WWE Hell in a Cell 2017

WWE Hell in a Cell 2017

Detroit, Michigan - October 2017

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into the show, Jinder Mahal is the reigning WWE World Champion, AJ Styles holds the US Title, the New Day are the SmackDown Tag Team Champions, and Natalya is the SmackDown Women's Champion.

COMMENTATORS: Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, and Tom Phillips

The SmackDown Tag Team Championships were on the line in our opening contest - The Usos challenging the reigning titleholders, The New Day. Woods and Big E represented the New Day, but I would've sworn that Kofi Kingston would get involved somehow. He didn't, which is definitely surprising considering Hell in a Cell matches tend to feature all sorts of shenanigans. I like how personal and high-stakes this match felt from the very start, the two teams earning a "This is Awesome" chant within the first few minutes thanks to some great bumps and dives into the cage wall. Loads of good weapons shots as well, but what set this aside from your basic garbage match was that there was a real story being told with both teams trying to maximize 2-on-1 advantages and clearly working with strategies in mind. With the New Day, you're going to get your fun spots in, but when it was time to get serious, there was no joking going on. I don't understand, after his work last night, why the WWE doesn't see Big E as a main event-caliber singles talent because when he was taking out both Usos, the crowd was definitely behind him and his intensity felt real. For going nearly 30 minutes, this one didn't drag at any point. Its kind of a shame that this stipulation match has been used so many times before (and that we'd get another one later in the night) because this match felt like it could main event a show as much as the Charlotte/Banks match did last year. (4/5)

Next up was Randy Orton taking on Rusev. Rusev is so, so underutilized, it really is a shame the WWE doesn't tour Bulgaria because that would guarantee this guy got the push he deserves. I'm not sure what Rusev has done wrong aside from helping Cena, Orton, and Reigns have some of their best matches in recent years and, like The Miz, he does a fantastic job getting true heel heat - even without the aid of Lana (The Miz has Maryse, mind you) and a gimmick straight out of the 1980s. Orton sold well for the Brute, enough so that I genuinely thought Rusev might get a (deserved) clean win. Unfortunately, an RKO ended things and we're left again with Rusev stuck in the upper midcard and Orton scoring wins that don't do anything more than preserve his stature without adding a single wrinkle to his character. This was a good match - the kind of bout that could main event a house show and leave the fans pleased - but like a house show main event, all the hard work in the world can't create a feeling of a high-stakes, must-win situation for the babyface and there was none of that aura here. (3/5)

The United States Championship was on the line in a triangle match next - AJ Styles defending against Baron Corbin and Tye Dillinger. Dillinger is like a more capable Alex Riley to me, but I'm still not sold on the guy as anything more than a midcard staple. Maybe its the douchey haircut that makes him look like a 6th grade girl who just came back from a spring vacation trip to the Bahamas? Corbin I'm not as sour on as some, but I've definitely cooled a little bit from when I thought he was progressing more and putting things together. AJ Styles proved he is still the best performer in the company, carrying these two to a match that built in suspense and ended up being a real "Any Man Can Win"-type battle. Having Dillinger included added some needed variety to the show and felt like a "big moment" for him, personal disinterest aside. Corbin, meanwhile, had his deficiencies hidden well by not having to be involved in every exchange and preventing him from burning through his somewhat limited signature offense. If the opener hadn't been so strong, this would've been a sleeper for Match of the Night. (3.5/5)

Another title match - this time the SmackDown Women's Championship - was up for grabs with Natalya defending against Charlotte. In 2015-2016, these two fought at the Roadblock special, the Payback PPV, and Extreme Rules, the last one being a Submission Match, which this match definitely felt like at times as Natalya went after Charlotte's knee. This match had a good, clear story and Charlotte sold the leg damage well, but what it was missing for me was anything at all new and fresh. Are we supposed to be immediately interested because the heel/face dynamic has been reversed from what it was last year? I wasn't and the Detroit crowd didn't seem to be either. As great as Charlotte was a heel is about as bland as she's been as a face, while Natalya, heel or face, hasn't seemed to update anything about her act for ages. What could've been a great opportunity for Nattie to really develop a new character as a rotten, conniving heel champion (think what Neville did on 205 Live) has really been lackluster to me. Extra half-point deducted for Charlotte literally holding the chair over her own knee so that Natalya could stomp on it more in the post-match. That kind of sloppiness and inattention to detail may not get caught by most viewers, but when you're watching in HD, you need to be extra careful with the little things. (1.5/5)

The Fashion Police are back! I didn't enjoy this segment as much as some of their other ones, but their appearance was still a very welcome breath of fresh air after a bit of a lull in the action. I'm not sure where this next storyline is leading but I do hope that it actually has a real endpoint this time. I'm still not sure how their shtick can be effectively transitioned into an in-ring act, but I'm in their corner to figure it out. (+1)

The WWE World Champion Jinder Mahal defended his title against Nakamura next. I actually found some of Mahal's offense looking pretty good, but for every decent, basic maneuver he executed well, there were moments where his positioning and timing were really unimpressive - far too unimpressive for the brand's top title. Nakamura didn't put on a perfect match either, though, his Kinchasa looking misplaced and his count-along hand-waving during the final pinfall grotesquely noticeable. The best part of every Mahal match up to this point has been the bumps the Singh Brothers have taken and when you don't even get that element, you're left with a match that wouldn't turn heads on an episode of SuperStars. This series of matches is not only helping Mahal in his run to be considered one of the top 2-3 worst WWE Champions ever, but also in mitigating the goodwill that much of the fanbase had for Nakamure, a guy who was understandably hyped as a big deal but has only had a few truly great performances since joining the main roster. This was the opposite of one. A few half-points awarded for the crowd actually caring once the Singhs were ejected and the handful of credible strikes that both guys exhibited. Whoever is laying out these matches, if, in fact, anyone actually is (and I'm not sure anyone is by how formulaic and boring they've been), really needs to go and rewatch the matches guys like JBL and Ted DiBiase used to have at their respective peak, neither guy being the most thrilling in-ring performer but both being such fully-formed, hate-inspiring characters that their matches almost always had the fans caring. (1/5)

Kevin Owens cuts a fairly intense promo backstage while sporting a new form-fitting top. A few years ago, Vince McMahon explained why he was pushing CM Punk by talking about how Punk had "the gift of gab." Owens doesn't have quite the same level of charisma, but he's not too far behind and is certainly one of the best stick men the WWE has right now. 

