Thursday, March 28, 2024
EditorialHell In A Cell 2018 Preview and Match Predictions

Hell In A Cell 2018 Preview and Match Predictions

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Dolph Ziggler (C) and Drew McIntyre (C) vs. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose – RAW Tag Team Championship

This is only here because it has to be.

This match really doesn’t have a backbone behind it other than that it just a match between a feud between six people, and two of them happen to be title holders. What I fail to understand is why The Revival couldn’t have gotten this match. They are owed a RAW Tag Title opportunity after being blindsided by Drew and Dolph. The B Team get their rematch and The Revival are all of a sudden just afterthoughts. Drew and Dolph just won the titles, and if this was any other team they were facing, I’d say that they would retain. However, for the sake of the story, it’s almost like Seth and Dean have to win here. I mean, WWE has already shown that they don’t care for about 90% of the roster considering that they could just stick anybody that’s not a main eventer out for a 30 on 3 beatdown at a moment’s notice. The only way to capitalize on the theory that barely anybody who’s not a Shield member doesn’t matter is to end the night with The Shield holding all the belts. Seth as IC Champion, Dean and Rollins holding the tag titles, and Roman as Universal Champion. It’s happening.

Winner: Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose

Ronda Rousey (C) vs. Alexa Bliss – RAW Women’s Championship

Who realistically thinks Ronda will lose?

There’s a huge problem that WWE needs to address with Ronda in regards to her dominance. While of course, you wouldn’t want a former UFC Women’s Champion to look like a pushover, you also want to at least pretend that Ronda has some competition or vulnerability. She runs through Nia Jax, and she’s dominated Alexa on multiple occasions. I understand there are other adversaries such as Sasha Banks, Bayley and the Riott Squad that she can go through, but so far, WWE’s done a terrible job in making it look like Ronda could lose to anybody straight up on the women’s roster.

That’s why I thought she should have lost the tag team match last night. If she had lost, we could at least say that she may have a disadvantage going into Sunday. Instead, Ronda had hurt ribs and she won the tag match anyway with Ronda staring down Alexa in the process. The announcing team will try their best to try and milk Ronda’s ribs all they want, but Ronda’s correct. Even if Ronda were to be functioning at around 50% capacity, she can defeat Alexa with little difficulty, and that’s just a fact. Alexa has virtually no chance this Sunday, and if she were to win the title back, call it the upset of the century.

Winner: Ronda Rousey

Charlotte Flair (C) vs. Becky Lynch – Smackdown Women’s Championship

Spoiler alert: Becky is hot when she’s evil.

Hopefully, I’m not the only one who thinks that Becky Lynch as a heel is the hottest thing one can ever lay their eyes upon. Becky just has that added edge to her character that she’s needed for some time, and I just love the visual of her beating up Charlotte whenever she feels like it. While the feud really should be centering around Charlotte as a heel and Becky as a face, I’m not going to complain. The only thing I hope is that these two women are allowed to work up to their full capacity because there’s no reason why this can’t be a great back and forth match if it gets the time it needs to tell its story thoroughly. Predicting the winner here is difficult. Charlotte just won the title, and I’m not sure if WWE has the fortitude to put the title on Becky already so soon after turning heel.

In my opinion, this match is either going to have a double DQ or have Charlotte win by another fluke, simply because I believe the feud is going to go into WWE Evolution or Supershow. I’m thinking Becky takes the title from Charlotte then, but the thrill is in the chase and the anticipation of wanting to see Becky hold the women’s title that she hasn’t held in over two years will make the wait worth it. Just not this Sunday.

Winner: Charlotte Flair or Double DQ

The New Day (C) vs. Rusev and Aiden English – Smackdown Tag Team Championship

Hopefully, this gets enough time to work.

