Hell in a Cell review

This is a bit late but I’ve had a busy week.  With WWE going through a PPV heavy period we had Hell in a Cell last weekend.  Once again this is obviously full of spoilers so don’t read it if you don’t want to know (although I imagine by now everyone is aware of the results) and definitely don’t bother it if you don’t like wrestling.

Tag Team Title Triple Threat – Rhodes Brothers retain the title.

The tag titles actually feel exciting at this point in time.  These three teams are the best that WWE have had in a long time and lets hope they are allowed to put on some classic matches before they all go their separate ways.

The match itself was a fast paced exciting affair that showed off everyone in it well.  It continued the great build of the Rhodes Brothers as a legitimate force while at the same time making sure the Shield maintain their heat and the Uso’s continue to get over with their exciting offence.  That pop up Samoan drop is an incredible looking move and a superplex to the outside isn’t something you see everyday.  Can anyone think of a previous example of that?  Goldust showed why he still has a role to play and pulled off the face in peril perfectly, while Cody’s offensive flurry is also great, it brings to mind Bryan’s move-set just because of the speed he pulls it all off at.  All in all this was a perfect opening match to any PPV and hopefully this tag revival continues.

The Miz, Kane and Bray Wyatt

Why was Miz in his gear?  Does he walk around in his gear even when he isn’t having a match?  Little things like that annoy me.  Miz’s promo was a Miz promo, he’s incredibly stale but at least he was succinct and got to the point.   Wyatt is my favourite thing in the WWE right now but he does need some progression in his storyline.  Hopefully the return of Kane is leading to that.  This was basically a set up for Raw though, which I dislike being done on PPV.

Mixed Tag Match – Summer Rae and Fandango win

What a waste of Natalya and Johnny Curtis, both of whom could be relevant if used correctly.  Summer needs some proper gear.  That’s all I got.

US Title match – Big E wins by countout.

Big E. Langston was stupidly over down in NXT and it was actually surprising he came up as a heel.  Hopefully this face turn will give him the chance to regain that momentum.  I liked his fast paced start in this match.  It’s a strange way for a big man to start but it works for him and sets him up as more than a typical big guy.  His spear through the ropes was also very cool.

Ambrose meanwhile is the most complete character in The Shield.  He’s maybe not the technical wrestler that Rollins is but he is portraying that character perfectly.  He made Big E. look like a beast here, although he very openly called the belly to belly suplex.  Sadly the crowd seemed a bit flat for the whole thing.  I’m not sure why, but it may have been the dross they’d had to watch beforehand.  The finish didn’t help that and it annoys me that WWE still consider deliberate count outs a viable finish to a match.  Why would he fight at all if he was just going to get himself count out?  On the other hand Langston needs dominant performances like this against people  like Ambrose to get over so hopefully this is the start of that and WWE take their time getting to that goal.

Handicap HIAC Match – CM Punk wins

Punk’s entrance always wakes up a crowd.  Do you remember when people were worried he would eventually get buried by WWE?  People worried about Daniel Bryan should remember that.  Technical issues aside, I got a kick out of Heyman’s entrance thing.  Saying that it was a bit of a cop out just having him stand on the Cell.

Punk vs Ryback, which is what it became, was a bit flat.  It  feels like we’ve seen the match before and I don’t think anyone expected Ryback to win, which took any tension out of it.  It’s been the big problem with this feud.  Punk vs Heyman was fantastic but neither of the new ‘Heyman guys’ were on Punks level.  Would it have been so hard to bring in someone like Kassius Ohno, build them up to seem a big deal and then face Punk?  Could you not have tempted Colt Cabana off the indies and made it really personal?  (Although I can’t imagine Colt playing the heel.)  Instead we got two guys who Punk had already beat in the past.

Punk winning and getting his hands on Heyman was the right finish to the match.  The GTS on top of the Cell was also a cool visual.  Sadly it was a bit anti-climatic as Punk had really got his hands on Heyman at Battleground.  Still it’s a nice payoff.  Although the start to middle of this feud will be remembered with more joy than the end (although with Mr Lesnar in mind this might not be the end.)

Tag Match – Los Matadores win

Why are Cesaro and Swagger feuding with a bull?  While Swagger has had a chance and failed to get over Cesaro deserves more.  The Cesaro Swing is amazingly impressive and that move should be being praised to the moon and back by every commentator in the company.  Sadly the commentary for this match was embarrassing.

The match was alright.  All four of these guys can go but I could do without the Los Matadores silliness.

World Heavyweight Title match – John Cena wins

Eugh.  So fed up of Super Cena.  Even JBL acknowledged he was like Superman.  The match was set up perfectly for Del Rio to come out looking brilliant after focusing on the arm for the whole thing and making Cena tap out.  Cena would have been fine because he’s beaten everyone a million times and he has the excuse of the injury.  But no, the WWE are too scared to take that risk.

The match was alright.  Cena still can’t sell and the second he goes on offence he looks fresh as a daisy again.  For example, why the hell would he do his shoulder blocks with his injured arm?  It’s little things like that, that piss people off.  However, he does rarely do bad PPV matches and like all of these guys matches this was solid if unspectacular.

Divas Title Match – AJ Lee retains.

The Bella’s face turn has been done badly.  Apart from a connection to Bryan and Cena the crowd have no reason to cheer them.   Brie does deserve credit for her recent improvement and I think she can get over, if she gets the time and support.  Meanwhile AJ is still the most entertaining Diva in a long time, so it could lead to a good Diva feud.  Because of that, the outcome of this match was the right decision.  Brie will eventually win the title, but Survivor Series is probably the place to do it.  All in all this was a solid match that is just one part of a bigger story.

WWE Title – Orton wins

The video package beforehand was very cool.  We could have used seeing the footage of Bryan as a youngster a long time ago but it was still nice to see.  The result however is shit.  Orton and Cena holding the top titles makes it feel like we have jumped in a time machine and gone back five years while HBK and HHH being involved at the top suggests we’ve gone back even further.  The one saving grace to this ending is the tiny slimmer of a chance it’s leading to Bryan vs HBK.  Although part of me hopes it’s not, because I like the fact Shawn’s honoured his retirement.  I love heel Michaels anyway (I kind of just love Michaels to be honest) so I’m happy if that’s all we’re going to get.

This was another HIAC match that felt like the Cell wasn’t really important, which is far too common now a days.  These two have never really hit the heights we would have expected from their matches and this continued the theme.  It just felt very by the numbers and you get the impression they’ve never quite clicked as a pairing.  Missing the chairs on the superplex spot really didn’t help either.  Bryan hitting the running knee on HHH was cool.  If those two eventually end up in a match it will really prove whether the WWE want Bryan over or not.  He pins HHH and he’s obviously a big player.

Random Thoughts

A tag match was the best match on the show.  The WWE finally seem to have a tag team division again and I think that will be the saving grace for the last few months of programming.  Sadly the rest of this PPV was horribly average.  Bryan’s momentum has been ruined and while I have faith in him to regain in (and I don’t think the WWE are quite as determined to bury him as people believe) they definitely missed a trick there.