Hell in a Cell is another of WWE’s themed pay per views, where each match considered to be of main event quality, usually the WWE and World Heavyweight Championship Matches plus one other, are fought inside the Hell in a Cell structure. Unlike themed pay per views Elimination Chamber, Night of Champions and Money in the Bank, Hell in a Cell is still in its infancy.
With the 2012 offering looking to trump its predecessors and with Hell in a Cell 2009 being by far the very best of the annual instalments, Hell in a Cell 2012 has a lot to live to up to with a very limited amount of talent.
Without further ado, let’s look forward to October 28th and 2012’s offering of Hell in a Cell.
WWE Championship Match
Hell in a Cell Match
C.M Punk (Champion) vs Ryback
If you read my blog entitled ‘The Main Event and Audience Participation’ a few weeks ago, then you’ll recall that I started the piece off with the words ‘It’s a laugh. That’s the motto that I believe WWE are now using for every creative decision that passes through Vince McMahon’s office.’ Well, I still stand by that. And WWE have backed up what I’ve said with this main event match at Hell in a Cell.
I’m not ignoring or denying the fact that WWE have given Ryback a massive push which, if WWE hadn’t have set up the feud between Punk and Rock and had Rock openly state he was going to challenge for the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble, that Ryback may just walk out of Hell in a Cell WWE Champion. What I’m saying is that Ryback’s escalation to the top has been so fast that we can’t possibly take him seriously as a contender to the WWE Championship yet.
I’ve yet to see anything from Ryback to convince me that he’s Championship or main event material. Destroying local jobber and looking like you’ve just downed a whole steroid factory doesn’t qualify you for a WWE Championship shot. And yes, I’m perfectly well aware that Ryback has gone through genuine WWE headline talent, but come on, did he really look that convincing to you? Still, I have to give WWE kudos for its approach to this match and their tireless attempts to get us to take Ryback as a genuine contender. On House Shows Ryback has defeated C.M Punk, by disqualification, of course and on Raw in the lead up to this match, Ryback has manhandled the ‘Best in the World’ and made him look like the weaker man in the match. Yet in reality, where we should be all firmly based by now, C.M Punk stands head and shoulders above the Goldberg wannabe as the much better wrestler.
The truth of the matter is that Ryback isn’t good enough to be WWE Champion. He never will be. Vince McMahon knows this and so does every other wrestler in the company. It’s a known fact that those who have had to look at the lights for the former NXT rookie have had doubts about doing it because of the impact of losing to someone as limited and as wooden as Ryback may have a negative effect on their careers. It’s possible that Ryback had been created as a prototype to get WWE back into the groove of creating new stars, just to prove to themselves that they can still do it. Either way, Ryback will not be walking out of Hell in a Cell 2012 as WWE Champion.
WWE have come a long way with C.M Punk. After their attempts to suit him with two stables, the Straight Edge Society and the Nexus they finally realise that Punk works better alone and more effectively as well. Without the spotlight having to be shared with a group Punk has flourished as a singles star and as WWE Champion. Ok, his WWE Championship reign which is approaching a year now hasn’t always set the world alight. His feuds with Chris Jericho and John Cena were mediocre at best, yet his feud with Daniel Bryan in mid 2012 was outstanding and has to be number one when we come to looking at 2012’s feuds of the year. Punk showed what he can do with top class opposition. When WWE give him an opponent like Cena or Ryback, someone who is incapable of Punk can’t be expected to work miracles. No sane individual is going to make themselves look bad in the ring to make some ‘never-will-be’ shine, if they can’t get them both over.
WWE are unsure what C.M Punk’s future will be after December. The Championship reign has to end, that’s a given. But the question is to who? The Rock at the Royal Rumble would be one option with a rematch a Wrestlemania 29 which would sell pay per view figures. If Punk lost to Rock at Royal Rumble then WWE have another plan that if they can sign Brock Lesnar to a contract extension then they could promote Rock vs Brock 2 (the first took place at SummerSlam 2002) at Wrestlemania 29 with Lesnar taking the WWE Championship from the Rock. The only problem there is Rock’s busy schedule. I doubt there’s anyway he’d be able to represent the company as WWE Champion week in and week out for nearly two months.
The second option WWE have with Punk is have him defeat the Rock at Royal Rumble and then defend against ‘The Great One’ again at Wrestlemania 29, where Rock would end the epic Championship reign, which will be well over a year and a half old by then and then Rock would either lose the WWE Championship the next night on Raw or forfeit the gold and retire. A victory over the Rock for some young up and comer would be huge.
The third option, which WWE are seriously looking into at the moment is having Triple H vs Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble – which Triple H would win to tie the feud at 1-1. Have Triple H vs Brock Lesnar – the final match at Wrestlemania 29, then have The Rock vs John Cena 2 and C.M Punk defend the WWE Championship against the Undertaker on the grandest stage of them all and defeating the Deadman and ending his winning Wrestlemania streak. This is all bore out of the respect storyline WWE are dragging out. Having Punk go over Undertaker at Wrestlemania would surely cement Punk as someone to be respected. The problem is that Punk needs time off. He’s aged considerably over the last year and a win at Wrestlemania would only lengthen the WWE Championship reign.
