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| Dan Wahlers looks at the Hell in a Cell PPV |
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Hell in a Cell Preview and Predictions This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it WWE's experiment with themed PPV's continues with this Sunday's Hell in a Cell PPV, from The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Might as well mention my home state by name here, since WWE likely won't on Sunday, when the PPV comes on the air and they announce the show from “the shadow of New York City.” It's the usual middle finger to the people of New Jersey, that we're using to getting by now. It goes with the territory when you live here. I'll be at the show live, my first WWE show in about a year and a half. A little background info on the show: This will be WWE's first appearance at Prudential Center, which opened in October 2007. For 28 years they have always done shows at the Meadowlands, now called The Izod Center, when they come to this area. Apparently they intend on running shows at both venues in the future, since they also have a show scheduled at the Meadowlands in December. Why do we have two sports arenas within 8 miles of each other here in NJ? Good question. Originally, the state run Meadowlands arena was supposed to close when Prudential Center opened. But they chose to keep it open, and probably will for the foreseeable future, since both arenas are reportedly doing well financially, and having no problems booking shows. I guess it helps to live in the top media market in the country. Anyway, enough New Jersey arena history, let's talk about the PPV itself. Hell in a Cell is a match that originated back in October 1997 with the all-time classic match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker, which was given the coveted five star rating at the time by Dave Meltzer. Altogether, there have been 16 Hell in a Cell matches in company history, and it is traditionally one of WWE's biggest drawing gimmick matches. The company is hoping that trend will continue. The difference now is you don't have one Hell in a Cell match per year anymore, but an entire PPV built around three HIAC matches. You would imagine that if people will pay to see one match per year, that they will pay to see three on one show. That theory will certainly be put to the test. This show should do better than the usual WWE 'B' show numbers, which was the whole reason behind coming up with these themed PPV's, with PPV numbers in the toilet. To me, the theme shows are good for the fans, because it keeps the PPV's different, and gives each show its own unique feel. For the writers that are constrained by the themes of the shows, in terms of what matches they can book and who has to go over, and so forth, the feeling is probably decidedly different. But in the end, if the shows do well, then everyone will be talking about what a great idea it was to do themed PPV's. If they tank, then everyone better hit the deck, because Vince will be on the war path. The Hell in a Cell card has three actual HIAC matches, as I mentioned before. Seven matches in all, with six of them being championship matches. Let's take a look at the lineup, and my predictions for each match: Hell in a Cell Match for World Heavyweight Championship: (c)CM Punk vs. The Undertaker I listed this match first because it's the main event to me, and the match I'm most interested in seeing. That said, the match they had last month at Breaking Point, with the recycled Montreal Screwjob finish was a letdown, and left a bad taste in my mouth. It felt like a match that only barely scratched the surface of what Undertaker and Punk could do in the ring together, and the finish was lame and a cheap way out. Undertaker is no stranger to Hell in a Cell, as this will be his 10th appearance in one of these matches. He's not moving around well these days, and even with the five months off, he's said to be feeling worse physically than ever. Because of that, he's not able to take as many bumps in the ring anymore. But even at that, he still has the presence and timing in the ring to cover up for it, and of course the aura and mystique of the character that will always be there. I'm not worried about him being able to deliver in a big match situation, and I would expect that this should be a better match than what we saw last month. Meanwhile, CM Punk is one of the best acts going in the company today, and he really shouldn't lose the World Championship yet. A combination of that fact, and Undertaker's physical condition, and his limited schedule would seem to say that anything other than Punk going over here would be the wrong move. It would be wonderful if Undertaker would put Punk over clean right in the middle of the ring, like he did for Brock Lesnar back in 2002. A win over Taker in “his match” would give Punk such a huge boost of credibility and momentum. It could potentially be a career making match in a lot of ways if that were to happen. But after the way they booked him to get screwed over at Breaking Point, I just can't see Undertaker losing