As most of you who follow me on Twitter and Facebook know, I didn't watch this event live on Sunday, October 26, 2014. Instead, I watched Monday, October 27, 2014 before Monday Night RAW with the pleasure of having the option of fast forwarding through the bullshit.

Preshow - MizTV with The Miz and Damien Mizdow

Can PLEASE we get ANYONE else than Booker T on these Preshow Panels?

Mark Henry def. Bo Dallas

And nobody cared... 

Best of Three Falls Match - Dolph Ziggler def. Cesaro to retain the Intercontinental Championship

Even though it felt EXTREMELY rushed, it was a stellar match, folks. Do yourselves a favor and watch this shit.


It drives the point home harder to make me ask why WWE isn't behind these guys as main event caliber talent? And why did they ONLY give these guys 12 minutes to work with? Who did Cesaro piss off backstage to not even get on the boards in this match, then get buried by Ambrose the following night on RAW?

That was just a piss-poor booking decision on WWE's behalf for this card. I would've given them more than enough time to shine with this one.


Nikki Bella def. Brie Bella to force her to become her Personal Assistant for 30 Days

Hate on the Bella Twins all you want, but you have to admit that those girls have improved a LOT here in this match. I could tell that Brie's nerves were getting the best of her in the early phases of this match, but by the end of it all, both Nikki and Brie impressed me. It didn't seem like an one-sided affair like Brie vs. Stephanie McMahon was, with Stephanie clearly looking better than Brie in that match in terms of ability.


Both of the Bella Twins really brought it to the table and their hard work paid off with a match on a PPV that they could be very proud of.  

Dust Brothers (Goldust & Stardust) def. The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) to retain the WWE Tag Team Championships


Not a bad match, just more of the same that we have come to expect from these two tag teams. I'm just hoping for something new to be added to this feud to make it fresh and exciting outside of the match quality.

I don't know... maybe FINALLY add Naomi as part of the Usos (to be the Lita to their classic Hardy Boyz vibe) while finding a Diva who could mesh with the Dust Brothers, rekindling that magic Goldust and Marlena had back in the Attitude Era.

John Cena def. Randy Orton to become #1 Contender to WWE Championship

From the sheer amount of people whining, bitching, and complaining on my Facebook timeline, via tweets, and text messages, you guys were acting like this was the end of the world that Cena won - as usual. 


I see it this way - we get the "finale" in the Lesnar/Cena feud sooner more than saving it for WrestleMania XXXI as I feared would happen. 

In terms of match quality, I felt that this was a MUCH better match than Cena and Orton's recent encounters on PPV. The duo went out of their way to make sure this wasn't the same affair that we've seen countless times over the years. 

About time someone ended the 5 moves of doom prematurely... 
Last week's RAW gave away this ending as Randy Orton is going to be feuding with Seth Rollins from here. I wouldn't be surprised if that's on the card for Survivor Series next month. 

Rusev (w/ Lana) def. The Big Show

A solid match between both powerhouses as The Big Show and Rusev that ended up being a LOT better than the bout between Rusev and Mark Henry last month at Night of Champions. Unfortunately, I was a bit distracted by Lana looking flawless as usual in that stunning hot pink suit/mini-skirt combo. (Whistles) I could eat her up like dessert...

Anywho, I wasn't too crazy about the finish. It looked like The Big Show tripped up over the ropes and fell into Rusev's 3 pending Roundhouse Kicks prior to locking in the Accolade. 

I was thinking that Mark Henry was going to bring his wet blanket and ruin this match, but WWE saved his impending heel turn for Monday Night RAW instead.

Sheamus def. The Miz (w/ Damien Mizdow) to retain the United States Championship

Pretty average, run of the mill match if you've been keeping up with this feud on WWE programming for the past month. One of two "cooldown" matches before the main event. 



In a feud that is ONLY maintaining interest thanks to cornball comedy week-in, week-out, this should have been on the preshow and not wasting time on this PPV. I honestly would have given the wasted time on this match to Cesaro and Ziggler's bout.

AJ Lee def. Paige (w/ Alicia Fox) to retain Divas Championship

I hate to be the one who has to point this out, but this match was weak in comparison to the Bella Twins' match earlier. I was under the impression that AJ and Paige would go out there and tear it up out there in a clear "top this" message to the Bella Twins in the spirit of competition, but nope. 


Seriously, why isn't this feud over? Who actually STILL cares about this feud? Can we move past AJ and Paige EVERY damn PPV and give other Divas a shot at the title? I'm not going to rant on this matter today as it deserves it's own article altogether.

I really don't blame Paige for being pissed at Alicia Fox though. She rolled Paige right back into the ring to allow AJ slap on the Black Widow to retain. While a Triple Threat feud of "craziness" between AJ, Paige, and Alicia Fox would be interesting on paper, but I can't even associate Paige with being "crazy" on the level of AJ and Fox. 

Like I keep saying on Twitter, I can't write this shit for WWE nor book it. They've made this mess of the Divas division and they have to clean it up themselves.

I remember joking with a few friends about this after Mick Foley made a "surprise" appearance on Monday Night RAW last week, saying that "I bet WWE is going to make a PG recreation of Mankind's fall from the top of the cell at the hands of The Undertaker." Low and behold, WWE did the same here. I don't get why Ambrose fell after Rollins as it just looked like he fell for the hell of it. 


The thing I don't get that WWE marks flame TNA for "recreating the past" or "revisiting the glory years" but when WWE does it, it's the hottest thing since sliced bread. Speaking of Foley, we saw Ambrose channel his inner Cactus Jack (and a bit of Terry Funk) throughout this match as Ambrose beat the holy hell out of Rollins. 

I know I'm in the minority that will be happy when this feud is over as I'm ready to see something different from these two guys than brawls and street fights almost every other week. 

The marks got what they wanted here on multiple levels from WWE: 1) this match was made the main event after they bitched about it over every forum, message board, and across social media. 2) this match was a spot-fest - next to little to no finesse behind it.

The Finish

So Bray Wyatt comes back with a hologram of Jaga from Thundercats or The Emperor from Star Wars... The only thing this does is just confirms that The Wyatt Family were on Authority's payroll all along. God, some people in the IWC know how to over-hype shit in wrestling. You'd think Bray Wyatt returning was the second coming of Jesus Christ or something from the reactions on social media. 

Did I like the finish? Not really, but I can see why they went that route. Bray Wyatt's interference serves as a detour to the Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins feud and leaves the door open if WWE wishes to revisit it while potentially giving fans something even better with Bray/Ambrose. 

Closing Thoughts


Hell in a Cell was a good PPV from top to bottom, with the only underwhelming match was the Divas Championship match, but most Diva fans will defend it by saying it was in the "death spot" between two highly-anticipated matches. For me, this was the first Pay-Per-View since WrestleMania XXX that actually felt like an actual Pay-Per-View instead of a glorified Monday Night RAW/Friday Night Smackdown! broadcast. 

Bravo, WWE. You have managed to restore some of my faith in you guys that you could improve for the better in the near future. 
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