It’s not like WWE can have Punk drop the gold on a ‘B’ level pay per view like Extreme Rules. A WWE Championship reign that has gone this far needs to be ended on one of WWE’s big pay per views. It’ll become clear in the coming months where, when, and to whom WWE intend to have Punk drop the WWE Championship to. Be it the Rock, John Cena, Brock Lesnar or even the Undertaker, one thing remains clear. WWE are planning for the C.M Punk WWE Championship reign to overlap into 2013.
With that being said, it should be obvious who will walk out of Hell in a Cell 2012 as WWE Champion. How that will be done though is another story. If WWE have C.M Punk pin Ryback then the limited appeal Ryback possesses will instantly vanish. His undefeated streak will be no more and then what does he become? Another face in the crowd. Another lost soul washed away in WWE’s endless tide. Ryback won’t beat Punk and Punk can’t lose via disqualification or count out – in a Hell in a Cell match those stipulations don’t exist.
It’ll be interesting to see if WWE are willing to sacrifice their latest flavour of the month to sustain one of the best WWE Championship reigns in recent memory. And if they’re not then it should be a breath of fresh air to witness how WWE will keep the gold on Punk with the DQ and Count out rules gone.
One thing is for sure. However Punk does walk out of Hell in a Cell as Champion, no one can deny that C.M Punk has been WWE’s most reliable asset for the last year and a half. I’d hate to think where we’d be without him.
Winners Prediction: C.M Punk
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Sheamus (Champion) vs Big Show
This match is a lesser of two evils. If you know what I mean. On one hand we got what we asked for from WWE. A different challenger for Sheamus to defend his World Heavyweight Championship against, other than Alberto Del Rio. Yet on the other hand that challenger is Big Show.
Yes, the Big Show. The most boring man in wrestling. Quite how WWE figured that Bog Show should be number one contender instead of someone who needs the break and the spotlight is beyond me. I have a horrible feeling that WWE still believe, deep down, that Big Show can be the main event star they need to step up and plug the massive hole in the main event roster.
If this is the case then WWE are wrong. Big Show has done nothing since his debut in 1999. And that’s the kindest thing I can say about Big Show’s thirteen year career in WWE. If I wanted to be really horrible then I could say a lot more. But I won’t. We all know that Big Show is a waste of space. He had a chance to shine in the messed up WWE vs Alliance war in 2001. Big Show was given the ECW Championship and did nothing of note with it. Vince McMahon himself has said that Big Show has done nothing. So why book him?
The reason being the situation of the headline roster. If Randy Orton had have beaten Big Show on Smackdown in the number one contenders match to face Sheamus at Hell in a Cell, then WWE would have had to shelve the Orton vs Ziggler feud and in turn make Orton a heel. A face Sheamus vs face Orton would never have worked. The two have fought time and time again and the audience has never been interested.
So Big Show was the only choice. And now here we are at Hell in a Cell and Sheamus is left with yet another challenger who has no real chance of beating him. Opinion of Big Show backstage isn’t great and the higher guns, especially Triple H aren’t going to take the second most important Championship in WWE from the golden boy and hand to a fuck up. The only way Big Show has a chance of winning this match is if WWE want to add suspension to a dwindling storyline and have Sheamus lose to Show just so the ‘Great White’ can regain it later on in the year. Should that happen then expect another lengthily and no doubt dull Sheamus World Heavyweight Championship reign in 2013.
After SummerSlam 2012, Big Show disappeared from WWE television to the relief of WWE fans who were sick of seeing him in the main event. The hope was that Big Show would stay away from WWE until at least Wrestlemania 29, when he’s scheduled to face Floyd Mayweather in a Wrestlemania 24 rematch. If Big Show had have stayed away then he could have lost some weight and got himself into some shape.
Anyone who saw Big Show in WCW in the best wrestling years of his life will remember how good he was as a slimmed down Giant. The same applied when Show lost weight in 2008 and fought Mayweather at Wrestlemania 24. He looked and wrestled much better. Big Show is never going to be Randy Orton or Bret Hart, but at least he looks good in the ring. Big Show suffers from a disorder. That disorder is called ‘McDonalds syndrome’. He just can’t stay away from it. The Big Show has gone from a seven foot tall athletic guy who believe it or not could once fly from the top rope and perform dropkicks safely to a man who just looks like he needs to be rolled to the ring.
A match which pitted a 2008, slimmed down Big Show or a 1996 Big Show, when he was plying his trade as The Giant vs Sheamus would have been worth watching. Now though, this match holds no interest for me at all.
The sad thing is, WWE actually had a heel that could carry Smackdown and the World Heavyweight Championship, in Sheamus. If they hadn’t have turned him face then a heel Sheamus would have been tremendous to watch. Sheamus already possessed the natural heel aura, if WWE think otherwise then just listen to the John Cena or 1996 Shawn Michaels style reception he receives on a regular basis now. Either WWE are deaf or they really don’t care what we think or want.
WWE could have opened up a whole new avenue of stories for a heel Sheamus to take on as champion. Feuds with wrestlers like Rey Mysterio before could have led to major heat for Sheamus, had WWE booked the first Irish Born WWE Champion to put Mysterio on the shelf whilst Rey served out his 60 day suspension. WWE could have done the same with Randy Orton. Had Sheamus attacked Orton in the manner he did Triple H at Extreme Rules 2010 and been credited for putting both Orton and Mysterio on the shelf, WWE would have had a dynamic triple threat feud for when both parties returned.
