WWE Hell in a Cell Results: The Good, the Bad and the Meh

WWE's Hell in a Cell hailed from New Orleans, Louisiana.   Built on a short-hype cycle and using existing feuds, it was likely to be a transitional show in storyline advancement, while re-introducing a few characters as the Survivor Series build begins.  If a recap is needed, hit up Big Nasty's running blog of the show.

However, throwing five men in a cell to beat the hell out of each other is all good by me.  How did they do?  Let's find out.

The Good:

+ Sheamus/Christian.  Fun match, and nicely established hook with Miz and Truth being ejected from the get go.  Good back-and-forth action, with both men hitting their signature moves.  Good storytelling as well.  More or less, a solid match to get the crowd hot.  Not much of a surprise with Sheamus going over via Brogue Kick.   

+ Ziggler and Swagger/Air Boom.  Standard tag match formula was used, but fun moments as well.  Crowd helped a bit here.  Good storytelling overall, and I love the potential of both a Ziggy and Swagger team and the feud between them and Air Boom.  Fun ending as well, and good pop on Bourne's pin of Ziggler.

+ Video promos.  How good is the WWE's video department?  Damn good, perhaps some of the best anywhere.  The Henry/Orton video was a beautiful recap and added some to the story, and they even somehow added some emotion to Randy "Mr. Data" Orton.  

I also admit, I giggled at the Henry parody of Samuel L. Jackson's signature lines from "Pulp Fiction" for the Vengeance ad.  The hype video for the main event was also done well.

+ Orton/Henry.  Great shot of Orton's hand grasping the cage while being dominated by Henry, which pretty much summed up the match.  Great story to the match, though they could have used the cage a bit more.  

The sell from SmackDown's pimping of the RKO as a devastating move was a nice bit of carryover after Henry kicked out.  Props to Orton for taking a pin two times in such a short span to put Henry over.  There is still some juice to the feud, so it will continue to Vengeance.

+ "Conspiracy Theory."  They sold the next Raw as a must watch show, as something big will happen.  I admit, I'm intrigued and I hope they follow through.  Loved how Miz and Truth were featured in a few key places during the PPV, and the tension between Lauri and Trips feels palpable.

+ Rhodes/Morrison.  The segment started well, with Rhodes doing his usual act.  The re-debut of the old Intercontinental title was nicely done, in my opinion. Nice, but classic, twist with Rhodes mentioning Steamboat, Austin, and Savage; then selling that he would be better then they were a moment later. 

Quick match with Morrison dominating the action (and even doing a Pele), but lost via roll up to Rhodes.  Cole turning into a raging tool on the mic for Rhodes was oddly appropriate here.  Overall, Rhodes continues to do well.

+ Phoenix/K2.  Simple and sweet, with alright story and some good ring work by Beth.  I actually teared up a bit when Beth finally beat K2. 

Overall, good segment.  Would have been more appropriate at Night of Champions with Phoenix's massive hometown heat, but still a good one.

+ Triple Threat.  Ok, I love brutal matches when they are done well.  Some great use of the weaponry available to the men.   Solid story in the match, in my opinion, with some good ring work. 

Del Rio came out looking strong in this match, which was needed for him.  Couple of nicely done creative spots.  I did like Del Rio locking Cena out of the cell to even up the odds a bit, and was a nice way to build up the pending Punk/Del Rio feud and an excuse to carryover to Vengeance. 

Not sure I like Punk taking the pin, however, but need to build the feud somehow.  The pipe shot and table spot protected Punk enough.

+ Miz/Truth destroying everyone.  One thing I love JR for is his ability to turn a heel assault into something akin to Godzilla assaulting Tokyo.  Yeah, I dug Trips laying out Lauri as well in the end.  I liked Kofi and Evan being laid out in the locker room.  The Miz and R-Truth got a nice edge tonight.

The Meh:

~ Sin Cara/Sin Cara.  Minus the botches, the match was average.  It felt more like a TV match then something that belonged on a PPV.  The crowd almost dead minus a few spots.   

Some fun spots, not as much as it could have been, in my opinion.  I'm sure the feud will continue, but they have to clean up their timing. 

~ Booking.  It felt a little odd with two-face wins to start, then heel victories through the rest.  I probably would have opened with the tag match and placed Sheamus and Christian later in the card.  It just feet a little odd.

The Bad:

 ~ Trip's movie ad.  For the record, placing movie ads–even if it's to give time to get the ring cleared or lower the cage, is a bad idea.  It's worse when the flick went, basically, straight to Wal-Mart's DVD and Blu Ray rack.

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

"Flying battering ram!"

Evan Bourne bouncing up and down, waiting for the hot tag, is like a hyperactive child let loose with a cappuccino and a puppy.

Somehow, I was expecting Orton to go Super Saiyen on Henry after he kicked out of RKO.

"She's got Natalya out here, and that's a nice ASS-et."  I could picture JR doing a Trollface there.

"Let's go Cena!  CM Punk!"

"Right back to the kidney shot" after Del Rio hit the Lungblower.  Gotta love Booker.

"Steps...*Ahhh*...cell..."

"I'm flying!"

So, was there any point to taking the belt off of Del Rio then?  The hot potato syndrome continues, particularly if the three rehash it at Vengeance.  I know the Mexico tour is coming up, but ADR could still chase Cena for it.

Overall Grade: B/B-

Overall, a transitional PPV in a lot of ways, but it was, overall, a solid one none the less with some good matches and storytelling.  I'm glad they took my earlier advice and saved the shenanigans for after the main event.  Not much else to say other then I think the Sin Cara match could have been better, in my opinion. 

I will admit I'm a little surprised with the heel heavy booking tonight, but you can't always go with the faces winning everything.  I'm not a fan of Del Rio taking the title back after dropping it two weeks ago.  Not in the slightest. 

Big question is was it worth the cash?  Depends.

If you like solid action and some good storytelling in the ring, then yes, it was worth it.  Otherwise, nothing overly major happened tonight aside from Cena losing the title, Henry retaining his (clean I might add) and Beth dominating Kelly Kelly.