WWE’s first ever Hell in a Cell PPV was an enjoyable show but not quite what everyone was expecting. A bizarre match order had me and the rest of the live crowd confounded but due to some undercard surprises this ended up being a very fun PPV, and being there live made the event all the more enjoyable.

1. Hell in a Cell match for the World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk(c) vs. Undertaker

The fans and I were in complete shock to see this as the opener. Definitely a very interesting choice to open the show as I had originally thought this would be the main event. They used the cage the best out of all the Hell in a Cell matches on the card during this match and it didn’t feel different from any of the past Hell in a Cell match other than the lack of blood. It started off with Punk trying to stay away from Undertaker by rolling out of the ring, but Taker catches up to him and slams him into the cage numerous times. They go back inside the ring momentarily but Taker hits a nice big boot to Punk that sends Punk off the ring apron and into the Cell wall. Punk starts to gain an advantage when he dropkicks the steel steps into Taker’s knee and works over the leg for a good portion of the match. Punk dropkicks Taker into the cage and hits a suicide dive afterward. Back in the ring, Taker counters a Go to Sleep attempt with a Tombstone attempt, but Punk fights out of it and goes to work on the leg again. Punk grabs a chair from under the ring and hits Taker over the head for a two count. Punk then goes for a running knee in the corner, but Taker hits a Last Ride. Punk counters an Old School attempt before charging at Taker with the chair, but Taker kicks the chair into his face before connecting with a chokeslam. Taker then hits a Tombstone to win the match and the world title in this surprisingly brief (just 10-12 minutes) Hell in a Cell match. Still, the crowd went nuts for Taker’s win and the match was very enjoyable. Match Rating: 7/10

2. Intercontinental Championship: John Morrison(c) vs. Dolph Ziggler

After being so hot for Taker’s big win, the crowd quickly cooled down during the first 5-10 minutes of this next match. Morrison and Ziggler were doing some decent technical wrestling with Ziggler putting on several sleeper holds but the crowd was dead silent. The match and the crowd started to pick up once Morrison missed the Starship Pain midway through the bout. Ziggler afterward hit several moves including a powerslam and neckbreaker but couldn’t get a 3 count. Morrison then gets the advantage following a DDT and hits a standing shooting star press for a 2 count. Ziggler tries for a roll up while holding the ropes but the ref sees it and stops the count. More back and forth action follows with Morrison catapulting Ziggler into the corner and going for a springboard enzuigiri, but Ziggler counters it with a German suplex followed by a bridge pin for a near fall. Ziggler then gets up and hits a Famouser before going for the Zig-Zag. Morrison counters and hits a big kick to the side of the head before connecting with Starship Pain to get the win and retain his title. This match took a little while to get going but ended up being very entertaining. Match Rating: 6.5/10

3. Divas Championship: Mickie James(c) vs. Alicia Fox

For many people in the arena, including the people that I was with, this was the time to get up, stretch, get food, and use the bathroom if you had to. I stuck around and watched this thing and was not impressed at all. Fox proved that she didn’t even succeed during day 1 of training, which is BUMPING. You heard absolutely nothing when this girl hit the mat. This match was nothing special, Mickie tried to make it decent but to no avail. Fox hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and body scissors in the middle of the match to try and get the heat. Eventually Mickie goes for her DDT, Fox counters and goes for a scissors kick, but Mickie counters that with a very painful and botched looking jumping DDT for the win. You definitely heard it when Fox hit the match that time. Very sloppy and boring women’s match. Match Rating: 2.5/10

4. WWE Unified Tag Team Championship: Chris Jericho and The Big Show(c) vs. Batista and Rey Mysterio

This match really surprised a lot of people in the arena, including myself, and ended up almost being the match of the night. This was one of those matches that is a lot more enjoyable when you are there live but I imagine the folks watching this at home still had a good time watching this thing unfold. Jericho hits a really nice standing Lionsault early in this one to Mysterio before he gets the tag to Batista. Batista and Rey then get frequent back and forth tags to work over Jericho , which included Mysterio jumping off of Batista’s shoulders to hit a nice splash. Jericho finally gets the tag to Big Show and they actually played up the David vs. Goliath thing well with Mysterio vs. Big Show for a portion of this match. Show has Mysterio propped up in the corner and hits a huge slap, sending Rey to the floor before Show grabs him by the head and pulls him back into the ring. Jericho tags back in and counters a 619 attempt with a lariat. Mysterio then hits him with a seated senton before tagging in Batista. He hits a spear before going for a Batista Bomb, but Show breaks it up. Batista hits a spinebuster to Jericho, but is distracted by Show outside the ring and is caught with a Codebreaker from Jericho for a near fall. Show tags in and chokeslams Batista, but Rey hits a springboard move to break up the pinfall. Mysterio then tags in and faces off with Show and hits a tilt-a-whirl DDT. He then sends Show outside the ring and drops Jericho over the top rope as well. Show catches his partner, but Batista hits a spear outside the ring, taking out both of them. Back in the ring, Mysterio hits a 619 to Show, but when Mysterio leaps off the top rope, Show catches him with a big right hand and the heels pick up the win. Very entertaining tag team match. Match Rating: 7/10

5.    Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Championship: John Cena(c) vs. Randy Orton