Mysterio could have waged war on Sheamus for the gold first and then when Orton came back, Orton could have gone heel and attacked Mysterio to get to Sheamus, proclaiming that he’s the rightful successor to the World Heavyweight Championship and not Mysterio. Two triple threat matches on consecutive pay per views fought under different stipulations and then the feud ending triple threat Hell in a Cell Match would have been eminently more watchable that what WWE have given us lately.
No one thinks of this though and because Triple H is too blind to see what’s good for the company he’s in line to inherit when Vince steps down, Sheamus will remain a face until he’s presumably booed out of the arena or we stop buying the pay per views and watching Smackdown.
At this point I would just like to point out to everyone reading this that WWE had another replacement for Del Rio, who they never even gave a second thought to. Wade Barrett. Since his return Barrett has struggled to gain any ground in WWE. The injury took away all that momentum he was riding high on. Before his injury in February, Wade Barrett was number one in line to dethrone Sheamus at SummerSlam. However because Barrett’s injury occurred before Sheamus’ Wrestlemania 28 World Heavyweight Championship victory, then WWE never got to explore that avenue.
An Irishman and Englishman fighting over the World Heavyweight Championship would have been awesome to watch. Not to mention to emotion when Barrett actually dethroned Sheamus to become the first ever English born World Heavyweight Champion. Now would have the perfect time to reignite that feud. When the World Championship scene is bare to the bone, WWE needed Barrett but ignored him completely. With his new look and his new attitude it would have been the ideal time for him to initiate a feud with Sheamus. Maybe, knowing how Americans love the stereotypical English villain, it would have got the majority of fans on Sheamus’ side. I wonder why no one who proclaims to know what they’re doing thinks of this?
I’m not convinced that either Sheamus or Big Show will leave Hell in a Cell as World Heavyweight champion though. It’s no secret that WWE have been bandying Dolph Ziggler’s intention to cash in his Money in the Bank contract at Hell in a Cell, even though Ziggler has fallen so far since his ascension to the briefcase that it’s hard to imagine anyone taking Dolph Ziggler as World Heavyweight Champion seriously in 2012. If this was WWE’s plan all along then the former Spirit Squad member should have been permitted at least two victories over higher opposition and Sheamus on television and pay per view in the run up to Hell in a Cell to strengthen his claim to the throne.
If Dolph Ziggler does cash in his contract and does leave Hell in a Cell as Champion then it’ll be WWE’s half hearted attempt to revive their main event scene. Undoubtedly it would be another fresh-ish feud which would take us into 2013 as Sheamus tries to regain his gold, but it would also make Ziggler look like a coward and a fluke champion just like it did to Jack Swagger in 2010. And we all know how that turned out. If Dolph Ziggler is to be involved then WWE’s best bet would be for Ziggler not to cash in his briefcase but instead to attack Sheamus after the match. It may still make him look like a cowardly heel but at least it would signal his intention to target Sheamus and to some level would elevate Ziggler. An attack on the Champion would stand Ziggler in higher regard somewhat. This should be WWE’s plan right now for Ziggler. Not to switch the strap to someone who they’ve buried so deeply.
After Hell in a Cell, should Ziggler attack Sheamus on the night, then Ziggler could be put on a path where he’s rebuilt to a stage where he could take the gold at the Royal Rumble. Bragging about injuring Sheamus and a few victories on television and pay per view over higher card wrestlers would do the trick for WWE’s next main event star. After Ziggler defeated Orton by pinfall on Raw (should have been at Night of Champions) then WWE should have played on the victory having Ziggler brag on the mic and to anyone who would listen about his achievement. He should have been allocated interviews and beat downs on other wrestlers in Orton’s position – even Cena – as long as WWE didn’t book a match between Ziggler and Cena then the angle would have given Ziggler a lot of heat and stature. Instead they sent the Miz out without even acknowledging how important a victory it was for Dolph.
If WWE wanted to really make this entertaining then they could have booked a triple threat match. Sheamus vs Ziggler vs Show for the gold at Hell in a Cell. Then after Sheamus pinned Show to retain the Championship and was beaten down he could no longer defend himself, Ziggler could have then chased in the contract and became the new World Heavyweight Champion. If that had happened, Ziggler cashing in – in the same match he just fought, then it would looked a shrewd move instead of attacking a Champion who has just fought in a match the contender wasn’t in. Ziggler would have been able to stand as a legit champion because he would have been involved in the match and taken his fair share of punishment and dolled out his fair share of beatings. That would have been another option for WWE to look at. But since when did they ever think about their other main event players – especially ones who don’t bring them millions in merchandise sales.
Of course, there’s still the option that WWE could make Ziggler cash in his briefcase and still lose as Cena did to Punk on Raw’s 1,000th episode. If that was to happen, especially on a pay per view, after the few months Ziggler has had, then I believe it would all but finish off Dolph’s main event aspirations. To lose via submission at SummerSlam, pinfall at Night of Champions and suffer numerous squashes on television, coupled with a loss on the night that WWE should be marking as a changing of the guard would make Ziggler a laughing stock. I really hoped that WWE would learn from its mistakes with the Miz and Jack Swagger. You can’t book a wrestler to play the fool and look at the lights for everyone who needs a victory to sustain their spot and then expect the audience to root for or believe in said wrestler a week later when you decide to push him into a floundering main event picture. Weather he walks out of Hell in a Cell, World Heavyweight Champion or not, Dolph Ziggler’s career could be made or broken at Hell in a Cell. The scariest thought of all is that his entire future is in the hand of WWE.
