Welcome to the 2015 Hell in a Cell recap!
If you have not watched, we got quite a few surprises tonight. I was surprised to be wrong in my first prediction, as Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro, and Adrian Neville defeated Sheamus, Rusev, and Wade Barrett. Good, fast paced match, with Wade Barrett eating a superkick from Zigglers, a 20-count Cesaro swing, finally ending with Neville splattering the King with the Red Arrow, because OF COURSE Barrett has to get pinned. That is his job. Get crowned King of the Ring, then job to everyone.
Out first official match of the night features John Cena and his U.S. Open Challenge. We get the appearance of Zeb Colter, which of course makes us all think Jack Swagger is on his way out. However, Colter starts talking about opportunity and we get… ALBERTO DEL RIO! Yes, the guy who quit over a year ago after an incident backstage. See? What did I tell you, this is wrestling, people get forgiven. In a relatively shocking fast match, Del Rio superkicked his way to victory, defeating John Cena for the United States Championship.
Yes, we all heard the rumors Cena planned on taking off. The finish was a surprise, Cena taking the Backstabber followed by a kneeling superkick. No submission victory here, making it look like Cena went down fast. He had longer matches with mid-carders on RAW.
Roman Reigns earns a hard-fought victory against Bray Wyatt in the first of two Hell in a Cell matches. Reigns and Wyatt put one hell of a show, bringout chairs, kendo sticks, and multiple tables which were all destroyed. Both men hit finishers, but we got some close kickouts. Finally, Reigns got the clean pinfall with a huge spear in the center of the ring. The match was great, I was impressed with Reigns and Wyatt. I was expecting Wyatt to win since he usually does get the W in the feud closers, but I was wrong this time. Backstage, Dean Ambrose hinted about “their next move.” Tag Team Championships maybe?
Speaking of tag teams, The New Day danced and gyrated their way to retaining the titles against the Dudley Boys. Major screw up mid-way through the match. Decent match, surprising finish, did not expect New Day to pull it off.
Charlotte retained the Divas Title in a good match, but I expected better. Seemed as though Nikki was really trying to hurt Charlotte. Jealous much? Charlotte took an Alabama Slam against the ring apron. Charlotte won with a sloppy figure eight. Could have been better, but we know, it’s a Bella.
In a painfully slow match, Seth Rollins retained the WWE Championship, because we knew that would happen. It was time to retire “Corporate Kane” and let Demon Kane loose. Put up a good fight, except there were too many rest periods. Rollins hit multiple diving top rope knees, ending with the Pedigree for the clean win.
It had to be this way, but Kevin Owens retained the Intercontinental Championship against Ryback. Crowd was clearly behind KO. The match could have been better, but my guess is it had to be rushed to give Brock and Taker more time. I’m just glad KO retained.
As we expected, a very bloody bout between The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar. We got blood very early on. Not a ton of suplexes, but a lot of brawling and big hits with ring stairs, chairs, and the cell itself. Lots of moments where blood had to be cleaned. After exposing the wood underneath the canvas and foam, Brock Lesnar defeated the Undertaker.
The question is, what is next? The “Thank You Taker” chant which erupted was a nice touch from the live crowd, but we also got promos during the show stating The Undertaker will celebrate 25 years at the 2015 Survivor Series, the place where he made his debut. So, it is clear this is not the last we have seen of the Deadman.
However, before the show closed, the entire Wyatt Family came down to confront The Undertaker. By confront, I mean beat the crap out of him. Guess this will set up Survivor Series, perhaps The Wyatt Family against Team Deadman.
