Results, Recap, Review of WWE Hell in a Cell 2018

Tonight was the annual Hell in a Cell pay-per-view and leading up to this show it was a tale of two different worlds when it came to Raw and Smackdown’s stories. The stories on Raw have been very confusing and complicated where the stories on Smackdown have been crystal clear and have been built up very well. Prior to the show WWE showed footage or the cell being constructed and we saw one noticeable difference. The Hell in a Cell structure is now red and I have no clue why to why they made the change. Before I begin with my thoughts in the evening here are the results of Hell in a Cell:

-Preshow: The New Day defeats Rusev Day to retain the WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championships
-Randy Orton defeated Jeff Hardy in Hell in a Cell
-Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte Flair to become the new WWE Smackdown Women’s Champion
-Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler defeated Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose to retain the Raw Tag Team Championships
-AJ Styles defeated Samoa Joe to retain the WWE Championship
-The Miz and Maryse defeated Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella
-Ronda Rousey defeated Alexa Bliss to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
-Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman went to a no contest inside Hell in a Cell

The first thing I was disappointed with tonight is the fact that one of the hottest things in WWE was on the preshow. Rusev, Lana and Aiden English have had a star power about them that wasn’t given to them. It was earned with hard work, being creative and fan support. I feel like there are two tiers in WWE. The Main Roster of Male and Females get a lot of great opportunities and their is the second tier of talent that consists of Tag Teams and Cruiserweights. I feel both of those division get treated like garbage and don’t get the recognition they deserve. This pay-per-view proves my point with the most popular tag teams on the preshow and not having any Crusierweights on the show at all. The show opened up with Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton inside Hell in a Cell. For today’s standards this match was absolutely insane for some of the spots they did. Orton was bleeding in multiple places and Hardy was stretchered out after taking an insane risk. With Matt Hardy retiring I don’t know where Jeff Hardy goes from here. I think this would be a good time to rethink their future and where they go from here.

Following a trip to hell we were graced with an awesome women’s match between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. I am personally very happy that Lynch finally got her moment of glory. I felt Lynch should have gotten her moment at Summerslam and then go into a feud with Asuka who is in much need of some meaningful matches. I do like the fact that the Women’s Division on Smackdown isn’t focused around one woman. I am hoping this title win opens up two feuds for Becky which would be Asuka and Naomi. I think they would be great matches and something the fans could get behind. Earlier I said the Tag Team Division doesn’t get the recognition they deserve and I still believe that to be true. I absolutely loved the match between The Shield, McIntyre and Ziggler, but they basically just kicked the B Team and The Revival to the curb. As far as I am concerned, the way the story was told it should have been a Fatal Four Way match for the Tag Titles. I really hope true teams like The Revival and AOP start getting the spotlight they so deserve because as far as I am concerned Ziggler, McIntyre, Rollins and Ambrose should be competing for singles titles.

The right competitors have been feuding for the WWE Championship the last two months in the form of AJ Styles and Samoa Joe. These two have a rich and storied history the goes all the way back to Ring of Honor and TNA. These two have had two great matches in a row and they left it open for a third match to happen. I firmly believe that Samoa Joe should be WWE Champion because he’s believable, he’s a bad ass, and he’s got heat on him due to his bullying of his opponents. I do like that they left it open for a third match because the quality of their matches has not been boring. Another feud that wasn’t boring until tonight was The Miz and Daniel Bryan. I think it’s great that they inserted the reality aspect of it with their wives but it made the match a lot less epic than the Summerslam match. I think from here Daniel Bryan needs to win in Australia and then both men move on. Bryan should be having matches with Hardy, Almas, Styles, and hopefully Rey Mysterio if he ever decides to come back like the dirtsheets have been reporting. With Bryan renewing his contract I really hope and pray they don’t waste his popularity and talent.

When it comes to not wasting talent and popularity I am glad WWE is doing right by Ronda Rousey. She has been getting better each time she goes out there. She’s making things look more believable and that why I think this was her best match yet. I can tell she’s been putting in the work and working hard. I have no complaints about how this match went down. In the Main Event, Roman Reigns defended the Universal Title against Braun Strowman. This had the making of an epic brawl, but was complete ruined by the return of Brock Lesnar. The Shield, Ziggler and McIntyre all got involved by fighting around and on top of the cell which made it fun, in the end the match went to a No Contest due to Lesnar taking both men out. Pardon the language here, but how in the hell are you going to have a Hell in a Cell match go to a No Contest. This was a complete waste of Strowman’s Cash-In and a momentum killer for him. Ever since the night after Summerslam he has lost a lot of momentum and it’s another sign that Vincent Kennedy McMahon needs to step down. I have always respected Vince but he’s lost his touch and is starting to slowly tarnish his legacy.

I am very disappointed on how this show went down. They had such an opportunity to do some great things on this show and the failed to do so. I really don’t understand the direction of where they are going with some of the stories. After how great Summerslam was this show was a letdown. I am giving this show a 4 out of 10 due to the fact that the writing team was lazy, they tarnished one of the most legendary matches in this company’s history and the crowd was absolutely terrible. I usually try to give WWE the benefit and not compare it to other companies, but this was garbage even for their standards. All I have to say is in three weeks WWE Super Showdown better be super or you’re going to get more backlash then you did tonight. I firmly believe after tonight that the Hell in a Cell pay per view should be abolished and replaced with something different. Twenty years ago we had the greatest Hell in a Cell match and tonight we had the worst one in it’s history. Let that sink as we try to digest this hellish pay-per-view. Hopefully in Australia we will some great matches because tonight this was anything but super.