WWE Hell in a Cell 2012: 4 Negatives of the PPV Heading into the Event

In a recent article, I outlined four of the more positive aspects of WWE Hell in a Cell 2012 as we head into this Sunday’s long-awaited event.

And in the interest of fairness, the following article will analyse the other side of the story: four of the more negative points ahead of Hell in a Cell.

These negatives don’t necessarily mean that the event is going to be a failure, as I am actually very much looking forward to the pay-per-view this weekend, but as ever in the WWE, the event's build hasn’t been perfect.

Here are four of the key reasons why that is indeed the case.

No U.S. Title Match (Yet)

Despite the fact that Hell in a Cell has been given a generally good all-round build, the Creative team couldn’t help themselves from failing to announce one particular title match.

TAntonio Cesaro has been hugely impressive since winning the U.S. Title from Santino Marella, but unfortunately, he has no match scheduled at the time of writing.

It’s not just the lack of a confirmed match that is an issue, as he could still have an opponent named this week on SmackDown, it’s the fact that there is no meaningful rivalry to exploit.

Sure, he lost to Justin Gabriel clean on Raw, which would suggest a title match between the two at Hell in a Cell, but that feud has been going on for no more than a few days.

The U.S. Title is the only championship belt not to be involved in a prolonged feud heading into the PPV, which does mark an improvement on recent months of booking but is still somewhat disappointing.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see another pre-show Battle Royale determine a new no. 1 contender, most likely Gabriel, only for Cesaro to emerge victorious once again.

Cesaro, and the US Championship, deserve better.

Miz's Booking

Another slight issue regarding Hell in a Cell’s booking is the way the Miz has been utilised in recent weeks.

I have no problem with him losing the Intercontinental Title to Kofi Kingston, as this was a fairly surprising development that only added to their match at the PPV.

Rather, the problem is that he has lost continually during his feud with Kingston, thus seriously damaging his credibility as a contender for the title.

Having the Miz pick up a victory heading into Hell in a Cell would have made it difficult to predict a winner, but as it stands, a Kingston victory now looks very much on the cards.

I may of course be wrong, but unfortunately the WWE’s booking of the Intercontinental Title picture seems a little too predictable.

Sheamus's Attitude

Sheamus is a face, I get it.

That means he likes to have fun, joke with the crowd and generally come across as one of the good guys.

But this is Hell in a Cell we’re talking about.

The fact that Sheamus can’t take a match of this magnitude seriously very much detracts from the gravity that a match of this stipulation should entail.

Furthermore, he’s facing the Big Show, which only makes his task even more difficult.

The Celtic Warrior should be taking matters a little more seriously ahead of what has previously been dubbed a career-threatening match type.

At present, it is hard to be truly interested in this feud with Sheamus essentially no-selling the danger that Hell in a Cell presents.

A feud with plenty of potential could unfortunately be tarnished by the Champ’s inability to get down to business when it really matters.

Use of John Cena

Though it’s nice to see the WWE going ahead with a PPV without relying on Cena to bring the buys, they just couldn’t resist involving him in the event’s build in some capacity.

As it turns out, that capacity is in fact the role of Ryback’s new personal mascot.

This was noticeable even before CM Punk pointed it out during Raw this week, largely due to his initiation of the “feed me more” chants on Raw’s previous episode.

This whole segment didn’t quite add up, and it was pretty odd to see Cena change his tune so quickly and decide he didn’t in fact want to compete for the WWE Championship.

To summarise, this storyline was handled pretty strangely.

It could still have worked perfectly well without Cena’s decision to try and rally up the crowd behind Ryback, but after a dip in ratings, the WWE felt they had to accommodate Cena in some way or another.

In the future, perhaps leaving the face of the company at home to recuperate would be a more advisable solution.

Conclusion

Though these are certainly four negative points to consider heading into the PPV, I still believe that the event has enough positive aspects to make it a successful show.

The fact that these aforementioned points exist is not another moan at the WWE's booking strategy, merely a few slight adjustments that could have been made to make the event even more hotly anticipated.

Nonetheless, some of these points may yet be altered and ultimately contribute to improve the show, as there is still time for things to change ahead of Sunday's PPV.

But in the meantime, don't forget to comment below with your thoughts on the article and the issues that were raised, as well as any other opinions you may have regarding WWE Hell in a Cell 2012.