So, uh, yeah…what the *bleep* just happened, WWE?
WWE’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, for the most part, was an enjoyable show. Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton had a really entertaining Cell match, filled with all sorts of gross things (A SCREWDRIVER IN HIS EARLOBE!!!) and high spots (hope Jeff is okay). It was a great start to the show.
Charlotte and Becky Lynch had a fine match, with Lynch winning the SmackDown Live Women’s Championship getting a huge pop. The Raw Tag Team Championship match was bonkers. AJ Styles and Samoa Joe had a decent WWE Championship match that furthered the feud. The Daniel Bryan/Brie Bella vs. Miz/Marsye mixed tag match served it’s purpose. And it was good to see Ronda Rousey look vulnerable before retaining her title against Alexa Bliss. All in all, the first three hours of Sunday’s show were good.
And then the main event happened.
A few things:
1) Mick Foley should not have been the referee in this match. He looked old and really served no purpose to the match. He messed up the count five minutes in, which the announcers played it off as being “rusty.” I love Mick, don’t get me wrong, but he wasn’t needed for this match.
2) For as great as Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman are together in the ring, this match was underwhelming. It never had any flow to it, and it was as if both guys knew there was going to be chaos at the end and didn’t want to over-perform. None of the spots they did were overly original, and the crowd didn’t seem too enthralled as they’ve been for these matches in the past.
3) When Brock Lesnar’s music hit, I popped. You’re lying to yourself if you say you didn’t, too. That was a complete shock, and it got me to sit up on my couch. Lesnar looked like an animal kicking the door in and taking out both guys. It was an incredible moment, until…
4)…the match just ended. Poof. That’s it. Both guys just can’t continue after one F-5 each and a few shots with a broken table. Isn’t this a Hell in a Cell match? How can one of those end in a draw? Isn’t the whole point that there’s no disqualifications and we go until there’s a clear winner? After having an awesome surprise pop to get the crowd going, the air came out of the room when the match was called.
I was yelling at my TV when the little WWE copyright logo popped up in the bottom left corner of the screen. Here was this awesome moment, and we’re just going to call the match a draw? The door is open now, where are Ambrose/Rollins/McIntyre/Ziggler? Are Ambrose and McIntyre still on top of the cell?
I know people will be angry that Lesnar is back. SummerSlam felt like the perfect opportunity for him to go and focus on his UFC return. Now it appears he, Strowman and Reigns are on a collision course for a triple threat match, probably at Survivor Series. It’ll be a fun match as all three of those guys know how to put on a good match. But once the initial “surprise pop” wore off, the reality of Lesnar potentially being champion again disgruntled a lot of WWE fans.
So yeah, Sunday night was pretty good until the last 30 seconds of the show. If they had just finished the match, the reaction would be less tempered today. But how can a Hell in a Cell match finish in a draw? I felt WWE insulted my intelligence a little bit with how the show finished Sunday night.