So it’s October. It’s time for Hell in a Cell. And whilst it’s not Alberto Del Rio in the challenger spot this time around, looking at who WWE have picked instead, I’m almost prepared to say that I’m willing to sit through yet another Sheamus Del Rio match. Because let’s be honest, who in 2012 wants to see Big Show in the main event? If worst comes to the worst, WWE could always prop the ring up with him.
Winners Prediction: Sheamus
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Kofi Kingston (Champion) vs The Miz
When Kofi Kingston pinned the Miz on The Main Event – don’t worry if you haven’t seen WWE’s latest offering of a television show, not many other people have either – I could see the rug being pulled out from under the awesome ones feet yet again. It’s a feeling that has been rewarded with correct predictions in that past and let’s be honest here, we’ve seen this happen to countless wrestlers, over and over and over again. Brodus Clay anyone?
It’s something that happened to the Miz in 2011 which he is still recovering from to this day. WWE pushed him hard, right to the top of the card and then buried him under an avalanche of John Cena. The Miz’s victory in the main event of Wrestlemania 27 where he retained the WWE Championship over the walking merchandise stand was tainted by the Rock’s interference and subsequent Rock Bottom on the leader of the sickening ‘Cenation’. WWE couldn’t even allow the Miz to pin Cena cleanly in the middle of the ring to allow his stature to have solid foundations. What WWE were telling us what that they didn’t think Miz could beat Cena on his own merit so he had to have the help of the Rock. Once WWE does that, how do they expect us to believe in the said wrestler?
No doubt in the future, the Miz will cross paths with Cena again but that’ll be another story for another time. After dropping the WWE Intercontinental Championship to Kofi Kingston on the Main Event it took the Miz’s tally of defeats to Kingston to two. Back to back. WWE’s reasoning for this is that they have bigger plans in mind for the Miz and they needed him to drop the gold to Kingston to place the belief in the minds of the WWE Universe that Kingston is once again an undercard player.
The trouble comes now, that WWE are planning a huge push for Miz that will eventually lead to a WWE Championship reign, which will hopefully be more victorious than the last. Does WWE have Kingston pin the Miz again and on pay per view? If that happens then Miz’s credibility will be at an all time low and it’ll make WWE’s job even harder than it already is. If Miz loses the match by disqualification then he’ll look like a spineless coward and WWE need him to look like a star. A double count out would elicit jeers from the fans. So how do WWE end this match with an outcome that will protect both men’s credibility?
The answer was obvious. WWE should have had Kofi Kingston defeat the Miz once. Then in their Intercontinental Championship match on the Main Event, WWE should have booked the Miz to go over Kingston and then finally in the rubber match at Hell in a Cell, Kingston should have dethroned the Miz on pay per view. It would have made Kingston look stronger and not have made the Miz look like a walk over. Why don’t WWE think these storylines through before rushing them onto the screen? It would look so much better if they did.
Once again the question is posed, what happens after Hell in a Cell? The Miz is going to be pushed again and not before time as well. He’s earned it and he can handle it in and out of the ring. WWE have even put the Miz’s face on the Survivor Series 2012 poster so we can assume, unless WWE change plans yet again, that the Miz’s push will begin leading up to and at Survivor Series. But who with? One choice would be the Undertaker. If WWE can get ‘the Deadman’ back to action early to help elevate the Miz then it would be epic for Miz’s career, especially if he could defeat him at Royal Rumble. Realistically, Undertaker is still injured and became a father again at the end of August so it’s unlikely that WWE will rush him back before Royal Rumble or Wrestlemania.
John Cena is out. WWE have to keep him away from the Miz at all costs if they’re serious about getting Miz over again. They need someone who can sell Miz’s moves, not someone who plays dead then leaps up from seemingly the deadliest moves without bothering to feign injury and makes said move look weak. Cena has ruined so many careers, WWE must safeguard Miz from this treatment again. We would be willing to forget Miz’s treatment at the hands of Cena in 2009 and 2011 if WWE does right by him here. Although I do think it’s worth adding that squash victories against the likes of Yoshi Tatsu won’t do anything for anyone.
The only other possibility I can see is either Randy Orton or C. M. Punk. As Punk is about the enter the biggest feud of his life against the Rock, then that avenue is well and truly closed. Maybe WWE could bring Stone Cold back for a few appearances and have the Miz hold his own against Austin. Austin’s knee problem would be a hurdle but WWE could get over that. Randy Orton has just started a feud with Alberto Del Rio that is scheduled to overlap Survivor Series and possible TLC. It looks like WWE are stuck in a rut yet again. I can’t see anyone with enough sway to elevate the Miz in the upper card scene and without that special component then WWE are going to struggle to bring the awesomeness back to the Miz.
The current WWE Intercontinental Champion, Kofi Kingston on the other hand, has a wealth of opponents who are just chomping at the bit to step up to the plate. Can Kofi Kingston take the Intercontinental Championship to the next level like the Miz has? He hasn’t done it before so he has something to prove this time. WWE have dumped the belt on Kingston just because they want to automatically push him back into the singles roster. Don’t they realise that they have to take their time with these things? Kingston has been a Tag Team player for months now and for us to welcome him back as a singles competitor WWE should have started at the bottom with him, not just swap a Championship because it’s convenient.
