WWE Hell in a Cell 2015 Results: Top Highlights and Low Points
WWE Hell in a Cell 2015 is in the bag, and it's time for us to look back on the results and what happened and start analyzing all of the positives and negatives from Sunday.
Over the past few years, the Hell in a Cell match has become watered down because of the creation of this pay-per-view and the frequency it's been seen.
This time around, there were two of those gimmicks on the card, and neither of them was for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Did it turn out that the final fight between Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker was good enough to reignite interest from the WWE Universe in what used to be a feud-finishing match?
For that matter, did Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns pan out well and justify its worthiness of being the other match inside the cell?
How did Seth Rollins vs. Kane fare just being a regular singles match with a title and a job on the line instead of having the added bonus of weaponry available to spice things up?
Presented to you in order of appearance, here is a breakdown of the night's highlights and low points.
Highlight: Making Something out of Nothing
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The pre-show match is essentially the least important part of the night outside of the video packages everyone has seen numerous times. Going into this match, it was clear this was not much of a priority.
One of the biggest mistakes WWE tends to make too frequently is to give away a match on Raw or SmackDown before doing a repeat of it on a pay-per-view shortly after.
That is what happened here, which was the second strike against a match that was obviously booked as a last-minute replacement for the previously scheduled match between Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton and The Wyatt Family.
All of these factors were working against this segment, yet it ended up being a fun match that accomplished its primary goal of getting the audience riled up for the event.
Here is an example of six men whom WWE doesn't currently know what to do with and who are deserving of something more but were given scraps. Despite this, they went into it with a lot of energy, wanting to do their jobs the right way instead of phoning it in.
Cesaro was a ball of fire and the standout, going crazy with uppercuts to all three of his opponents and turning the tide for his team.
Considering the lack of a build for this bout, it could have been a disaster, so it's nice to see several talented guys simply wrestle a good match without anything heavy weighing it down.
Highlight: United States Championship
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As someone who is not a fan of Alberto Del Rio, it's tough to put aside those preferences and look at things from a wider perspective. That being said, it would be foolish to say his surprise return here was a low point just for that reason.
Sure, there are bound to be other people disappointed at the outcome, but this match was doomed to upset at least a portion of the audience no matter what happened.
With rumors buzzing that John Cena would be taking time off, everyone was looking to this match as a guaranteed title change and had their own expectations from the start.
By default, Cena fans are annoyed he dropped the belt. If he would have retained it, a good portion of the viewers would have complained he should have lost it to someone—anyone.
Then, there are those who will be disappointed the specific person they wanted to answer the challenge didn't, so they're upset that a better option (from their point of view) wasn't chosen over Del Rio.
WWE is never going to please everybody, so as long as it isn't the majority that has a problem with something, it can be viewed as a success.
This was a legitimate surprise, and the new champion is a credible one, having won many titles in his previous run with the company. Del Rio also has his fans, who have likely only grown in number since he left WWE and exposed himself to some other audiences.
However annoying this may be for some fans who were happy when Del Rio left the company in 2014, as well as beyond sick and tired of his constant title reigns that left much to be desired, it's tough to imagine a poll from the WWE Universe would say this wasn't one of the highlights of the night.
The match was better than what a lot of other people could have pulled off. There's a lot of potential for the future, and curiosity is at a fever pitch. It all surrounds someone most people didn't expect to see at this event.
Highlight: Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt
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Hell in a Cell matches are not what they used to be, as WWE is much more concerned about safety than before. No longer will we see matches that are excessively violent.
Once the expectations are lowered to a more realistic level, matches such as Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns stand out as rather quite good.
These two have had a feud that went on long enough to justify it culminating in a Hell in a Cell match, and they gave the impression it was a passionate program during this fight.
Watching them blast each other with kendo sticks was fun, but even better were the ura-nage and spear through tables.
It's good to see this feud come to an end in a way that led to the crowd chanting "this is awesome" instead of something derogatory, begging for WWE to just finish it and move onto something else, such as what happened between Rusev and Dolph Ziggler.
Could this have been better? Sure. Was the absence of the other members of The Wyatt Family along with Dean Ambrose felt? Definitely. Still, Reigns and Wyatt put on a solid match without needing any kind of interference from others to help them boost the crowd's energy, so they should be complimented for their efforts.
Low Point: RIP Trombone
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The New Day was already down one member going into Hell in a Cell, as Xavier Woods was sitting this event out, but The Dudley Boyz made sure the group lost another part of the team: the trombone.
Sadly, the WWE Universe won't be hearing any more renditions of Rusev's theme or the previously proposed Green Ranger dagger music Woods had planned, as his trombone was broken in half.
Things could have been worse, though, as there was a high probability The New Day could have dropped the championship belts, too, but Big E and Kofi Kingston thankfully retained.
Fans of The Dudley Boyz, don't fret. Bubba Ray and Devon will undoubtedly be getting those straps eventually, and when they do, it will be that much sweeter.
In all seriousness, there are people who will be disappointed to have seen The New Day retain the Tag Team Championships and will consider that a low point.
Still, considering how over the current champions are with the audience, it was nice to see a surprise here.
Low Point: WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
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For a match that was essentially a year in the making, this should have been much, much better.
These two have been bickering with each other for months on end, building up the potential that when they clashed, it could be epic, but this was more of a lukewarm sizzle rather than something the crowd could get superhot for.
Why wasn't this a Hell in a Cell match? Both men have had experience in that type of gimmick, with Kane making his debut during the first such match. He's made a career out of claiming to be The Devil's Favorite Demon, but he wasn't booked to wrestle in Satan's Structure?
A regular match was the type of scenario Corporate Kane was better suited for, not Demon Kane. Even worse for this match was how WWE already did a Lumberjack Match on Monday Night Raw, meaning this was even less interesting of a stipulation.
Nothing of importance happened whatsoever. Does anybody care that Corporate Kane doesn't have his position with The Authority anymore? Did anyone think Kane had any bit of a shot at winning the championship?
To symbolize how much of a dud this was, there was even a point in the match when Rollins powerbombed Kane onto a commentary table with such little force it merely tumbled over instead of breaking to pieces.
This could and should have been something of relevance rather than a secondary main event that will be completely forgettable by Raw.
Highlight: The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar
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While the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match failed to deliver, thankfully, this match was able to pick up some of the slack and justify its spot in the main event.
Unlike their previous two encounters, this felt like The Undertaker had a legitimate shot at winning. Instead of being booked like a weakling who was lucky to leave with his life, The Phenom seemed more like his regular self.
It makes sense for Brock Lesnar to win, especially in the way he did, as he's the type of unstoppable force who would resort to a low blow if he were up against someone who was actually taking him to his limit, as The Undertaker was.
Whether they were given permission to bend the rules a bit or they just ignored WWE's commonplace directives, the use of blood in this match definitely helped sell the brutality.
We saw both men fight with their all, and it was also nice to see The Undertaker get some time after the match to bask in the audience's applause.
Then, of course, seeing The Wyatt Family enter the mix adds a level of intrigue. Will we see them face off at WrestleMania? If so, who will join The Undertaker to even the odds? Perhaps his brother Kane and maybe someone like Sting?
It wasn't without its problems, such as when the camera wasn't focused on Lesnar attacking the trainer, but this was overall a great main event that left the audience craving more.
What do you think were the highlights and low points of the night? What are your thoughts on the matches that weren't included on this list? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below!
Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
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