Two nights ago, SmackDown Live hosted Hell in a Cell. Going into the show, it seemed like it was doomed to fail with almost half of the card being filler matches. For the most part, however, it did deliver and provided an event that kept the WWE Universe talking. The question remains, however: What went well at Hell in a Cell and what could have been better?
The Best
The New Day and The Usos End Their Rivalry
Ever since the New Day debuted on SmackDown Live, they have been feuding with the Usos. Both teams traded the SmackDown Tag Team Championships back and forth for months, with the New Day becoming four-time champions and the Usos becoming five-time champions. The advertisements for this match said that no matter who the winners were, this was going to be the end of their feud for the time being. The New Day walked in as champions, but The Usos left with the titles around their waists.
Let’s move on to why this match was so great. It had the bold position of kicking off the show and it sure did its job of exciting the crowd. Both teams used every weapon imaginable outside of tables (Xavier Woods had a whole orchestra of weapons, from trombones to a gong and a cowbell) and didn’t hold back at any opportunity. They beat the tar out of each other and provide huge spots with sensible near-finishes, building the suspense for twenty minutes until Jimmy and Jey Uso were able to finish off Woods.
Kevin Owens and Shane O’Mac’s Epic Battle
Once Shane McMahon announced that his Hell in a Cell match against Kevin Owens was going to be Falls Count Anywhere, the WWE Universe knew that things were going to get crazy. Even with those expectations, McMahon and Owens had everyone watching holding their breath for the latter half of the match.
Inside of the cell, the action was intense. McMahon was slammed onto steel steps, Owens cannonballed himself through a table, and both men were thrown into the cell wall. Outside of the cell, things turned up to 11. For about ten minutes, they fought on top of the cell and with every high-impact move (like a Pop-up Powerbomb), the fans feared that someone was going to crash down to the ring. Luckily, that never happened, but Kevin Owens was launched from halfway up the cell wall through the announce table.
Then, of course, was Shane McMahon’s huge leap. Just like at WrestleMania 32 against the Undertaker, Shane McMahon jumped off of the top of the 20-foot tall cell to try and elbow drop Kevin Owens and he missed. This time, Sami Zayn of all people pulled Owens out of the way and dragged him onto McMahon to get the win. Zayn should have some explanation for this on SmackDown Live tonight, but this kept the WWE Universe talking for the whole night.
The Worst
Shinsuke Nakamura Loses to Jinder Mahal
This one is so obvious that it almost isn’t worth mentioning. For the past couple months, Shinsuke Nakamura has been in a terrible feud with Jinder Mahal in hopes of capturing the WWE Championship. In their first encounter, the Singh Brothers cost him the match. This time, the Singh Brothers were ejected from ringside and the King of Strong Style lost clean in the middle of the ring.
Jinder Mahal’s WWE Championship reign started off as something that had a lot of potential, but it has gotten to the point where the unexciting matches do nothing to make up for the bad promos. Hopefully, Nakamura can move on to a more exciting and interesting opponent after having two months of his career wasted.
Randy Orton Ruins Rusev Day
At SummerSlam, Randy Orton defeated Rusev in ten seconds with an RKO. A couple weeks later, Rusev would score a nine-second long victory over Orton with an assist from Aiden English. Their grudge match at Hell in a Cell was a decent bout, but it seems like WWE is okay with Rusev losing all the time. At Battleground, he lost to John Cena in a Flag Match, then he faced two consecutive Pay-Per-View losses to Orton. Rusev is one of the best Superstars on the roster and should be winning more than never.
