Not just in WWE, but in all of professional wrestling, having a ladder match with a title on the line (or any other object suspended above the ring) can add some huge stakes and can push a match to the next level in terms of physicality, intensity, and drama. However, not every ladder match in WWE has been a success, with not everything able to match classics like Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon.

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Over the years, some of the all-time greats (and some not-so-great competitors) have competed in ladder matches, but occasionally these have been a big let-down. It isn’t often for a ladder match to be bad, so it may mean that fans have forgotten about the failures over the years.

10 Money In The Bank Ladder Match, WrestleMania 26

Jack Swagger Money in the Bank WrestleMania 26 Cropped

It is hard to screw up a big multi-man ladder match, but this was certainly the worst WrestleMania Money in the Bank ladder match. The issue was that there were simply too many competitors involved, with 10 wrestlers in the lineup.

There were some fine moments, but overall it just felt like a jumbled mess with not enough time for everyone to fit their stuff in. The eventual winner, Jack Swagger, also fumbled with the briefcase for too long - so long that WWE even edited down his win on the WWE Network.

9 Steve Austin Vs Shane McMahon & Vince McMahon, King Of The Ring 1999

Steve Austin Vs. Shane McMahon King Of The Ring 1999

This was a handicap match for the full control of WWE, but most of the bout was just Austin beating down on the two McMahons for an extended period of time.

Some of the match was okay, but seeing Austin beat up Vince McMahon was something which failed to carry the whole match. The finish saw Austin climb the ladder, only for someone unknown to raise the briefcase out of his reach. It was a silly finish that was never explained fully.

8 Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match, Money In The Bank 2017

Becky Lynch v Charlotte Flair v Natalya v Carmella v Tamina Money in the Bank 2017 Cropped

The very first women’s Money in the Bank ladder match may have been okay if it didn’t have one of the worst ladder match finishes of all time. In what was supposed to be a history-making night, James Ellsworth climbed the ladder, retrieved the briefcase, and simply handed it to Carmella.

It was a slap in the face of SmackDown’s women’s division, and the backlash of this horrendous ending caused WWE to re-run the match on the very next episode of SmackDown.

7 Triple H Vs Kevin Nash, TLC 2011

Triple H v Kevin Nash TLC 2011

Kevin Nash’s return to WWE in 2011 was a complete farce, and it came to an end in his one and only match of that run against Triple H in a Sledgehammer Ladder Match.

Nash could barely move here, with the pace being quite slow and plodding. Triple H targeted Nash’s leg for the most part, which made for some quite boring action. The whole concept of a sledgehammer being suspended above the ring, only for the finish to be decided via pinfall, was very odd.

6 Shotzi Blackheart vs Raquel Gonzalez, NXT 2020

Shotzi Blackheart vs Raquel Gonzalez NXT

In what became an NXT tradition, two members from opposing WarGames teams faced off to earn the advantage for their battle, with this being decided in a ladder match.

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Unfortunately, out of the several ladder matches NXT put forth over the years, this was undoubtedly the worst. The two tried their best, but their inexperience was evident, with quite a few botched spots as the match went on, making it rather messy overall.

5 RVD Vs Sabu, ECW 2006

RVD vs Sabu ECW

Back when it seemed as though WWE were at least pretending to try when it came to the revamped ECW brand, two ECW legends, RVD and Sabu, battled in a ladder match on weekly ECW TV.

However, considering who was involved, this ended up being quite a big let-down. There were several botches during the match, which made for uncomfortable viewing at times as the risks felt far too real.

4 Elias Vs Bobby Lashley, TLC 2018

Elias v Lashley TLC 2018

On the Kick-Off show to the TLC PPV, Elias and Bobby Lashley fought in a ladder match which saw a guitar suspended above the ring. It was far too short for any story to be told, lasting just six minutes, with much of that being disrupted with a commercial.

Neither man looked comfortable wielding ladders, and the booking was awful too. Elias won the match despite interference from Lio Rush, but couldn’t celebrate for long as the heels beat him down afterwards, nullifying the point of the entire match in the first place.

3 James Ellsworth Vs AJ Styles, SmackDown 2016

James Ellsworth vs AJ Styles in a ladder match

The mini-feud between AJ Styles and James Ellsworth was fun at times… until you remember that AJ Styles was the WWE Champion and lost three straight matches to a jobber.

This ladder match with a WWE contract for Ellsworth on the line was perhaps the best of their series, but that by no means meant that it was any good. Styles did his best to get a good match out of Ellsworth, but as far as ladder matches go, this was unfortunately bottom tier, even if the crowd were into the jobber at the time.

2 Men’s & Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match, Money In The Bank 2020

Money In The Bank 2020

Fans would be forgiven if they forgot all about this match, mostly due to the fact that it felt like a complete fever dream, with it being far away from a conventional ladder match. Both the men’s and women’s Money in the Bank fields fought their way up WWE Headquarters to the roof, where they would then try to climb a ladder to win the match.

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On the first watch, so much wacky stuff happened that it felt quite fun, but upon a rewatch, it was too weird and long, with several unfunny spots which made no sense. WWE tried to once again do something unique in the pandemic era, but this was a failure.

1 Dolph Ziggler Vs Kofi Kingston Vs Jack Swagger, TLC 2010

Kofi Kingston and Jack Swagger WWE

A triple threat ladder match between three talented competitors in Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, and Jack Swagger sounds like a lot of fun. However, with just 8 minutes to work with, this felt very rushed, and it didn’t feel as though it had high stakes.

At the time, the Intercontinental Title didn’t feel all too important, which likely played into the fact that there was little heat behind this bout.