Kofi Kingston has all the talent in the world, granted. Now WWE have to actually do something with him and the gold instead of just keeping him at ‘Stop’ for the next few months. That’s what happened with Kingston’s last Intercontinental Championship reign and it was a disaster. Apart from the off few matches with Drew McIntyre it was lifeless. Which contributed to the recent portion of the downfall of the Intercontinental Championship.
This will be a good match without a doubt. Both men usually produce on pay per view. I just truly hope that this time around WWE have thought further than October 28th. It would be nice to believe, just once, that if we’re spending out hard earned cash out on this stuff, we’re getting a well planned out rise and not another stop start push which will ruin another promising career.
Winners Prediction: Kofi Kingston
Randy Orton vs Alberto Del Rio
This one came out of the blue for me. Ok, they’ve had exchanges on Smackdown but for WWE to shove them onto a card which could have been used to highlight Dolph Ziggler, I can’t help but think it’s a very bad oversight on WWE’s part.
Alberto Del Rio is no substitute for Ziggler. Maybe at one time he would have been but that was before WWE got to him and made him a constant loser. Losses to Sheamus on four WWE pay per view this year have damaged Del Rio beyond repair. I don’t even think Randy Orton can save the false millionaire now.
I’ve touched upon Dolph Ziggler and WWE’s tease that Ziggler will leave Hell in a Cell as World Heavyweight Champion by cashing in his Money in the Bank contract. If WWE does intend for Ziggler to be World Heavyweight Champion when the credits roll on Hell in a Cell then would it not have been a good idea for Ziggler and Orton to end their feud here instead of the brief ending we got served on Smackdown? If Ziggler had have beaten Orton convincingly at Hell in a Cell then it would have strengthened his Championship challenge should it have come up later in the night.
Alberto Del Rio needs time and money pumped into his rehabilitation. After those losses to Sheamus without one pay per view victory, Del Rio has begun to flounder. Without anyone willing to look into alternatives as to a possible rejuvenation of the character or even better, a new one, Del Rio really needs the victory at Hell in a Cell. A loss, even to someone as talented as Randy Orton would be disastrous. WWE need to book Del Rio to beat Orton down and look at least like he could end Orton’s career. A storyline injury caused by Del Rio would be even better. It would give Del Rio an aura of importance and serve as the perfect excuse to Orton’s absence whilst he’s away filming whatever remains of ’12 Rounds 2’.
Should WWE book Del Rio to lose again then I would expect the guy to be dropped to the bottom of the Intercontinental Championship division. WWE can’t expect us to pay to see a man in the upper mid card spot who has lost so many matches its beginning to be a strain to remember when he did actually win. WWE dropped the Miz like a burning shit when they buried him and interest sloped away – for which WWE had no idea why we weren’t interested – morons, so I’d expect the same treatment for Del Rio. If you’re not going to use him effectively then allow him to go away and see if he can do what you can’t. Namely, come up with some fresh ideas.
I have voiced my ideas for putting Del Rio under a mask with several other jobbers and passing them off as Mexican heels, for a while now. One day WWE will listen to their masses and they will act upon what we want to see. Until that day comes, Alberto Del Rio is going to continue to wander what he did so wrong to be treated so poorly.
Randy Orton has had his fair share of punishments since he returned from suspension a few months ago. Left off of the SummerSlam card, allowed minimal victories, having to play punch bag for opponents such as Ryback and Big Show. I think it’s about time WWE began to rebuild one of the most talented wrestlers they have right now and begin the steady incline back to the World Heavyweight Championship. Randy Orton is the short term answer to WWE’s headline scene and it’s about time they stopped making excuses and started looking at the hard facts.
Hell in a Cell would be the perfect time to rebuild Orton had his opponent been anyone else other than Del Rio or Ziggler. Anyone else could take the loss and not have it affect their image or career. As it stands, Orton knows that he’s probably going to have do another of those terrific sell jobs and make Del Rio look a million dollars.
One would have thought that seeing as Randy Orton is in WWE’s next instalment of money losing, WWE would have done away with the petty punishments and booked their latest movie’s new star heavily and to their own advantage. It’s lucky that Orton carries such a presence with the WWE Universe and that we actually care about him otherwise the movie may take an even heavier hit than it’s going to and his matches would just be filler for the more important matches on the card.
I have no doubt this match will be a very good one. Both men are great wrestlers. You can bet your life savings that it won’t have as much crowd interest as it should have. Two years ago this would have been considered a main event level match. Both men were in contention for the WWE and World Heavyweight Championship and had they clashed in 2010 in a main event environment with a Heavyweight Championship on the line, then maybe it could have been the feud of the year. As it is, WWE preferred to exhaust every other option as opponents for both men, which has also seen a decline in public interest for the pair, before bringing them together. It doesn’t mean the pair couldn’t have fought again in 2012 – as we know WWE love rehashing old feuds – had the two had a meaningful feud in 2010 then there would have been a degree of interest for a rematch or re-feud at Hell in a Cell.
