Here’s your review for WWE Hell in a Cell 2019
The eleventh Hell in a Cell Pay Per View is officially in the history books and what a show it was.
Though the show had been overshadowed in recent weeks with the changes
to WWE's programming, there was plenty of action, starting with Natalya
taking on Lacey Evans on the kick-off show.
From the get-go, Evans dominated the veteran Canadian, battering Natalya both in and
out of the ring.
At one point, Evans would even target Natalya's legs on the steel steps and would try
to choke out the former SmackDown Women's Champion in the apron.
After failing to add insult to injury with a sharpshooter of her own, Evans would
go for a moonsault, though after Natalya countered, quickly locked
locked in her own sharp shooter to get the submission win.
Post-match, Natalya would get some more retribution, hitting
Evans with the Woman's right, and thought it was a fine match, we can't help but be confused
by Natalya's sudden win after being decimated almost the entire match.
Though the third-generation star got the win, this feud isn't over yet, as the pair
will face off tonight on RAW, in a Last Woman Standing match.
With the kick-off finished, it was time for the event itself, which kicked off with the first of two
Hell in a Cell matches, between RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks.
Even before the match began, Sasha would take advantage, levelling the Man
with a suplex on the ramp, and continuing her offence in the ring.
Though Banks would get the first near fall of the show, Becky would retaliate with a
Bexploder, in a very evenly booked match between the two Superstars.
What was notable about the match was how innovative both women were,
as at one point, a kendo stick and steel chair combo would leave Banks perched
several feet off the ground, and prone to a dropkick from the Man.
To combat that, The Blueprint would use her patented double knees, at one point
even crushing Lynch into a ladder with the move, and though Banks writhed in pain
the glazed-over look on the face of the Champion told the story.
With the crowd split between the two, both women had moments where it seemed
they'd win, but it was ultimately the Man who retained
locking in the Disarmher to get the submission.
By far one of the better matches of the night, Banks put up a valiant performance
though it seems 2019 is still the year of the man.
Up next we had Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan face Erick Rowan
and Luke Harper in a physical bout between all four.
From the start, the heels would get the advantage, quickly getting rid of Reigns,
leaving Bryan to find for himself.
In fact, an impressive Michinoku Driver by Harper would've surely ended the match
if not for the timely interference of the Big Dog.
As Rowan and Roman brawled outside of the ring, Harper would make a suicide dive
to the outside, though Harper would land face first into the announce table
and it's not sure if he was selling the injury or if it's real.
Whatever the case was, the match continued, and whilst the Bludgeon Brothers attempted
a powerbomb on Bryan, Reigns would instead spear Rowan through the announce table.
Without his partner, Harper was quickly felled thanks to a Superman Punch, Running Knee
and Spear combo, and Bryan and Roman hugged post-match, seemingly ending
the storyline beef between the two.
It's unclear whether there will be another match between these four,
as it seems this storyline has now been played out.
In a match that was only made on the kick-off show, Randy Orton took
on Ali in a unique meeting of two very different stars.
From the start, Orton would ground the highflyer, even using a Nature-Boy-esque
thumb to the eye, and sending the Ali into the announce tables.
Though Ali would try and fight back, most fans knew how this match was going to go
and the several long periods of Orton offense confirmed those suspicions.
A rather dull match with no back story, the only real highlight of the match came near the end
when Ali would counter an RKo with an impressive handstand.
Though he countered the first, Ali wasn't so lucky with the second, as Orton would get the
win in what was frankly a lacklustre match between two big stars.
Up next the WWE Women's Tag titles were on the line, in what ended up
being one of the best matches of the night.
From the very start, the Kabuki Warriors showed heelish tendencies as they took on Alexa
Bliss and Nikki Cross, with Kairi Sane even faking a sportsmanship handshake before the bell had rung.
Later in the match both Sane and Asuka would use the ropes to their advantage, and Sane
would even use a thumb to the eye on Cross, much to the fury of the crowd.
A clothesline by the Scottish Superstar would see the crowd definitely side with her and Bliss
though Asuka would use the green mist, something we've never seen from her
to blind Cross and get the win, and the titles.
An impressive match by all four involved, it seems WWE is teasing a heel turn for the
Kabuki Warriors, and it'll be interesting to see where things go from here.
It was a night full of tag team action, as the OC squared off against the Viking Raiders
and their mystery partner next, who turned out to be Braun Strowman.
The deceptively quick Ivar would hold his own against Luke Gallows, even diving
out of the ring onto his opponents, who were left reeling.
In one fun spot of the match, Braun Strowman would show off his endurance
running a lap around the ring to take down each member of the OC.
As the match continued, the team of Strowman and the Raiders only gained in momentum
which may be why the OC issued a three-on-one beatdown
on the Monster Among Men, leading to a DQ.
Whilst the match was over, Strowman was far from finished, as he'd level the Phenomenal One
with a devastating right hand, just 24 hours before he meets a man who knows all about
right hands, boxing lineal World Champion Tyson Fury, who will appear tonight on RAW.
Though Styles was left shaken by the punch, even needing to be reminded where he was
and what day it was, at least the US Champion left with his title, unlike Carmella.
Backstage, the 24/7 Champion interrupted the Street Profits, and was rolled up by Tamina
for her troubles, giving the second-generation star her first title in her entire career.
Attacking Tyler Breeze to escape, Tamina would escape the scene with the title
though her reign wouldn't last long, but we'll get to that later...
Back in the ring now and the next match saw Chad Gable take on King Baron Corbin
who insulted the Olympian before the bell had rung.
Corbin would even rechristen Gable 'Shorty', though the name clearly didn't sit well with Chad
who used a series of submissions to ground the much taller King of the Ring.
