Well, this was interesting. I didn’t have my expectations very high, however I was entertained by a few matches. A few.
The pre-show match should have been on the main card. The New Day retained the SmackDown Tag Team Championships against Rusev Day. It came down to some miscommunication between Rusev and English which allowed New Day to gain the advantage and victory. I didn’t expect a title change, but hopefully it’s not the end of Rusev Day.
On the main show, we began with the first Hell in a Cell match, Randy Orton defeating Jeff Hardy. A few good moments, but overall rest holds and the occasional forced “oh my god” moment. One such moment involved Orton inserting a screwdriver through one of Jeff’s ear gaps and twisting it. It looked brutal, but it was a shock value moment which didn’t carry over. Jeff it a swanton on Orton with a chair. Good spot. The “Hardy Kills Himself Moment” is when he climbs a super-tall ladder, only to climb across the ceiling, monkey-bar style with Orton prone on a table. Hardy drops, Orton rolls, and Jeffy-boy goes crashing and burning sans fire through it. The ref calls for medics, Orton pulls a “do your job” and pins Jeff. Sigh, the internet lights up wondering if this was a legit injury moment and Orton calling the audible to pin and end the match. I honestly don’t care. The match wasn’t memorable, and hopefully everyone can just move on.
Maybe I am in the minority. I saw on Twitter and Facebook people calling this a brutal match and living up to the legacy of Hell in a Cell. Sorry, I just don’t see it. Sure, we had some spots of ladder and chair shots, but it felt needed to wake up the crowd from the standard spots and rest holds we are accustomed to see.
Becky Lynch defeats Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship in a good but brief match, but the finish worked. Boy did it WORK. It was easy to see the live crowd favored Lynch. I do feel a little bit badly for Charlotte, I feel as though she might have been legit upset the crowd turned on her. Lynch, like a meticulous mechanic, worked over the arm and countered Charlotte at each signature move. It shows how Lynch knew exactly what to do and countering with big impacts. Each one got a huge pop. Lynch is in the position of being able to do anything and earned a pop. Charlotte got her chance to show off her power moves, but the end, which was GREAT, Charlotte goes to Spear and Becky counters and, despite having worn down Charlotte with the Dis-arm-her multiple times, winds up pinning Charlotte.
Post-match, Charlotte wants to make nice, but Becky DENIES. Crowd, pops.
Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre defeat Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins to retain the RAW Tag Team Championships
Hot damn was this a match. Shouldn’t be a shock to anyone this stole the show. Didn’t need to be in a cage to outclass the Hell in a Cell matches. Early back-and-forth, then Team Zigglntyre dominated until Ambrose got the hot tag. We had dives and bombs, and slams galore. Quite a few near falls and close-calls. A ton. The best thing about these four, is the energy. The fire and how they don’t stop. Rest holds are far and few between. I was entertained by Dean Ambrose. The guy displays the crazy with every action. Rollins and Ziggler could wrestle every week again. McIntyre is a brute in the ring, powerhouse plus. The end saw a chain of near-falls but then Rollins hitting his trademark Superplex and almost followed with the Falcon Arrow, except McIntyre arrives and blasts with a Claymore mid-plex, allowing Ziggler to fall and pin Rollins.
My favorite post-match part – Ziggler as dead weight across McIntyre’s shoulders, being carried to the back with the tag team titles.
AJ Styles retains the WWE Championship against Samoa Joe…
…Or did he? Dusty finish anyone? Good match. I enjoyed it. It was as good as I expected this to be. They beat the hell out of each other. Styles at one point had Joe in a torture rack. Joe mauled Styles relentlessly. Crazy finish when Joe turned AJ inside out with a lariat, busting his face open. After a failed Styles Clash, we almost got a Muscle Buster, but after some reversals, Joe locked Styles in the clutch, but Styles kicked up backwards, and seemingly pins Samoa Joe. Except Joe thinks he’s won. Joe is shocked when he is not announced the winner. Replay shows the pinfall, but as a second replay shows…
… AJ Styles tapped out.
This feud goes on. Good. I don’t think WWE has a plan for Joe after this run… Unless he finally wins the championship.
The Miz & Maryse defeated Daniel Bryan & Brie Bella
Not the greatest match, but furthered the feud. It was odd seeing Brie get the hot tag, and her actual wrestling time with Maryse wasn’t more than a few minutes. Brie might have been a house of fire, but Maryse was the one who gained the pinfall victory. Bryan and Miz had a good exchange. I will say this, Miz and Maryse make evil look good. They’re probably the best heel couple WWE has had in a long time.
By the way, Marine 6 is available soon on DVD and Blu-Ray. It’s got Shawn Michaels and Becky Lynch!!
Ronda Rousey retained the WWE Raw Women’s Championship against Alexa Bliss
As expected. I didn’t expect Bliss to get as much offense as she did. She got a lot, and it looked good. Alicia Fox, Mickie James, and Natalya were all doing their shtick at ringside. The end looked odd, Rousey was just taking her time with the finishing submission, which I guess is the thing to do to basically say “it’s all over” but I’m not a fan.
Kudos to Bliss for putting her over and still coming out looking like the MVP of the match.
Have you ever seen a Hell in the Cell match end in a no-contest? EVER!?!?
Tonight, it happened. Roman Reigns is still WWE Champion via No-Contest over Braun Strowman. Because BROCK LESNAR just had to show up.
Look, the match between Reigns and Strowman was decent. Kendo sticks, tables, chairs, and some steel stair collisions. Then, to give the crowd a distraction, out comes the rest of the Shield and the “Dogs of War.” They fight on top of the cell, to which Ziggler and Rollins take the plunge through two announce tables while climbing halfway down the cell wall.
Brock enters, rips the door off the cell, and then clobbers both Reigns and Strowman, incapacitating them both with F5s. The ref then stops the match. The ref… stops… the match.
So, WWE had a pretty good pay-per-view going. Styles/Joe was good, Shield/DoW was really good, Lynch winning the championship was good, and even the pre-show match with New Day and Rusev Day.
In my opinion, the two Hell in a Cell matches didn’t live up the hype and as usual, the mid-card once again outclassed the main marquee matches.
Comments are closed.