Friday, March 29, 2024
EditorialHell In A Cell 2018 Review and Match Ratings

Hell In A Cell 2018 Review and Match Ratings

22,947 views

TRENDING

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

Wow.

Before the match, I was saying that I never thought Orton and Jeff deserved a HIAC match because I didn’t think the feud warranted it. I also didn’t think that a version of Jeff Hardy that’s past his prime and a version of Randy Orton that many thought was bland didn’t deserve a cell match, but boy was I ever wrong here. What I appreciated was that both men skipped all of the formalities with the in-ring stuff and got straight to the nitty-gritty, kicking each other’s asses part. My primary concern was that the match was going to have a slow, dull pace that didn’t get the crowd in it. In all candor, a HIAC match can be a methodical match, but it also depends on the pacing of the men in the match, and since Orton and Hardy have a combined age of about 80, I wasn’t holding my breath.

The introduction of all of the weapons early set the tone for the rest of the match, and I loved how both men maintained that intensity throughout the duration of the match. Randy was trying to visibly destroy Jeff to within an inch of his life, and since this was Jeff’s first HIAC match, he used his normal ingenuity to give his moves a bit more impact. If you needed an indication of whether or not these two literally busted their asses, all you have to do is look at all of the battle scars Orton suffered in this match. These two wanted to make something special and they did.

I have to give a special round of applause to Randy Orton, because it’s been a while where I’ve seen a vintage performance like that from him. I have to say, him using the screwdriver and twisting Jeff Hardy’s ear like spaghetti was quite the disturbing sight. But then again, that is the purpose of Orton’s new character. He wants us to squirm and make us feel uncomfortable. It instantly reminded me of the 2009 version of Orton that was punting Vince in the head, DDT’ing Stephanie and kissing her on top of it. He carried the pace of the match and it was refreshing to see this version of Randy again.

The ending was a bit awkward, and when Jeff said he wanted to do something he never did before, he was technically right. I can’t remember when somebody used a ladder and just dangled like a nose booger without any real plan of attack before. Them raising the cage and Orton getting a desperation cover wouldn’t have had the same impact as say, if Orton were to catch Jeff in mid-air with an RKO. I also would have liked to see more of the cell being incorporated in the match, but it didn’t ruin anything for me. The silence after the cover to see if Jeff was really okay was a great added touch.

Overall, I was incredibly surprised at this match and I got way more than what I was bargaining for. I was expecting a 20-minute snoozefest, but what we got was the essence of what HIAC is all about, and I got some Ruthless Aggression Era flashbacks to boot. Tremendous opener. ****1/4

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

I dig it.

I didn’t think that they were going to pull the trigger on Becky this soon, and was certain that they were going to play this out a bit longer. But hey, I’m here for it. Becky and Charlotte can’t really have a bad match, because it’s Charlotte and Becky. I thought they worked with sense of urgency, and I thought that they both worked extremely hard. I just thought the match’s pace was a bit too quick for my liking. Maybe it’s because we couldn’t tell that Charlotte forgot when she was supposed to sell her arm, but it was like the match went by too quickly to the point where we weren’t able to keep track of the match’s psychology.

In addition, the match was kind of sloppy at times, with spots looking uncoordinated and both women working too fast, kind of causing the match to be rushed. I can understand why the match was a bit quicker because the match that preceded it lasted about 24 minutes, but they did a great job of working hard in the time they had. Becky’s the champ, she didn’t shake Charlotte’s hand after, and all is right with the world. That ending was pretty nifty too. I’m happy here. ***1/4

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

Tag team wrestling rules!

I figured they may have Dolph and Drew retain since they just won it, but I also thought they were going to give The Shield all the titles at the end of the night. Before we get into that, I should say that this was a tremendous back and forth tag team match. If you ask me, it had just the kind of pacing and intensity that you would see out of an NXT Tag Title match. All of the quick back and forths towards the end, the creativity of the finish and the chemistry both teams have with each other made this a match worth seeing. Now I understand that some people may not like the kick out fest that the match turned into at the end, but I loved all of it. There was just so many moments where you thought one team was going to win, but then you realize that it’s a tag team match and both teams worked together.