here. The storyline has been building to where he has to get revenge on Punk, Teddy Long, and the referee Scott Armstrong for what they pulled over on him, obviously at the direction of Vince McMahon, which is a storyline twist that hasn't come out yet, but it seems clear that's where they're headed. I can't see them going through all of that, only to have Undertaker turn around and lose in his revenge match. That's not the way WWE has ever booked their top babyfaces. Generally, when the babyfaces go for revenge on a heel that's wronged them, they get their revenge. They're in a tough spot with these Hell in a Cell matches in the new family friendly era of WWE, with no blood, and the violence cut down to a minimum. Some people will be expecting to see someone go flying off the top of the cell, or the usual bloodbath that these matches have been in the past. But those days are over. One thing it does do is force the wrestlers and the writers to be more creative, and come up with new ways to make these matches just as exciting and compelling as they always were, but without all the shortcuts they were allowed to use in the past. I'm sure they'll find a way to make it work, and hopefully make each of the cell matches unique in their own way. Prediction: There are a lot more valid reasons for CM Punk to keep the World Heavyweight Championship than there are reasons for Undertaker winning it. And Taker doing the clean job here would be the correct move if you're thinking long-term business. They need new stars, and the way you make new stars is by giving them convincing wins over established stars. It doesn't get anymore established than Undertaker. Punk has become a top star, but he could move up to that elite level with a win over Undertaker in this match. Undertaker doesn't need the win, and with him hobbling around, working a part-time schedule, it just wouldn't make a lot of sense to put the belt on him right now. But as I detailed above, with the way this feud has been progressing, and after the screwjob finish at the last PPV, I think Undertaker goes over here. I would be shocked if he didn't. The storyline is textbook WWE. Undertaker loses by screwjob at Breaking Point, Punk sneaks out the back door with a win by count out in the match they had on last week's Smackdown. It's all building up to Undertaker finally getting his hands on Punk in the match where there is no place to run, and no place to hide, and getting his revenge. That's what I see happening. It's certainly not the way I would have liked to see the feud play out. And hopefully it can continue in some way that will allow Punk to get put over in the end, and ultimately gain something from working with someone of Undertaker's stature. But as for Sunday, I would look for Undertaker to leave with his seventh World Championship. Hell in a Cell Match for WWE Championship: (c)John Cena vs. Randy Orton I've been fortunate and lucky to attend quite a few WWE PPV's over the years, and one of the recent ones I was at was Summerslam in 2007. Do you remember what the main event was that night? You got it. John Cena vs. Randy Orton. I find it absolutely unbelievable that I'm going to a PPV more than two years later, and the same match is on the card. If that's not an indictment on WWE's poor long-term decision making, and their atrocious lack of creating new main event stars, then nothing is. When people want to know what's wrong with wrestling, and why so many fans have been driven away, you can point to this right here. This is a perfect example. The same people on top in the same matches month after month, and indeed year after year. And around and around we go. Prediction: Cena and Orton always have good matches, so that's not the problem. I'm sure this will be no different. Since Cena just won the title back last month, you would think that he has to retain here. There is a case to be made that Orton might win back the title, because of the fact that Cena would have no heels to work with on Raw, since Orton would theoretically be out of title shots. But maybe this will force them to elevate someone like Jack Swagger, The Miz, Cody Rhodes, or Ted Dibiase to work with Cena on top. Plus after ending the last PPV on a sour note, leaving a lot of people feeling like they got screwed out of their money, I don't think they'll want to end two PPV's in a row with the heel on top. This match is expected to close the show. That's why I'm going with John Cena to win and retain the title. Hell in a Cell Match: DX vs. Legacy Shawn Michaels tapping out at Breaking Point, giving Legacy the clean win was cool and unexpected. But they've totally dropped the ball since then on following up on it. DX has never acknowledged on television that they lost. It's almost like it never happened. Something like that should have been played up a lot more, otherwise what's the point of doing it? DX should have been putting over Legacy as a team that they underestimated, and a couple talented young kids that got the better of them. But I guess that would be too much to ask. It's like DX lost, but they still treat Rhodes and Dibiase