WWE Hell in a Cell 2014: 5 Worst Booking Decisions in PPV's History

The history of any World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view is dotted with matches, moments and results that leave fans wondering what the hell the company's creative staff was doing.

"Why would this guy win?" "How did that finish help so and so?" "Who booked this crap?"

Those are just a few of the questions asked after witnessing some of the company's worst pay-per-view booking decisions.

The Hell in a Cell event is no different. Throughout its brief five-year history, there have been more than a few decisions that have left those watching questioning the competence of those in charge of scripting the program they so very much love and support.

Whether it was the premature demise of a promising champion, the questionable defeat of two young, talented individuals or the booking of two past-their-prime Superstars in an elongated main event match, Hell in a Cell has continued the tradition of blatant booking missteps.

What are they? What effect did they have on those involved?

Find out now.

5. The Undertaker and Kane Go on Last and Wrestle 20-Minute Match (2010)

In October 2010, some 12 years after their rivalry captivated Attitude Era audiences, Undertaker and Kane met inside Hell in a Cell with the World Heavyweight Championship on the line. With a compelling story supporting them, there was reason to be interested in the program. 

Everyone and his mother knew that there was no chance in hell that the match should go more than a few minutes, though, nor should it headline any event. Everyone except for WWE Creative, as it turned out.

The Deadman and the Devil's Favorite Demon proceeded to stink up the joint in a putrid match that exposed their age, not to mention the fact that they never really had much chemistry to speak of—despite wrestling each other what felt like one million times over the course of a decade.

Kane won when Paul Bearer betrayed Undertaker, though it was not the end of the program. Fans were forced to watch the two Superstars wrestle one another in ridiculously long, equally as bad matches at live events and in pay-per-view action for several more weeks.

4. Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara (2011)

Sin Cara was meant to be a huge international star for WWE, the type it could center entire tours of Mexico around. Unfortunately, the man behind the mask was not up for the task. The former Mistico was sloppy between the ropes, earned a reputation for botching the most basic of maneuvers and disappointed in nearly every possible category.

When he was injured, Hunico was tapped to replace him under the mask, setting up a program between the real and impostor Sin Caras.

With WWE struggling to get fans to care about the character in the first place, surely the writers would refrain from exposing fan apathy to an entire world by booking Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara on pay-per-view, right?

Wrong.

They did, and the match failed miserably. The crowd was largely non-receptive, and the wrestlers really gave it no reason to be. By the time the real Sin Cara defeated the fake, fans were ready to move on to the next match on the card.

Unfortunately for the character, it never recovered.

3. D-Generation X Defeats Legacy (2009)

The entire purpose of the Legacy faction created in 2009 was to build Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes into stars in the same way that Evolution made Randy Orton a main event star five years earlier. When Rhodes and DiBiase knocked off D-Generation X (Shawn Michaels and Triple H) at Breaking Point in September, many looked at it as a victory that would catapult the team to the top of the card and give it the emphasis necessary to be perceived as a very real threat to top-tier talent.

At Hell in a Cell, the second- and third-generation stars wrestled an outstanding match against DX. In fact, the contest is one of the more underrated to be held inside the devil's favorite structure. Unfortunately, Rhodes and DiBiase lost, proving that their one victory over DX in three consecutive pay-per-view bouts was more of a fluke than anything.

Rhodes and DiBiase would never return to that height on the card as a team. Months later, they would disband Legacy and go their separate ways. DiBiase failed to live up to his potential, something that was assisted tremendously by poor booking and WWE's inability to recognize his weaknesses.

Rhodes, on the other hand, took idiotic gimmick after idiotic gimmick and turned them into gold—some literally—thus proving himself to be one of the most gifted and determined performers in WWE.

Even if he never quite got the push he deserved.

2. The Undertaker Defeats CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship (2009)

In fall 2009, CM Punk was coming off a star-making program with Jeff Hardy and was, arguably, the hottest heel in WWE. His self-righteous Straight Edge gimmick was gaining steam, and the fans hated anytime he grabbed hold of a microphone to preach to them.

The return of The Undertaker had set the Second City Saint up for a huge rivalry with one of the elite stars in company history. It should have been a defining feud for Punk and one that would elevate him even further toward the top of the card.

Unfortunately, it proved detrimental to Punk's push and ended his World Heavyweight Championship reign in short order. Even worse? It did so without establishing the Chicago native as anything resembling a threat to Undertaker or any of the other stars on the Deadman's level.

It took the official formation of the Straight Edge Society and some superb mic work from Punk in the months that followed to really help him reestablish himself as one of the top-shelf stars in WWE.

1. Ryback Loses (2012)

The worst booking decision in WWE Hell in a Cell history occurred in 2012 when WWE Creative booked itself into a corner, scheduling a Ryback vs. CM Punk main event for the company's heavyweight title.

Punk was the hated heel, the champion, while Ryback was the surging challenger well on his way to becoming the biggest breakout babyface the company had produced since John Cena.

But how would WWE handle such a delicate decision? It clearly wanted to continue Punk's title reign but also had to protect Ryback's winning streak. It could not rely on the disqualification or count-out finishes because of the Hell in a Cell stipulation. Thus, it turned to Brad Maddox.

Yep, that Brad Maddox.

As a crooked official, Maddox screwed Ryback over and assisted Punk to victory. While that may have seemed like enough to ensure that Ryback remained as over as possible, it was not.

People were ready to see the Big Guy walk out of Hell in a Cell with the title. Like Goldberg before him, he maintained an undefeated streak, knocking off anyone put in his path en route to a title opportunity. Watching him lose the match the way he did deflated the audience and killed some of the aura surrounding him.

Ryback never recovered. In 2014, prior to the surgery that sidelined him, he could be seen teaming with Curtis Axel and losing regularly on television.