A – Excellent
B – Good
C – Mediocre
D – Avoid
Release Date: January 27th 2014
Available From: www.wwedvd.co.uk
Price:
DVD £ 12.99
Blu-ray £ 13.99
(Prices from www.wwedvd.co.uk: high street prices will vary)
Format Reviewed:
DVD
(Also Available on Blu-ray)
What It’s About:
WWE’s Hell in a Cell pay-per view event held
on October 27th from the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. Contrary to
the press junket, which comes with the review discs, stating this is the second
annual Hell in a Cell event, 2013’s offering is the fifth event based around
one of the most popular and famous matches in wrestling history (the event was
first premiered in 2009).
Featuring
the return of John Cena as he challenges Alberto Del Rio for the World
Heavyweight Championship; Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan (for the WWE
Championship); and C.M Punk vs Ryback and Paul Heyman inside Hell in a Cell,
plus much more.
Strengths:
Cody
Rhodes and Goldust vs Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns vs The Usos for the WWE Tag
Team Championships is the best match of the show by far. Sadly though, it’s the
opening contest which means the rest of the show goes down hill significantly
in terms of in ring action. At the beginning of the match the commentators get
the rules completely wrong, setting the tone for their input on the night and
then Michael Cole shows himself up when he asks ‘Who?’ as JBL mentions Rocky
Marciano; but happily the beginning of the match is all go with some excellent
action between Goldust – has he ever been better than he is in 2014? – and Jay
Uso. Unusually for The Shield, Reigns and Rollins slow the match down to a
horrible pace – Roman Reigns still has some stuff to learn before he goes solo
– when it could have been all action, they have the talent to do it. The Shield
do absolve themselves when they perfectly execute a double pull off the apron
on The Usos as Cody Rhodes goes for the tag – that looks excellent – and Cody
Rhodes is a ball energy proving he belongs in the main event with every step he
takes. His Reverse Victory Roll and Moonsault look simply divine. As the match
wraps up there are some perfect near falls which build the tension to a pique
and the Hanging Samoan Drop by Jay Uso and Tope Dive by Jimmy Uso look
excellent but they are topped by the move of the night which sees Cody Rhodes
Suplex Seth Rollins off of the top rope and to the outside, into the waiting
arms of Goldust, Roman Reigns and The Usos. It has to be seen to be believed
and deserves the ‘This is Awesome’ chants it receives. The match has a
wonderful ending and Cody Rhodes couldn’t be more over. 2014 would be the
perfect time to push him hard.
‘The
Miz Challenges The Wyatt Family’ is a decent enough segment in which it does
what it says on the tin. The Miz does a great job and sells the previous
beating he took from The Wyatt’s. ‘The Awesome One’, who has been tan-tastic,
does a fantastic sell job of Bray Wyatt’s words, who is creepy and unsettling
on the titan tron. Miz looks geninually unsettled. But what brings down the
segment is that it’s too coincidental that The Wyatt Family and Kane’s theme
music is cued up when they enter. It should have been spontaneous, especially
Kane’s return to the WWE. No one believes that Kane allowed The Miz to get
beaten up and then told production to hit his music. Idiotically, JBL states
“I’m glad Kane is back! That’s what’s best for business!” Moron.
C.M
Punk vs Ryback and Paul Heyman inside Hell in a Cell is a massive improvement
on their Battleground bore, but it still leaves a lot to be desired and feels
overtly stagnated, as the pair trawl through the same moves we’ve seen a
thousand times. Refreshingly, Ryback has moments when he resembles the monster
WWE wanted him to be in 2012 and 2013 and C.M Punk tries so hard to do
something special with him but it never comes off, when there should have been
something remarkable. Pathetically, Paul Heyman is referred to as ‘it’ by the equally
moronic Jerry Lawler and JBL. In a cringe inducing moment, Ryback crotches C.M
Punk on the edge of the table in a move which will be felt by every man who
witnesses it, but thankfully Punk sells the effects to the dying moments. The
best parts of this match don’t happen in the ring though, instead outside of
it. The pre-match promo by Heyman is air punching brilliant and C.M Punk
ascension to the top of the cage to extract his revenge on Heyman with a kendo
stick is satisfactory also. One can’t help feel though that had C.M Punk
ejected Heyman from the top of the Cell and into a padded landing (ala Rikishi
at Armageddon 2000) it would have brought the house down. But hey, that’s PG TV
for you.
