Hell in a Cell Review

Hello! Well, last night was better than expected wasn't it? There's no point holding off on it, last night's PPV was the best PPV that wasn't Wrestlemania this year. There was really only one massive weak point on the card, and that wasn't even necessarily down to those involved in the match. I said going into the PPV that while the build for last night was horrible (and it was), I had reasonably high hopes in-terms of match quality. The matches were good, but not only that- we've had a lot of storyline progression now. Anyway, there's a lot to discuss- so let's get this show on the road.

Pre-Show: Neville, Dolph Ziggler & Cesaro v King Barrett, Sheamus & Rusev
Firstly, it's mental that these 6 guys are wrestling on a Pre-Show- and this match proved as much. I'll talk about it a bit more with Del Rio and the way in which he's booked being key, everyone (including Sheamus) in this match is deserving of so much more than they currently have. Secondly, these Pre-Show matches are the bane of my existence when it comes to Predictions. I realise my Predictions for Main Cards are rarely 100%, but it's a piss take that my Predictions more often than not get fucked before the actual PPV's started. Thirdly, Cesaro was a fucking "superstar" in this match. He was looking so great in this match I was convinced he was taking the Pin- because that's just how it works. So the fact Cesaro not only didn't take the pin, but we had the really cool Triple Team on Barrett to end was a pleasant surprise, even if it did fuck my Predictions.

Alberto Del Rio v John Cena- US Title
I realise I didn't consider Del Rio in my Predictions yesterday, but I did list him as a possibility as a sort of throwaway statement a week ago. Obviously with no Internet last week I still watched RAW, so I thought it'd be a good idea to take notes and put them up once I got the Internet back. In those notes I listed off the 4 possibilities as Samoa Joe, Kofi, Slater and Del Rio. I suppose subconsciously I had that Meltzer thing in the back of my mind about "someone coming back who was unhappy during his previous run" or maybe I'm just psychic. Either way, it wasn't a 100% shock to me.

Now onto stuff that did 100% shock me. Zeb Colter is alive. I thought kayfabe he'd died on the Operating Table after Rusev attacked him. Not only that Zeb's been paired with Alberto fucking Del Rio. While I agree that Del Rio does need a mouthpiece/heater and Ricardo probably wasn't an option given what he's said about Triple H since he's been gone from the company, it's still bizarre. Now onto something that 101% shocked me, Alberto Del Rio beat John Cena- JOHN CENA... CLEAN... WITHOUT CENA KICKING OUT OF ANY FINISHERS. WHAT?! Cena doesn't lose clean often, but Cena's now lost clean as a sheet twice in about 5 Months to two people who are nowhere near the level to which Cena's clean losses are usually reserved for. It was just weird, usually when Cena's taking a loss he HAS to kick out of a million moves- but nothing like that happened. Del Rio just hit a Backstabber, Superkicked him and pinned him. It was the most nonchalant clean loss Cena's taken, probably ever.

Now onto what'll happen basically from tonight. Alberto Del Rio is not a "massive" return, as I alluded to a bit earlier- in many ways he's the Mexican version of Sheamus and/or Randy Orton. If they get a clear direction and an interesting story to supplement their without a doubt good to great ring work they can be one of the main guys in the company. Then, and this was a big problem for Del Rio in his last run- he can also get stale remarkably quickly- and with the way WWE are booking their TV at the minute that seems to be the more likely option going forward. With that said, this PPV has built up a remarkable amount of goodwill with me- so I'm willing to give it a go.

Roman Reigns v Bray Wyatt- Hell in a Cell
This wasn't "Hell in a Cell", as much as it being a Street Fight that just so happened to be in a Cage. I sort of said it in my Predictions when I talked about Strowman potentially ripping the door off- but they couldn't do anything massive or get out of the Cell because they had to protect the Stip for the Taker/Lesnar match later. That also ruled out Roman Spearing Bray through the Cage which I thought would have "made" the match.

With all that said, treating this match as a Street Fight in a Cage and this was great. Apart from the Table spots that blew the Dudleys match later I really liked this match. Roman and Bray both got a number of great spots in on each other- and overall it was just a really good match. In a way I'm happy they didn't match the pure violence of the Taker/Lesnar match later- and in quite a common theme of this PPV nearly all the finishes felt like they meant something. I'm not sure if this'll be the conclusion of this feud, it felt like it- and I'm personally hoping we get Ambrose & Reigns v New Day while The Dudleys enter into the new dynamic we got at the end of the show.

New Day v The Dudleys- Tag Titles
Speaking of New Day, this match was the perfect detox from the Wyatt/Reigns match- and in it's own way equally as good. New Day's gimmick is weird, because they're so good they actually make me happy when they're on TV- so their whole "positive" gimmick in a fucked up way actually works. The Unicorn stuff and their Promo beforehand were just amazing, with Cena taking some time off now depending on how Rollins does in these next two months New Day could legitimately be getting "Superstar of the Year"- yes, all three FREEBIRD RULE.  The match was a lot of fun, and it's left it open for them to revisit the match down the road- although for now I hope they're done given including MSG they've had a number of Title matches now.

Apparently Owens raked Ryback's eyes, but either Owens is such a good heel he managed to even deceive me or I was completely oblivious to it. Either way, New Day actually winning by being Heels on this card meant so much more- and Kofi was amazing in this match.

