Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Hell In A Cell

Setting the tone early in the match.
Gotta say, as PPV's go, WWE's done a lot worse than Sunday's Hell in a Cell, and as brand-specific PPV's go, they've ALL been worse than this. A few duds on the card, but the strong Raw roster brought it.


Pre-show gives us a nice long six-man Cruiserweight match between Sin Cara, Lince Dorado, and Cedrick Alexander vs. Team Grumpybeards (Gulak, Nece, Daivari). Lots of fun stuff, an appreciative crowd, and Alexander hitting the Lumbar Check for the win? Yeah, that's a step up from your usual pre-show fodder.

HIAC PREDICTION: I have to predict a Reigns win, because the WWe doesn't give me what I want. 

And so it was. I take no pleasure in going 1/1 with this. HiaC matches do not go faster than regular matches, and Rusev-Reigns matches haven't been the models of pacing to begin with. The crowd is very fond of the USA, very into tables, and about 50/50 between the two wrestlers. Reigns powers out of a chain-assisted Accolade on the steel steps, then pins Rusev with a spear because Roman Reigns. Feh.

HIAC PREDICTION: Bayley should and will win any potential PPV match against Dana Brooke.

Bayley and Dana put on a perfectly acceptable match, with Dana thankfully not screwing anything up. Story of th ematch was Dana working Bayley's "injured" shoulder, and then Bayley coming back to win. Nothing special, but good and the right person won. And I'm 2/2.

HIAC PREDICtION: I think Gallows and Anderson desperately need a big win to maintain their credibility and this result supports that happening. 

And there we have it. Gallows and Anderson hit Enzo with the Magic Killer after derailing Big Cass's Big Comeback. Good match, and a good Enzo promo beforehand, even if I only understood 2/3 of it. And I'm 3/3 on predictions. I am on a roll.

HIAC PREDICTION: Hell In A Cell matches were originally designed to prevent interference, which I think lasted two matches. HHH gets involved to stop 'seth 'rollins from winning the title. Owens retains.

Once again, I think HHH is going to show up, and it's Jericho instead. This is a barn-burner of a match, really well paced, really well put together, a couple of huge spots, a great way of getting Jericho involved, and an only slightly anticlimactic ending when the chairs that Owens powered Rollins through didn't really behave right, making the move look less effective. And 4/4.

HIAC PREDICTION: I think the TJP experiment is just about running it's course and it's time for the many top faces in the division to chase a heel champion. Kendrick wins.

Man, the Boston crowd was dead for this for some reason. They put on a good show, but nobody cared. I have a feeling it may be a while before TJ Perkins sees the belt again. As suspected, Kendrick takes the title after feigning a leg injury, then headbutting a concerned Perkins before slapping the Captain's Hook on for the submission. That means five in a row for me. This never happens.

HIAC PREDICTION: They could be setting up a swerve, but the Longest Reigning Tag Team record seems to be in the cards for New Day, and this loss sets up them retaining on Sunday.

This match never really got going. I'm not sure what the deal was, whether Woods and Cesaro just didn't have the chemistry that Kingston and Cesaro had or what, but at least the New Day retained, albeit after a disqualification caused by Sheamus. I'm gonna call this a correct prediction because technically I didn't say New Day would win. 6/6.

HIAC PREDICTION: WWE has a long, strange habit of shitting on hometown crowds, but Sasha needs a more than one-month reign after what happened before, so she'll retain.

NOPE! WWE keeps me from having a sweep on the predictions. Certainly managed to be the second best Hell in a Cell match of the night. And not a distant second, either. The opening pre-match on the outside was great, but I don't really like long stretcher bits. Luckily I could fast forward through that bit. The finish ws a little odd, and I was surprised to see Charlotte win, but overall a very impressive outing from both Superstars. 6/7 total.




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