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
Friday, October 14, 2016
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
WWE Hell in a Cell 2009 Review
Match 1: World Heavyweight Championship - Hell in a Cell - CM Punk (c) vs. The Undertaker
Rarely does the World Heavyweight Championship match jerk the curtain. Not to mention this is a Hell in a Cell match. Their weird 2009 feud was ready to culminate here under The Undertaker's specialty match. They placed the foundation of the match early with CM Punk using his quickness to get away from The Undertaker and trying to get in his offense before The Deadman could even reach him. Undertaker would eventually catch up and lay a good beating into Punk. However, Punk got more than enough offense to make this match a great one. I was scared that this would be a squash match inside the Cell but that definitely was not the case. Undertaker barely hit his Tombstone and wins the match to score another World Heavyweight Championship. Punk's summer glory would eventually come to an end following this match as there were lots of rumors swirling around that Punk disrespected the locker room at this time. Whether that is true or not, The Undertaker is back as SmackDown's top dog.
Winner: The Undertaker
Rating: ***1/4
Match 2: Intercontinental Championship - John Morrison (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
Remember how sweet that SmackDown roster was in 2009? John Morrison had some great matches against Rey Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship as Dolph Ziggler was establishing himself as a contender. This match right here really came out of nowhere. It may have started a bit slow and the crowd seemed to have died down from the previous contest but they definitely fired up the train a few minutes later. Ziggler looked like a legit contender here as he was able to get in a very substantial amount of offense against the champion before Morrison was able to land a swift knee to Ziggler's face before following it up with a Starship Pain. While the match was great, it did suffer from a slow start and a dead crowd. Not to mention that there were way too many nearfalls that may have taken some out of the match. Regardless, great showing from the SmackDown boys.
Winner: John Morrison
Rating: ***1/4
Match 3: Divas Championship - Mickie James (c) vs. Alicia Fox
It's really hard to take these Divas matches seriously sometimes. Especially when you see what kind of product the women are putting out in 2016 and go back to see something like this. Basic Divas match here with sloppy action before James hits her DDT for the win. Moving on.
Winner: Mickie James
Rating: 1/2*
Match 4: Unified Tag Team Championships - The Big Show & Chris Jericho (c) vs. Batista & Rey Mysterio
Trying to recreate their magic from 2005, Batista & Rey Mysterio team up to take on the The Big Show & Chris Jericho for the gold. With the experience all four guys in the ring have, it's no surprise how well they worked with each other. Every move made sense, every spot was timely placed and every pin had a meaning to it. I loved how they made Show a beast again in 2009 as he made the team of himself with Jericho a force to be reckoned with. Mysterio accepted the challenge against the giant and ultimately failed. But it was a cool moment to see Mysterio refuse to tag in Batista and respond to the call. It's also hilarious to see Jericho gloat throughout the match despite Show doing almost all of the work for his team. Despite coming close near the end, Big Show was able to stop the momentum that Batista & Mysterio had created with a nasty punch to the face of Mysterio as he flew off the top rope. Another great match from the SmackDown brand here with a great finish. Amazing how easy these four guys made it look out there.
Winners: The Big Show & Chris Jericho
Rating: ***1/2
Match 5: WWE Championship - Hell in a Cell - John Cena (c) vs. Randy Orton
I can't even tell you how many times I've seen these two in a PPV match. After their match at Breaking Point, they have a rematch set here inside the second Hell in a Cell match of the night. These matches become hard to review when you've seen so many of them and try to differentiate them. The match itself felt very similar to their Breaking Point match with the exception that they were inside the cage and this time, Orton got the win. Very slow paced match here. They made every little move count and they spaced them out. That would work if they weren't inside the damn cage. I felt the hate between the two but this is a Hell in a Cell match, I wish they would have sped up the action and make use of the cage more so than what they did. Orton was able to punt Cena in the skull to win and capture another WWE Championship. While I still think they should have had Cena win and make this the finale, they went on to have an Iron Man match of all things at the next PPV. One of the more dull Hell in a Cell matches that you'll see in a lifetime.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: **3/4
Match 6: R-Truth vs. Drew McIntyre
