WWE Hell in a Cell 2011 Predictions: Creative Failures and Missed Opportunities

Tonight, when WWE presents its 2011 Hell In A Cell pay per view, they're presenting a sub-par card.

The lack of creativity with which they threw together their list of matches makes me wonder if they've resigned themselves to simply getting a buy rate based on the caged gimmick, and the people who are such brand loyalists that they buy the pay per view each month no matter what the card looks like.

The budding feud between Kevin Nash and CM Punk was getting good. Mid-RAW, after we heard Punk and Nash would be facing off on pay per view, the Night Of Champions match was switched to Punk vs COO Triple H.

Why did they hit fast forward and present us with the inevitable match so soon? If Nash failed a physical or they decided the fans didn't want to see the match, then that's a huge failure on their part for not realizing it sooner, though I doubt either was the case.

Regardless of the reason, Nash should've been suspended by COO Triple H instead of fired, and he should've been brought back by Laurinaitis (or even by COO Triple H through some convincing by Punk or Laurinaitis or even HBK).

Punk vs. Nash should be on the card for Hell In A Cell.

For a couple weeks, WWE built up a feud surrounding the World Tag Team Championships, and yet, because they wanted COO Triple H to seem almighty with somewhat questionable judgment, the potential Kofi and Bourne vs. Miz and Truth match isn't going to be on the pay per view card because Miz & Truth were "fired".

Given the work rates and the popularity of all involved, this could've been an interesting match. Instead, the closest we get is a potential match involving Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger pairing up.

I'm not in favor of the United States Title ending up without a match on the event, but the situation is so muddled and ill-timed that at this point. The best option they've got would be Jack Swagger vs. Dolph Ziggler, and it's way too early for that.

Had they slowed the build and not featured a four-way match on Night Of Champions, Ziggler vs. Morrison could be happening tonight. They could've even given Morrison a short title reign, then had Swagger qualify for the first title match (possibly in one of those Beat The Clock challenges), and we could have Swagger vs. Morrison tonight.

Doesn't that sound way more interesting than "no one vs. no one"?

In the main event, if CM Punk were already fighting Nash on the card, that would lead to some rebooking of the WWE Championship situation. After all of Ricardo Rodriguez's involvement, why not book a handicap match for the WWE Championship?

Why not let John Cena prove his machismo by offering up to fight both Alberto del Rio & Ricardo Rodriguez inside Hell In A Cell?

If the WWE "Creative" plan is to put the belt on CM Punk tonight, I'd say it's too soon and that it devalues the belt even more, and the other two options I've mentioned are far more interesting.

For months the WWE went back and forth with Christian and Randy Orton vying for the Heavyweight championship, and now it seems to have switched over to Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton.

Why not take a PPV off from that feud? Randy Orton could still want revenge and to reclaim "his" championship, but in the meantime he could deal with Cody Rhodes, with whom he's certainly continued the rivalry in recent weeks.

It's not as if Cody is defending his Intercontinental Championship on the card, nor would he have to defend it if Randy Orton were his opponent, and this match wouldn't waste a future opportunity.

What it would do would be to give the two a heated battle which could be a part of a bigger war betwixt the duo. Eventually Randy Orton is going to have the Heavyweight Championship back, and Cody Rhodes will undoubtedly be a contender to the belt, so why not give them a match here?

Sure, it's possible that the staples on the left side of Cody Rhodes' head are the reason they don't have him in a match inside a cage tonight, but I doubt it. Despite the fact that WWE "Creative" has been building up the heat between Orton and Rhodes, there are no signs that they ever intended Mark Henry to have any other opponent than The Viper for the event.

But he should have a different opponent.

Mark Henry should be given the opportunity to look BRUTAL inside the Hell In A Cell against someone who is at least partially credible. It's not like this match (or any Mark Henry title match on any pay per view) will be the headlining match. Why not spend time building up The Great Khali in the past few weeks as someone who MIGHT match Henry in size, strength and toughness, and then simply let Mark Henry mostly dominate the match? 

If you don't like The Great Khali as an option, I wouldn't go the route of Sheamus. He's clearly on the path to the big strap and he doesn't need a setback here.

Had WWE "Creative" worked a bit harder to continue the rise of Alex Riley instead of getting him stuck in the mire of the cloudy United States Championship four-way feud, he could've been used in this spot.

Coming off of a feud victory against The Miz, Riley could've picked up a couple more wins to propel himself upwards. Had they turned Mark Henry's attention on The Miz's former protege, he could've served as a feuding partner for this pay per view, especially since the build-up is only two weeks long. Say what you want about Alex Riley's credibility, his work rate is fast enough that he'd be able to help excite the crowd during a 5 or 10 minute match against The World's Slowest Champion.

He's got the height and build to look formidable against Henry, which someone like Daniel Bryan doesn't, and it's no big blow to his credibility when he ends up losing the match.

Tensions between The Great Khali and Jinder Mahal have been building for months, WWE seems to want to push Mahal into a position of prominence, so why not have their feud blow-off match happen on this pay per view inside the demonic structure?

People could get behind Great Khali (or at least cheer for him over the hateable Jinder Mahal) enough to make this 5 minute match interesting, but if you're not going to use Great Khali against Mark Henry and you're going to have spent all this time building up the story, at least do something with it.

WWE "Creative" might regret the time it spent on the Khali-Mahal storyline or see it as a failure, but don't just waste it.

Lastly, we're getting a match involving two competitors calling themselves Sin Cara on tonight's event. It's an interesting storyline, especially given this week's post-match comments (which went unsold by the Smackdown Announcers) by the darker costumed competitor.

Had they wanted the best bang for their buck, WWE "Creative" would have built up a feud between Daniel Bryan and Sin Cara, with the mysterious attacks on him causing Bryan to want to get revenge on Sin Cara, who would've plead innocence. Then, mid-match, the darker-costumed Sin Cara could've shown up, the three could've battled, and the match would've ended without a proper result.

Though it could've lead to much bigger and better things.

WWE Creative failed in building up this pay per view. Some of their failure might be caused by injuries we're unaware of, but at least an equal portion is due to feuds being rushed and storylines taking the wrong turns while opportunities are squashed.

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