WWE Hell in a Cell 2010 Review

Match 1: United States Championship - Submissions Count Anywhere - Daniel Bryan (c) vs. John Morrison vs. The Miz
I'll be honest, I miss having Michael Cole as a heel on the commentating booth. His hatred for Daniel Bryan and his love for The Miz was pretty hilarious. Although I will admit that Matt Striker can get fairly annoying on commentary. I loved the idea of having this match under the unique rules with submissions being counted anywhere. They took the action everywhere and made use of the match being contested under no disqualification rules. It was cool to see them break out a huge array of submissions and cool to see them distribute the offense equally between the three. Huge spot came when John Morrison climbed the stage and jumped off the cell on the titantron onto both men. Morrison looked to have the match in the bag as he had Miz locked on the ramp before Alex Riley came out for the save. Bryan was able to capitalize on the situation as he pushed Riley out of the way and tap made Miz out for the win. Nice opening match here and very interesting to see Bryan in his earlier WWE years.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Rating: ***1/4

Match 2: WWE Championship - Hell in a Cell - Randy Orton (c) vs. Sheamus (Taken from Randy Orton - The Evolution of a Predator DVD (Disc 3) Review)
I question why this match had to be inside a Hell in a Cell. I hate having matches inside the friendly confines without having blood feuds. The match itself was fine and I was able to feel the tension between the two despite my strong thoughts of having it inside Hell in a Cell. The flow and pacing of the match was fine but again, the lack of focus on the actual cage itself was a distraction. They brought out the steel steps and made it a focal point of the match where Randy Orton was able to hit an RKO to Sheamus atop the steps for the victory. Good match as their styles blended nicely here as they would go on to have several more matches down the line and many more in 2016. Would have been the exact same match if the cage wasn't taken into play. I liked the match and I liked the build to the RKO at the end but this is Hell in a Cell, this should have been so much more.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ***1/4

Match 3: Edge vs. Jack Swagger
Alberto Del Rio makes his first PPV appearance as he rags on the man he injured on an edition of SmackDown, Rey Mysterio. However, Edge interrupts him as the two argue. Possibly their first tease of a match at WrestleMania. Jack Swagger then comes out as he and Del Rio attack Edge before the anonymous Raw general manager declares a match between Edge and Swagger. Crowd was pretty dead throughout the first couple matches and they remained pretty silent here, even with Edge doing his best to get the ball rolling. Swagger was dominant for the better part of the match as Edge was still suffering from the attack. However, Edge pulled through and hit a Spear out of nowhere for the finish. Another strong match on the card and while I'm never one for promos on a PPV, Del Rio delivered a good one here and it led to a nice match with a possible tease for WrestleMania.
Winner: Edge
Rating: **3/4

Match 4: Wade Barrett vs. John Cena
Always seems like John Cena is in the middle of crazy stipulations in matches. If John Cena wins, The Nexus must finally disband. However, if Wade Barrett wins, Cena must join The Nexus. At this point, the whole Cena vs. Nexus storyline had run its course. Oh, and the rest of Nexus was banned from ringside. Can we start the match now? The rest of Nexus still comes out during the match for whatever reason as Barrett yells at them since they're nearly costing him the match. A pretty bland match here that only picked up when the WWE guys came to Cena's defense when The Nexus came back out. A huge melee erupted before Cena locked in the STF on Barrett. However, a fan apparently ran into the ring as Cena let go of the lock. A random person came rushing aside the ring and smashed Cena in the face. Barrett covered and scored the win as the fans looked on in disbelief. Like I said, a pretty dull match aside from all the outside shenanigans. The feud between the two was definitely becoming a bit stale so a Barrett victory was needed here. Other than that, nothing much to see here.
Winner: Wade Barrett
Rating: **3/4

Match 5: Unified Divas Championship - Michelle McCool (c) vs. Natalya
Brutal to watch these Divas matches a few years ago. Hard to put on quality matches when the WWE could care less about these women. Terrible storylines as the commentators seem to joke around during the match. Sloppy few minutes of action before Layla throws her shoe at Natalya for the disqualification finish. Michelle McCool retains. Alright.
Winner: Natalya
Rating: 3/4*

Match 6: World Heavyweight Championship - Hell in a Cell - Kane (c) vs. The Undertaker
Probably one of the most baffling main events I could remember within the past decade or so. I remember the hate this match was getting before it even happened. But in my opinion, it's cool to see these old veterans main event a PPV inside Hell in a Cell with Paul Bearer being in The Deadman's corner. Also incredible to believe that these two men were involved in the very first Hell in a Cell match. Let's get this out of the way, the ending may have been the most fucked ending I have ever seen in a WWE ring. And trust me, I've seen some stupid shit. But before that, I thought that the match was actually going really well, probably better than what anyone could expect. We tend to forget just how good Kane can really be and I love the emphasis he put on working on The Undertaker's leg. Matt Striker nicely pointed out that it would affect Undertaker's arsenal of moves. But things got really weird when after Kane knocked out the referee after hitting a Tombstone to The Undertaker. Paul Bearer would enter the match when the door opened. The lights dimmed down as fire started to erupt from the titantron. Bearer gives the urn to Kane before Kane knocks him out The Undertaker it. Kane retains the championship. I feel like we took a trip back to 1999.
Winner: Kane
Rating: **1/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
2010 was a pretty weak year for WWE PPVs. Hell in a Cell 2010 may have been one of the weakest. The first couple matches delivered but everything pretty much took a free fall from there. Not only was the Dallas crowd a pretty bad one, but the main event matches couldn't give them any reason to change that. Sad excuse of a PPV.
Rating: 5/10