WWE Hell in a Cell 2014: Final Picks and Predictions for All Matches on the Card

With just over 24 hours until World Wrestling Entertainment presents its annual October pay-per-view extravaganza Hell in a Cell, fan anticipation has reached its zenith.

Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins will bring their months-long rivalry to its climax when they step inside Hell in a Cell. Many an intense feud has played out inside the steel confines of the most dangerous structure in WWE, and the former Shield members will go all out to add their names to those who have excelled inside the Devil's Playground.

John Cena and Randy Orton will meet, again, inside the same cell, as they seek to determine a top contender to Brock Lesnar's WWE World Heavyweight Championship. No longer willing to sit back and watch others pass him by, Orton showed renewed aggression and intensity on the last Raw before Hell in a Cell.

Can he channel said aggression and intensity into a winning effort Sunday night, or will the leader of the Cenation once again overcome the odds?

The sibling rivalry between Brie and Nikki Bella will come to a head when they meet in a match in which the loser will serve the winner as their personal assistant for 30 days. Who will be forced into embarrassing scenarios for the next month, much to the delight of the other sister?

Fans will get the answers to all of their questions when Hell in a Cell emanates from the American Airlines Center in Dallas Sunday night on pay-per-view and the WWE Network.

Until then, enjoy these last-minute previews and predictions for each match on the hotly anticipated card.

United States Championship Match: Sheamus vs. The Miz (with Damien Mizdow)

Credit: WWE.com

The Hollywood gimmick bestowed upon The Miz upon his return from hiatus has done nothing to help a performer who peaked quite sometime ago and has been little more than a shell of his former self for the better part of two years.

Only recently has he received a boost in terms of entertainment value, and much of that can be attributed to stunt double Damien Mizdow, who has quickly developed into one of the most entertaining characters on WWE programming. His over-the-top mimicking of Miz's offense on the arena floor is outstanding, as is his devotion to assuring a victory for the former WWE champion.

If Miz were to leave Hell in a Cell with the U.S. title, it would be largely due to the fact that Mizdow has injected his character with much-needed life.

But that will not happen.

Sheamus is a workhorse for WWE, the type of performer management can book against any Superstar, of any style or size, and still expect a great match. He is a believable champion, so to take the United States Championship off of him, just to give it to a guy who has never demonstrated an ability to maintain WWE Creative's interest or faith for extended periods of time, would be a major mistake.

Prediction: Sheamus pins The Miz and retains the United States Championship.

Divas Championship Match: AJ Lee vs. Paige

Credit: WWE.com

Even WWE Creative can't decide whether it wants AJ Lee or Paige to be the face of the Divas division, making a prediction for Sunday's Divas Championship match that much more difficult.

But let's try anyway.

AJ has been the most over Diva in WWE for two years now, the first real breakout star to come out of the Divas division in quite some time. Her unstable persona and her propensity for all things geek set her apart from the other Barbie dolls on the roster and have endeared her to a fanbase desperately seeking an alternative.

That she is a fine wrestler who can work circles around a good portion of the roster has only helped her cause. Babyface or heel, she's succeeded (and continues to succeed) because her love for the business and devotion to her character is evident.

Paige has suffered from too much, too soon in her main roster career. Debuting one night after WrestleMania XXX, she won the Divas Championship and proceeded to struggle to gain traction, thanks to a lack of character development, not to mention a complete absence of marquee opposition.

The return of AJ, however, brought about a second chance for Paige to make a first impression. The two have wrestled some solid matches, but the storyline has been wildly disjointed to this point, with no real rhyme or reason for why the Divas are still feuding at this point.

Hopefully WWE Creative makes that reason abundantly clear come Sunday night or scraps the feud completely.

Prediction: AJ Lee defeats Paige via submission with the Black Widow.

WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Usos vs. Gold & Stardust

Credit: WWE.com

Goldust and Stardust captured the WWE Tag Team Championships last month and have lost nearly every match they have wrestled since. Whether it's been tag or singles action, they have fallen in defeat at the hands of everyone from the Usos to John Cena and Dean Ambrose, leading many to wonder why the titles were put on them in the first place.

The Usos, on the other hand, have been on the winning side of several six-man tag matches and even scored singles victories over the champions. Though not nearly as hot as they were a few months back when they were feuding with Luke Harper and Erick Rowan of The Wyatt Family, they remain one of the most over tag teams in a decade.

All the popularity in the world will not help them leave Dallas with the tag titles, though. WWE Creative would not have gone through the trouble of turning the brothers in paint heel, then put the titles on them just to have them job out on TV and drop the titles back to Jimmy and Jey one month later.

Prediction: Goldust and Stardust retain.

Best 2-Out-of-3 Falls for the Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Cesaro

Credit: WWE.com

Cesaro's post-WrestleMania push disintegrated the moment Paul Heyman was removed as his mouthpiece prior to SummerSlam. Some could even argue that it died sooner than that, especially when he was booked to lose more than he won.

