WWE Hell in a Cell 2012 Review

The 2012 installment of WWE's annual Hell in a Cell event took place in Atlanta as the Ryback train looked to steamroll over CM Punk for the WWE Championship.

Match 1: Alberto Del Rio vs. Randy Orton
Pretty big match at the time to kick off the show, especially considering how WWE was really high on Alberto Del Rio during his initial run the first few years in. He looked pretty dominant here in his match against Randy Orton as more than none, this match saw Del Rio handling Orton pretty easily. However, a couple mistakes on Del Rio's part led to a very sweet RKO from Orton. Del Rio looked to kick Orton's skull in the corner but Orton quickly got out of the way and hit an RKO as Del Rio was descending down. Good opening match that saw Orton pick up a needed win but didn't make Del Rio look bad in the process.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ***1/4

Match 2: Tag Team Championships - Team Hell No (c) vs. Team Rhodes Scholars
Got to love the odd pairing of Daniel Bryan and Kane. And who could ever forget the great pairing of Cody Rhodes and Damian Sandow? Right? Right? Anyway, this match was more of a story arch for the growing pains between Bryan and Kane. The action for the match itself was fine but it never really shifted itself into a high gear, but the crowd still enjoyed it either way. Kane beats down Team Rhodes Scholars himself in the corner which calls for the referee to end the match in a disqualification. Afterwards, the two argue as Bryan storms off with his belt. Feel like this should have been a result for a match on Raw instead of on PPV, would it really hurt to have Team Hell No to just go over in a fishy finish?
Winners: Team Rhodes Scholars
Rating: **

Match 3: Intercontinental Championship - Kofi Kingston (c) vs. The Miz
Talk about a filler of the century featuring the decade's two biggest midcarders. Is that an accurate statement to make? Thankfully, the two were able to make career makeovers a few years later. Still don't think The Miz has contended for a world championship since losing it in 2011. If someone could fill me in, that would be splendid. Another pretty standard match here that saw Miz focus on Kofi Kingston's knee throughout the match before Kingston was able to fight through the pain and hit a Trouble in Paradise for the victory. I'm not really too sure what to say here because let's be honest, you've seen this show about a million times on Raw.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Rating: **1/4

Match 4: United States Championship - Antonio Cesaro (c) vs. Justin Gabriel
Was always a fan of Justin Gabriel, very fun to watch in the ring but for whatever reason, he just couldn't click with the fans that well. Antonio Cesaro was still in his introductory stages of his career in the WWE but he captured the United States Championship fairly quickly, but it was really the title that was making him at the time instead of him making the title. Some good action here that saw Cesaro hit a huge European uppercut on the outside to a diving Gabriel before hitting a Neutralizer in the ring to pick up the win and retain the title. Another decent and pretty forgettable match on the card.
Winner: Antonio Cesaro
Rating: **1/2

Match 5: Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara vs. The Primetime Players
No wonder Rey Mysterio ultimately decided to leave the company, this dude got totally lost in the scuffle at this point in his career. Would love to see him back within the company one day, though. Crowd really couldn't care less about anyone in the ring aside from Mysterio as the pacing of the match wasn't helping any matters. Sin Cara just can't seem to connect to the audience the way Mysterio does. Mysterio gets a hot tag in and hits a 619 on Darren Young to score the win for his team.
Winners: Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara
Rating: *3/4

Match 6: World Heavyweight Championship - Sheamus (c) vs. The Big Show
With this match actually being the co-main event, it really screams how slim the WWE roster was during the fall of 2012, or at least how this PPV makes it look out to be. The Big Show had a little bit of a career revitalization within the past couple years and certainly earned his spot here against Sheamus for the gold. These two brought the goods to the show as the nearfalls after a Chokeslam, a White Noise, a KO Punch, and even a Brogue Kick had the kick going in a frenzy. Big Show doesn't always match up well with his opponents but he certainly did match up well here against the brawling style of Sheamus. Sheamus wanted to hit another Brogue Kick and looked to have the match sealed in the bag but The Big Show hits a KO Punch out of nowhere to get the win! Awesome match and very cool to see Show hold a major title once again after really stepping up his game. Great match to lead into the main event.
Winner: The Big Show
Rating: ****1/4

Match 7: Divas Championship - Eve (c) vs. Layla vs. Kaitlyn
I'm a huge fan of all three ladies in the ring but even I can't defend this one. Heck, the commentators could not care less for this since they were more interested in making jokes. Hard to get into the action when it was just so sloppy and the crowd was just sitting on their hands. Eve retains her title after hitting a Swanton Bomb on Kaitlyn who was covering Layla. As a matter of fact, I think she even missed her target. Regardless, she gets the win and we get to move on.
Winner: Kaitlyn
Rating: 1/2*

Match 8: WWE Championship - Hell in a Cell - CM Punk (c) vs. Ryback
The fall of 2012 was the pinnacle of Ryback's popularity as he was inserted into the main event position here against CM Punk for the richest prize in the company. Of course, this is the first of two infamous Hell in a Cell matches that Punk would later complain about on a podcast concerning Ryback's carelessness and how stiff he was throughout the matches. The match itself was as underwhelming as you could imagine, Atlanta isn't always the rowdiest of crowds and they didn't really help matters for this match along with much of the whole card. Punk managed to squeak in a nice amount of offense but Ryback looked to be too much for him and as Ryback tried to end the match with a Shell Shocked, the referee stood in his way. The referee, who later was revealed to be Brad Maddox, low blowed Ryback and assisted Punk in making a fast count for the win. Afterwards, Punk and Maddox try to exit but Ryback stops them and destroys the two in their tracks. He then took chased Punk to the top of the cage and hit a Shell Shocked to close the show. I guess if they were going to do a funny finish for the match, this was the way to go considering Ryback was so hot and they didn't want him to eat the pin. Even still, a very bland main event for a pretty bland night.
Winner: CM Punk
Rating: **1/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
The event featured a couple bright spots with the World Heavyweight Championship match standing out the most. However, the rest of the card and the main event did not deliver on any promises. As I mentioned earlier, the fall of 2012 saw a very slim roster for the WWE until The Shield would make their debut a month later. October PPVs always seem to hit a rut for me and this is no different.
Rating: 5/10