WWE Hell in a Cell 2016 PPV Review

Introduction: I wasn’t excited for this show due to the poor standard of Raw’s leading into it however looking at the card I still thought we were in for a fairly solid PPV and this was. The match quality throughout the card was pretty good and all three cell matches were all at least good. I didn’t think Reigns versus Rusev and Owens versus Rollins should’ve taken place inside the cell but they were both fine matches. The undercard was nothing better than decent but the main talking point coming out of this show was the history making main event. I had mixed feelings about the Sasha versus Charlotte match but they did have a good match and left it all on the line to prove they deserved to go on last. I’d say Clash of Champions last month was maybe a shade better but this was a good show, better than average and I think outdid on balance SmackDown’s No Mercy earlier this month.

Reigns & Owens Retain In The Cell As Charlotte Wins Title In Main Event

Kickoff: Six-Man Tag Team Match: Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado & Sin Cara vs. Tony Nese, Drew Gulak & Ariya Daivari: On the kickoff show we got the cruiserweight six-man tag

team match. This was what I expected it to be, a fun six-man tag and a good opportunity for these guys to get themselves noticed. The problem with the cruiserweight division at the moment is most of the audience is unfamiliar with most of the talent so these guys need these sort of matches to go out there and make themselves known and there were plenty of good performances and a load of good spots here so they accomplished what this match was set out to do I think. Cedric got the win which I was pleased with as I think he is one of the potential stars of this division and overall positive stuff here on the kickoff.

Match Rating: **3/4

Hell in a Cell Match for the United States Championship: Roman Reigns © vs. Rusev: To open the show we got the first Hell in a Cell of the night as Reigns defended the US

Title against Rusev. I think this was the correct match to go on first, they had three cell matches on this show which is a lot but they structured the card well putting one on first, one in the middle and one on last. This match was the weakest of the three cell matches but was still good stuff although it started pretty slow. In the beginning they just seemed to be throwing each other continuously into the cell and weren’t inventive with what they did with the structure because throwing each other into it was about as much as they did with the cell itself. However the match picked up when they introduced things like the steel stairs and steel chain that Rusev used to apply the accolade onto Reigns with which was a cool spot. Although this was all stuff they could’ve done in any stipulation match and this didn’t need to be inside the cell. Anyone who happens to be feuding when this PPV rolls around goes into the cell which is a shame because this feud wasn’t worthy of a cell match but they don’t really care what they put inside that cell these days. The match didn’t need to be inside the cell but was in the end pretty good, not as good as Roman’s cell match with Bray last year but still solid and him retaining was no surprise.

Match Rating: ***

Bayley vs. Dana Brooke: Up next was Bayley taking on Dana Brooke. This match was average and really that was about as good as Bayley was going to get out of Dana Brooke. The match

wouldn’t look out of place on Raw and I hope this feud is over now after Bayley picked up the victory here. Bayley winning was all I really wanted from this match, you knew it would act as filler on the card and it was a kind of throwaway match but at least the right person went over and Bayley hopefully can go onto something better now possibly entering the title picture.

Match Rating: **1/4

Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Enzo Amore & Big Cass: Up next Gallows and Anderson took on Enzo and Cass and a little like the previous match this was pretty average stuff that wouldn’t look out of place on Raw. But again like the previous match they got booking right by putting Gallows and Anderson over. Gallows and Anderson needed this win a lot more after the way they have been booked. Enzo and

Cass are doing just fine and getting themselves more than over with the crowd so they could afford this loss here, Gallows and Anderson couldn’t. Again it was a pretty average tag team match, nothing bad but nothing special at all but at least the right team took the win.

Match Rating: **1/4

Hell in a Cell Match for the WWE Universal Championship: Kevin Owens © vs. Seth Rollins: Up next was the second cell match of the night with Owens defending the Universal Title against

Rollins. I wasn’t surprised to see this match not main event, really Sasha and Charlotte deserved to more. But this match was very good, an improvement on their Clash of Champions match. They didn’t exactly fire out of the blocks but it got better and better as it went on. Stand out moments included a really cool sequence of back and forth kicks to one another and Rollins powerbombing Owens out of the ring through two tables set up on the outside. Soon enough though Chris Jericho came out and managed to get inside the cell with the door open and locked it shut and from then on it became a handicap match. That I didn’t like, I expected Jericho to find a way to interfere but first of all isn’t one of the main points of Hell in a Cell is that it keeps

out interference? And secondly the original plan was to do a triple threat with Owens, Rollins and Jericho and after the way they ended up booking this match they might as well have gone with the original plan. I know they wanted to put the Universal Title match in the cell so as not to devalue it but after the Jericho involvement here it made this match being in the cell pretty pointless. Jericho helped Owens to retain and like the conclusion to the Clash of Champions match there was just too much interference and I’m very glad they didn’t end the show with this. Owens retains but he doesn’t look like a great champion needing the most blatant of interference from Jericho twice in a row to retain and in the end Jericho went back in the ring and hit Rollins with a codebreaker as he left with his music playing so all the focus ended up being on him. I love the Jericho and Owens bromance but again there were too many shenanigans here but nevertheless a very good match.

