WWE Hell in a Cell Review - October 6, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kickoff Show: Natalya def. Lacey Evans

This was the fourth one-on-one match these two have had against each other in the last month alone. I'd be fine with that fact if their matches were actually entertaining, but they've all been forgettable up to this point. This was no exception, and of course, the lack of hype didn't help, either. It was every bit as basic as I expected it to be and ended with Natalya winning decisively. Unfortunately, the feud is not yet over, as they will meet one more time in a Last Woman Standing matchup on Raw tomorrow night.

Raw Women's Champion Becky LYnch def. Sasha Banks in a Hell in a Cell Match

The first-ever women's Hell in a Cell match three years ago left a lot to be desired, so but this was a vast improvement. They made excellent use of the stipulation and constantly kept things exciting. Both ladies put forth a hell of an effort (no pun intended) and it was smart for it to open the show since the crowd was hot for everything they did. We've had so many Hell in a Cell matches over the past two decades that it's hard for them to feel innovative nowadays, yet Lynch and Banks managed to produce a Cell matchup that was different than anything I've ever seen. I'm honestly surprised Banks lost, but maybe this means she's SmackDown bound. As for Lynch, I could see Shayna Baszler being the one to take that title from her ultimately, assuming she moves to the main roster sooner rather than later.

Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan def. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan in a Tag Team Tornado Match

Like I said, kicking off the night with Lynch vs. Banks was the right call, but I would not have immediately followed it up with this match considering everything leading up to the main event was essentially filler. Other than that, this was a ton of fun and it benefited from the free-for-all stipulation. There was never a dull moment and Harper and Rowan scored plenty of offense before losing. I was fully expecting Bryan to turn on Reigns afterward, but they hugged instead. Perhaps WWE realized Bryan is getting mega reactions again as a babyface and decided to not squander that.

Randy Orton def. Ali

This was one of those matches that was randomly added to the card at the last minute via the Kickoff show. To their credit, they brought up how it was Orton who put Ali on the shelf in storyline earlier this year (costing him his shot at the WWE Championship in the process), but the crowd had zero incentive to get invested in the action otherwise. It was a well wrestled match and I'm actually disappointed WWE didn't do this feud sooner. 

The Kabuki Warriors def. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross to Win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship

Kabuki Warriors beat Fire and Desire a few weeks ago on SmackDown Live, but that's all they did to earn themselves an opportunity to compete for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. Then again, it's not like those tag titles mean anything anyway, so there's no point in calling out the company for their lack of logic when it comes to stuff like this. The match was better than expected, but what really caught my attention was Kabuki Warriors showing signs of turning heel throughout the bout. In fact, Asuka used green mist to defeat Cross and capture the titles for herself and Sane. It's nice Asuka is a champion again, but I was honestly hoping she and Sane would split up in the WWE Draft.

Braun Strowman and The Viking Raiders def. The O.C. by Disqualification

I couldn't have been the only one who was pulling for a better surprise as the mystery partner than Strowman. I realize he's on the upswing again following his heavily-promoted altercation with Tyson Fury on SmackDown, but the match itself was a total waste of time. If this happened on an episode of Raw, you wouldn't have known the difference. I wish they would have given this spot on the card to Cedric Alexander vs. AJ Styles for the United States Championship (which went down last week on Raw) instead.

Chad Gable def. King Corbin

After failing to defeat Corbin two times before, I guess Gable was owed a victory eventually. I loved the first two matches they had because their chemistry is off the charts, but the first half of this dragged beyond belief. It didn't help that there was no buildup beforehand and there wasn't anything up for grabs. Gable once again had a standout showing in the final few minutes, but seeing is believing as far as whether WWE will follow up on it this time. He was attacked backstage afterward, so he didn't really gain much from the victory apparently. Needless to say, I'm not at all a fan of the Shorty Gable stuff, so hopefully it doesn't stick (even though I have a sinking feeling it will).

Charlotte Flair def. Bayley to Win the SmackDown Women's Championship

Their encounter of Clash of Champions was cut short and the crowd sat on their hands for the rematch on this show. In other words, these ladies haven't had the greatest luck lately. They've had quality matches in the past, but this was incredibly flat and had no sense of urgency. Bayley should have had a hotter reign as champion, especially after she turned heel, but alas, it was not meant to be. Ideally, the loss of the title will lead to Bayley snapping and becoming a full-fledged heel, but time will tell.

Universal Champion Seth Rollins vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt in a Hell in a Cell Match Ended in a No Contest

I'm not even sure if that was the exact ending because WWE never made it clear (including on their own website) how this thing concluded. Was it a no contest? Was it a disqualification? Was it referee stoppage? Your guess is as good as mine. Regardless of what it was, this match was a total disaster from start to finish. The early goings were decent, but once Rollins starting hitting Wyatt with everything in his arsenal and then some, it turned to trash. Wyatt kicking out of not one, not two, but almost a dozen Curb Stomps was completely ridiculous. Rollins was booed out of the building and rightfully so. It's obviously the booking's fault, but he'll feel the wrath of it coming out of this event. As if that wasn't awful enough, the referee called for the bell after Rollins smashed Wyatt's face in with a sledgehammer (or so we were led to believe). For the second straight year, we got a no contest in a Hell in a Cell main event. It was an insanely stupid decision to not put the belt on The Fiend here, but worse yet, the execution of the finish was downright deplorable. WWE should be ashamed of the ending to this pay-per-view.

Overall Show

Hell in a Cell started out promisingly enough with that tremendous Lynch vs. Banks match and then Reigns and Bryan vs. Rowan and Harper, but it was all downhill from there. I don't know if I can call this the worst pay-per-view I've ever seen seeing as how it featured that fantastic Hell in a Cell matchup in the beginning, but the rest was far from memorable. The hype for Hell in a Cell was nearly nonexistent, but what really ruined this show was that embarrassment of a main event. That will go down as one of the most mind-boggling booking decisions WWE has made all year. The sooner this show (and that main event in particular) is forgotten about, the better.