WWE Hell in a Cell Review
October 26, 2015
By: Adam Martin of Wrestleview.com
Despite interest in the WWE product hitting all-time lows for television ratings on Monday night, WWE moved forward with booking what was billed as the final encounter between The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar just two months after a match at SummerSlam.
After witnessing two very lackluster in-ring performances by The Undertaker at WrestleMania 31 against Bray Wyatt and at SummerSlam against Lesnar, it’s become very apparent that the 50-year-old ring veteran needs an environment like Hell in a Cell to mask the obvious physical struggles to put together a 15 to 20 minute match.
I stated back in August that booking another match between Undertaker and Lesnar was going to be a very hard sell to me and it would appear WWE even recognized that with a rather lackluster build up in recent weeks. October felt early to stick The Undertaker back in the ring again, really early. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised at the match we got on Sunday night in Los Angeles and, in my eyes, erased the lackluster effort in August.
UNDERTAKER AND LESNAR GO TO WAR IN LOS ANGELES
While it may not be the best compliment, The Undertaker needed a Hell in a Cell match at his age to keep the pace of a nearly 20 minute main event in 2015. I was very impressed with the early counters by Undertaker until he couldn’t fight off the eventual german suplexes from Lesnar. The use of weapons didn’t overshadow the entertaining offense both Undertaker and Lesnar displayed in front of a hot Los Angeles crowd. I loved Lesnar ripping up the canvas to expose the wood boards to add further emphasis to the finisher spots. The added use of The Wyatt Family after the finish really made this a great main event overall. Believe me, I’m surprised to be saying that after walking away from SummerSlam unimpressed. Undertaker and Lesnar deserve a ton of a credit for putting that together.
BRAY WYATT LOSES, BUT HOW OFTEN?
I need to preface that I’m not much of a wins and losses guy when it comes to professional wrestling. However, I was stopped dead in my tracks during a conversation on Twitter during the PPV when I was asked the last time Bray Wyatt got a meaningful win. Looking back in the last year, Wyatt did get a big win over John Cena at Extreme Rules 2014 (Cena never loses, guys), a win over Chris Jericho at SummerSlam 2014 and then a series of wins over Dean Ambrose in November and December. Outside of WrestleMania 31, Wyatt holds wins over Ryback (Payback), Roman Reigns (Battleground) and a recent six man tag (Night of Champions). So, he does win. Reigns winning on Sunday made sense. I’m just glad we have a sense of direction involving The Undertaker post-Reigns.
ALBERTO DEL RIO RETURNS TO WWE
We haven’t seen Alberto Del Rio in well over a year after he was released for “unprofessional conduct” backstage with a former WWE employee. Given the rumors that were making the rounds on the internet this weekend, it was refreshing to see someone’s name not on anyone’s radar and show up for that rare wrestling surprise. I was even taken aback at how abrupt the finish was with John Cena losing so quickly (keep that in mind that next time someone tries to convince you John Cena never loses in WWE). The return of Zeb Colter to the fold to partner up with Del Rio is refreshing and something badly needed for WWE TV, especially with Cena getting ready to take some much deserved time off.
QUICK THOUGHTS
* While a Dudley’s title run would be fun, sticking with The New Day works for now.
* Charlotte’s offense was very impressive on Sunday night.
* I’m curious where Seth Rollins and the WWE World Heavyweight Title goes next.
* Los Angeles wasn’t into Ryback at all.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
WWE’s Monday night television stinks right now. Yet, they were able to put forth a very solid three hours of wrestling with a fun surprise return and a really good main event. It’s getting to the point now where you can completely skip weekly WWE television and be very satisifed with monthly PPV/special events like these.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you thought of Hell in a Cell in the comments below.
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