Treading water is the word I’m looking to use here. It’s what both men and WWE are doing. Because the company has no other ideas for the pair. Alberto Del Rio can’t challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship again for at least a year until he’s been built back up and WWE won’t allow Randy Orton to challenge for the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship until they feel he’s served his punishment for his suspension. Yes, it’s pathetic that WWE are still punishing Orton this far down the line but that’s WWE for you. I would like to point out though, once again, that Rey Mysterio – who was suspended for the exact same thing Orton was – was brought back to WWE and thrown into the Intercontinental Championship picture and is about to be but in a semi high maintenance feud with Sin Cara (give it time it’s going to happen). Mysterio and WWE had more to lose than Orton did. I have no idea why Mysterio’s suspension didn’t outrage WWE bigwigs more than Orton’s did, because Mysterio is the number two merchandise seller behind Cena. Should WWE not have seen Mysterio’s suspension as a slap in the face because they’d lose so much money?
Although that’s why they pushed Mysterio right back into the action upon his return. For the same reason they won’t turn Cena heel and the same reason Orton was punished and Mysterio wasn’t. Because Mysterio brings them in so much merchandise money. They weren’t going to risk upsetting Mysterio in case he quit the company and WWE lost all that money. It really does make the world go around you know. Now WWE are beginning to forgive and forget and are done making an example of Orton to other WWE talent – which was pointless seeing as someone else will fail the Wellness Policy somewhere down the line and the lesson WWE are trying to hammer home to its talent will be redundant yet again – they can allow him to breathe again and place him into the void that is sucking away the ‘B’ level pay per view ratings.
As it is, I can’t see Del Rio beating Orton at Hell in a Cell and neither can I see this feud going any further than maybe Survivor Series. Team Orton vs Team Del Rio sounds like the sort of thing WWE are working towards. With all that said, do any of actually care who wins this match? When it’s all said and done, Del Rio will have still lost four times to the World Heavyweight Champion and Orton will still be the short term answer to WWE’s floundering main event scene. Weather he’s declared the victory or sees his shoulders pinned to the mat at Hell in a Cell, Randy Orton will be the overall winner.
Winners Prediction: Randy Orton
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Team Hell No (Champions) vs Team Rhodes Scholars
I’ve been very critical of Kane in past few months. My criticism hasn’t been without merit. Kane’s performances in WWE since his return have been bloody awful. His series with John Cena in January and February warrants an inclusion in the list of ‘Worst Feud of 2012’. Their match at Royal Rumble 2012 and their Ambulance Match at Elimination Chamber 2012 ranged from dire to awful.
Breaking away from the feud Kane entered into a series with Randy Orton which yielded some decent matches. The hurdle came in Kane’s performances. He was dragging Orton down with him. And for a wrestler who needed all the exposure he could muster leading into his suspension for violating WWE’s Wellness Policy, Randy Orton needed Kane to be on top of his game. The problem with Kane is that the man is so big and so broken down in 2012 that a decent in ring performance is few and far between. Randy Orton couldn’t rely on Kane and of course it’s damn near impossible for Orton to make both himself and the Big Red Machine look awesome.
The match at Wrestlemania 28 was plodding at best. Randy Orton knew it. If you go back and look at the expressions on Orton’s face during the encounter, they tell you more than I ever could. With the ending the exception, nothing stood out for either man when Kane pinned ‘The Viper’ on the grandest stage of the all.
After numerous inclusions in the main events of pay per views, unwarranted inclusions –
Kane’s main event prowess today is as unfathomable as it was in 2000, against C.M Punk and Daniel Bryan, the well looked dry for Kane. There was nowhere else he could possibly go. That’s when WWE played their ace in the hole. Yes, they do still have them it’s just that they chose not to use them for the most part.
Daniel Bryan was fresh from the best feud of the year. A feud which unlike Kane’s, ground out matches with C.M Punk which even at their worst were excellent! Even though WWE should have extended the Bryan vs Punk feud – which would have been imminently more watchable in October 2012 than either Punk vs Ryback or Punk vs Cena (again!) – Daniel Bryan still had the audience on his side with his addictive ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ chants. The stumbling block in the road with Bryan was WWE’s handling of him. Instead of keeping him where he belongs in the main event they dropped him into a feud with Kane, because seemingly they had no more ideas for either man.
Weather this was WWE’s plan all along or they made it up on the fly, it was an ingenious move to put the two together using the hilarious and entertaining therapy sessions and ‘Hugging Out’ moments in the ring. Which themselves have been greeted with chants of ‘Hug it out’ by the WWE Universe. Together, Kane and Bryan have rejuvenated the WWE Tag Team Division, more than anyone else could. They’ve been fresh, they’ve been funny but also they can entertain in the ring. Bryan more than Kane. Most of all they compliment each other. Bryan holds the in ring side of things and keeps it afloat for the team whilst backstage in the skits, Kane has been one of the more entertaining parties.
I know when polls are being taken at the end of the year they won’t include a ‘Best Line of the Year’ category, but if they did then Kane would get the gong for his unforgettable line ‘I once had a girlfriend called Katie, but that didn’t turn out so well’. If you watched this and had no idea what Kane was talking about then it’s too long to explain here so go back and look at the entire Triple H vs Kane feud in 2002 or log on to the Hell in a Cell 2012 review where, just for those who like a short trip down memory lane or those who have yet to see it, I will explain the entire ‘Katie Vick’ angle.
