Last night, WWE wrapped up one of the biggest wrestling weeks in recent memory with a roller coaster Hell in a Cell PPV. The weakly built card at times delivered with a few thrilling highs, but hit a devastating all time low to close the show. Here’s a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of Hell in a Cell 2019.
The Good (Yes, There A Lot of Good!)
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have pyro AND a new Hell in a Cell centric set!! We were off to a good start. In fact, we were off to a GREAT start because the opening Hell in a Cell match was Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch. This match was as innovative as it was vicious. Both of these ladies took a beating and used chairs like I’d never seen before. Becky propped a chair in the corner of the cage with a few kendo sticks and delivered and absolutely perfect running drop kick off the apron. Banks hit some amazing variations of the meteora on The Man onto a ladder, a sitting chair position, and more. Becky even ended the match with a Super- Becksploder suplex into the Dis-arm-her submission for the win. I thought for sure the strap would go to Sasha this time around, but The Man train rolls on. This is a much watch.
Later in the evening, Roman and Bryan worked well together in their victory over Rowan & Harper. The handshake turned hug moment was great. I’d be excited to see Bryan go back to more of a face role, as he instantly had the crowed behind him.
Other highlights included The Kabuki Warriors FINALLY getting a real tag team title shot and winning the gold!! Kairi Sane plays a little dirty from the get go, and Asuka uses the green mist to set up the winning kick! I absolutely love the green mist for Asuka! Congrats to the NEW Women’s Tag Team Champions.
Speaking of new champions being crowned, let’s get that new hashtag trending: #Char10tte. Charlotte is officially the new Smackdown Women’s Champion making her a record ten time champ. This is the right move as Bayley has had a solid run since Money in the Bank. If Bayley really is going full heel, it’s time to pull the trigger.
Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Gable and Ali continuing to get some shine while showing their in ring prowess.
The Bad
Don’t get me wrong. The six man tag between The OC and The Viking Raiders & Braun Strowman was solid. Styles and the Viking Raiders always deliver. However, this match was obviously thrown together, and assures me that there is no direction for Braun right now. (Yes, I’m aware of the Tyson Fury angle) This is a mid-show Monday Night Raw match and the no contest didn’t do anything for anyone.
There were many matches on the card that definitely delivered but had absolutely no build whatsoever. In fact the majority of the matches were announced just hours before the event via WWE.com. In reality only three matches were officially billed for the show during this premiere week. I am never a fan of making it up as you go. I hate to say it, but it almost feels like the WWE phoned it in building this particular show. A lot of what happened this week on RAW and Smackdown had to do with the NEXT PPV which will be overseas.
Baron Corbin on the mic.
That Main Event
Let me preface this by saying WWE telegraphed this one on Twitter Tuesday Night with a poll (see below and to the right) asking if the match will end via submission, pinfall, or disqualification. This sparked a ton of questions and comments stemming from the original post. I even brought this up briefly on my Hell in a Cell Predictions Podcast with The Pop Break Editor-in-Chief, Bill Bodkin and our good friend Queen. We ALL agreed that Hell in a Cell can’t end in a Disqualification. (Isn’t that kind of the point?) Clearly, we were wrong.
Aside from the very distracting red filter and/or lighting throughout the Universal Championship match, the ref calling a DQ ending for THE match being known to, “put someone through hell” was the gamechanger. That’s right. Seth Rollins retained The Universal Title Match via REF STOPPAGE during a Hell in a Cell Match. It was atrocious. We knew it. They live crowd knew it. And AEW knows it. Up until this match I had no intention of bringing up the very obvious brand competition, but no one could ignore the loud “A-E-W!!” chants among the “Boos” as the show ended.
Quite frankly, I don’t understand the story here. You have the supernaturally powered, nearly untouchable, and arguably most over persona in the company and he plays possum for a post match attack? Didn’t Clash of Champions end with the Fiend attacking Rollins? This was the endgame?
This match should have MADE the Fiend with a huge Universal Title win and showed us how unstoppable he really is. He’s a rare kind much like an Undertaker, and I just don’t understand the DQ finish here at all.
For someone who generally keeps it positive sometimes you have to call a spade, a spade. As I write this the things I’m seeing on social media and messages I’m receiving include, “Just deleted Raw and Smackdown from my DVR,” “I’ve got nothing,” and “Possibly one of the Top 5 worst finishes of this decade.”
This was not the week to make any major mistakes. Expect some serious damage control tomorrow night on Raw. I mean, #CancelWWENetwork is trending, and that’s bad.
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