WWE Hell in a Cell 2013: Most Memorable Moments from WWE's Latest Event
This past Sunday night, World Wrestling Entertainment presented its annual October pay-per-view offering with Hell in a Cell. The event left fans with a number of memorable moments indelibly etched in their memories.
From the hard-hitting WWE Championship match to the improbable return of John Cena as he challenged Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight title, the show featured enough different memories featuring a plethora of Superstars to leave every member of the WWE Universe with a memory they can look back on with great fondness.
What were the most memorable moments from Hell in a Cell and how might they affect the future of WWE?
Let's take a look after the jump.
Tag Team Championship Match
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There are few Superstars that have ever delivered a string of great, show-stealing performances like the members of The Shield have over the course of the last year. They specialize in chaotic and energetic tag matches that create drama through near-falls and broken pin attempts.
They once again utilized that format Sunday night as they, along with the Usos, challenged WWE Tag Team champions Goldust and Cody Rhodes in a Triple Threat match to kick off the evening's broadcast.
The match was the best on the show and really highlighted all that were involved. No one team stood out more than the other, and it created a bout in which fans were never 100 percent sure who would leave Miami with the Tag titles in their possession.
The finish, which evoked a huge ovation from the crowd, saw Rhodes catch The Shield's Seth Rollins with Cross Rhodes for the win.
Show-stealing performances by all six Superstars involved and one of the best matches on WWE pay-per-view since SummerSlam makes the Triple Threat match for the Tag titles one of the most memorable moments and matches of the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.
Kane Returns
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The last time anyone had seen the Big Red Monster Kane, he was being carried out of the arena by Luke Harper and Erick Rowan at August's SummerSlam.
In the weeks and months that followed Kane's abduction, the Wyatt Family targeted both Kofi Kingston and former WWE champion The Miz. The latter was taunted and tormented but managed to escape a massive attack, the likes of which Kane and Kingston fell victim to.
On the October 25 episode of SmackDown, Miz was found in the backstage area, beaten and battered with the word "liar" written across his midsection.
Prior to the start of Hell in a Cell, Miz told SmackDown general manager Vickie Guerrero that he wanted a match against Bray Wyatt. Guerrero revealed that Miz was not medically cleared to compete, so the former star of MTV's The Real World vowed to bring the fight to Wyatt later in the night.
Miz called out the Wyatt Family during the show and quickly found himself on the wrong end of a two-on-one beatdown.
Last Sunday, the trademark pyro of the Big Red Monster exploded on the stage when Kane made his return to WWE after a two-month absence. He cleared Harper and Rowan from the ring, then, in a shocking moment, grabbed Miz by the throat and planted him with a chokeslam.
Any return is typically a big deal, and when it occurs on pay-per-view, unadvertised as to surprise the audience, it is an even bigger one.
Though the pyro canisters on the four corners may have tipped off the fans in Miami that Kane would be making his return, as evidenced by the loud "we want Kane" chants that accompanied Rowan and Harper's assault of The Miz, it was still a memorable moment that fans of the former WWE and World Heavyweight champion will remember fondly and one that most did not expect prior to Sunday's show.
CM Punk Canes a Walrus
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At July's Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Paul Heyman betrayed longtime friend CM Punk, and Punk has spent the last three months trying to gain a measure of revenge.
Sunday night at Hell in a Cell, he ended his conflict with the former ECW owner.
Punk took on Heyman and his latest client, Ryback, in what was billed as a Two-on-One Handicap Hell in a Cell match. Instead, Ryback joined Punk inside the steel cage while Heyman spent the entire bout on top, watching from 20-plus feet in the air as two men he has been closely associated with over the last year did battle in one of the most dangerous matches WWE has to offer.
The bout was rather mediocre, as Punk and Ryback continued to display a decided lack of chemistry. They had a competent match, but not one the fans in Miami were really invested in, which was OK. See, the real payoff of the match was not Punk's victory over Ryback following Go To Sleep. No, the real payoff was what came next.
Punk retrieved a kendo stick from underneath the squared circle and scaled the outside of the cage. Once up there, he stared down Heyman, who had nowhere to go. Punk caned him repeatedly, then took him out with Go To Sleep, to the delight of the WWE Universe.
It brought to an end an angle that had begun to run out of steam leading into the show and allows Punk to move on to other things, most notably a feud with the Wyatt Family if Raw is any indication.
John Cena Wins the World Heavyweight Championship
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Many wondered just what physical condition John Cena was going to be in when it was announced that he was returning from triceps surgery two months earlier than expected.
They got their answer Sunday night, as he exploded through the curtain looking as physically fit as ever.
He sprinted to the ring for his match against World Heavyweight champion Alberto Del Rio looking as if he had not missed a day in the ring.
Cena and Del Rio had a very solid, very good match that most Superstars who were 110 percent would have difficulty replicating. Del Rio targeted the injured limb of his opponent in hopes of forcing a tapout victory with the Cross Armbreaker. Cena, ever the valiant Superstar, fought back and ultimately ended Del Rio's World Heavyweight Championship dominance with the Attitude Adjustment.
Like him or hate him, Cena is unquestionably the top star in the sport and one of its most dedicated combatants. His return not only helps the company, which had seen ratings decline in his absence, it also lends credibility and legitimacy to a World Heavyweight Championship that had been devalued thanks to a lack of strong story support for the outstanding in-ring work of Del Rio.
The Sweet Chin Music Heard Around the World
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Leading into Sunday's Hell in a Cell, it was fairly obvious that Shawn Michaels had not been brought back into the fold to merely count a fall, raise the victor's arm in victory and present him with the WWE Championship.
His past history as Daniel Bryan's trainer, Randy Orton's rival and COO Triple H's best friend would undoubtedly play a key role in the main event of the evening. The only question was how.
The answer was one that the WWE Universe did not particularly like.
Seconds after Bryan exploded across the squared circle and caught Triple H with a knee to the face, Michaels shocked the wrestling world by delivering Sweet Chin Music to his protege and proceeded to count his shoulders down for three.
The 2011 Hall of Fame inductee disappeared from the ring following the bell, leaving new champion Orton to celebrate with a clearly satisfied Triple H.
While the outcome was not to the liking of the fans who had invested a great deal of time and energy in supporting Bryan during his run toward the WWE title, it did deliver a truly shocking moment that had fans buzzing the next morning.
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