WWE Hell in a Cell 2011 Rapid Reaction: Epic Night, Quick Thoughts

With Hell in a Cell just finishing up as we speak, this night was full of twists and turns that I'm not sure anybody fully expected to happen.  Here's a quick rundown of all the matches and my final thoughts on the show as a whole. I will try to avoid running down the matches completely as there will be plenty of others willing to do that.

Sheamus def. Christian

In a match that was going to determine the unspoken No.1 contender for the world title, Captain Charisma and the Great White took to the ring for battle.

It was a good back-and-forth contest where neither man had the true upper hand throughout the contest.

In the end, Sheamus ended the match with a Brogue Kick that rocked the arena. 

Sheamus looked very strong in the win, overcoming multiple obstacles to get the win. This means that he will be the perfect fit to take on the world champion.

Sin Cara Blue def. Sin Cara Black

Now that both men have different colored attire, we have a definite heel and face in this contest.

Blue and Black started the match showing off their ground game while sprinkling in the air attacks to begin, going back and forth with momentum in the process.  It wasn't until Blue attempted to jump on Black on the outside of the ring and missed that Black really took over.

There were some great spots in the match, including air shows towards the outside of the ring, but the match ended with an inverted power bomb-pinning combination to win it for Blue.

I didn't know what to expect from this match at first, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well both men were when interacting with each other.  There was pretty good chemistry.  This feud probably isn't over, so expect more magic in the near future.  Say, maybe in three weeks?

Tag Team Titles: (c) AirBoom def. Ziggler and Swagger

Of course this match wasn't even truly official until AirBoom made their entrance towards the ring.

ZiggSwag (my self-appointed name for their tag team) worked very well together.  Not only did they play the role of heel team well, but they also looked like a legitimate tag team that could go on to doing some great things in the future if given the chance.

In the end, AirBoom retained the championships with Kofi holding back Ziggler while Bourne pinned Swagger off of a reversal of Swagger's attempted atomic powerbomb off the top rope. 

I don't see this ending very soon as this was one of the best tag matches put on a pay-per-view in quite some time.  These four guys showed what they can do individually in the past, but putting them as tag teams was genius.

World Heavyweight Championship Hell in a Cell: (c) Mark Henry def. Randy Orton

Yes, Mark Henry walked into the cell unstoppable and walked out the same way.  Well, the first time he walked out of it anyway.

Henry and Orton, as I expected, relied on their pure hatred towards each and used brutality in the match.  They used the cell and everything surrounding it as much as possible with most of the action not even being inside the ring.

Orton went on his Viper rampage as usual, ending with an RKO again.  Except when he went for the count, he only got to two.  An RKO that didn't finish off somebody? You're joking, right?  Orton didn't see it as a joke.  You could tell that as soon as Henry kicked out of the RKO, he had to do something drastic to win the match.  Instead of going for it on fourth and long and going berserk on Henry, he elected to punt.

But when the punt was about to be delivered, one of those big scary lineman came up with a huge block and World Strongest Slammed Orton to retain the win. He avoided Christian syndrome and is still the champion.

After the match, Henry attempted to end Orton's career like he did to Kane and Big Show with a chair.  Orton wasn't having any of that ,so he moved out of the way.  Orton got up and, in turn, went off on Henry with the steel chair, following him all the way up the ramp to continue the attack.  Henry was able to get away before Orton went Cody Rhodes on him.

As much as it pains me, after the events after the match, I feel another rematch coming on at Vengeance, although there isn't any point to it.  Henry has beaten Orton cleanly and clearly both times.  No dirty underhanded tricks by Henry, he just put a beat down on Orton and is still champ because of it.

Intercontinental Championship: (c) Cody Rhodes def. John Morrison

 After first seeing Rhodes coming out to cut a promo, I thought it was going to be about how Orton deserved to lose his match after what he did to him.  Except, instead he decided to retire the current IC title and bring back the vintage belt that all the greats wore.  

Then Johnny Ace decided to spoil the party again, saying Rhodes had to defend his title against JoMo right there and then.  I was excited at the possibility of Morrison holding the title again and moving to SmackDown so he could potentially have some direction with his character, which has been lacking in that department as of late.