A devastating clothesline by the King would nearly decapitate Gable, and Corbin would
continue to make short jokes about Chad, and though Corbin does make
a great bully, we feel that this idea is starting to get old.
Corey Graves calling Gable Shorty on commentary didn't help things, though the
former Olympian would counter the End of Days for an impressive ankle lock.
Escaping to the outside, Corbin would attempt to use his Scepter, though when
this was blocked by the ref, it allowed Gable to get the roll-up win.
Whilst he may have finally beaten Corbin, the moment was bitter sweet, as announcer Greg
Hamilton would refer to Chad as Shorty Gable, and fans online quickly bashed the new name.
Hell in a Cell may not have gone the way King Corbin wanted, but it went exactly how the
Queen of WWE planned, as Charlotte Flair captured her tenth Women's Championship.
Even before the match begun, there were shenanigans in the crowd, as 24/7 Champion
Tamina would be confronted by R-Truth, and when Tamina used Funaki as a human shield
it seemed the rapping Superstar was ready to bust out some Martial Arts moves.
Instead though, Tamina was blindsided by Carmella, who downed the champ with a kick
to the head, but the Staten Island Princess allowed Truth to capture his 20th 24/7 title.
Back in the ring, and the match between SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley and
Charlotte got underway, with the Hugger quickly targetting the Queen's legs.
Although she claims to be the same person she was before, a thumb to the eye
by the Hypocritical Bayley allowed her to get the advantage, and after smashing
Charlotte's foot into the LED light board, it seemed the match was as good as won.
Refusing to go down without a fight though, Charlotte would also target Bayley's legs,
and it was an interesting bit of storytelling to see the two Super stars fight through the pain.
At one point, the confident Bayley would even attempt a figure four of her own
though it was narrowly avoided by Flair.
It's hard to pinpoint when, by Flair was busted open during the match, and could be seen
bleeding through the match, though that didn't slow her down one bit.
When the heel Bayley was caught using the ropes during a pin, the referee would chastise her
giving Flair enough time to lock in the figure eight to get the win and her tenth reign
as Women's Champion, leaving an emotional title-less Bayley at ringside.
Whilst Bayley was being helped to the back, Kayla Braxton would catch up with Chad Gable,
and even called him Shorty, despite the fact that she's much shorter than him.
Pleased with the result, Gable would ask Braxton to find the loser
Corbin and interview him, though she didn't have far to look.
During the interview, Corbin would attack his foe backstage, as it seems the war
between these two is far from over but we're not sure we can take any more
of the same Short jokes by the King, or Gable's terrible new nickname.
With all other matches out of the way, it was finally time for the main event, as
Universal Champion Seth Rollins put his title on the line against the Fiend, inside Hell in a Cell.
The usually focused Rollins was clearly apprehensive as he entered the structure
and this was contrasted nicely by the confident Wyatt.
In Rollins' third Hell in a Cell match, the champ wasted no time in grabbing a weapon,
though the Fiend showed no sign of injury or pain when
Rollins laid into him with a chair shot.
Bathed in an eerie red light, the match certainly had a big fight feel to it, and a great
story was told of Rollins trying to find ways to down the Fiend.
A series of attacks and even a handful of curb stomps only garnered a one count
much to the delight of the fans who were clearly behind Wyatt.
Even frog splashing Wyatt through a table and another curb stomp had practically
no effect on him, as the pro- Wyatt crowd were sure a title change was imminent,
and a series of sister abigails by Wyatt seemed to confirm this theory.
And then, it happened.
After finally downing the Fiend, Rollins took the advice of anyone who's survived a horror movie
and aimed for the head, smashing Wyatt in the face with a steel chair,
As a murmer of gasps and boos grew in the crowd, Rollins wouldn't stop there,
burying Wyatt's head in a chair, a ladder and even a toolbox to weaken the Fiend.
When Rollins grabbed a Sledge hammer though, shades of his mentor Triple H
the referee told Rollins not to use it, even saying that he knows Seth isn't that sort of person
in what was a rather cringy part of the match.
Ignoring these protests, Rollins struck down with the hammer,
leading to the ref stopping the match, and every fan in the arena,
and those online, turned on the bout
Almost immediately, chants of "Bullsh*t" "AEW" and "Restart the Match" echoed around
and though the match wasn't restarted, that wasn't the end of the Fiend.
With the match officially over and the fans angry, Wyatt and Rollins tried their best
to save face and presumably build to a rematch down the line, with Wyatt initiating
a postmatch beatdown on Rollins, leaving the Universal
Champion bleeding from the mouth.
It was a valiant effort by the two Superstars to save face, but at this point, the damage had already
been done, and Hell in a Cell 2019 ended with a chorus of boos from the WWE Universe.
On the whole, the show was an interesting watch, though the Pay Per View definitely
feels like a show that was booked at the last minute.
The idea of this show being booked at the last minute not far from the truth, as
the season premiere of RAW and the debut of SmackDown
on FOX took precedence this week, leading to many matches, including the Orton-Ali bout and
the Kabuki Warriors Vs. Bliss and Cross only being announced mere minutes before the show.
The highlight of the night will have to go to either the first Hell in a Cell,
which saw The Man and the Boss try out a lot of new ideas in the 22-year-old structure
or the Women's Tag Team match, which could lead to some very interesting things
for the new champions the Kabuki Warriors
The worst moment of the night has to be the main event's end, as even though
the company may have plans for Wyatt to win the title at a later date,
sometimes you just need to give the fans what they want.
It's a real shame that considering all the many changes to happen to WWE
many of which for the better, that this historic week in wrestling has ended
on a very sour note, thanks to some frankly baffling booking.
With the rise of AEW, and the always controversial Crown Jewel event coming
at the end of this month, the WWE will have to do some thing very special to lure fans
back after this, and even then, time will tell whether the ship has sailed for the Fiend.