WWE Hell in a Cell 2014 Results: Worst Booking Decisions from PPV

To say that booking had been lackluster and lethargic entering Sunday's Hell in a Cell pay-per-view would be quite the understatement.

There was very little energy surrounding World Wrestling Entertainment's product outside of the fairly awesome rivalry between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, and anticipation for one of the company's monthly extravaganzas was nearly nonexistent as a result.

With such a strong card and a roster full of immensely talented performers, there was hope that the quality of the ring work would overcome a show lacking creativity and intrigue.

For the most part, that was the case. The wrestling was very good throughout, as the men and women involved turned in fine performances in some intense and entertaining contests. Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro, Randy Orton, John Cena, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and the Bella Twins were just a few of the performers to stand out on a strong night of action for Vince McMahon's WWE.

Still, there were a handful of booking decisions that left fans scratching their heads.

Credit: WWE.com

The Main Event Finish

Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins had a match befitting their wild, chaotic, crazy feud Sunday night, and the fans in Dallas were eating it all up.

After months of betrayal, beatings and being held down by The Authority, Ambrose was taking out his frustrations and anger on the man he once considered a brother.

But just as he appeared poised to put Rollins' face through a cinder block, much in the same way The Architect did to him weeks earlier, the arena darkened and WWE Creative reared its ugly head.

For weeks, fans had been treated to vignettes that both served as the breakup of The Wyatt Family and the evolution of the Bray Wyatt character. Sunday night, fans got their first peek at what is to come when Wyatt blasted through a plume of smoke and a hologram of what could best be described as Sister Abigail and ran over Ambrose.

Sure, the angle was cool, but it came at the expense of a feud that had been four months in the making and really deserved a definitive conclusion.

Couldn't Ambrose have beaten Rollins on Sunday night? Couldn't the Wyatt attack have occurred on Monday's Raw?

Apparently not.

Credit: WWE.com

Cena Wins, Setting Up Fourth Match With Brock Lesnar

John Cena won on pay-per-view. That sentence should be of no great surprise to anyone who has watched the WWE product for the last decade.

What should be a surprise is the company's willingness to overexpose one of the few big-money matches it has left with a fourth straight Cena-Brock Lesnar title bout, which will result from the franchise player's latest victory.

Instead of taking a fresher approach to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture by booking the first major Orton vs. Lesnar match, WWE will take a stroll down the same path that led to backlash from fans tired of seeing Cena headline pay-per-views and dominate episodes of Raw.

Worst of all, it completely devalues a match with the potential to pop buyrates.

Credit: WWE.com

12 Minutes

The 2-out-of-3 Falls match for the Intercontinental Championship between Dolph Ziggler and Cesaro got the show kicked off on the right foot, as two of the better in-ring workers on today's roster worked their magic for the Dallas fans.

Unfortunately, they only had 12 minutes to work with, which created a very rushed environment. Ziggler won, sweeping Cesaro 2-0. The booking was unnecessary and detrimental to Cesaro's credibility with fans, much like another midcard title match on the show.

Sheamus vs. The Miz was a contest born in comedy that never really excelled beyond it. The focus was almost exclusively on the antics of Damien Mizdow at ringside, creating a match that was unnecessarily added to the event card when it could have been saved for the overly long, one-hour pre-show.

Ziggler and Cesaro could have had a classic match if given the opportunity. Instead, fans had to settle for something merely "really good."

Credit: WWE.com

Divas In The "Death Spot"

WWE Creative tends to treat the Divas on its roster significantly worse than the male Superstars who make up the roster. Their stories are of lesser quality and their matches are regularly screwed for time.

Thus, it is incredibly difficult for audiences to connect with the ladies unless they watch Total Divas every Sunday night and get acquainted with the exaggerated personalities on display there.

Constantly putting the Divas in the so-called "death spot" of pay-per-view events does them no favors.

The "death spot" is a term typically reserved for the slot between two high-profile main events, usually the penultimate match on any pay-per-view card. For years, Divas have been thrown in that spot to allow fans to visit the restrooms, get a snack or merely cool down from the previous match in hopes that they will be adequately re-energized for the most important match of the night.

That was the case again Sunday night, as Paige and AJ Lee fought for the Divas Championship just minutes before Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins took to the Hell in a Cell for the evening's main event. Predictably, the crowd was dead, the action failed to elicit reaction and the Divas looked all the worse for it.

Only when WWE realizes that fans only take things as seriously as the company itself does will they ever enjoy any real success with the Divas division, no matter how hard the Divas work or how much they improve.