WWE Hell in a Cell 2017: Full Results and Star Ratings for Each Match

Anytime the WWE puts on a show the quality of Sunday's Hell in a Cell, there is a demand from fans across the internet for star ratings. Everyone wants to know how many stars this match got or whether that match deserved the full five.

Almost as if their fandom of a particular match or Superstar must be vindicated by the number of stars someone else gave it.

The main event of the pay-per-view was a brutal car crash of a match that saw Kevin Owens defeat Shane McMahon with the assistance of Sami Zayn in what could have been a classic Hell in a Cell match had it not been for its overly long nature.

Also inside the unforgiving confines of the show's namesake match, The Usos defeated The New Day to become tag team champions for the fifth time. That match, both creative and original, rated higher thanks to the unforgettable spots and narratives intertwined throughout.

In between the superb performances of the Superstars involved in those matches were inspired efforts from the rest of the SmackDown Live crew.

How did their matches rate out, and was any match on Sunday's card capable of attaining the maximum five stars?

Star Ratings Explanation

Credit: WWE.com

The star ratings used within are representative of the following:

• ZERO: A bad, irredeemable match
• *: Just slightly above worthless
• *½: Merely OK
• **: Subpar
• **½: An average wrestling match
• ***: Above average
• ***½: Very good
• ****: Great
• ****½: Match of the Year candidate
• *****: Classic.

Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable defeated The Hype Bros

The opening match Sunday night featured Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin defeating The Hype Bros in a fast-paced, electrifying contest.

Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley controlled the pace of the match, working over the smaller Gable. A big moonsault allowed the Olympian to make the hot tag to Benjamin, and the action broke down.

At one point, with Gable disposed of at ringside, it looked like Ryder and Rawley were on their way to victory. They could not execute The Hype Ryder, though, and Benjamin answered with Paydirt to Ryder. Rawley broke up the finisher, which had won the former intercontinental and United States champion many matches in the past.

The babyfaces deposited the 2017 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner on the arena floor and turned their attention to Ryder, who they pinned following their double-team finisher.

The contest was well-structured, featured good and dramatic near-falls late and saw the right team go over.

Especially considering who would limp out of the tag team title match with the gold around their waists and a sudden need for opposition.

Rating: ***

The Usos Defeated The New Day

The pay-per-view event itself kicked off with what may be the main roster Match of the Year for 2017, as The New Day defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championships against The Usos in an epic of massive proportions.

The two teams spent four months feuding with each other, every match growing increasingly more violent and hard-hitting. Sunday night, the twin Usos, Xavier Woods and Big E delivered a barbaric match that was satisfyingly brutal without the need for bloodshed.

The teams utilized a kendo stick, one of wrestling's most cliched weapons, and got it over with the masses through creative and never-before-seen spots. There were musical instruments utilized as weapons, Jey Uso was condemned to his own, personal kendo stick prison, and Woods endured tremendous pain as he was assaulted while handcuffed and unable to protect his torso.

Big E exploded back into the match, raining down on his opponents with furious rage and anger but soon found himself the victim of a two-on-one beating.

And that is where the match thrived: the little stories peppered throughout. Whether it was Woods' resiliency, Big E's anger or The Usos proving their greatness as a team when there is not a third member of New Day around to stop them, the match was filled with some narrative for fans to sink their teeth into.

By the time Jimmy and Jey won the titles for the fifth time in their careers, fans were left exhausted and enthralled, certain they had just witnessed one of the best matches the WWE has provided all year and one of the most creative Hell in a Cell bouts of all time.

Rating: *****

Randy Orton Defeated Rusev

The match between Randy Orton and Rusev was, to put it lightly, not the most anticipated match on the Hell in a Cell card. In fact, unless you are a big fan of either Superstar, you may have been hard-pressed to remember it was even part of the show.

Going on second, forced to follow the unforgettable match between The New Day and The Usos, the talented workers had the same solid match fans have seen from them before, in which The Bulgarian Brute pummeled Orton throughout and nearly even upset The Viper with an Accolade from out of nowhere.

As is the case in every match the third-generation star wrestles, though, Orton slithered out and delivered an RKO to put an end to Rusev's dreams of winning a high-profile pay-per-view match.

A nondescript match fans are not likely to have remembered by the time the show wrapped up some three hours later, the contest was merely there, an excuse for both guys to be on the show without any real rhyme or reason for why it had to happen in the first place.

Rating: **1/2

Baron Corbin Defeated AJ Styles and Tye Dillinger

The addition to Tye Dillinger to the United States Championship match felt too much like a booking decision made not to get The Perfect 10 over as a credible contender to the title but, rather, to prevent AJ Styles from taking the pinfall.

Baron Corbin captured his first championship Sunday night, defeating Dillinger and Styles in a Triple Threat match that featured fun spots, strong work from all three men involved and a controversial finish.

Late in the match, Styles soared through the air and blasted his fellow babyface Dillinger with the Phenomenal Forearm. Before he could make the pin and leave Detroit with his title, though, Corbin interjected himself and disposed of Styles.

