the only way to win is to climb that ladder and retrieve the briefcase!”
Heenan: “Eight men, Gorilla! Eight egos! Eight enormous opportunities to make money! And if you’re asking me, the man who walks out of here with that contract will be the smartest man in the WWF!”
Gorilla: “For once, Brain, let’s hope you’re talking about the wrestlers and not yourself!”
The competitors stand in the ring, staring at the briefcase.
Mr. Perfect looks supremely confident. Bret Hart studies the ladder with the focus of a surgeon. Big Bossman cracks his knuckles. Jake Roberts barely moves, wearing that familiar, unsettling smile. Rick Martel checks his reflection in the metal of the ladder. Texas Tornado bounces on his feet, ready to explode. The British Bulldog flexes his muscles as the crowd roars. And Ted DiBiase simply laughs, convinced the entire evening has already been bought and paid for.
Eight men.
One contract.
Let the chaos begin!
The match begins!
The bell rings, and the entire ring explodes!
Big Bossman charges DiBiase and immediately drives him into the corner with a series of heavy punches. Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect begin trading technical holds in the opposite corner, each trying to outsmart the other. Texas Tornado catches Rick Martel with a clothesline that nearly sends him over the ropes.
Meanwhile, the British Bulldog and Jake Roberts circle one another.
Jake smiles.
Bulldog swings.
Jake ducks and slides outside the ring!
Gorilla: “Roberts isn’t interested in a wrestling match right now!”
Heenan: “He’s interested in winning, Gorilla! There’s a difference!”
Bulldog follows him outside, but Jake slips back into the ring and catches him with a boot to the stomach. Before Jake can capitalize, Bulldog grabs him around the waist and launches him across the ring with a tremendous belly-to-belly throw!
The crowd erupts!
Bulldog turns toward the ladder, but Mr. Perfect sees the opening. He slides the ladder into the ring, sets it up beneath the briefcase, and begins climbing.
He’s moving quickly!
Perfect reaches the halfway point when Bret Hart grabs his ankle.
Perfect kicks him away, but Bret refuses to let go. He climbs the opposite side, and suddenly the two technical masters are trading punches twenty feet above the canvas!
Bret lands a right hand!
Perfect nearly falls!
But Perfect rakes Bret’s eyes and shoves him backward. Bret crashes onto the mat, and Perfect reaches toward the briefcase.
BOSS MAN SHOVES THE LADDER!
Perfect tumbles off and lands hard on the ropes!
Bossman grabs the ladder and swings it sideways, knocking Texas Tornado and Martel out of the ring in one wild motion.
The crowd is going absolutely nuts.
Bossman stands tall, pointing toward the briefcase.
But there’s one problem.
He has to get past eight men to claim it.
The Mountie makes his move!
Bossman sets up the ladder and starts climbing. The crowd begins cheering as the former lawman reaches for the briefcase.
Suddenly, a familiar figure in a red uniform appears at ringside.
IT’S THE MOUNTIE!
Gorilla: “What in the world is HE doing out here?!”
Heenan: “He’s enforcing the law, Gorilla! Surely there’s a rule against a man like Bossman winning this thing!”
The Mountie slides into the ring and grabs Bossman’s leg!
Bossman looks down in disbelief.
“YOU AGAIN?!”
The Mountie pulls him off the ladder, and Bossman crashes onto the canvas. The two rivals immediately begin brawling, spilling through the ropes and onto the floor!
Bossman gets the upper hand and sends the Mountie crashing into the barricade. But by the time Bossman turns around, the damage is done.
His opportunity is gone.
And Mr. Perfect is already climbing again!
Perfect reaches the top, unhooks the briefcase halfway, and suddenly Bret Hart springs onto the ladder!
Bret punches Perfect in the ribs. Perfect responds with a desperate elbow, but Bret catches him and hooks his arm.
THE HART ATTACK FROM THE LADDER?!
No! Perfect slips free and shoves Bret down onto the canvas!
Perfect reaches for the handle—
JAKE ROBERTS PULLS THE LADDER AWAY!
Perfect crashes across the top rope and tumbles to the floor.