In addition, that finish was so clever. Drew knew that he only had a slight instance to see if he can get his finisher in on Seth and he did it and just the right moment. Drew and Dolph getting a clean win here is also important, because it does create a balance and it shows The Shield can be beaten if you work smart and work together. If The Shield were to run over the trio of Dolph, Drew and Braun, there may be no point in having them face off because The Shield have all the titles and all the wins. But the bottom line is that this was a high quality back and forth affair, and both teams ought to be proud of themselves for producing another banger on this show. One of the best matches of the year to be sure. ****1/2

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

This must continue. Them’s the rules.

I don’t know about this one. Upon first viewing, the match was good to me. It was well worked, there were some awesome spots, such as AJ’s rack bomb. But this match kind of felt more like a Smackdown main event than a WWE Championship match involving a guy targeting another man’s wife and kids. The intensity that the two had at Summerslam was much better in my opinion. I also don’t know what it says about AJ Styles, but does he really feel good about essentially escaping with a victory and being fortunate that the referee was on the opposite side of the pinfall to avoid seeing AJ tap out? Again, I didn’t hate it or anything, but this just felt like a very long Smackdown main event. Meaning that it was passable and good, but as the next step in this story, I didn’t really feel like the maintained the momentum they had coming out of Summerslam.

With this finish, this feud is all but sure to continue into the fall, leading me to believe there is going to be some special stipulation added onto their next encounter to avoid something like that happening. I guess my biggest issue with the match was that it was 20 minutes of average action. If that was the finish they were going for, I would have appreciated shaving off a few minutes to get there. Again, the match was decent and well worked, but that extra dynamic that put the match into elite territory at Summerslam was missing here. I guess you can say this match suffered from the same issues that AJ’s matches with Shinsuke had. It wasn’t nearly as great as it should have been, and we took too long to have what ended up being just a good match and nothing more. ***

The Miz and Maryse def. Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella – Mixed Tag Team Match

Ugh.

Yeah, this match was everything I thought it would be. In other words, nothing good. I’m sorry, but Maryse should not be wrestling. That’s just it. She really can’t take any real bumps, and she is better served as being The Miz’s valet. I’m just going to be honest in saying that I didn’t like it, but I wasn’t mad at it because that is what I was expecting. Mixed tag team matches are always difficult if not done completely right because you are having basically two matches in one. The mixed match at WrestleMania was exciting primarily because of who was involved. In this match, you had one half of the match being The Miz and Daniel Bryan. Two elite competitors. On the other half, you have someone who is technically retired, and another that hasn’t had a singles match in 8 years and just gave birth. And since two halves of one match make the entire match, you have to take the good with the bad.

Whatever The Miz and Daniel did in the match was decent, but nothing remarkable. Whatever Brie and Maryse did, well, was not only unremarkable but cringe-worthy at times. The crowd seems to be primarily those of casuals because they popped heavy for Brie attacking Maryse. So I guess I can’t say the crowd was dead. That being said, the match was still below average. Fortunately, Maryse realized that Brie Bella’s biggest weakness was being Brie Bella and got a cradle (?) pin to win the match. I’m sure mostly everyone was picking Daniel and Brie to win, and rightfully so. Doesn’t Daniel look like a complete goober in this feud so far? He loses to Summerslam thanks to The Miz and Maryse working together. Then, Daniel calls The Miz a coward and Brie says the same thing about Maryse. Then, The Miz and Maryse just beat them again anyway?

Again, I wasn’t upset at the match because I knew what I was getting, but that doesn’t make it any better. *3/4

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

A foregone conclusion.