From there, he covered The Perfect 10's lifeless body and earned championship gold for the first time in his wrestling career.

The spots were typical of a Triple Threat match, with one man powdering to the arena floor, thus leaving the other two Superstars to get their stuff in. Still, though, it captivated the audience and had them biting on several of the late near-falls.

Helped by a red-hot crowd, the match exceeded expectations.

Rating: ***1/2

Charlotte Defeated Natalya Via Disqualification

Charlotte Flair and Natalya have had some of the best wrestling matches of the last five years, regardless of gender. Their mat skills, attention to detail and physical styles have come together to make entertaining and believable matches that oftentimes have them looking better than they did going into the bouts.

Sunday night, though, was a match not at all concerned with living up to expectations.

Rather, Sunday's match for the SmackDown Women's Championship was about writing the first chapter of a longer story.

Natalya targeted the leg of her opponent throughout the match, leaving the No. 1 contender screaming in pain. Toughing it out, just as her father Ric had so many times over the course of his Hall of Fame career, Charlotte began rolling late. She even found it within herself to be able to climb to the top rope and launch herself off with a moonsault that caught Natalya on the arena floor.

The champion, sensing her title may be in jeopardy, grabbed hold of a steel chair and blasted the injured knee of her challenger, drawing a disqualification. The attack on the injured joint continued, leaving Charlotte writhing in pain and screaming the severity of the assault.

As a match, it was average. As an angle, it potentially set up months of stories to be told. Sometimes, the latter outweighs the former in significance.

Rating: **

Jinder Mahal Defeated Shinsuke Nakamura

There will be those who criticize the match WWE Championship match between Shinsuke Nakamura and Jinder Mahal Sunday night, mostly because they are pissed off over who left Little Ceasar's Arena with the title around their waist.

That is perfectly fine. It is OK to have a proverbial horse in the race and want a specific Superstar to win and capture titles.

With that said, the booking behind the match was smarter than anyone will give the WWE credit for and sets the stage for yet another rematch between the devious champion and a No. 1 contender repeatedly screwed over by a strong numbers disadvantage.

Even after banishing The Singh Brothers to the backstage area, the referee became distracted by their pleas to remain at ringside, preventing him from making a timely count on an unconscious Mahal.

From there, The Maharaja seized an opening and pinned Nakamura following his trademark Khallas finisher.

The creative team is telling a story in which Nakamura will have to dispatch of Sunil and Samir if he wants to capture the title that has eluded him thus far. With every cheap victory or controversial win, Mahal's status as a true main eventer grows.

Not unlike John Bradshaw Layfield, who also came from obscurity to win the title, then relied heavily on outside interference and chicanery to retain it.

The match will not be confused with a Match of the Year candidate by any means, nor was it particularly electrifying, but it was not the complete DUD some will make it out to be out of some blind hatred for Mahal's continued reign.

Rating: **1/2

Bobby Roode Defeated Dolph Ziggler

With the pay-per-view event running long, and anticipation for the night's main event reaching a boiling point, Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler were handed the unenviable task of going on between that Hell in a Cell match and the WWE Championship bout.

The result?

A crowd growing restless and impatient.

Roode and Ziggler wrestled a solid, if unspectacular match. Their styles did not necessarily mesh as well as one may have hoped for, but that may have to do with the fact that each excels in a different role than what they are playing.

Roode is better as a heel who controls the match, works his opponent over and brashly plays to the crowd. Ziggler is a better babyface than a villain, a Superstar who fights from underneath and fires off an energetic comeback that thrills fans and keeps them guessing as to whether or not he will finally win the big one.

They have been shoehorned into the roles they are in, and the result is a match that does not quite live up to their talents.

That Roode won the match by countering a rollup and grabbing the tights is a nice callback to his "anything to win" mentality as a villain, but it made little sense within the context of the story they were telling.

Rating: **1/2

Kevin Owens Defeated Shane McMahon

Whoever decided Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens needed 32 minutes for their Hell in a Cell should immediately have all booking decisions ripped away from them. The match, very good and incredibly dramatic in spots, overstayed its welcome by five to seven minutes and left the competitors stumbling around the cell roof for far too long.

The entire sequence that took place atop the steel structure may have had fans biting their nails and fending off anxiety early but eventually left them wondering if the Superstars were ever going to get to the high spot so many fans expected out of them.

Owens bumped off the side of the cage and through the announce table, and fans cheered.

Then, McMahon laid the prone body of his opponent across the other announce table, climbed the cage and leaped off, crashing through the table after Sami Zayn inexplicably pulled Owens to safety.

The brutality of the match, coupled with the insane spots, the undeniable drama they manufactured and the huge twist at the end was more than enough to earn it a higher-end rating. Shaving off a few unnecessary minutes would have helped it achieve classic status rather than being recognized as a good Hell in a Cell match.

Rating: ****