Jake calmly sets the ladder back up, looks directly at the crowd, and laughs.
But before he can climb, Texas Tornado spins him around and catches him with a discus punch!
Jake drops!
Tornado points toward the briefcase and starts climbing, but Rick Martel races back into the ring and tips the ladder!
Tornado crashes to the mat.
Martel blows a kiss to the booing crowd.
Gorilla: “That arrogant attitude is going to cost him!”
Heenan: “Not if he wins, it won’t!”
The British Bulldog gets robbed!
The action reaches another level when the British Bulldog takes control.
Bulldog catches Martel with a powerslam, sends DiBiase into the corner, and clotheslines Mr. Perfect over the ropes.
The crowd rises as Bulldog grabs the ladder.
This is his moment!
He plants the ladder beneath the briefcase and begins climbing. One rung at a time, the powerful Englishman moves toward the prize.
He’s nearly there!
Suddenly, a massive figure storms down the aisle.
THE WARLORD!
The crowd erupts in boos as Warlord slides into the ring. Bulldog sees him and screams at him to stay away.
Warlord doesn’t listen.
He grabs Bulldog’s ankle!
Bulldog kicks desperately, but Warlord yanks him off the ladder and launches him shoulder-first into the steel!
Bulldog collapses.
Warlord stands over him, laughing, before delivering a devastating clothesline that sends the fan favorite rolling out of the ring.
Gorilla: “That is absolutely disgraceful! The Warlord has no business being involved in this match!”
Heenan: “Business? Gorilla, that’s the wrestling business! Bulldog was about to win, and now he’s not!”
The Warlord isn’t finished. He grabs the ladder, sets it up, and begins climbing himself!
But Bret Hart has other ideas.
Bret races across the ring and shoves the ladder sideways!
Warlord crashes onto the ropes and falls to the floor, furious.
Bret looks toward the briefcase.
Then he looks at the fallen Bulldog.
He pauses for just a second before turning back toward the ladder.
The Hitman isn’t here to make friends.
He’s here to win.
Eight men become three!
The next several minutes are absolute madness.
Texas Tornado plants Martel with a discus punch. Mr. Perfect catches Tornado with a Perfect-Plex on the canvas, but Jake breaks it up before Perfect can reach the ladder.
DiBiase sneaks behind Bret Hart and delivers a low blow while the referee is distracted by the chaos outside the ring.
Bossman finally returns and chases the Mountie backstage, leaving the ring just long enough for DiBiase to attempt another climb.
But Virgil isn’t here to save his former employer this time. DiBiase is on his own.
Perfect pulls him down.
DiBiase shoves Perfect into Bret.
Bret ducks, and Perfect accidentally crashes into DiBiase!
Jake laughs from the corner.
Then Texas Tornado catches Jake with another discus punch!
The Snake rolls out of the ring, clutching his jaw.
With the bodies scattered everywhere, Bret Hart finally gets his opening. He sets the ladder up, climbs halfway, and looks poised to make history.
But Mr. Perfect grabs the opposite side!
The two men climb together, trading punches as the ladder wobbles beneath them.
Bret lands a sharp right hand.
Perfect answers with a thumb to the eye.
Bret loses his grip!
Perfect reaches up—
AND DI BIASE SHOVES THE LADDER!
Both men crash to the mat!
DiBiase throws his arms into the air, laughing like a man who has just won the lottery.
He sets the ladder up.
He begins climbing.
One rung.
Two rungs.
Three—
Bret Hart grabs his boot!
DiBiase kicks him away, but Jake Roberts has quietly returned to the ring. Jake grabs DiBiase from behind and pulls him down with a brutal neckbreaker!
DiBiase crashes!
Jake turns around—
PERFECT-PLEX!
Mr. Perfect catches Jake out of nowhere!
Perfect springs to his feet, grabs the ladder, and sets it up beneath the briefcase.
The crowd is on its feet.
Perfect climbs.
He’s almost there!
He reaches toward the handle—
Bret Hart grabs the ladder!
Perfect kicks at him desperately, but Bret refuses to release it.
Then Texas Tornado returns and shoves both men sideways!
