Posted in: Doctor's Orders
Doctor's Orders: WWE Hell in a Cell Exemplifies That, With Strong Sundays, There's Little Reason To Watch On Mondays Or Thursdays
By The Doc
Oct 26, 2015 - 12:36:22 PM



QUESTION OF THE DAY: What do you think of the idea of just watching WWE PPVs and other Network specials and no longer watching Raw or Smackdown?


Never before in my modern history as a wrestling fan have I been more ready to abandon WWE's weekly television programming and just watch their monthly specials and other Network content. Most Mondays and Thursday, I'm underwhelmed by what I see. Most Sundays, however, I thoroughly enjoy what I see. Hell in a Cell was no exception. A engaging show on many levels, the PPV delivered the kind of in-ring action and storyline development that I personally need to keep my interest in WWE alive and well. It used to be that TV sold PPVs. For a brief time in the Attitude Era, it seemed that PPV was often used as a prelude to TV. Today, the PPVs take care of just about everything I care about. Anything I might theoretically miss on Raw or Smackdown, I can see spliced into a wonderfully produced hype video package on the PPV. Hell in a Cell was my case in point.

Starting off with the surprise return of Alberto Del Rio (alongside Zeb Colter of all people), Sunday's event immediately carried a sense of occasion. John Cena went down in a short, average match without really putting up much of a fight; that, in itself, will be a story to potentially follow. Del Rio became the new United States Champion. The search for the next Latin star is, thus, put on hold as they bring back the one in whom they invested so much from late 2010 through the end of 2013. It was a good move. Del Rio may not be Rey Mysterio or Eddie Guerrero, but he's still a Third Tier star of the WrestleMania Era and, thanks to WWE's previous efforts, the biggest Latin name on the wrestling circuit today. I'm glad that the king of the 3-star match is back, even if he only delivered a 2-star effort last night.

Effort was certainly not a problem in the Diva's Championship match. Charlotte and Nikki tried a lot harder to live up to the tagline "Divas Revolution" at Hell in a Cell than they did at Night of Champions; that much was evident. However, there's something missing in that equation and it may well be Charlotte's presentation as a babyface underdog. I'm not buying that. She's the best athlete in the entire division and might be the best athlete that the division has ever had, but only in fleeting moments does that stand out. Nikki dominated her again and Charlotte's win, while convincing, came after she'd been beaten to a pulp. WWE will continue to be compared to NXT, like it or not, and one of the best things about the NXT Women's division has been its mastery of the little details. Charlotte and Nikki missed on some little things and, though it was a big step for women on the main roster to have a Diva Title match earn a hype video, WWE failing to play to Charlotte's strengths is a big issue. All criticism aside, it was a solid match that in the spring would've been called one of the best Diva's Championship bouts in a while, meaning that the standard has been raised (**1/2).

The Tag Team division's standards were raised last year in the ring and this year have been raised in the character department by New Day's ascent. This is a trend we can only hope continues, but it will be nice to have Tag Team Champions with considerable personality while it lasts. If WWE plays their cards right, we might also be in for a legitimately emotional title change. The Dudleys, ugly early match botch on Sunday aside, have been a revelation as veteran personalities who still have plenty left in the tank as athletes. The New Day keeps winning by the skin of its teeth, increasing the energy from the crowd as it relates to a possible Dudley Boy victory for the straps. TLC is just two months away. How about holding off on that inevitable victory until then, culminating this rivalry in a Tables match? (**3/4)

What the Tag Team scene has for so long lacked was not just consistent emphasis, which it has regained since 2014's Uso reign, but storyline continuity and progression - something that, for all the perceived limitations of his run with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Seth Rollins has never had to worry about. The match with Demon Kane in which Corporate Kane's job was on the line was nothing less than a long time coming. What I really appreciated about their work together at Hell in a Cell was how, despite all the hype leading in making it seem as if we might be scheduled to endure another puny Rollins outing, we instead were privy to cerebral Rollins standing toe-to-toe with masked Kane and pinning him clean in the middle of the ring. The Architect lived up to his nickname, unleashing a logical game plan against a monster. Creative psychological touches like utilizing the exposed steel that connects the turnbuckle to the ring post as a neck-affecting weapon helped this bout take a step beyond above average and gave Hell in a Cell a good secondary match to support its outstanding namesake gimmick matches. (***)

I struggled in the 12 hours between watching Hell in a Cell and writing this review to tell you which bout inside Satan's Structure that I enjoyed more. Going into the event, I listed the two Hell in a Cell matches side-by-side on my list of most intriguing stories leading up to the PPV. This was, perhaps, the only year since this gimmick PPV's inception in 2009 that there was truly a reason to have more than one Cell match. Both storylines, for different reasons, called for the use of the Cell, which has come to be defined in its 18 year history by a combination of barbarism and enclosure. Wyatt vs. Reigns was all about enclosure, Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker all about barbarism.

What I liked about both matches was that, similar to Rollins vs. Kane, they relied on creativity to enhance the drama. The Cell, much like the Kane character, has been seen so many times that you often wonder if there's anything new that can be done to make them more interesting. Wyatt and Reigns used fresh placement of chairs, kendo sticks, and tables to innovate in their first forays inside the Cell; Taker and Lesnar stripped the canvas of its protective matting to take their finishing moves to new levels of impact. The latter two were busted open, reinforcing that certain matches can benefit by adding crimson masks. Since the theme was barbarism, it would've seemed out of place not to have added a little color to the proceedings.

Wyatt vs. Reigns thrived off of its cognitively-stimulating approach, with back and forth swings in momentum and the use of weaponry building to the climactic final sequence (****1/4). Lesnar vs. Taker thrived off of its desire to create frenzy and carnage, with the Last Outlaw valiantly attempting to slay the unstoppable Beast but running out of bullets in his proverbial gun (****1/4). They were each great matches for very different reasons. Hell in a Cell 2015 was very memorable because of them.


Note - Kevin Owens vs. Ryback did what it came to do (reinforce Owens as the crafty IC champ), but there wasn't enough there to warrant much discussion about it