This was easily the worst of the three Hell in a Cell matches and a mildly disappointing effort from these two. I don’t understand why two men who have as much chemistry as Orton and Cena keep putting on these lackluster matches. It has gotten to the point where I don’t want to see them square off again. It was cool to see that the crowd was very anti-Cena and pro-Orton, especially in my section. This match actually started off well with Orton launching Cena into the Cell and grinding his face against the cage. Cena then slams Orton into the cage a few times before Orton sends him into the steps. Orton tosses the steps into the ring and from this point on they pretty much remained in the ring for the rest of the match. Cena back body drops Orton over the top rope, then throws the steps at him, but Orton gets out of the way. Orton then hits a backbreaker before Cena starts to hit his regular moveset. However, Cena has the Attitude Adjustment countered and Orton hits an elevated DDT. Cena later counters an RKO with an AA for a near fall, but Orton fights back into it by bringing a chair into the ring. He jabs the chair into Cena’s throat numerous times, but Cena is able to put on an STF. Orton gets out of the hold and sends Cena into the ref, knocking the ref out. Cena puts on the hold again and gets Orton to tap but the ref is out. Cena tries to wake up the ref but turns around and is hit with an RKO for a near fall. The ending of this match was very anticlimactic as Orton tied up Cena’s arms in the ropes and then put on a sleeper hold for several minutes before hitting a botched punt to the head for the win. The crowd popped big time for Orton winning but I personally didn’t enjoy the match. It seems very weird that WWE would only give Cena the title for 3 weeks before having him drop it to Orton and this match was very disappointing. It was like they didn’t even realize that it was a Hell in a Cell match. The back and forth action in the ring was okay but overall it failed to deliver. Match Rating: 6/10

6. Drew McIntyre vs. R-Truth

Why this match was at the last minute added onto the card is beyond me. This really could have been done on an episode of Smackdown. This match failed to entertain, as evidenced by the silent crowd, and failed to serve its main purpose: getting McIntyre over. McIntyre works over R-Truth with some face locks and other slow-paced offense. McIntyre wrestles a style similar to William Regal but isn’t nearly as good. Eventually R-Truth goes for a scissors kick, but McIntyre dodges and hits a double underhook DDT for the win. Very uneventful match but it was nothing too bad. Match Rating: 4/10

7. United States Championship: Kofi Kingston(c) vs. The Miz vs. Jack Swagger

Miz cut a nice promo during his entrance which led me to believe he was finally going to win the title here. The match started off just okay with the heels double teaming Kofi, but picked up midway through. There was a nice spot where Miz was sitting on Swagger’s shoulders and Kofi hit a cross body off the top turnbuckle to Miz. Swagger later hits a top turnbuckle back suplex followed by a Vader Bomb for a near fall. Kofi then gets back into it and hits a leg drop to Swagger but Miz connects with the Skull-Crushing Finale on Kingston. Miz tries for the pin but Swagger puts Kofi’s foot on the bottom rope. Swagger then hits a Gutwrench Powerbomb on Miz, but is caught with the Trouble in Paradise and Kofi gets the win to retain his title. With the heel promo, short match, and babyface victory, this had the look and feel of a house show match. However, it was very entertaining and the crowd was into it. Match Rating: 6/10

8.    Hell in a Cell: D-Generation X vs. Legacy

During DX’s entrance, Legacy jumps them from behind and all four men start brawling around the ringside area. DX is able to hit a nice double suplex on Rhodes onto an announce table (I think it was supposed to break but it didn’t) and all 4 men used the cage and television monitors against each other. They also brawled on the crowd for a while and used a chain lock as a weapon before Shawn gets laid out near the cage door and Triple H fights Legacy up the entrance ramp. Legacy gets the upper hand and leaves Triple H out cold on the stage following a double DDT. They then drag Shawn into the Cell and lock the door shut. They then proceeded to tell a good story with Legacy constantly beating down Shawn and Triple H having to find a way inside the Cell. Legacy and HBK traded many blows inside the cage, including slamming each other into the Cell numerous times. Rhodes and Dibiase each separately and individually get HBK in a powerbomb position and ram him into the cage and Rhodes also connected with a chair shot. HBK has a chair dropkicked into his face before Dibiase and Rhodes put on the Figure Four/Million Dollar Dream double submission hold around the ring post before Triple H returns with a bolt cutter. Triple H gets inside and starts to clean house. He eventually hits a Pedigree to Dibiase on the floor before DX tosses Dibiase outside the cage and locks the door. HBK then hits an elbow drop to Rhodes, who had a steel chair wrapped around his neck. Triple H then gets a sledgehammer, and hits Rhodes on the side of his face with hit while Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music to the other side of his face.  HBK then gets the pinfall and DX wins. Cody is then put on a stretcher and Ted goes to check on him. Very good Hell in a Cell match, best match of the night, albeit an interesting choice as the main event. Match Rating: 7.5/10

Overall PPV Rating: 7.75/10

My name is Jared Silberkleit. I am from Orange, CT and am a huge fan of pro wrestling. I mostly follow WWE and TNA but I also watch the smaller promotions such as ROH and DGUSA. I have been a lifelong WWE fan and have become a TNA fan over the past few years. Aside from wrestling, I also really love baseball and football and follow many other sports such as hockey and MMA. I have written for www.sportsgrumblings.com for roughly a year now as well.

Tagged with: Bizarre, Cm Punk, Crowd, Fun, Grabs, Hell In A Cell, Main Event, Match, Nuts, Old School, Ring Apron, Shock, Sleep, Steel Steps, Suicide Dive, Surprises, Tombstone, Undertaker, World Heavyweight Championship, Wwe

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