WWE Hell in a Cell 2014: Smart Builds for PPV's Top Feuds
Although it may feel like WWE's Hell in a Cell 2014 pay-per-view is far off in the distance, the event is going to sneak up on everyone. Before WWE knows it, there will be a rush to set up the card the week beforehand.
Night of Champions had one of the worst builds this year. Things felt as though they were running off the fumes of the rematches, and WWE didn't truly want to put in any effort.
That cannot happen for Hell in a Cell unless WWE is willing to take the loss in ratings that will follow.
TOP NEWS
Fresh Backstage WWE Rumors 👊
Modern-Day Dream Matches 💭
Most Likely Backlash Heel/Face Turns 🎭
However, Hell in a Cell seems doomed to be as much of a filler pay-per-view as one could possibly imagine.
Without Brock Lesnar, WWE Is Banking on Seth Rollins
Perhaps the biggest problem is that the top of the food chain in the company is supposedly sitting this one out.
No Brock Lesnar and no WWE World Heavyweight Championship match puts a huge burden on Hell in a Cell as it will have to sell itself on the undercard stepping up.
Keep in mind that this is an undercard filled with feuds that haven't been properly developed and wrestlers who have been ignored for weeks or sometimes even months while the spotlight was put on some others who are currently injured.
How does WWE build Hell in a Cell when it essentially only has two top feuds and one of them has already been taken off the table?
The way things are going, it appears WWE feels it has no choice but to put all its eggs in Seth Rollins' basket.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlingInc), the current plan is for John Cena and Dean Ambrose to face off at the beginning of the pay-per-view.
The winner will be granted a Hell in a Cell match against Rollins for the main event while the loser will have to face Randy Orton in another Hell in a Cell match.
Is this really the best way to go about things?
If Cena defeats Ambrose, it will essentially be yet another example of WWE shoehorning the golden boy into the spotlight to capitalize on someone else's momentum.
This feud between Ambrose and Rollins has not included Cena until now, and there still hasn't been closure to Ambrose's side of things.
Pushing Ambrose aside while Cena gets to do his thing effectively shows the WWE Universe that no matter how entertaining Ambrose is, he's still just meaningless in comparison to Cena.
On the one hand, if you have Ambrose defeat Cena, fans will have to suffer through yet another Cena and Orton match, which has been done to death.
If WWE decides to go with Cena as the winner, the next few weeks will have to be spent building Ambrose up at the cost of Cena to help balance things out.
Cena can't look weak necessarily, but he cannot, under any circumstances, look to be above Ambrose leading up to Hell in a Cell and then prove it as a fact at the event, cementing his status as dominant over the former Shield member.
The smart thing to do is to let things run their course and have Ambrose go on to face Rollins, as that is what WWE has been building up to for months now.
To go a different route just for the sake of putting Cena in the main event means WWE might as well not bother building anything else for Hell in a Cell, as logic will have been thrown out the window.
Leading up to Hell in a Cell, WWE would be wise to not ignore Randy Orton, either, unless the powers that be are okay with the fans perceiving both The Viper and his opponent as the B-level filler guys.
To put more story to it, WWE should tease that Orton is on the hunt for one of them in particular. Ideally, this person would be Cena (so as to avoid the Cena vs. Rollins match).
He should interact the most with the person who will not face him at Hell in a Cell over the next few weeks. That way, when he faces the other person at the event, fans will not be sick of it.
Considering how there aren't many possible twists and turns to put into this storyline, fans may end up sick of it no matter what, unless WWE lets Ambrose continue to do his thing and be the most entertaining aspect of the show like he was this week.
The more Ambrose antics and the less "same old Cena shtick," the better.
Then again, this would all be fixed if WWE would simply do the most intelligent thing of all and have Lesnar defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Cena in a Hell in a Cell match, as that would finish their feud and give the fans a match worthy of the gimmick stipulation.
The Divas Championship
It's tough to imagine WWE going into a pay-per-view where both the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and the Divas Championship are being ignored, but that's the case.
The WWE's clear priority right now for the Divas division is the feud between the Bella Twins with some other Total Divas cast members wrestling random matches.
It will do nothing for this event if AJ Lee faces off against Paige yet again with zero build, so if WWE plans on doing that match, there needs to be a few weeks of setting these two up for what should be their final encounter.
If Paige is moving on, Lee needs to be inserted into the feud with Brie and Nikki Bella as quickly as possible so she doesn't appear to be a bit player and the third wheel nobody cares about.
WWE may have shot itself in the foot, though, and positioned things where Lee is irrelevant in the current environment.
Hell in a Cell will not raise eyebrows with two Divas matches on the card: Lee defending her title in a random match that has no build and Brie vs. Nikki.
WWE has to decide before this upcoming episode of Raw whether the Bella Twins should face each other in a singles match or if Lee should be added into the mix and then go full-steam in putting as much behind it to interest the fans.
The worst thing WWE can do is be indecisive and drop the ball with all three women, putting them in random tag matches and having Lee defeat Alicia Fox week in and week out.
Politics and Wrestling Go Hand in Hand
As disappointing as it is to say, the tertiary top feud right now leading into Hell in a Cell is the one between Big Show and Rusev as opposed to the WWE Intercontinental Championship, United States Championship or Tag Team Championship programs.
After doing the spot on Raw where Big Show pulled down the Russian flag, WWE apologized for anyone who may have been offended.
Arguments about whether or not this was spineless can be discussed in the comments, but one thing that's for certain is that WWE cannot afford to back-peddle and be too scared to push the boundaries with this feud.
Having Big Show and Rusev do nothing but almost come to blows while Rusev runs away for the next several weeks is as lame of a build as humanly possible.
WWE should embrace the tension in the air and be even more willing to get under everyone's skin.
This is a feud where Rusev has been badmouthing the United States of America for months, but now that something has been done of an anti-Russian capacity, it's going too far?
Next week on Raw, that issue alone should be addressed, with Big Show standing up for his actions and saying that he's fighting fire with fire—whether it be verbal attacks from Lana, physical attacks from Rusev or symbolic attacks like with the flag.
For the rest of October, WWE needs to let the tension build to a boiling point and get some media attention.
With an event that has as little to offer as Hell in a Cell, WWE can afford to draw some criticism in exchange for drawing the interest of the public.
Is This a Lost Cause?
WWE may be in a bad enough position for Hell in a Cell where the event is doomed no matter what, just out of a lack of big names and bad timing for certain people to be left off the card.
If that's the case, WWE should turn into the skid and embrace it, setting things up better for Survivor Series to make up for the disappointments from Night of Champions and Hell in a Cell.
What do you think Hell in a Cell should consist of? How should WWE book the next few weeks of the build to the event?
Leave us a comment below with your thoughts, predictions and fantasy booking ideas!
Anthony Mango is the owner-operator of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment as well as the host of its podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