Los
Matadores vs The Real Americans is just respectable whilst it’s. Antonio Cesaro
and Jack Swagger hold the match together and the Leap Frog Stomp is excellent,
whilst the Cesaro Swing is more over than some of the wrestlers on the roster.
The Real Americans losing yet again is ridiculous. Los Matadores look like
they’ve borrowed their costumes from Tito Santana and both El Torito’s charging
bull routine and Zeb Coulters rant is pointiless.
Randy
Orton vs Daniel Bryan isn’t the greatest Hell in a Cell Match in history but it
isn’t totally horrible either, thanks to Orton and Bryan’s enthusiasm. It’s no
secret that their pay-per view matches were somewhat of a let down but we know
by now that when two awesome forces such as these collide, they tend to cancel
each other out. It’s a testament to the audience that they’re still behind
Bryan even after all the things that have been said about him on Raw in the
lead up to Hell in a Cell – it just goes to prove that WWE don’t always have
the power to make us believe what they want – and this match shows that he’s
much better than the current stuff he’s been doing with The Wyatt Family. There
are some fine moments to be seen here but you get the overall impression that
everything that could have been done has been and maybe WWE were correct to
move on with the pair and split them until at least WrestleMania XXX. The match
does dip in an out of pace when it should really stick to a steady incline but
Shawn Michaels does help proceedings along as Special Guest Referee, though
remains distant until the end. There’s a beautiful Sunset Flip from Bryan from
the top rope which lives up the bout and those are followed with the standard
counters and reversals which are good, but don’t stop the feeling that this
match goes too long. Towards the end of the bout HBK comes into his own and the
referee bump at the death signals the Shawn Michaels turn which is done to
perfection. So not all great but as I said, there are moments here which still
make you believe.
As
for the DVD extras, Damien Sandow vs Kofi Kingston on the Hell in a Cell
Kick-off match, is mostly lively and capable because of Kingston. Damien Sandow
seems stifled because of his treatment at WWE’s hands. Kofi’s Rolling Plancha
off of the ring steps is great as is his Reverse Hurricanrana. Through the
match the commentators lose interest and begin talking about WWE 2K14 and
ribbing JBL about his character in the game, which is mostly raises a smile.
Though the problem I would have with this is that as someone who has played the
game, JBL cannot be unlocked until you progress to the WrestleMania 21 event in
30 Years of WrestleMania Mode. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler are surely too
busy to play through the game to that point so soon after its release, so how
would they know? As for the match, it’s watchable and at least Damien Sandow
gets a victory here.
Weaknesses:
Fandango
and Summer Rae vs The Great Khali and Natalya is horrible and Fandango’s
pre-match dance routine and promo are the funniest things on display, as he
tries to sound mystifying beginning the rant in some foreign accent before
reverting back to American. Though its clear Fandango is improving as a
wrestler and with some more training and an opponent who wants to make stars he
could be excellent, there is nothing here of any value whatsoever. Natalya and
Rae are slow and very dull whilst The Great Khali should have retied years ago.
The wrestling ring isn’t the place for a man of his size.
Dean
Ambrose vs Big E. Langston comes straight from an episode of Wrestling
Challenge, in that’s it slow, un-ambitious and only regresses both men’s
careers backwards instead of advancing their standing in the company. Langston
should be better than this by now, he’s been around for a while plus wrestling
in NXT, you would have thought that he may have picked up one or two tips
whilst under the watchful eye of Triple H. If anything, both Langston and
Ryback have proven that WWE’s preference of preferring and liking wrestlers
with bigger muscles than penis’ isn’t always correct. Dean Ambrose however is
better than this. Of the match, Langston’s power is the only notable part as he
strongly reminds of Ahmed Johnson, that’s not a good thing. To make matters
worse, the match ends on a countout to save Langston from the dreaded pinfall.
The match plays out to indifference.
A.J
Lee vs Brie Bella is fought at a leisurely pace and only goes to add weight to
the fact that WWE need more female talent, especially now Kaitlyn has left the
company to pursue other options and get married. The upturn that the Divas
division took in mid-2013 was obviously temporary and without a decent
challenger, A.J – as talented and beautiful and desirable as she is – is stuck
for anything appealing and motivated to do. She’s the best female wrestler the
company has or has had since Trish Stratus and Lita, but without anyone to push
her I fear she may become complacent. She can’t do anything with the tiresome
Brie Bella – who doesn’t belong in the ring that much is clear – and the match
is played out to silence.
