5 Things WWE Did Right at Hell in a Cell
WWE's annual Hell in a Cell pay-per-view was this Sunday, and it delivered up to expectations. Ever since WWE adopted a PG attitude, matches have gotten less bloody and more wholesome. When fans think of Hell in a Cell matches, they think of crazy spots like Mankind going through the Cell roof after a backdrop from Triple H, Mankind getting thrown off the roof by The Undertaker, and Mankind getting chokeslammed through the ceiling by The Undertaker. Nothing like that has ever happened in recent memory. As a result, people don't get as excited for Hell in a Cell matches as they did before.
This time however, the WWE delivered spectacularly. Both Hell in a Cell matches were pretty good, especially the Seth Rollins/ Dean Ambrose match, which contained some excellent spots (more on that later). All in all, it was a good PPV. As always, WWE did some good things and some bad things, though this PPV had more pros than cons. Let's see what 5 of those things are.
5. Rusev Wins Decisively- Rusev has been on a tear as of recent months, picking up wins over guys like Big E, Mark Henry, and Jack Swagger. His anti-American gimmick has worked out really well, especially with Lana as his mouthpiece. He has yet to be pinned or submit, the only superstar on the roster who can say that. His latest opponent: Big Show, the world's largest athlete. The two met up on the Raw before HIAC, and Rusev even locked on The Accolade. It would have been better if that was saved for HIAC, as it would have been a cool spot. It would have created some doubt, and Rusev would have looked great when he finally did lock it on.
The actual match wasn't great, but it was better than Rusev's match with Henry at NOC. Rusev continues to improve in the ring (he even managed to suplex Show!) and is looking more of a star each and every day. WWE has done a great job of building Rusev up, and having him win was the right call. He needs to be beaten by a big star to give him credibility (as ironic as that sounds).
4. John Cena vs. Randy Orton- Fans were already sick of this match-up by the time it was announced, but the match itself was great. They made it interesting by using the Cell effectively, having good spots, and some creative near-falls. As expected, Cena won to set up another match against Brock Lesnar. It would have been more interesting if Orton won, but the Cena win makes sense.
So where do we go from here? Lesnar won't be back for Survivor Series, so Cena will probably feud with The Authority. A match with Seth Rollins makes sense, though he could even face off Triple H, seeing as Survivor Series is one of the biggest shows of the year.
3. No Champions Lost- This isn't always a positive, but in this case it worked. None of the four championships that were defended at the event changed hands. Dolph Ziggler retained his IC title in a great match against Cesaro. This was the right call, as Ziggler is making the title relevant again. Sheamus successfully defended his title against The Miz. Some people though Miz should win the title, on account of his entertaining gimmick, but having him win three titles in three months would have been too much. Divas Champion AJ Lee beat Paige (the first time that's ever happened on PPV). If Paige had won, this feud would have continued, so having AJ win and potentially end this feud was smart. Finally, there Gold & Stardust beat The Usos to retain their tag titles. These guys have been tag team champs for only a month now, so letting them retain was the right thing to do, as the WWE has a lot of possibilities for them.
All of these titles were rightfully retained. Of course, the story might change by the time Survivor Series rolls around four weeks from now, but having all of the champions win (and win cleanly, for that matter) was smart.
2. Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose- Even before the match started, these two were going at it. They had a great spot where they both went through separate announce tables after falling off the side of the Cell. The actual match was pretty good, with both guys giving it their all. They knew they had to deliver, as expectations were very high. This is after all, the best feud of the year. It would have been nicer if there was a clear finish (more on that later), but the actual match and pre-match brawl was really fun.
Since there wasn't a clear finish, we could see this feud resumed in a few months, depending on what both of them are doing. The fans would definitely love to see this feud rekindled. After all, we only got two singles PPV matches between these two.
1. The Return of Bray Wyatt- We haven't seen Bray Wyatt for a month. He didn't even compete at Night of Champions. Instead, we saw vignettes simultaneously splitting up the Wyatt Family while also hyping them up. Wyatt made his reappearance during the Rollins/Ambrose match, laying out Ambrose with a Standing Side Slam and allowing Rollins to pick up the win.
The Wyatt/Ambrose feud should be really good. It's a fresh feud featuring two excellent workers and two of the best talkers in the business right now. This has the potential to be a quality feud with some excellent matches.