Recently, though, Cesaro has gained some momentum thanks to quality matches against Dolph Ziggler, including a victory on the October 20 episode of Raw. Just days later, he lost a championship match against WWE's resident Showoff but issued a challenge for a 2-Out-of-3 Falls match for Hell in a Cell.

Ziggler accepted the challenge and set himself up for yet another show-stealing performance. The WWE Intercontinental champion has earned the reputation for being one of the most respected ring workers thanks to his consistency, regardless of his place on the card.

Sunday night, two guys who have been grossly misused by those in power at WWE will have the opportunity to wow audiences with a match that could lend credibility to the title if played correctly.

Prediction: Dolph Ziggler defeats Cesaro, two falls to one.

Brie Bella vs. Nikki Bella

Credit: WWE.com

Regardless of what some across the Internet may believe, the Bella Twins rivalry has developed into quite the story, thanks to the elimination of over-thought soap opera elements and a return to good, old-fashioned wrestling booking.

Nikki is the detestable villain, the self-absorbed baddie fans want to see get her comeuppance. Brie is the admirable sister having to deal with her sibling's egocentric persona and vile, manipulative and backstabbing ways.

Sunday, the stars of Total Divas will battle for the right to avoid certain humiliation and degradation as the personal assistant of the winner for the next 30 days when they meet one-on-one.

Can Brie shut Nikki up once and for all, humbling her in the process, or will Nikki provide Brie with yet another obstacle to overcome in her monumental year?

Prediction: Brie Bella pins Nikki Bella.

Big Show vs. Rusev

Credit: WWE.com

Big Show will have the support of the American people on his side when he squares off with the superathlete Rusev Sunday night at Hell in a Cell.

What was once another USA vs. Russia war of attrition intensified on the October 20 episode of Raw when Rusev attacked a U.S. serviceman with a brutal sidekick to the face. It was a moment that made the feud a personal one for Big Show, who detailed his admiration for the troops just days later on the October 24 episode of SmackDown.

Rusev has been dominant thus far in his WWE run, destroying anyone put in his path. Former heavyweight champions have fallen by the wayside as Rusev attempts to conquer WWE and spread his pro-Russian message to a larger audience.

Will Big Show be the Superstar to finally shut up the Bulgarian Brute, or will Rusev and Lana have another victory to brag about come Raw on Monday night?

With a potential big-money match with John Cena awaiting him at some point in the near future, Rusev cannot afford a loss to someone as irrelevant as Big Show is right now.

Prediction: Rusev defeats Big Show by submission.

Hell in a Cell: John Cena vs. Randy Orton

Credit: WWE.com

John Cena has remained at the forefront of WWE programming, thanks both to the fact that he is the franchise player of the WWE Universe and that Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns both find themselves watching from the sidelines due to injury. 

In his defense, his work with Dean Ambrose has been key in elevating the Lunatic Fringe to the point that fans buy him as a legitimate main event talent.

But Cena will not be working with Ambrose Sunday night at Hell in a Cell. Instead, he will square off with a man he has wrestled countless times in the past, a man who ranks as one of his greatest rivals and, arguably, is his only equal in terms of resume star power over the last decade. This weekend, Cena will set foot inside the Devil's Playground to meet a man who holds a victory over him inside the same structure.

That man is Randy Orton.

Cena and Orton are secondary players in the feud between Ambrose and The Authority's Seth Rollins, something no one would have ever expected to be uttered at the beginning of the year. Yet their match against one another, inside the unforgiving confines of the cell, still holds great meaning for the winner of the contest, who will earn a future WWE World Heavyweight Championship bout against Brock Lesnar.

Cena is still looking to avenge the most humbling defeat of his entire career, which came at the hands of Lesnar at SummerSlam this past August, while The Viper is looking to climb back to the top of the mountain following a year he would like to forget.

Either man would be a worthy opponent for the Beast Incarnate, but it should be noted that Orton and Lesnar have never clashed in a major pay-per-view main event.

And they may never have the chance, because there is no way Cena is losing here.

Prediction: John Cena pins Randy Orton.

Hell in a Cell: Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins

Credit: WWE.com

Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins' feud dates back to June, when Rollins blasted Ambrose with a steel chair and brought an end to the most dominant trio in WWE history, The Shield. Since then, the former friends and partners have unleashed hell on one another, brawling across four different pay-per-view events and wreaking havoc and chaos on Raw and SmackDown every week.

Sunday night, their rivalry has the opportunity to culminate in a match that should be one of the best of the year, if both performers muster their best efforts.

Rollins has been consistent and is well on his way to a future WWE World Heavyweight Championship reign, courtesy of his Money in the Bank briefcase. With that said, the story leading into Hell in a Cell is the rise of Ambrose, who has become the antihero WWE fans have been begging Vince McMahon for for years.

He is unpredictable and unstable, and the fans eat it all up.

It would be a monumental mistake to kill the heat he has mustered over the last month by sacrificing him to Rollins, only to further the Authority angle.

If played correctly, Ambrose could be the star of the future the company has been seeking for nearly a decade. That is if, and only if, he leaves Dallas with a victory.

Prediction: Dean Ambrose pins Seth Rollins.