like jokes, that aren't on their level. So beating them was nice, but it doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot of if you don't follow up in it, and they've done a poor job with that, which shouldn't be all that surprising. Prediction: DX wins. Unified Tag Team Championship Match: (c)Chris Jericho/Big Show vs. Batista/Rey Mysterio Prediction: They seem to like having Jericho and Big Show able to appear on Raw, as well as Smackdown, as a result of being the Unified Tag Champs. I can't stand Big Show, but I will admit that he's developed a good chemistry with Jericho, and that this is probably the best use of him. I think it would be pointless to take the titles off them right now. Neither Batista or Mysterio gain much by being tag champs. I think Jericho and Show will retain, probably with Rey doing the job in his return from suspension. He got his “make due” from WWE by even being put on the PPV, when he hasn't been on TV for the past month. Triple Threat Match for United States Championship: (c)Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz vs. Jack Swagger Prediction: This has been one of the stupidest builds for a PPV match in a while, with Miz and Swagger going around stealing the United States title, including Swagger walking off with the belt when he was right in the middle of a one on one championship match for said title. Makes absolutely no sense. But what else is new. I think Miz wins the title here. Kofi has had the belt for a while, and I think it's time to move on to something different for him, and for the US Title. The storyline for the past couple months has been building to Miz winning the title, and it seems like a good time to make the switch. It would make his transformation complete. He sure has come a long way from when he was the annoying asshole that kept screwing up his lines during the Diva Search. He got rid of that silly outfit he used to wrestle in, got some real tights, got himself in good shape, and he's run with the opportunity he's been given. I hate to say I told you so, but I called this back in 2007 when I was talking about Miz as a guy with the potential to be something, and everyone laughed at me. Guess I knew what I was talking about. Intercontinental Championship Match: (c)John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler Prediction: Two of Smackdown's best young stars finally being given a chance to show what they can do on PPV. I like it. It's about time. Morrison hasn't been on PPV in forever, which has been a damn shame, since he's one of the most fun guys in the company to watch. Ziggler is coming along nicely, as well. This is a nice opportunity for these guys to show why Smackdown has been the best wrestling show this year. Their interactions outside of the ring in building this feud have been shaky at best, however. Morrison is awesome in the ring, but there's something about him talking on the mic where he comes off too wooden and rehearsed. That's one area that he needs to work on. The silly "Mr. Ziggles" stuff has bombed, and then you had that segment with Ziggler reciting a bunch of horrendously lame jokes with Pat Patterson at Breaking Point that felt like it lasted about 4 hours. But I have no doubt that they will deliver a good match in the ring, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do. Since the feud just started, I think Morrison picks up the win this time, to retain the I-C Title. WWE Divas Championship Match: (c)Mickie James vs. Alicia Fox Prediction: This was thrown on the card at the last minute instead of the token ECW Championship. I'd have much rather seen another Christian vs. Zack Ryder match, or something along those lines, then seen what is likely not to be a good match with these two. Mickie tried her best with Rosa Mendes on Raw this week, but Rosa should just never step in a wrestling ring ever again. She has absolutely no concept what she's doing. She's going to hurt herself or someone else one of these days. I don't really think Alicia Fox is much better, although she does do a pretty nasty looking scissors kick, I'll give her that. The shorter this is kept, the better it will be for everyone. I think Mickie will retain her title. I'd like to see Mickie and Gail Kim give it another shot, after their match on Raw a month or two ago was derailed when Gail knocked herself out. Maryse is also due to be back soon, which won't exactly do much for the in-ring part of the show, but will make the divas stuff more entertaining. There you have the card for Hell in a Cell. It looks like a solid show on paper. I guess whether you order the show or not depends on whether you're a fan of Hell in a Cell matches. They're usually good to great matches almost everytime, and I don't have any reason to expect anything less this time. I'll have a write up with my thoughts on the show from a live perspective here sometime next week. So I hope you'll look for that. Thanks for reading. Until next time, take care and be well. You can send feedback to: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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