As stated before, this was a quality PPV with some quality matches. Hell in a Cell is just a B-show, but it delivered spectacularly. Survivor Series is a Big Four event, so expectations are really high for it. Hopefully it delivers. Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, I went seven for eight on my predictions (I only missed out on Rollins).
This time however, the WWE delivered spectacularly. Both Hell in a Cell matches were pretty good, especially the Seth Rollins/ Dean Ambrose match, which contained some excellent spots (more on that later). All in all, it was a good PPV. As always, WWE did some good things and some bad things, though this PPV had more pros than cons. Let's see what 5 of those things are.
5. Rusev Wins Decisively- Rusev has been on a tear as of recent months, picking up wins over guys like Big E, Mark Henry, and Jack Swagger. His anti-American gimmick has worked out really well, especially with Lana as his mouthpiece. He has yet to be pinned or submit, the only superstar on the roster who can say that. His latest opponent: Big Show, the world's largest athlete. The two met up on the Raw before HIAC, and Rusev even locked on The Accolade. It would have been better if that was saved for HIAC, as it would have been a cool spot. It would have created some doubt, and Rusev would have looked great when he finally did lock it on.
The actual match wasn't great, but it was better than Rusev's match with Henry at NOC. Rusev continues to improve in the ring (he even managed to suplex Show!) and is looking more of a star each and every day. WWE has done a great job of building Rusev up, and having him win was the right call. He needs to be beaten by a big star to give him credibility (as ironic as that sounds).
4. John Cena vs. Randy Orton- Fans were already sick of this match-up by the time it was announced, but the match itself was great. They made it interesting by using the Cell effectively, having good spots, and some creative near-falls. As expected, Cena won to set up another match against Brock Lesnar. It would have been more interesting if Orton won, but the Cena win makes sense.
So where do we go from here? Lesnar won't be back for Survivor Series, so Cena will probably feud with The Authority. A match with Seth Rollins makes sense, though he could even face off Triple H, seeing as Survivor Series is one of the biggest shows of the year.
3. No Champions Lost- This isn't always a positive, but in this case it worked. None of the four championships that were defended at the event changed hands. Dolph Ziggler retained his IC title in a great match against Cesaro. This was the right call, as Ziggler is making the title relevant again. Sheamus successfully defended his title against The Miz. Some people though Miz should win the title, on account of his entertaining gimmick, but having him win three titles in three months would have been too much. Divas Champion AJ Lee beat Paige (the first time that's ever happened on PPV). If Paige had won, this feud would have continued, so having AJ win and potentially end this feud was smart. Finally, there Gold & Stardust beat The Usos to retain their tag titles. These guys have been tag team champs for only a month now, so letting them retain was the right thing to do, as the WWE has a lot of possibilities for them.
All of these titles were rightfully retained. Of course, the story might change by the time Survivor Series rolls around four weeks from now, but having all of the champions win (and win cleanly, for that matter) was smart.
2. Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose- Even before the match started, these two were going at it. They had a great spot where they both went through separate announce tables after falling off the side of the Cell. The actual match was pretty good, with both guys giving it their all. They knew they had to deliver, as expectations were very high. This is after all, the best feud of the year. It would have been nicer if there was a clear finish (more on that later), but the actual match and pre-match brawl was really fun.
Since there wasn't a clear finish, we could see this feud resumed in a few months, depending on what both of them are doing. The fans would definitely love to see this feud rekindled. After all, we only got two singles PPV matches between these two.
1. The Return of Bray Wyatt- We haven't seen Bray Wyatt for a month. He didn't even compete at Night of Champions. Instead, we saw vignettes simultaneously splitting up the Wyatt Family while also hyping them up. Wyatt made his reappearance during the Rollins/Ambrose match, laying out Ambrose with a Standing Side Slam and allowing Rollins to pick up the win.
The Wyatt/Ambrose feud should be really good. It's a fresh feud featuring two excellent workers and two of the best talkers in the business right now. This has the potential to be a quality feud with some excellent matches.
As stated before, this was a quality PPV with some quality matches. Hell in a Cell is just a B-show, but it delivered spectacularly. Survivor Series is a Big Four event, so expectations are really high for it. Hopefully it delivers. Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, I went seven for eight on my predictions (I only missed out on Rollins).
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