Perfect falls through the ropes.
Bret lands hard on the canvas.
Tornado stands alone in the ring.
He looks up at the briefcase.
He smiles.
And begins climbing.
The final twist!
Texas Tornado reaches the top and grabs the briefcase!
The crowd explodes!
But before he can unhook it, Rick Martel springs onto the ladder and begins climbing the other side.
The two men trade punches.
Tornado knocks Martel backward!
Martel falls onto the canvas!
Tornado reaches up again—
JAKE ROBERTS GRABS HIS ANKLE!
Tornado kicks Jake away, but the distraction costs him his balance. He slips down several rungs, crashing onto the mat.
Jake looks at the ladder.
Then at the briefcase.
Then at the exhausted wrestlers scattered around the ring.
He smiles.
But before he can climb, Bret Hart intercepts him!
Bret catches Jake with a Russian leg sweep and immediately begins climbing the ladder himself.
The Hitman is halfway up when DiBiase returns and grabs his leg.
Bret kicks him away.
DiBiase stumbles backward—
AND MR. PERFECT HITS THE PERFECT-PLEX!
Perfect turns toward the ladder, but Bossman finally storms back into the ring and flattens him with a clothesline!
Bossman grabs the ladder.
He begins climbing!
The crowd roars as Bossman reaches toward the briefcase.
But wait!
THE MOUNTIE IS BACK!
He grabs the ladder from the outside and yanks it away from underneath Bossman!
Bossman crashes onto the ropes and falls to the floor!
Gorilla: “THE MOUNTIE HAS DONE IT AGAIN!”
Heenan: “Somebody arrest that man!”
The Mountie celebrates like he’s won the match himself, completely forgetting that he isn’t even a competitor!
And while everyone watches the commotion, Jake Roberts quietly rolls into the ring.
He sets up the ladder.
He starts climbing.
Nobody notices.
Not Bret Hart.
Not Mr. Perfect.
Not even DiBiase.
Jake reaches the top and extends his hand toward the briefcase.
His fingers close around the handle.
Suddenly, Bret Hart sees him!
Bret races toward the ladder and grabs Jake’s ankle!
Jake kicks desperately.
Bret climbs two rungs.
Jake punches down at Bret’s head.
Bret hangs on!
The entire arena is screaming.
Then Jake does something nobody expects.
He lets go of the ladder with one hand, grabs Bret by the hair, and pulls him upward just enough to deliver a vicious headbutt!
Bret falls backward onto the canvas!
Jake steadies himself.
He reaches up.
He unhooks the briefcase.
THE BELL RINGS!
Gorilla Monsoon: “HE’S DONE IT! JAKE ROBERTS HAS WON MONEY IN THE BANK!”
Bobby Heenan: “THAT SNAKE! HE PLAYED EVERYBODY LIKE A FIDDLE!”
Jake climbs down slowly, holding the briefcase against his chest. He looks around at the wreckage, laughing as the crowd rains boos down upon him.
Mr. Perfect is furious.
Bret Hart is stunned.
Bossman is chasing the Mountie around ringside.
The British Bulldog is still recovering from the Warlord’s interference.
And Ted DiBiase is screaming that the entire match was a disgrace.
Jake doesn’t care.
He opens the briefcase, removes the contract, and looks directly into the camera.
“Everybody’s got a plan. Everybody thinks they’re going to be champion.”
He pauses and smiles.
“Now everybody has to worry about me.”
Somewhere backstage, WWF Champion Hulk Hogan watches the scene unfold on a television monitor.
For the first time in years, the Hulkster looks genuinely concerned.
Because Jake Roberts doesn’t need to beat Hogan tonight.
He doesn’t need to challenge him tomorrow.
He can wait until the champion is exhausted, injured, celebrating a victory, or least expecting an attack.
And Jake Roberts has just earned an entire year to choose the perfect moment.
WINNER: JAKE “THE SNAKE” ROBERTS!
The most unpredictable man in the WWF now holds the most dangerous contract in wrestling.
And nobody—not Mr. Perfect, not Bret Hart, and certainly not Hulk Hogan—knows when the Snake will strike.