The fall of 2009 was the time when Vince McMahon wanted to handpick his next big thing. That man... Drew McIntyre. Thought it was odd choice back in the day and I still have the same feeling in 2016. The dude was so inexperienced, had the worst entrance music prior to his Broken Dreams one and was pretty to boring to watch. That isn't to say he didn't improve within the next couple years because he certainly did. But as for this night, the crowd was not having any of this match. R-Truth managed to squeeze in some offense but from the start, this was all McIntyre. McIntyre hit his DDT finisher to score the win as his boring and generic rock music played right after.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Rating: *1/4
Match 7: United States Championship - Kofi Kingston (c) vs. The Miz vs. Jack Swagger
One last championship match before the main event as Kofi Kingston defends his gold against The Miz and Jack Swagger. Always been a fan of these three and a triple threat match against each other on a PPV can only be good. For whatever reason, I just didn't feel like this match clicked on all cylinders. The action was pretty fast but at the same time, everything felt like it was planted out in advance. The ending sequence was a fun one as Swagger hit Miz with his finishing powerbomb before Kingston nails Swagger with a kick to the face for the win. Good match before the main event to get a spot on the PPV for these guys.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Rating: **3/4
Match 8: Hell in a Cell - D-Generation X vs. Legacy
The heated feud between these two teams finally hits its conclusion inside Hell in a Cell. Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase of Legacy looked confident after talking things over with Randy Orton after his title win. However, he made sure to remind them that win or loss, nobody comes out of it the same. Legacy sneak attacks D-Generation X from behind as Triple H & Shawn Michaels were coming down to the ring. The fight starts outside Hell in a Cell before the bell even rings as the mayhem gets taken into the stands. Finally, Legacy gets the advantage and lock themselves inside with Michaels as Triple H was forced to watch as his partner got decimated. Finally, and I mean finally, Triple H comes back and opens up the door and makes the save for his team as they lay out Legacy for the win. Hard to give this match more than *** when it was basically a handicap match. This was Legacy beating down Michaels for a strong part of the match before Triple H made the save that seemingly took forever. After their big win at Breaking Point, you think a win here for Legacy would have been in their cards. 2009 in a nutshell.
Winners: D-Generation X
Rating: **3/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
This was a hard show to grade. On one hand, the SmackDown side of things delivered for the most part while the Raw side of things didn't bring too much to the table. This was the inaugural Hell in a Cell PPV and it would have been nice to start things with a bang. But with the PG perimeters at its peak, it was hard to do anything out of the ordinary as it felt like the matches were trapped in a box. I liked have the D-Generation X vs. Legacy match close the show, but it really fell flat on its face.
Rating: 6.75/10
Rarely does the World Heavyweight Championship match jerk the curtain. Not to mention this is a Hell in a Cell match. Their weird 2009 feud was ready to culminate here under The Undertaker's specialty match. They placed the foundation of the match early with CM Punk using his quickness to get away from The Undertaker and trying to get in his offense before The Deadman could even reach him. Undertaker would eventually catch up and lay a good beating into Punk. However, Punk got more than enough offense to make this match a great one. I was scared that this would be a squash match inside the Cell but that definitely was not the case. Undertaker barely hit his Tombstone and wins the match to score another World Heavyweight Championship. Punk's summer glory would eventually come to an end following this match as there were lots of rumors swirling around that Punk disrespected the locker room at this time. Whether that is true or not, The Undertaker is back as SmackDown's top dog.
Winner: The Undertaker
Rating: ***1/4
Match 2: Intercontinental Championship - John Morrison (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
Remember how sweet that SmackDown roster was in 2009? John Morrison had some great matches against Rey Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship as Dolph Ziggler was establishing himself as a contender. This match right here really came out of nowhere. It may have started a bit slow and the crowd seemed to have died down from the previous contest but they definitely fired up the train a few minutes later. Ziggler looked like a legit contender here as he was able to get in a very substantial amount of offense against the champion before Morrison was able to land a swift knee to Ziggler's face before following it up with a Starship Pain. While the match was great, it did suffer from a slow start and a dead crowd. Not to mention that there were way too many nearfalls that may have taken some out of the match. Regardless, great showing from the SmackDown boys.
Winner: John Morrison
Rating: ***1/4
Match 3: Divas Championship - Mickie James (c) vs. Alicia Fox
It's really hard to take these Divas matches seriously sometimes. Especially when you see what kind of product the women are putting out in 2016 and go back to see something like this. Basic Divas match here with sloppy action before James hits her DDT for the win. Moving on.
