The Real Winners and Losers of WWE Hell in a Cell 2019

Inside Hell in a Cell, there was no escape, and the biggest stars in WWE were punished in brutal matches where all they wanted to do was hurt each other.

WWE Hell in a Cell 2019 did not have many major matches on the card, but those that mattered delivered in a big way: Key new champions were crowned along the way, and a few stars finally got the revenge they long craved.

While it would be easy to list the results of the night to highlight every winner and loser, not all victories and defeats are created equal.

While Braun Strowman punched out AJ Styles and won by disqualification, but his victory will hardly be talked about in the same vein as the dominant showing of Becky Lynch.

These are the defining winners and losers of the night at WWE Hell in a Cell 2019, those who will be remembered long after the end of the show for their efforts.

Winners: Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch

Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks went to war in a brutal Hell in a Cell match.

Using a full set of steel chairs in every way imaginable, The Boss looked poised to win, but The Man caught her on the top rope with a super Bexploder onto a pile of chairs. She then locked in the Dis-arm-her for the tapout.

The Man continues an incredible run over the last year, putting another match-of-the-year contender on her resume. While the match was expected to be good, the two hit such a high mark that they easily stole the show despite being questionably thrown in the opener.

The Boss especially needed a match like this. After years of being mishandled, she delivered in a big moment and came out even more a star. She would have benefited even more from a win, but gold is coming her way sooner rather than later.

It could be argued these two are now the best female wrestlers on the roster. Asuka is not getting a chance to refute that, and Charlotte Flair and Bayley have not delivered at this level in recent months.

As WWE reshuffles its rosters, it may be best to separate Lynch and Banks after this convincing win by The Man. Let The Boss rebuild her momentum and perhaps regain the WWE Tag Team Championships with Bayley.

Losers: Luke Harper and Erick Rowan

Erick Rowan and Luke Harper punished Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns early in their match with a divide-and-conquer strategy.

The Big Dog was taken out of the picture until he was needed most, when he speared Rowan through the announce table and the two faces together hit their finishers on Harper to win.

While The Big Dog and The Planet's Champion did their best to sell the damage that was done to them in this contest, the result will ultimately define this rivalry. There's no shame in losing to Reigns and Bryan, but Rowan and Harper needed a victory.

It was their first match together as a team again, and they lost to a makeshift alliance. After everything Rowan, particularly, did to get to this point, he failed at the home stretch and will have to pick up some big wins in the coming months to recover.

These two could be a monstrous duo in the tag team division, no matter which one they enter after the WWE draft. That role is hardly at the same level as working with Reigns and Bryan in the main event of SmackDown, though.

Meanwhile, as fun as Bryan and Reigns were to watch working together, this was likely a one-off moment and both will now go their separate ways.

Winner: Ali

Ali gave Randy Orton everything he could handle in a match in which the underdog felt he needed to win.

He even pulled off an improbable counter to the RKO, but he ran into an RKO for the loss as he rolled into the ring.

After the match, without making it too obvious, The Apex Predator gave Ali a few nods of respect. It was clear he respected the effort of the young star in a match he was never going to win outright.

Because of a lack of build, it was hard to sell the crowd on this match. Ali barely got reactions no matter the incredible work he did. His handstand RKO counter was barely noticed by the audience.

However, a larger crowd watching worldwide will have spotted the work of one of the best wrestlers in the business right now. The cruiserweight needs to start getting clear victories, but putting on competitive performances against many of the company's most prominent stars is a start.

Ali is an all-star in-ring worker who also cuts great promos. Before long, he should be a featured star. Matches like this feel small, but they matter especially to those watching backstage.

Winners: The Kabuki Warriors

As one of the last-minute additions to the card, this match felt like a throwaway encounter, but Asuka and Kairi Sane capitalized.

The Kabuki Warriors took shortcuts throughout, and they paid off. The Empress of Tomorrow caught Nikki Cross with green mist to steal the win and the WWE Tag Team Championships.

It has been a long few months for the alliance of Asuka and Sane. They were heralded as among the best wrestlers in WWE, but they could not catch a break together. It was as if the two together had been relegated to a lesser role than either would get alone.

Luckily, all that work finally paid off Sunday. It may take some time to sell The Kabuki Warriors as heels especially without Paige as their mouthpiece, but they deserved the gold. Alongside The IIconics and Fire & Desire, The Kabuki Warriors are one of the few true tag teams in the division.

Hopefully, this reign lasts a while and allows Asuka particularly to remind everyone why she should still be considered among the best in the business.

This likely signals the end of Alexa Bliss and Cross working together. The two have been good together, but they are likely to be featured more on separate brands.

Loser: Bayley

Credit: WWE.com

In a rematch from Clash of Champions, Bayley seemed out of her depth against Charlotte Flair at Hell in a Cell.

The Queen had a step on the SmackDown women's champion at every turn and caught her in the Figure-Eight, forcing her to tap out.

The Hugger showed her frustration after the match, and many in the WWE Universe shared that feeling. Charlotte has already broken the record for the most women's championships in history, and she just keeps winning them over anyone else.

Bayley was a solid champion, and her recent heel turn helped make her interesting again. Obviously, she was being sold as a lesser competitor to Charlotte, but that didn't mean she had to lose here.

This feels like another move dictated by Fox, although WWE has always showed a propensity for giving the championship to The Queen. SmackDown should be happy with Charlotte at the helm, but it would have been good with Bayley as well without feeling indulgent.

It is truly remarkable that The Hugger has a total of two main roster singles championships to her name in comparison to The Queen's 10.

Loser: Seth Rollins

Credit: WWE.com

Seth Rollins promised to bring everything to his match with Bray Wyatt, and he did. He got The Fiend down and hit him with everything he had, and his opponent kicked out at one. He kept hitting Stomps then going for head shots with a chair.

Nothing seemed to be enough until The Beastslayer pulled out a sledgehammer. He trapped Wyatt under a ladder and chair and smashed him with the hammer, causing the referee to stop the match as a no-contest. However, The Fiend caught Rollins with a mandible claw after the match and left him choking.

Rollins was put over in a major way when he defeated Brock Lesnar in an unforgettable effort at SummerSlam in August. The Beastslayer had fully arrived, and it took a 10-second victory on Friday Night SmackDown for The Beast Incarnate to reclaim his dominant aura.

It felt like the moment WWE had finally decided to crown Rollins alongside Roman Reigns as its brand leader. That may have all fallen apart Sunday night. It seemed that the crowd was so completely invested in Wyatt that it booed Rollins throughout the match.

While The Fiend was damaged by this bad booking, Rollins came out worse. It's hard to see fans staying on his side as he more or less took over a match that was never his.

He did not act like a face champion, and he won by terrible booking that left everyone scratching their heads. WWE will likely need to hastily rewrite this ending soon and give Wyatt the title. If they had done it first time, though, Rollins might be in a better place for the long term.