The WWE Tag Team Division has done two great things in past two months. It’s created a new and vibrant scene for tag teams and it has catapulted Kofi Kingston back into the singles division where he needs to be. Kane and Bryan are just what the WWE Tag Team Championships needed. Now, as former World and WWE Champions, Bryan and Kane bring a level of importance to the Championships that were severely lacking. I’ve told you that Yokozuna in 1994, when he wasn’t fighting for the WWE Championship, dropped down into the WWE Tag Team Division and made the Tag Championships his number one priority. This made them look even more important than they were and can also be credited as a time when the WWE Tag Team Division was at its best.
With Kane and Bryan at the top of the tag mountain, WWE can now create new tag teams around them whilst giving the existing tag teams a lift by challenging two former World Heavyweight Champions. How much better will it look for a tag team like Primo and Epico if they’re given great offence against Bryan and Kane? It all serves to make the division and the teams look better. The team that finally do topple Kane and Bryan will have a major boost to their image and career.
Yet another great idea came out of WWE Headquarters when they decided the challengers to the Tag Team Championships would be decided in a tag team tournament. The tournament hasn’t been the success I hoped it would be, neither did I expect it to be. WWE have rushed it and put the tournament matches on unimportant shows such as Superstars and the Main Event. Those who don’t watch Superstars or the Main Event would have no doubt been confused to learn on Raw that a team who they thought was still scheduled to compete had already advanced or been knocked out. It cheapens the tournament and the challenge and it’s something WWE should seek to rectify in the future.
Should WWE have scheduled the tag team tournament two months ago – before Kane and Bryan toppled Kingston and Truth to be crowned the WWE Tag Team Champions – then they could have made more of it. WWE could have booked some of the tournament matches to take place at Night of Champions or even SummerSlam and the final to take place at Hell in a Cell. The winners should then have challenged the tag team champions at Survivor Series to give the tournament and the prize on offer a more important outlook. However they didn’t and after a rushed tournament, which has seen the team of Kingston and Truth disband WWE present us with this match at Hell in a Cell.
It’s a shame because WWE missed a real trick with this. Had they presented the tournament as a pay per view special or even dedicated a whole episode of Raw to the tournament like they used to with King of the Ring then it could have drawn more interest and subsequently more pay per view numbers to see the winners of the tournament try and take the gold from the WWE Tag Team Champions. It just amuses and angers me that WWE to this day, wonder why the tag team division doesn’t have as much interest or appeal as it used to have – when all they need to do is follow a few suggestions and in six months the tag team division will be a new vibrant division that fans will be interested in.
Here we are then. Hell in a Cell 2012 and WWE have not only missed another trick but they’ve missed the prefect chance to lay the foundations of what would have been a cracking feud for early 2013. There’s no doubt that Team Rhodes Scholars which comprises Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow are a talented team, not to mention, fingers crossed, future main eventers. Rhodes is a WWE Championship player and Sandow, whilst limited by what people in the back think of him, would make a wonderful Intercontinental Championship headliner. The question remains weather Team Rhodes Scholars were the right choice for this tag team match and possibly the resulting feud that will stem from the Hell in a Cell encounter.
To be honest, I don’t think they are. With Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara, who Team Rhodes Scholars defeated in the finals of the tag team tournament to book their place at Hell in a Cell, WWE had a ready made feud within one team and a potential cracking Tag Team Championship match when Bryan tangled with Mysterio and to a lesser extent Sin Cara. What WWE could have gotten from the loss of Mysterio and Cara was limitless and would have set up the eventual Mysterio vs Cara feud nicely. Had WWE booked Mysterio and Cara to lose to Team Hell No at Hell in a Cell and Survivor Series, they ten could have booked a triple threat WWE Tag Team Championship Ladder Match at TLC 2012 pitting Team Hell No vs Team Rhodes Scholars vs Rey Mysterio vs Sin Cara.
The triple threat ladder match could have been billed as Mysterio’s and Sin Cara’s final shot at Tag Team Gold and WWE could have added the extra layer in storyline form, conveying Sin Cara’s frustration and growing hatred towards Mysterio who would be the one constantly being pinned by either Bryan or Kane. At TLC 2012, with Team Hell No retained their Tag Team Championships – after Kane had choke slammed Mysterio from the top of the ladder and took the gold – Sin Cara would have finally snapped and turned on Mysterio leading to what would have been a terrific match at Royal Rumble 2013 which Sin Cara would have won and a rematch at Wrestlemania 29 where Mysterio would have finally gotten his revenge on the grandest stage of them all.
Tell me the above wouldn’t have been better than a luke warm encounter between Team Hell No and Team Rhodes Scholars which has no life in it if a third party isn’t added to the mix. The above would have been beneficial for all three teams. Defeating Mysterio and Sin Cara would have looked great for Team Hell No. Likewise, victories on Raw and Smackdown would have been stature enhancing for Team Rhodes Scholars and WWE would have a new, fresh, never before seen feud for Wrestlemania 29, which it desperately needs if it’s going to shine on the penultimate Wrestlemania before its thirtieth anniversary. Add to all of that enhancing the image of the WWE Tag Team Championships by having them the main event of TLC 2012 fought over by six competitors. Three of whom are former WWE and World Heavyweight Champions, two who are the future of WWE and the other really has no future. However, even Sin Cara’s presence in the Tag Team Championship picture wouldn’t do it any harm.