Match Rating: ***1/2

WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match: T.J. Perkins © vs. Brian Kendrick. Up next Perkins defended the Cruiserweight Title against Kendrick. The match itself was pretty disappointing and for some reason the crowd were completely dead during it. These guys have

had two good matches, one at Clash of Champions and another on Raw and I was hoping for some of the same here but the crowd was sleeping during this and the match suffered. It was still not bad, they tried to get the crowd going with some nice moves but this wasn’t up to the standard of their previous matches. However what I was pleased about was how this match went down with Kendrick winning the title. He fanned an injury playing with Perkins emotions before taking advantage to win the title and the finish made total sense with the story of the feud between the two. I think this feud has a lot of legs and now Perkins can chase Kendrick for the title and hopefully the rivalry continues to grow and get better but as for the match itself, these guys have produced better.

Match Rating: **1/2

WWE Raw Tag Team Championship Match: The New Day © vs. Cesaro & Sheamus: Up next New Day defended the tag titles against Cesaro and Sheamus. This match was

nothing special, I think the match they had on Raw six days before was better than this. I had very little interest in this match so I wasn’t into it but New Day left with the titles and the only reason I was pleased with that was because I don’t want to see Cesaro and Sheamus as tag champions. I don’t

like this Cesaro and Sheamus unlikely duo thing, it’s without doubt a waste of Cesaro but it’ll probably continue after they won the match but only via disqualification meaning New Day kept the titles. Again New Day kept their titles due to a disqualification and for a supposed face team they’ve done that a few times. I feel like if New Day weren’t so close to breaking Demolition’s tag team title reign record then Cesaro and Sheamus might have won the titles here but it was an underwhelming finish to an underwhelming match and I was happy to move on.

Match Rating: **1/4

Hell in a Cell Match for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks © vs. Charlotte: It was the women who main evented this show as Sasha Banks and Charlotte made history in the first ever women’s Hell in a Cell for the Raw Women’s Title. Now this match was really good but it wasn’t without its faults. The start to the match was hot, both girls had WrestleMania like entrances and Charlotte attacked Sasha before the bell and they brawled through the crowd and only a few minutes in Charlotte powerbombed Sasha through an announce table. They attempted to stretcher Sasha out of the arena but you knew what was coming as

Sasha fought her way off the stretcher and into the cell as the match proceeded. Now my first issue here was that when the match got going Sasha was flying around the ring like she was fine and considering she was being stretchered away only a few minutes ago that wasn’t great selling. But once the match was underway in the cell it was very good stuff, they brought in a number of weapons as well as utilising the cell and I was enjoying it. However a few spots didn’t go so smoothly with the table, Sasha went to put Charlotte through one on the outside but only one of the legs of the table broke so that didn’t come off. And then at the finish Charlotte went to put Sasha through a table but she just bounced off it as it failed to break again. Those are things the girls couldn’t have helped so I’m not getting on their backs for that but what really annoyed me was the outcome when after the second failed table spot Charlotte hit natural selection for the win. Charlotte getting the title back made no sense to me, it was Sasha’s hometown, it was a history making match and it was going on last, it should’ve ended with the hometown girl retaining her title. What really should’ve happened is Sasha should’ve became the champion here, that would’ve been the best course of action and you have to ask what was the point of putting the title back on Sasha on Raw a few weeks back if Charlotte was just going to get the belt back here. It’s become a hot potato with the title and I hate it when a title gets thrown around so often like this, I feel like that’s three big PPV wins this year Sasha should’ve had but has now missed out on (WrestleMania, SummerSlam and this PPV).

I’m not sure if Vince trusts Sasha with the title after her history with injuries, that’s the only reason I can think of but I think it was the wrong move to put the title back on Charlotte here, I think this was made for Sasha to win. Nevertheless this match was really good and these girls have it their absolute all even if everything didn’t come off perfectly and despite a frustrating conclusion.

Match Rating: ***1/2

Overall Thoughts: Overall a solid show from the red brand, outdid SmackDown this month in terms of the PPV’s, it had its negative points but just about every WWE PPV does, all in all it was a good show.

Overall Rating: 7.25/10