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Last night was WWE's Hell in a Cell. It was a pretty basic show. I would give it a slight thumbs up. There was nothing especially memorable, but there were also no bad matches. It was just a show. That's what happens when you have PPVs two weeks apart. That's also what happens when you force Hell in a Cell matches when they don't fit into the programs and don't allow that violence that historically made Hell in a Cell matches great. Here's my quick rundown of the show.
- Miz and Truth bought ringside tickets, but were escorted out.
- Sheamus d Christian. This was a good opener. Nothing great, but the fans were really into Sheamus. Sheamus was able to overcome two spears. Sheamus won with the Brogue Kick.
- Air Boom d Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger to Retain the WWE Tag Team Titles. Another good match. Fast moving, lots of action. The fans are really into Air Boom. Vickie screamed at Swagger after the match. Looks like we'll have Swagger vs Ziggler at Vengence, a match everyone is dying to see.
- Sin Cara Azul (Mistico) d Sin Cara Negro (Hunico). The crowd didn't give a damn about this match. There were fewer sloppy spots than you may expect, but they also did a ton of ground wrestling which really killed the crowd. Mistico won with a roll through into a powerbomb pin. No idea if this means the end of Hunico.
- Cody Rhodes d John Morrison to Retain the NEW White Intercontinental Title. Cody cut a promo before the match debuting the retro style IC Title which got one of the bigger pops of the night. John Laurinaitis came out and made the match with John Morrison. The crowd has really lost all interest in Morrison. Cody wrestled in his street clothes. The match was fine, nothing special, and Rhodes got the win.
- Mark Henry d Randy Orton to Retain the World Heavyweight Title in a Hell in a Cell. The Cell didn't play much of a role. The story was Henry using power moves to take apart Orton. Orton was able to come back, but Henry kicked out of the RKO. Orton was going for the Punt, but Henry got up and caught him with the World's Strongest Slam to get his second straight clean win over Orton to retain the title. After the match, Henry tried to break Orton's ankle with a steel chair, but Orton fought back and chased off Henry with the chair.
- Backstage Miz and Truth had taken out Air Boom. HHH yelled at Laurinaitis, and told him he never authorized the Rhodes vs Morrison match even though Laurinaitis said he did.
- Beth Phoenix d Kelly Kelly to win the WWE Divas Title. The match went much longer than a normal Divas match. It was one of the better worked matches as well, probably because these two have been working together for so long now. Kelly refused to quit, so Natalya hit Kelly in the head with a mic behind the ref's back. Beth then hit the Glam Slam for the win.
- Alberto Del Rio d CM Punk and John Cena to win the WWE Championship in Hell in a Cell. The Cell played a role in this match, but again, not for blood or violence. It was basically just a three way match with a cage surrounding the ring. Two guys would take turns working together while the third would be laid out. Ricardo Rodriguez entered the Cell with a steel pipe, but Cena cut him off. Cena AA'd him out of the Cell, but ADR used the pipe to knock Cena out and lock him out of the Cell. Punk got ADR up for the GTS, but ADR used the steel pipe to knock Punk out and get the win to win the title.
- After the match, the Cell raised up. Cena ran in to attack ADR, but then two hooded men, Miz and Truth ran in with weapons. HHH and Laurinaitis ran down, but the Cell lowered back to the ground. Miz and Truth took out Cena, Punk, ADR, the refs, and the camera men in the cell. The entire lockerroom came out along with police. Finally they used bolt cutters to get into the Cell. Miz and Truth surrendered to police and were handcuffed. As they were leaving, HHH lost it and attacked both handcuffed men. He also shoved Laurinaitis away. He had to be restrained to end the show (which ended at 10:38 PM ET).
The main angle continues to be HHH losing control of WWE. Although, how can he lose control if he never had control? Everything has been a mess since the day he took over from Vince. The story is also who is Laurinaitis really working for, and what are his motives? How did Miz and Truth get into the arena? Who let them into the Cell? This actually seems to be a slow build, so we may or may not find out more tonight.
Overall, I give the show a slight thumbs up. Nothing bad. Good wrestling. A good angle at the end, but nothing on the show will be remembered a month from now, and the Hell in a Cell gimmick is completely dead.
Tonight's Raw has a 12 man 6 on 6 tag match announced with Kofi, Sheamus, Mason Ryan, Cena, Punk, and Bourne vs Christian, Ziggler, Del Rio, Cody, Swagger, and Otunga. My question is why is Otunga on this team? He's really much better off being kept in his lawyer role for now than putting him in the ring. Anyway, it's a way to get just about every big name on the roster (other than Orton and Henry) in the ring at the same time. The question is though, what does this leave for the rest of Raw? Hopefully not a 20 minute Divas match.
Vengeance is just three weeks away, so I would hope they get at least the title match set tonight. We know they really don't care about undercard matches anymore, so I wouldn't expect any of those to be announced for another two weeks.
I went over the big questions involving HHH, Laurinaitis, Miz/Truth, Vince, etc above. We'll see what happens tonight. The original reports were that things would begin to culminate at Vengeance, so things may begin to come together.