Can we just give the Smackdown tag team division a standing applause for making tag team wrestling feel, you know, important again? The tournament has been chock full of non-stop, high-paced action with all of the teams making it seem like being tag team champions matter. Whereas on the RAW Tag team division, teams are given title matches for the sake of narrative, jobber tag teams get to hold the titles spending months getting fluke victories and there is no sense of urgency. I am looking forward to this match because The New Day especially has been on fire in 2018, and I believe that Rusev and Aiden will be a good pair for them. I would like to see Rusev and Aiden as tag champs, but beating The New Day is a completely different story. If this was a multi-tag team match, then I can see Rusev and Aiden winning. Unfortunately for Rusev and Aiden, The New Day are on a bit of a hot streak, and I don’t see them dropping the titles this Sunday. I’m just hoping for a hard-worked back and forth affair. And you know what? I think we will.

Winner: The New Day

Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy – Hell In A Cell Match

Who wants to start a GoFundMe for Jeff’s back after this match?

Don’t get me wrong, this feud has been completely okay, and I’m digging the Orton heel turn a great deal. I also like the energy Jeff Hardy is still able to convey in his matches and his willingness to still do big spots at his age. However, can someone explain to me what exactly about this feud constitutes that they settle their differences inside Hell In A Cell? Is it Randy Orton’s fetish for wanting to rip Jeff Hardy’s ear off? This feud is based completely on arbitrary reasons. Randy Orton wanted to remind us how dangerous he can be and because we apparently forgot Orton is now going to destroy every one of our heroes, one by one. Jeff doesn’t like that so he’s going to defend himself.

I’m not sure I am mentally prepared for the image of Jeff Hardy Swanton Bombing his back right onto Orton’s body from atop the Hell In A Cell cage. I’m just afraid that this spine is going to completely pop out of his back upon impact. Hardy has been taking incredibly dangerous bumps all of his life, and he’s still doing it late into his 40s just to show us that he can still do it. I just want him to take care of himself. I’m also concerned that this match is just going to be one of those long, drawn-out, methodical Randy Orton main event style matches from years past. And am I crazy to think a Hell In A Cell match really isn’t for a guy like Jeff Hardy?

He seems to just be a guy that should just be used for a momentary pop and normal matches. Hardy isn’t a believable threat inside Hell In A Cell, if you guys know what I mean. Randy Orton is winning simply because it makes more sense for him to win, and Orton still needs to look strong, I suppose. Again, there’s nothing wrong with this feud, but surrounding it inside Hell In A Cell feels like a waste.

Winner: Randy Orton

AJ Styles (C) vs. Samoa Joe – WWE Championship

Why isn’t this HIAC again?

A better question than why Orton and Hardy are fighting inside Hell In A Cell is why these two aren’t. I understand that AJ as WWE Champion has essentially been neutered to an extent, because he hasn’t been main eventing PPV’s, and WWE is treating the Universal Title blatantly more important than it is its top title. Of course, this isn’t AJ’s fault, because WWE has their priorities, and AJ isn’t on the premiere brand for RAW. Right now, AJ is basically in that period of time that champions that all top champions from the blue brand in the past have been. Whoever is holding the world title on RAW has always been the main attraction. So, I can deal with AJ not being the main event. What I don’t understand is how Orton’s desire to make Jeff Hardy earless constitute a Hell In A Cell match more than Samoa Joe targeting AJ’s family as the source of the feud.

What makes the lack of a Hell In A Cell match stipulation for this match even more befuddling is that their match at Summerslam ended in a DQ because AJ got so pissed at Joe he couldn’t stop kicking his ass. So wouldn’t the most logical next step in the feud be to put them in a match where AJ can’t get disqualified and the two can tear each other apart to their heart’s content? AJ has had numerous title defenses on PPV this year end indefinitely because he couldn’t control himself. So who’s to say that AJ doesn’t lose control again and get himself disqualified? It honestly makes no sense to me, and I hope that a late announcement of some sort is made to put them inside the Cell, because everything in the feud, no matter how repetitive it is, makes too much sense to do.

