WWE Hell in a Cell took place on Sunday 6th October at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. With only 4 matches announced beforehand, I was interested to see how the show goes. So, let's take a look.
The match on the Kick Off Show is
Lacey Evans taking on
Natalya. Lacey wears Natalya down, focusing on the shoulder. Later on, Lacey goes to apply the Sharpshooter but Natalya slaps her to stop it. In the end, Lacey misses a moonsault and this gives her the chance to get Lacey to submit to the Sharpshooter and get the win. This was a decent match.
Winner: Natalya (N/A)
The event starts with our first Hell in a Cell match as
Sasha Banks challenges
"The Man" Becky Lynch for the RAW Women's Championship. Banks starts attacking Lynch as the Cell is being lowered. Lynch recovers and attacks Banks with a chain when the bell rings. They spend most of the match using chairs against each other and throwing each other into the cell. Banks focuses on the arm but Lynch comes close to winning after sending Banks' face onto the chair. After Banks hits a double knee sending Lynch through a table, she uses a kendo stick to strangle her. In the end, Lynch hits a Bex-ploder suplex from the top rope onto a pile of steel chairs then gets Banks to submit to the Dis-Arm Her to get the win. I quite enjoyed this match between the two.
Winner: Becky Lynch (1 for 4)
The next match is a Tornado Tag Team Match with
Erick Rowan and Luke Harper taking on
"The New" Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns. Reigns and Bryan work well together at first before Harper and Rowan start to dominate. When Harper and Rowan try to powerbomb Bryan through an aouunce table, Bryan counters with a hurracarrana on Harper and Reigns spears Rowan through the German announce table. In the end, Harper then hits with a Superman Punch, a running knee and a spear and Reigns and Bryan get the win. Whilst I was slightly surprised that Bryan didn't betray Reigns, I thought this was a really fun match.
Winners: Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan (1 for 2)
Next, we get
Randy Orton taking on
Ali. After both guys exchange Flair chops, Orton pulls Ali off the top rope to the floor to get the advantage. Ali does make a comeback however, he misses a 450 splash. Despite Ali avoiding a RKO in an unique way, he can't avoid a second one and Orton gets the win. This was a decent match between the two and I liked the ending.
Winner: Randy Orton (N/A)
The next match is for the Women's Tag Team Champions as
Asuka and Kairi Sane challenge
Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross. Sane and Asuka were extremely aggressive at the beginning, keeping Cross down while keeping Bliss off the apron. Sane and Asuka go on to be dominant for most of the match, focusing their attack on Bliss. Bliss manages to tag in Cross and she hits a hanging neckbreaker but Asuka breaks up the pin. In the end, Asuka gets inspiration from Tajiri and sprays green mist into Cross' face, which is legal apparently, then kicks her in the head to get the win. It was a little weird seeing Asuka and Sane be heels but it was an enjoyable match.
Winners: Asuka and Kairi Sane (N/A)
Next we get
The O.C. taking on the team of
The Viking Raiders and Braun Strowman. AJ Styles hits a cheap shot on Erik to get his team the advantage. Erik sends Styles flying with a back body drop, giving him the chance to tag in Strowman. Strowman tries to hit a running powerslam on Styles but Karl Andersaon and Luke Gallows stop it and start beating up Strowman. This is enough for the referee to disqualify them (what, really?), giving The Viking Raiders and Strowman the win. I thought the match was pretty good but it was ruined by the ending.
Winners: The Viking Raiders and Braun Strowman (N/A)
The next is
King Baron Corbin taking on
Chad Gable. Corbin starts by doing shitty jokes about Gable's height. Gable doesn't take that well and puts Corbin in an ankle lock early on. Crobin gets the advantage by sliding Gable into the ring post. Gable makes a comeback and hits a moonsault followed by applying an ankle lock. Corbin then decides to cheat and tries to hit Gable with his specter. When the referee grabs it, Gable rolls up Corbin and gets the win. I thought this was a fun match to watch.
Winner: Chad Gable (N/A)
The penultimate match is for the Smackdown Women's Champion as
Charlotte Flair challenges
Bayley. Flair tries early on to get Bayley to submit by putting her in a Boston crab. Bayley takes control of the match after poking Flair in the eye. Bayley then focuses on the leg but Charlotte starts to do the same to her. Bayley tries to use the ropes for leverage when pinning Charlotte but the referee catches it. This gives Charlotte the chance to hit a big boot then get Bayley to submit to the Figure Eight. Bayley doesn't take well and spits the dummy while Charlotte celebrates. This was a good match and I was surprised that Charlotte won. However, it did lead to Bayley going full heel with this "fuck this hugging shit" and regaining the title on the following Smackdown so I'm interested to see where that will go.
Winner: Charlotte Flair (1 for 3)
The main event is
"The Fiend" Bray Wyatt challenging
Seth Rollins in a Hell in a Cell match for the Universal Championship. It doesn't start well as the whole match took place under red light. Wyatt gets the advantage early on, forcing Rollins to use a kendo stick which doesn't affect Wyatt. Wyatt continues to be dominant despite Rollins hitting him with a Curb Stomp 12 times and a Pedigree. Rollins hits him in the head with a steel chair but Wyatt kicks out. Rollins started using every weapon he can find to beat up Wyatt. After using a toolbox to slam a ladder into Wyatt's head, Rollins grabs a sledgehammer and, despite the referee's pleas, hits Wyatt with it. This is apparently too far and the referee calls for the bell...wait, what?! When the medics tend to Wyatt, Wyatt suddenly recovers and beats the fuck out of Rollins ending with him hitting a Sister Abigail onto the exposed floor and applying a Mandible Claw.
Erm...what to say about this match. I get the story that they were trying to tell. However, it was very poorly executed. All the majority of us wanted was for Wyatt to win. Instead, we got a long drawn out match with Rollins getting more and more violent, getting effectively disqualified for it; then Wyatt doing a Undertaker style recovery way after the match ended to attack Rollins. WWE have gone on to say the match ended due to referee stoppage but that doesn't make it any better and for the second year in a row, a Hell in a Cell match has ended in a no contest. A match that is designed to not end that way. Who the actual fuck thought this was a good idea because, in case you hadn't realised it yet, it wasn't.
Winner: Nobody including the fans (1 for 4)
Hell in a Cell was a mixed bag. It started well enough and it had some matches that I enjoyed. However, the main event ruined it for me and I feel sorry Bray Wyatt. He has been involved in some of the worst matches I have ever seen and had his last gimmick ruined piece by piece since coming up to the main roster. His new gimmick is really good and got over with the fans. However, in his 1st big match, it became a clusterfuck. Hopefully, they will sort it out quickly.
