It took a matter of seconds after Money in the Bank's ending to see fans lash out at WWE over CM Punk spoiling Drew McIntyre's cash-in attempt on Damian Priest on the very same night he won the briefcase.
A man named Daniel Bryan once infamously called fans "fickle," though, and it sure feels appropriate here.
Those fans most upset are also most likely to still miss the big picture with this new era of Triple H booking that has led to a golden era—it's all about the long-form storytelling.
So much so, one could argue a gimmick like the Moeny in the Bank briefcase could almost classify as a dinosaur.
That's especially the case this year on the men's side of things. WWE didn't spend two years building up Cody Rhodes' story to have him lose the title on a cash-in attempt from anybody else on the roster. This is especially true when another feud with Roman Reigns, or The Bloodline, or even The Rock are possible still, to name a few options.
And for those who want to argue in favor of the briefcase winner cashing in on the Raw champion, fine, but there's a big problem—Gunther. Those fans who want to see a briefcase winner go after the Raw title probably align with those who want to see Gunther win a big one to the point the overlap is a perfect circle.
Which is to say nobody is cashing in on Gunther and winning when he finally wins a big title. Not McIntyre, not Seth Rollins, not anybody else. He's headed for a long-term story as champion too, which in turn, elevates those so-called mid-card titles that haven't felt so mid during this era, either. Overcoming champions just isn't so easy anymore.
Which is to also say that, 10 months from now or whatever it turned out to be, fans would have complained anyway that the would-be cash-in failed. That the briefcase was wasted on a failed attempt that didn't build somebody up.
That's wild to consider given what fans just went through with Priest himself. Despite having the most dominant non-Bloodline stable at his back and Shinsuke Nakamura basically breaking Rollins' back in a storyline, Priest made constant excuses or failed attempts to win the title for months and it made him look like a goofball.
Those same upset fans, when asked, probably can't name the last time a MITB briefcase was used well on the men's side, anyway. Big E's brief run? Austin Theory not cashing-in on a top title? Otis losing his briefcase?
This year's briefcase usage was just smart on many fronts. A McIntyre that isn't strategic but blinded by rage and desiring instant gratification gambled his opportunity on the same night he won it and lost. Punk, blurring the lines between real and fake, leaned into the feud and remained as strategic as ever while again ruining the chances of the man who legitimately injured him last year.
In the process, Punk screwed Rollins, who has a very public, well-known beef with Punk. So that feud is in the pipeline, too, whenever WWE feels like making it happen. This could, by the way, also dominate the Raw title scene when Gunther isn't holding the strap, so there wasn't exactly room for a briefcase to be floating around in the background.
If the end result of the briefcase being used properly as a storytelling tool is a near-SummerSlam main event for perhaps the best feud in pro wrestling right now (that hasn't even had a match yet!), then it's a win. If its usage also leads to Punk and Rollins finally getting to main event a 'Mania, even better.
And if it's any consolation, WWE figures to use a briefcase like the upset fans desire—by building Tiffany Stratton up over the long-term in the women's division.
Maybe classifying some fans as "fickle" isn't totally fair. Like anything on the internet, fans upset about something are more likely to take to social media and the like with complaints, while the happy fans, well, enjoy what they're seeing.
But WWE dismissing the men's briefcase, at least this year, removes a possibly year-long problem from the equation and gives the top title scenes and overall top feud room to breathe.
The writing, as they say, was already on the wall. It's fresh ink, but it's there—the picture now is about long-form storytelling and character work, with the briefcase sacrificed for something that can rival Bloodline levels of fan investment.
While the Triple H era hasn't been infallible by any means, it beats the tar out of what preceded it. Odds are, especially with Punk, McIntyre and Rollins involved, even the most disgruntled of fans will come around eventually and enjoy the possible historic feud about to unfold.