I’m not concerned with the quality of the match, because it’s AJ Styles and Samoa Joe. You can blindfold them and they can make something productive out of it. They don’t need a cell to tear it down, but it would have been nice to see.

I’ve been saying for the longest time that they need to pull the trigger on Joe, but with each passing time that they don’t have Joe win, I slowly start to think they are just too cowardly to do it. I’ve always had an underlying feeling that AJ was gonna lose the title for the past couple of PPV’s, and he has to lose eventually. But I don’t think it will happen this Sunday. It’s like WWE wants to pull the trigger, but they just can’t do it and wants to stick with what works. And right now, what works for them is AJ Styles.

Winner: AJ Styles

Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella vs. The Miz and Maryse

Well, this is a thing that will happen.

I’m not really looking forward to this either, and there’s no beating around the bush from me. It’s because of the addition of Brie and Maryse. It’s not what’s wrong with them, but it’s because I have always hated the mixed tag team match formula. There’s basically always two different matches going on in one, and for Brie Bella’s popularity, she’s one of the worst in-ring performers I’ve seen. One half of the match is Bryan vs. Miz and the other half is a terrible in-ring performer against a woman who hasn’t had a singles match in over 7 years and gave birth 5 months ago. If you ask me, I’m not looking forward to seeing how that dynamic plays itself out. But again, this is an issue with almost every mixed tag match I’ve seen. Unless of course, you are Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey. Then, it’s okay.

The Miz struck first at Summerslam, so naturally, it makes sense to give Bryan a win here to even things out in the feud to go forward. I would have liked for Bryan and Miz to fight inside Hell In A Cell, but I do understand that Hell In A Cell matches also represent somewhat of a finality to a feud, and we all know that this beef between Miz and Bryan is far from over and may very well expand into WrestleMania season next year. Whatever their plans are, I think it’s only logical to have Bryan get a revenge win here to even things out.

Winners: Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella

Roman Reigns (C) vs. Braun Strowman – Universal Championship (Hell In A Cell Match)

Take a shot for how many times someone else interferes in a match that no one is supposed to interfere in.

This match suffers from the same issue that the RAW Tag Team Title match suffers from. If you want a more clear indication of what I mean, it’s that the main event, based on how everything’s been booked up until then, should have been a 3 on 3 Hell In A Cell match between The Shield and Drew, Braun and Dolph. Roman and Braun are just two figures in what has proven to be a much bigger beef. I would get excited for Mick Foley being the Special Guest referee, but if we are being honest here, he adds nothing to the match except another distraction. It feels like WWE only brought Mick back to this role simply because they could and because of the whole 20th-anniversary ordeal between him and Undertaker. That being said, I think he is meant as another distraction to prevent people from getting mad at Roman Reigns retaining his title this Sunday. I’m personally not concerned about the quality of the match, because Roman and Braun know each other like the back of their hands and they’ve done basically everything they can to each other. This is just another chapter in their rivalry.

You also have to love how WWE likes to stress that Hell In A Cell is a match where no one can get in when a flip of the ol’ WWE Network will show you a history of Hell In A Cell matches having a third party make their presence felt. Whether it was Chris Jericho getting inside when the door happened to be open, Bray Wyatt teleporting in the ring and speaking backward from a magical lamp or Triple H merely instructing someone to open the door, there is a long history of people interfering in Hell In A Cell. You can almost rest assured that Drew, Dolph, Seth and Dean will be involved in some way. There’s no way after all of the back and forth between those two trios that the match is just going to be decided by who between Braun and Roman is the better man. Roman just won the title, and he’s not dropping it any time soon. Expect a lot of shenanigans, expect a lot of WWE main event like tomfoolery and expect Braun to join John Cena, Damien Sandow and Baron Corbin as the only men in history to cash in Money In The Bank and lose.

Winner: Roman Reigns

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