Damien Barling: Lost In 'Hell'
Last night, WWE presented its eighth incarnation of the Hell in a Cell PPV with a "triple main event" headlined by Sasha Banks and Charlotte (more on this gross miscalculation later).
We'll get to my thoughts on this event in a few minutes but first I'd like to remind everyone why Hell in a Cell exists and what it's purpose is because it appears the people who write and book WWE programming may have forgot.
Let's go back to SummerSlam in 1997.
Good guy (and good American) Shawn Michaels was the referee for the WWF title match between everyone's favorite Deadman, and champion, the Undertaker and the anti-American, pro-Canadian challenger Bret Hart.
Even the most casual of wrestling fans knew the animosity that existed between Hart and Shawn Michaels. Animosity that was played up brilliantly during the match, all the way to the climactic finish. Hart looking to level The Undertaker with a steel chair, Shawn Michaels, being a good referee snatches the chair away and admonishes Hart. Hart spits in Shawn Michaels' face infuriating HBK to the point where a swings back the chair attempting to nail Hart.
Only he doesn't.
Hart ducks and the chair lays out The Undertaker (remember this for later). Hart makes the cover, Shawn Michaels, having no choice based on a prematch stipulation that would see him unable to wrestle in the United States if he didn't call the match down the middle, made the three count and the match was over.
Hart is your new champion and the beginning of one of the best told stories in recent memory would begin.
The next night on Raw, good guy Shawn Michaels morphed into bad guy Shawn Michaels.
That night in August saw the unofficial birth of what became known as Degeneration-X. During the main event that saw Mankind and Shawn Michaels go one on one, we saw Triple H (then known as Hunter Hearst Helmsley) make his way to ringside with Chyna.
Shortly after Helmsley's entrance we saw the return of Ravishing Rick Rude. While it was clear Rude was with Shawn Michaels (he had mentioned an "insurance policy" earlier in the show) it was a bit unclear why Triple H was out there. The following week it would be clear.
Shawn Michaels and Hunter were put into a tag match with Chyna and Ravishing Rick by their side against Mankind and The Undertaker. The match came to a stunning conclusion when Shawn Michaels leveled The Undertaker with yet another chair shot, only to see the Undertaker do the dead man sit up with blood pouring down his face (again, remember this for later). A tight camera shot caught Shawn Michaels' reaction when he saw the blood and the group that would become known as DX bolted towards the back.
That September, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker had an often-forgotten classic at the WWF PPV Ground Zero.
The two engaged in something that looked far more like a fight then a wrestling match. With run-ins from the entire locker room and referees being taken out left and right, the match resulted in a no-contest and set the stage for what is still the greatest cage/cell match in history.
Vince McMahon announced The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels would do battle in the first ever Hell in a Cell match. A chain link cage that, for the first time in WWF history, would have a roof on it.
Unlike previous cage matches, the "cell" would sit around ringside rather than being constructed on the ring apron. No one would get in and no one would get out (at least not without a creative way to get the door open).
I'll save you the play-by-play of the match, but will point out one moment near the end that is always forgotten.
This match, this night, is remembered for a number of reasons. One, it's the night McMahon opened the broadcast saying that WWF superstar Brian Pillman was found dead in his hotel room. It's also remembered as the night the Undertaker's "brother" Kane debuted. Arguably, it was the most memorable debut in history. But something took place right before the lights went out, right before the pyro went off, right before we saw the Undertaker with a look of disbelief on his face, and right before this monster in red ripped the door off the cage and stood face to face with his big brother.
After a brilliant 30-plus minute match, Shawn Michaels' face was covered in blood, the Undertaker picked up a chair, and in one monster shot to the head, we saw the storyline come to an end.
The feud that started with a chair shot, ended with a chair shot. It was at this point the lights went out, Kane debuted, and as one great storyline closed, another great one began.
I pointed all this out to pose one simple question…
What was the purpose of any of the Hell in a Cell matches yesterday?
The purpose of cage/cell matches have always been for the "babyface" who's been getting shafted and beaten by interference to finally get his (or her) one-on-one match. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
Or, much like the events at Ground Zero that lead to the first Hell in a Cell, two wrestlers have such hatred towards each other, the only way to settle there differences would be stick them inside a cage until only one man can walk out.
Now look at the matches we had last night.
Roman Reigns has beaten Rusev a dozen times. Cleanly. And he's the good guy (sorta). So what's the point?
Let's look at Owens and Rollins. Was the point to keep Jericho out? Okay, I guess.
Charlotte and Sasha? Literally, no reason to have this match in Hell in a Cell.
The sad part is they had a beautiful story that would've made perfect sense to have this match in a cell. Think about it; Sasha beat Charlotte on Raw for the title.
Why not have Charlotte beat Sasha because Dana Brooke (Charlotte's lackey) interferes? Sasha loses, makes the dramatic announcement she wants Charlotte in Hell in a Cell, in her hometown of Boston, and BOOM!!!! You have your first women's Hell in a Cell match and you have your first women's match headlining a PPV.
But you didn't get any of that. You got a thrown together match, that served no purpose other than to say, "it's the first women's Hell in a Cell match." As someone who loves wrestling because of the stories, that's simply not good enough.
The art of storyline inside WWE programming is on life support. There isn't a single compelling storyline on five hours of television right now. The one exception may be the Owens-Jericho story. We think we know where it's going, but we're not sure how they're gonna get there.
Thoughts on Hell in a Cell
Before we get started, I'm not going to review every match on the card because most of them are meaningless. Also, there should NEVER be three Hell in a Cell matches in one night. There should never be three Hell in a Cell matches in one YEAR (we're up to 4 counting Undertaker and Shane at Wrestlemania)
Roman Reigns vs Rusev - Opened the show. It was a match. In a cell. That's it.
Seth Rollins vs Kevin Owens - This match came on 90 mins into the show, making it clear, Hell in a Cell would be the first PPV in the company's history that would end with a women's main event. This match really picked up when Chris Jericho got involved.
So the cell is designed to keep everyone out, unless you're smart like Chris Jericho and just get a key. Kevin Owens took a vicious powerbomb through two tables propped up against the cage. All three of these guys worked their butts off.
Jericho was brilliant. The finish felt kinda flat after Owens powerbombed Rollins through two chairs and got the three count. I don't think anyone in the arena thought that was the finish. It felt like they were setting the table for a TLC match but that's a Smackdown PPV in December so we'll see where this goes on Raw.
Sasha Banks vs Charlotte - Final match of the night. The main event.
You can say it's a "triple main event" if you want, but only one match goes on last, and it was this one. The presentation was perfect. Grand entrances for both and the hometown Boston crowd was super into Sasha Banks.
Unfortunately, they went home unhappy.
The WWE continues to play hot potato with the women's championship as Sasha was beaten, again, by Charlotte. The story of the match only slightly involved the cell. Sasha sold a back injury from a pre-match attack that saw them fight outside the cell.
This was easily the most physical women's match the WWE ever produced, but, again, the lack of story and flat finish certainly hurt it.