Winner: Mickie James
Rating: 1/2*
Match 4: Unified Tag Team Championships - The Big Show & Chris Jericho (c) vs. Batista & Rey Mysterio
Trying to recreate their magic from 2005, Batista & Rey Mysterio team up to take on the The Big Show & Chris Jericho for the gold. With the experience all four guys in the ring have, it's no surprise how well they worked with each other. Every move made sense, every spot was timely placed and every pin had a meaning to it. I loved how they made Show a beast again in 2009 as he made the team of himself with Jericho a force to be reckoned with. Mysterio accepted the challenge against the giant and ultimately failed. But it was a cool moment to see Mysterio refuse to tag in Batista and respond to the call. It's also hilarious to see Jericho gloat throughout the match despite Show doing almost all of the work for his team. Despite coming close near the end, Big Show was able to stop the momentum that Batista & Mysterio had created with a nasty punch to the face of Mysterio as he flew off the top rope. Another great match from the SmackDown brand here with a great finish. Amazing how easy these four guys made it look out there.
Winners: The Big Show & Chris Jericho
Rating: ***1/2
Match 5: WWE Championship - Hell in a Cell - John Cena (c) vs. Randy Orton
I can't even tell you how many times I've seen these two in a PPV match. After their match at Breaking Point, they have a rematch set here inside the second Hell in a Cell match of the night. These matches become hard to review when you've seen so many of them and try to differentiate them. The match itself felt very similar to their Breaking Point match with the exception that they were inside the cage and this time, Orton got the win. Very slow paced match here. They made every little move count and they spaced them out. That would work if they weren't inside the damn cage. I felt the hate between the two but this is a Hell in a Cell match, I wish they would have sped up the action and make use of the cage more so than what they did. Orton was able to punt Cena in the skull to win and capture another WWE Championship. While I still think they should have had Cena win and make this the finale, they went on to have an Iron Man match of all things at the next PPV. One of the more dull Hell in a Cell matches that you'll see in a lifetime.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: **3/4
Match 6: R-Truth vs. Drew McIntyre
The fall of 2009 was the time when Vince McMahon wanted to handpick his next big thing. That man... Drew McIntyre. Thought it was odd choice back in the day and I still have the same feeling in 2016. The dude was so inexperienced, had the worst entrance music prior to his Broken Dreams one and was pretty to boring to watch. That isn't to say he didn't improve within the next couple years because he certainly did. But as for this night, the crowd was not having any of this match. R-Truth managed to squeeze in some offense but from the start, this was all McIntyre. McIntyre hit his DDT finisher to score the win as his boring and generic rock music played right after.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Rating: *1/4
Match 7: United States Championship - Kofi Kingston (c) vs. The Miz vs. Jack Swagger
One last championship match before the main event as Kofi Kingston defends his gold against The Miz and Jack Swagger. Always been a fan of these three and a triple threat match against each other on a PPV can only be good. For whatever reason, I just didn't feel like this match clicked on all cylinders. The action was pretty fast but at the same time, everything felt like it was planted out in advance. The ending sequence was a fun one as Swagger hit Miz with his finishing powerbomb before Kingston nails Swagger with a kick to the face for the win. Good match before the main event to get a spot on the PPV for these guys.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Rating: **3/4
Match 8: Hell in a Cell - D-Generation X vs. Legacy
The heated feud between these two teams finally hits its conclusion inside Hell in a Cell. Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase of Legacy looked confident after talking things over with Randy Orton after his title win. However, he made sure to remind them that win or loss, nobody comes out of it the same. Legacy sneak attacks D-Generation X from behind as Triple H & Shawn Michaels were coming down to the ring. The fight starts outside Hell in a Cell before the bell even rings as the mayhem gets taken into the stands. Finally, Legacy gets the advantage and lock themselves inside with Michaels as Triple H was forced to watch as his partner got decimated. Finally, and I mean finally, Triple H comes back and opens up the door and makes the save for his team as they lay out Legacy for the win. Hard to give this match more than *** when it was basically a handicap match. This was Legacy beating down Michaels for a strong part of the match before Triple H made the save that seemingly took forever. After their big win at Breaking Point, you think a win here for Legacy would have been in their cards. 2009 in a nutshell.
Winners: D-Generation X
Rating: **3/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
This was a hard show to grade. On one hand, the SmackDown side of things delivered for the most part while the Raw side of things didn't bring too much to the table. This was the inaugural Hell in a Cell PPV and it would have been nice to start things with a bang. But with the PG perimeters at its peak, it was hard to do anything out of the ordinary as it felt like the matches were trapped in a box. I liked have the D-Generation X vs. Legacy match close the show, but it really fell flat on its face.
Rating: 6.75/10
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