Alberto
Del Rio vs John Cena is the usual trawl through the usual Cena routine. On this
night, John Cena seems to be riding his comeback too much, neglecting to sell
anything including the arm which he’d been out of action with for two months.
Judging by this, he should have stayed away longer. It’s amazing that he still
hasn’t bothered to learn anything new. What did he do with that time? Alberto
Del Rio would have been a better replacement at TLC and would have added an air
of authority to his character had he been picked ahead of Cena to compete in
the unification match. Sadly, Del Rio hardly gets a look in here only to apply
some mind numbing arm bars on Cena which kill any momentum the match actually
had. John Cena’s punches look weak and more ridiculously, Alberto Del Rio has
to sell them like they’re devastating. The most ludicrous moment of the bout
though comes when Del Rio has what should have been the match winning Cross Arm
Breaker on Cena, and Cena – who has just returned from an injury from the very
same arm, simply stand up like nothing has been wrong with the appendage and
lifts up Del Rio’s whole weight. It’s just dumb. It’s clear that WWE don’t care
about Alberto Del Rio’s career and just wanted to get John Cena back on top.
Terrible!
The
superstar panel says nothing of note whatsoever. When discussing what stood out
from what has transpired to that point, Kaitlyn looks a total blonde bimbo when
she states that The Great Khali and Natalya vs Fandango and Summer Rae stood
out and that it was Summer Rae’s first match. Anyone who has seen NXT knows
that’s tripe. Summer Rae has been a regular wrestler on NXT for more than a
year and a half – it’s where she started before becoming Fandango’s bitch. The
fans are so jaded by this that they amuse themselves with chants of ‘Let’s Go
Cena, Cena Sucks!’
The
opening video of the evening is a detriment to every wrestler on the roster
expect for John Cena, when it clearly states that everything which follows,
does so in the shadow of John Cena’s return. Like he’s the be all and end all
of every show and every pay-per view! Maybe it slipped WWE’s mind that the
company was ticking over nicely, even getting over one or two new stars before
John Cena decided to come back early, because he couldn’t bare to sit on the
sidelines anymore. It’s a ridiculous statement to make.
As
for the DVD extras: ‘C.M Punk Reflects on Hell in a Cell’ and ‘Exclusive First
Interview with John Cena’ are both capable but add nothing to proceedings. C.M
Punk fluffs his words towards the end of his moment in the spotlight and John
Cena says what John Cena has said a million times before. It’s time WWE began
loading these releases with real life, behind the scenes extras which interview
wrestlers out of character about how they feel their matches went. It would
make such a change to hear wrestlers criticise their own outing and tell us
what they hoped it would be.
DVD and Blu-ray Special
Features:
Hell in a Cell Kick Off
Match
Damien
Sandow vs Kofi Kingston
C.M
Punk reflects on Hell in a Cell
Exclusive
1st interview with John Cena since returning from injury
Blu-ray Exclusive
Extras:
Monday Night Raw –
October 14th 2013
Shawn
Michaels promises a new WWE Champion at Hell in a Cell
WWE Tag Team
Championship Match
No Disqualification
Match
Seth
Rollins and Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes and Goldust
Smackdown – October
18th 2013
C.M
Punk vs Big E. Langston
Monday Night Raw –
October 21st 2013
Daniel
Bryan vs Randy Orton contract signing
Smackdown – October 25th
2013
Michael
Cole interviews Triple H
Conclusion:
Hell
in a Cell 2013 certainly isn’t the best of the Hell in a Cell events or even
the best pay-per view of the year, but in most of the matches which matter,
it’s more than capable and a much better watch than Battleground which came
before it.
The
main event for the vacant WWE Championship should have been more, as should the
handicap match which saw C.M Punk get his revenge on Paul Heyman – which could
have been saved for a better buy rate at WrestleMania XXX. John Cena’s return
is as predicted. There are some uninteresting and lacklustre offerings on show
but then what do you expect when you book matches thirty minutes before the
show goes live and don’t bother to put any hard backstory to it? The highlight
of the show though is the triple threat tag team match, which almost makes the
whole night worth while.
In
2014, WWE need to flesh out their pay-per view events, decide what they want to
achieve and set out to get just that. Every match needs to be announced at
least a week before the event and pushed on television otherwise we can expect
more of this and much more of what we got at Battleground. A good event but it
could have been excellent.
Rating: B
Next Time in Review
Corner: Live in the UK – November 2013 DVD
Onwards
and upwards...