In a pretty solid match, considering Rhodes was wearing a suit, Morrison was the victim once again of their attempt to up the stock of another superstar.  Rhodes said he would defend any time any where.  I guess three times in six days counts, right?

Diva's Championship: Beth Phoenix def (c) Kelly Kelly

 Third time was the charm for Beth, being able to defeat Barbie (both a reference to her real name and what they like to call the princess) to take the Diva's title away from her.

However, it was not without the help of Natalya, who hit Kelly in the head with a microphone with the referee's back turned.  This led to a Glam Slam for the one, two, three and a new champion.

Although I am happy to see the title on Beth after so much time has passed since she has been a champion, I am disappointed that she needed help to do it.  In my opinion, winning the title this way makes her appear weak and that she needs outside help to be victorious.  I understand that she's a heel, but someone with her physical ability and talent shouldn't have to resort to those tactics.  

Actually, Beth may not have even noticed what Natalya did because she was too preoccupied with the ref.  Who knows? We'll have to wait and see.

WWE Championship: Alberto Del Rio def. CM Punk and (c) John Cena

 In by far my favorite match of the night with all the angles being played and the storytelling, the WWE Championship match didn't disappoint like I had expected.  Now that I've wiped the egg off my face...

Del Rio once again started the match by playing the cowardly lion role, running away from Punk and Cena.  Eventually both men got to beat on him a little bit before the real match started.

Throughout the match, Punk put his body on the line by taking the most hits to the cell, cutting up his back and elbow in the process.  He should be commended for his willingness to sell the steel structure as utterly painful.

Towards the end of the match, Ricardo Rodriguez knocked out the outside ref and stole the key to the cell, unlocking the door.  Cena noticed this and Adjusted the attitude of the ring announcer, laying him out on the ground.  Del Rio took this opportunity to take the steel pipe Ricardo had and decked Cena with it a few times.  He then threw Cena outside of the cell and locked the door and literally threw away the key, leaving him and Punk as the only men inside the cell for the rest of the match.

They went back and forth for a while while Cena was still on the outside incapacitated.  Once Cena awoke, he tried to re-enter the cell, only to find that it was locked and nobody had the key. He was forced to watch the rest of the match from the outside.  

Del Rio, after taunting Cena as if HE were the caged animal with the steel pipe, took that pipe and nailed Punk in the head to pick up the win and once again become champion.

After the Match:

 Once the cage rose off the ground, Cena immediately started to beat Del Rio, only to himself be hit from behind by two men with hoodies.  Of course, it was Miz and R-Truth, back for their time in the night, after first being kicked out of the audience even though they bought tickets and being removed again from backstage after beating down AirBoom in the locker room.

Somehow, the cell was re-lowered and the door still locked.  Miz and Truth took that as their chance to unleash their anger on any and everybody in the cell.  They beat up Cena, Punk, Del Rio, Rodriguez, all the refs and even camera men.  They would do this for a few minutes before Triple H and the rest of the WWE locker room came down to try to stop them.  

They would continue their battery until the door was finally cut open by bolt cutters and the police went into the ring to arrest them.  Miz and Truth surrendered happily, knowing they had done what they wanted.

Triple H had to be restrained by police, but he eventually got free and started to beat on Miz and Truth.  Ace even tried stopping Hunter but he was also hit for his troubles.  Eventually, Triple H was restrained the Miz and Truth were removed from the arena.

Final Thoughts:

 All-in-all, this pay-per-view did not disappoint.  I had expected something less from the WWE, but as I've learned a number of times before, once you think you have all the answers they change the question.  

I loved the angle they played with the Miz and Truth.  They didn't just try to interrupt the title match; they waited until the end to make their statement and even went as far as to go in the back and assault other people.  

Cena will get his rematch at Vengeance that is for sure, but where does Punk go from here?  Does he team with Triple H to take on Miz and Truth?

Random question: Maybe this was just me, but shouldn't Del Rio and WWE be fined for his hitting Punk in the head with a lead pipe? I mean, if a chair shot—which was clearly blocked by the one receiving the hit—get penalized, a lead pipe shot to the head that clearly hit without being blocked should receive a harsher punishment? No?

Overall, I'll give Hell in  Cell a 8/10 for the complete show.

Way to not disappoint.