Charlotte v Nikki Bella- Divas Title
These Divas matches are nothing special, I'll open with that. With that said, in such a basic sort of way these matches are good. It's simple wrestling, The Heel works a body part and gets the heat followed by the Babyface making a comeback- some back and forth and then the finish. It's not hard to do, and especially after the Divas matches on Monday last week I do wonder if there's different agents for the PPV matches and the normal TV matches. There were some good spots in the match as well, but the stuff with Paige being all happy smiley after really pissed me off. Unless Paige's gimmick is that she's got some mental illness and Charlotte and Becky have just accepted that- what the fuck are they doing?

Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns Backstage
This little bit was fun, and it was good they didn't have Roman completely no-selling. The "you know what we've gotta do next" comment was interesting- but I suppose we just have to wait until tonight to find out what it means. I realise speculating is a lot of what Wrestling is- but there really is no use speculating on this front because they can literally do anything with them now. SO AMBROSE WILL FUCKING TURN ON ROMAN FUCKING REIGNS.

Seth Rollins v Kane- WWE Title
This was a Midcard Title match, booked as one- and had a Midcard Title finish. I won't go as far as saying them having Rollins beat Kane clean pissed me off, because I really don't have the energy to care about pretty much anything Rollins does at the moment. With that said, they've basically spent every possible opportunity over the last month to build up "Demon Kane"- and then they just had Rollins put him away clean with one Pedigree and presumably with what happened after Brock/Taker that's that in-terms of Rollins/Kane. I'm not saying they're wrong to do so, but it was just really weird.

Kevin Owens v Ryback- IC Title
This was the one big misstep last night. When the WWE Title match ended there was basically an Hour left, knowing Taker/Brock wasn't going to be ridiculously long given the level of violence there'd be in it and Taker being Taker I thought this match was actually going to get time. I thought it'd be treated as a Semi-Main Event as opposed to the "death spot" match. Then it actually happened. Without knowing the times I think it's a pretty safe bet to say it was the shortest match on the card, they didn't really "click"- and it was over "just like that". I honestly didn't catch the alleged eye rake, but looking back I think I may have just zoned out during this match. Either way, I think last night was the first time Owens Pop-Up Powerbombed Ryback- so at least that was something.

Brock Lesnar v The Undertaker- Hell in a Cell
Fucking hell, this was great. I was expecting a violent match, I love that style in general- so Brock is perfect. What I wasn't expecting was a legitimate Match of the Year contender. I'm not going as far as saying it is the Match of the Year, but it has to be in the running. Ironically next to two other Brock matches from the Rumble and Mania. There's of course others, and I never really settle on something properly until I do it- but for now those are my Top Three.

This match was just pure, amazing violence. I think the spot where it honestly looked like Brock just started to shoot on Taker with punches summed this match up. There were so many taboo elements in this match whether it was the blood (I'm convinced Brock is blading in these matches at this point), them ripping the ring apart (which judging from Bryan Alvarez's tweets was a shoot) and seemingly trying to break the ring it was just so fucking amazing. I was never on the boat of "Taker didn't have it any more" after Wrestlemania 30. He had a fucking Concussion and then went another 20 Minutes, but with that said- even I didn't expect Taker to perform to the level he did tonight. Brock is Brock, he's legitimately special and he needed this win.

The stuff after was just the Cherry on Top of the Cake. I've always been, and most likely always will be a Bray fan. Firstly, this was the first time we've seen all 4 of the Family together- and fuck me they look great as a unit. Bray losing earlier didn't have a massive impact on him, I said it on Twitter at the time him losing the way he did wasn't a massive thing. Then the way they ended this show was just amazing. I know it's Wrestling, but the Main Event legitimately felt a bit like a shoot- then with the Bray stuff and JBL the Heel Commentator basically going off on one about it sort of reinforced that theme. The Bray stuff with Taker is going to be interesting, because there's a number of ways they can go with it- but they've blown off the Bray/Kidnapping Angles like nothing before so I'm not expecting Bray to "condition" Taker or anything.

I think the likely outcome is Team Wyatt v Team Taker at Survivor Series, and while people will be expecting Reigns and Ambrose I think/hope it'll be The Dudleys if it's a 4v4. They can play up a sort of "New Breed" feel to the match given the obvious partner for Taker is Kane. Then if it's 5v5 (and this is 99.9% not going to happen) they may be bringing Sting in- and the 5th Wyatt can be a certain Leo Kruger. That's Fantasy Booking and simply not going to happen, but the thing is there's so many options for this now it's unreal.

Last Night's PPV was just great, in fact looking back over it all it's probably even better than I thought it was going to bed last night. As I've said already, it's developed a remarkable amount of goodwill with me toward the product- and heading into Survivor Series there's a lot to get excited about. In many ways it's like Survivor Series last year that sort of re-energised the Product (from my perspective), so I can't wait to see how they manage to fuck it all up- most likely tonight. With that said, and I use this analogy with Fulham quite a bit "you're only as good as you're last game (on in this case show) so I'm actually excited for a RAW for once.

Thanks for reading as always, I hope now that I've gotten two posts up in two consecutive days (three if you read my Fulham ones) the undoubtedly massive abandonment issues you've all experienced this month can slowly dissipate. As I said, I'm actually looking forward to RAW tonight- so hopefully the RAW Review tomorrow will be a positive one. The thing is after tonight there's such a broad spectrum in-terms of potential ideas/feuds that even the WWE will surely hit the mark on a couple. Thanks again for reading, as I said the RAW Review will be up tomorrow so stay tuned for that- but even on a great PPV like last night I feel somehow unfulfilled. JUSTICE FOR SLATER.