Structurally speaking, the match was pretty good, and better than their match at Summerslam. However, there is one primary issue that has been bothering me about Ronda. It doesn’t really have to do with her so much as it has to do with the rest of the division. Seeing Ronda sell ribs at the hand sof Alexa Bliss, just the sight of it, looks completely unrealistic. I compare it to seeing The Big Show selling bad legs from Rey Mysterio. Right now, I cannot really believe anyone on the RAW roster can defeat Ronda straight up. Yes, she’s only faced Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss on PPV thus far besides Stephanie McMahon, but I cna’t be convinced that Bayley, Sasha or the Riott Squad can dethrone her. I’m thinking her next feud will probably be with Natalya, only because that seems like the next logical step in the feud, but now is the time for WWE to start building up the rest of the division to not look like a bunch of pushovers.

I’m glad at least this match wasn’t a completely one-sided affair and Alexa at least looked like she was up for the challenge. The ending was a foregone conclusion, so I suppose everything was a formality in hindsight, but seeing Ronda in more competitive matches where she has to dig deeper and work harder is much better than her just running through everybody for the sake of it being done. But this was a step in the right direction, I believe. **1/2

Roman Reigns (C) vs. Braun Strowman – Universal Championship (Hell In A Cell Match): No Contest

If you can’t commit to a winner, don’t have it in a cell match.

Okay, what the shit? Not sure how to dissect this, but I’ll start off with this. This match was every single WWE main event style trope placed into one. Overbooking, people not involved in the finish and other things. But we’ll get to that later. I’ll start of by saying this. What Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns were doing in the ring was what I was afraid Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton were going to do. Basically, Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman had a slow, plodding match that was basically a street fight with a big cell attached around it. The formula was fine, but it wasn’t what a Hell In A Cell match should be. But let’s get past all of that and get right to the overbooked nonsense.

Do you realize that they literally spent around 10 minutes having four men not invovled in the match fighting around and top of the cell? It’s like Seth/Dean and Drew/Dolph thought their tag match earlier in the night didn’t continue and they came out in the main event to finish it. I wouldn’t have minded all of the senseless brawling if they influenced the match. But therein lies the problem. It didn’t. Roman and Braun were literally napping inside the cell watching the other four fight and take each other out for literally no reason. If something doesn’t add to the match, it shouldn’t have been there. Instead, they just padded time and wasted it. It would have made more sense if Dolph and Drew found a way to get inside the cell and have The Shield come to the rescue afterwards. But to have them just fight outside the cell just for the sake of giving the crowd a visual, it just seems lazy and unoriginal.

Then, out comes Brock Lesnar. He comes down to the ring, kicks the door down, hits Braun and Roman with the remnants of a table and gives them each an F-5, and they can’t continue? Are you fucking kidding me? Didn’t Roman kick out of, like, 5 F-5’s at WrestleMania? Didn’t Roman nearly kill Braun Strowman inside an ambulance? I don’t get it. The announce team was hyping everything that the two have done to each other over the years, and they can’t get up after one F-5 each? I was telling myself the only thing that could make this match any worse aside from the pointless fighting that added nothing to the match was giving the match a non-finish, but lo and behold, they did just that.

WWE doesn’t care, and its widely because they have no consequence afforded to them if they do things that have no pay-off or meaning. Fans paid to see two Hell In A Cell matches. They technically got 2, but one was 15 minutes of brawling as they would in a normal match without a finish. Overall, this was just a lazy, overbooked WWE main event style match that represented everything I detest about WWE sometimes. I personally wouldn’t have minded any of it if the actual match was worthy of the Hell In A Cell match, but consider me highly disappointed here. **

Conclusion:

After the tag title match, we were heading int great territory here, but unfortunately, WWE couldn’t sustain the momentum throughout the night. We got half of a great show, and the other half being underwhelming and overbooked. I never thought the day would come where I’d say that Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy arguably had the best match on a PPV in 2018, but here we are. In all candor, I’d personally turn off the tape after the third match. Nothing else on the show was particualrly horrible, but it isn’t worth your time if you ask me. The first hour was non-stop action and I honestly believe you’d get your money’s worth with just that. Maybe the last five minutes of AJ/Joe, but there really isn’t anything outside the first 3 matches that I’d watch again in its entirety. Thumbs in the middle, leaning up for Hell In A Cell 2018.

- Advertisment -

LATEST NEWS

- Advertisment -

Related Articles