Cody Rhodes has been given a lifeline as has Damien Sandow. Both men have been floundering and sinking along with Smackdown. It looked like WWE had given up on the blue brand and the lower card that were trying so hard with the limited material that it had. I would think that the pair were thrilled to learn they were going to be put back into the spotlight with the tag team tournament, however, they now have to take the ten or fifteen minutes this match will be allocated and really make it theirs. Otherwise they may find themselves being jobbed out on The Main Event yet again.
With matches on Smackdown where Kane defeated Rhodes and Sandow defeated Bryan, the stage is set for a decent if not great tag team encounter. I just can’t shake the feel though that this would have been a feud of longevity had WWE added the combustible elements of Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara to pad out its immediate future. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. When does WWE ever think ahead?
Winners Prediction: Kane and Daniel Bryan
WWE Divas Championship Match
Triple Threat Match
Eve (Champion) vs Layla vs Kaitlyn
It’s laughable isn’t it? That the WWE Divas Division is so thin on the ground for talent that WWE have to continuously recycle the same matches in the same spots with most likely the same finishes as the last pay per view. At least they bothered to change the World Heavyweight Championship Match, after a fashion.
Eve vs Layla, in case you didn’t see Night of Champions is a re-match from the ‘All Championships defended’ themed pay per view with Kaitlyn – who was supposed to be in the Divas Championship Match at Night of Champions – thrown in. WWE are trying to hook us in here with the ‘Who attacked Kaitlyn’ storyline which carries about as much water as a sheet of toilet paper. Do we really believe that with a roster of wrestlers that number in its 60’s plus, backstage staff which number well over a hundred and include, producers, bookers, road agents, cameramen and so on, that no one saw who attacked Kaitlyn? Sometimes WWE even outdoes itself.
The blame has been bandied around with one diva being accused of the attack. As we saw on the final Smackdown before Hell in a Cell, Layla and Kaitlyn are now at logger heads. Which, I hate to spoil it for you people, is leading to the unveiling of Layla as the mystery attacker and the break up of a very dull friendship that will end when Kaitlyn defeats Layla for the WWE Divas Championship somewhere down the line.
That WWE are now running two similar storylines in the same year at the same time is a joke. Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio are going through the same thing as Layla and Kaitlyn, only the men will have a much better reaction when the swerve turn finally does come. The reason? Because Rey Mysterio is infinitely more popular than Kaitlyn and the WWE Universe cares about the make divisions, whereas they couldn’t give a damn about the paper thin Divas Division.
If this is all WWE can muster for the women then it would do just as well to scrap the division and cull the roster it has now. Eve is awful in the ring and if she adds anymore fake tan to her body then she may just blind us all when she makes her entrance. The Divas Championship might as well be scrap metal and the rest of the roster is made up of women who can neither fight nor act.
If WWE do listen to us then act now before you deface the women and the division anymore. This is salvable but only if you follow these guidelines. WWE should scrap the Divas Division at Survivor Series and get rid of all and any women can’t fight. The time for models has passed. Look for actual women who can wrestle, build up a plan for the long term of women’s wrestling. Then either at Wrestlemania or after it re-launch the divas division as the WWE Women’s Division with a brand new, traditional WWE Women’s Championship belt with women from across the world, if necessary, who can wrestle. If WWE put enough hype and enough money into this plan then it would succeed. We’re willing to sit through two pug ugly women who can wrestle a great match much more than we are two glamour models who don’t want to break a nail.
Should WWE do this then women’s wrestling would stand a chance again in WWE, reaching new audiences with new stars. If WWE are going to be pig headed and keep ignoring the dire situation, then women’s wrestling in WWE is going to rapidly become a thing of the past.
Winners Prediction: Layla
WWE Hell in a Cell 2012 is a surprisingly sparse card this month with just six advertised matches replacing the usual cluster of randomness. The downside is that WWE have somehow failed to book Dolph Ziggler on the card. Seeing as they’ve advertised him and his supposed cashing on of his Money in the Bank briefcase at Hell in a Cell, WWE may have been wise to book Dolph Ziggler in a huge victory to back up his claim to the gold if he should leave Hell in a Cell 2012 as World Heavyweight Champion.
The upside is that John Cena isn’t fighting on the card and whilst he’ll no doubt make an appearance it’ll be a much better pay per view without the anchor which pulls everything else around it down. If you get You Tube then you can sit through the Hell in a Cell pre-show which will consist of a John Cena Q&A with the audience, otherwise sit back and enjoy the show without having to wait for the inevitable Cena performance.
WWE have broken their own system this year. Usually on these themed pay per view WWE have one or matches fought under the main pay per view name. The Hell in a Cell structure has been deployed twice at all three previous Hell in a Cell events, yet this year only C.M. Punk vs Ryback for the WWE Championship will be fought inside Satan’s Structure. Obviously WWE didn’t think the World Heavyweight Championship, the holder Sheamus or the challenger Big Show were important enough to be allocated a Hell in a Cell match. Seeing as we’ve already had one this year – at Wrestlemania 28 – then maybe WWE have already filled up their quota for so called ‘violent’ matches this year.
Hell in a Cell 2012 should prove to be the springboard for some wrestlers and depending on how WWE handle the night a trapdoor for others. Hell may be an appropriate first name for October 28th’s pay per view. Because if WWE get this wrong then that’s exactly what the rest of the year is going to be.
Onwards and upwards...