Bobby Roode made his way down the aisle for the next match, the former NXT Champion in an odd tweener role since joining the Blue Brand this month. His opponent was Dolph Ziggler, who promised an entrance unlike any other in the history of wrestling...but instead walked out to complete silence, kinda like the enhancement talent tends to do. For this to work, I'd have loved to see Ziggler jettison everything flashy - including the ponytail and the new, somewhat bizarre "Public Enemy #1" logo on his tights. Roode and Ziggler traded headlocks early before Ziggler was able to take control. A slight "CM Punk" chant could be heard, which was pretty telling for how much the audience seemed to care about this match. The headlocks continued, Ziggler wearing down Roode with a sleeper on the mat. Is part of Ziggler's new no-frills gimmick going to be lulling the audience to sleep with restholds? Ziggler went for a spear in the corner but Roode stepped aside, sending the Show Stealer into the post, a spot that, on this night at least, the WWE didn't overuse in every match (there was a time when it was as guaranteed as a chest chop). Roode's comeback solicited only faint responses, though, to be fair to Roode, he's never been the most dynamic worker and certainly isn't the most natural babyface. At one point it seemed like the audience actually seemed to be behind Ziggler, though the actual chant was a bit hard to decipher. Despite the rest of the match not getting my attention, I enjoyed the finishing stretch for its shock value and the immediate post-match, which was the touch needed to make me care about a rematch. Nothing special, but as a building block to a future match, it worked well enough. (2/5)

Main event time - Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens in a Falls Count Anywhere Hell In A Cell Match. The fight starts outside of the sell with Shane going right after Owens, swinging for the fences because making this a street fight is his only real chance of winning. I know I wrote, at some length, about how terrible the Shane/Taker Hell in a Cell match was a few years back, both in theory and in execution, but Owens is a much different character than the Deadman, a bully with tangible flaws and a relatively unimpressive look. While Shane shouldn't be able to knock out Owens easily (and he didn't), it wasn't as much of a stretch to believe he could do enough damage to the Grizzly to potentially get his hand raised. Inside the cage they went and some cool bumpin' into the cage by Shane followed. Sometimes Owens' trash talk bothers me, but here, it really raised the stakes and drove home how personal this feud has become. Owens and Shane both took high risks that cost them off the top rope, which I found to be a clever way to alluding to how similar these braggarts really are to eachother - both "non-athlete"-types who wager on high risk/high reward offense, putting their bodies on the line and counting on their toughness and crafty thinking to help them outlast more gifted opponents. The crowd finally got the table spots they were asking for since the opener, first with Owens cannonballing himself through a table inside the cage and then, later, the requisite bumps off the cage. Before we got to those, though, Owens and Shane performed, easily, the most consistently gasp-inducing fight on top of the cage that I believe I've seen (and let's remember, fighting on top of the cage was a trope unto itself from the very first edition of this match). Owens and Shane went full blast, practically begging the cage ceiling to buckle under their offense which included a pop-up powerbomb and a full force russian leg sweep. Of course, when they teased that there wouldn't be a huge spill off the top of the cage, the crowd booed and when Owens did topple off the side, the reaction wasn't as massive as it would've been had he come down from the top. Despite having the match seemingly won, Shane did end up repeating the same stunt I despised so much from WrestleMania. Writing about that match, I took McMahon and Taker to task for what I called a "gif match," one that could be condensed into a 3-second clip without losing any of the story. This match, in comparison, was built properly in the weeks preceding it as a basic family blood feud (remember, that Taker/Shane match featured asinine stipulations involving company ownership and retirement that were ultimately abandoned anyway) and featured quite a few great storytelling/character moments (Owen's jaw-jacking, Shane's final "kiss of death" headbutt towards the end, KO's wonderful performance atop the cage as he questioned his will to dive off). There was a story here beyond just the final dive and then, when the final dive did happen, even that was no mere spot - it was a springboard to a fresh creative storyline that puts the heat onto a new, interesting heel in Sami Zayn. By the way, Zayn's facial expression was the perfect level of self-questioning inner turmoil. All in all, this match won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm not sure there's been a better Kevin Owens in WWE performance yet. (4/5)


With a Kwang Score of 2.22-out-of-5, Hell in a Cell was not without its low points - the World and Women's Championship matches were unoriginal and seemed like filler, even if one respects the effort of the competitors. The opener and closer overdelivered to me. The Tag Team Championship match was expected to be a show-stealer, but I was less impressed with the creative spots than I was the emotional storytelling and intensity shown by Big E in particular. No longer the reigning champions, I strongly hope The New Day are re-positioned with Big E in a singles role. I mean, Jinder & the Singhs vs. The New Day sounds better to me now than having to stomach another 1-on-1 feud featuring Mahal. This show featured too many lulls to make it worth watching in full and even the best matches will likely have their critics (especially the main event), but in terms of entertainment value, the variety offered kept me engaged and excited to see where the Blue Brand goes from here. 

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver