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WWE Hell in a Cell
Aired live on pay-per-view
Miami, Florida at American Airlines Arena
Pre Show
The show opened with WWE 2K14 graphics as it is the official sponsor. The cell was shown hanging above the ring and then people filing into the arena. Josh Matthews opened the show but once again, the audio mix was terrible. You could hear the Spanish team underneath as well. Dolph Ziggler, R-Truth, and Kaitlyn were on the panel. They put over both title matches and then Kaitlyn set the stage for the possibility of Danile Bryan and Brie both winning titles tonight…
In the social media lounge, Renee Young setup the poll for "Mr. Hell in a Cell." The choices were Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Randy Orton, and Mick Foley…Backstage, Miz asked Vickie Guerrero for a match with Bray Wyatt. Vickie said he wasn't cleared to wrestle. Mix said that meant there would be a fight and walked off with Vickie yelling after him…
Big E Langston joined the panel as Matthews announced the canceled match with Curtis Axel due to Axel's injury. They setup the CM Punk vs. Ryback and Paul Heyman match and then transitioned to the tag title match and brought in The Shield from backstage. Seth Rollins said it was an injustice that they didn't get a straight up rematch and that they lost the titles because of Big Show. Roman Reigns said people thought the odds were against them, but they were The Shield and the odds were always in their favor.
Langston asked if the odds were always in their favor because Dean Ambrose was always involved. Ambrose asked who let the NXT rookie on the panel. He told Langston to watch his mouth and mind his own business. Langston dared Ambrose to put his title on the line. They went back and forth for a while and finally Ambrose said he would teach him some manners. Ziggler put over Langston's ability to win…
Shore's Slant: Not a terrible interaction but not great either. Langston looked nervous and unsure, but since they were calling him a rookie it worked out OK. That could be a very good match.
The John Cena video aired… Michael Cole, JBL, and Jerry "The King" Lawler checked in on commentary. Damien Sandow made his ring entrance and cut a promo saying he would be keeping a close eye on the world title match. Kofi Kingston was out next…
Kofi Kingston vs. Damien Sandow. Kofi started fast with high flying offense but missed a springboard crossbody…[C] At least the commercial was for the PPV. Sandow hit his elbow of disdain, but he went to the top rope and Kofi hit a standing ranna to start his comeback. He hit the Boom Drop and setup for the Trouble in Paradise. Sandow ducked, but Kofi hit the springboard cross body for two. Rey Mysterio was shown sitting in with the Spanish announce team. Out of nowhere, Sandow hit the Your Welcome (full nelson slam) for the win…
Damien Sandow defeated Kofi Kingston at 6:57.
Shore's Slant: An OK match but not a lot to write home about.
Renee Young read some tweets, including one in a Southern accent for some reason, and then showed Undertaker won the poll with 81 percent of the vote…The announce team confirmed Big E Langston vs. Dean Ambrose for the US title later…The panel made their picks for the WWE title match to end the show…
Hell in a Cell
The opening video putting over the cell aired, followed by the pyro, and the show opened with the triple threat tag match. The set was basically the TV set with some extra video boards and lots of fencing around the stage. The Rhodes brothers made their entrance as a video showed how they won the titles. Cole announced Big Show was banned from the building due to a restraining order. The Usos were out next, followed by The Shield…
1. The Usos vs. The Shield vs. Cody Rhodes and Goldust for the WWE Tag Team Championships. As usual, no Dean Ambrose with Rollins and Reigns. The rules were explained as a triple threat in the ring so three guys all the time, and then it was revealed it was only two at a time and you can tag anyone. Nice work announce team! Rollins and Goldust started. Goldust hit one chop and Rollins tagged an Uso.
Cody tagged in and he and the Uso wrestled to a stalemate and did the indy clapping bit. Goldust tagged back in and Reigns got a blind tag on the Uso and attacked Goldust from behind. The Shield isolated Godust in their corner and worked in and out on him. Goldust made and escape to tag Cody, but Rollins had already dropped him to the ground. Goldust went to tag one of the Usos but the Shield pulled both those guys off the apron. Reigns hit a back suplex and covered Goldust and Cody made the save. Cool spot.
Cody finally got the hot tag and cleared house on the Shield as the Usos watched. Cody hit the top rope moonsault for two. He went for the disaster kick and missed. In the process, Jimmy Uso got a blind tag on Cody and hit a high cross body on Rollins for two. The match broke down and Jimmy hit the pop-up Samoan Drop on Rollins for two. He went to the top and Rollins knocked him down and Cody tagged Jimmy.
Cody went for CrossRhodes but Rollins blocked it and drove him into the corner. They fought to the top and Cody hit a superplex on Rollins to the floor on top of all the other guys. Crazy spot! Cody rolled Rollins in the ring and covered, but Jimmy broke it up with the top rope splash as a "This is awesome" chant broke out. The take everybody out sequence occurred and Goldust punched Rollins into the CrossRhodes for the win…
Cody Rhodes and Goldust retained the WWE Tag Team Championships at 14:38.
Shore's Slant: Now THAT is tag team wrestling folks. Great opening match and the Rhodes continue to be big time fan favorites. The Usos earned a lot of respect here too and the Shield were the known quantity. Great opening match and the right team won.
Miz gimped his way to the ring and cut a promo. He said the Wyatts had been stalking him and he wasn't medically cleared to be in a match, but that didn't mean he wasn't cleared for a fight. He told Bray Wyatt to get out of his Cracker Barrel rocking chair and come get him. Bray Wyatt appeared on the screen singing a lullaby while rocking in the chair.
Wyatt said he hated to see "Hollywood" this way. He said Miz sounded like a man that had nothing to lose. He said Miz's words meant less than salt to him. He said "if only you could see the monster behind his eyes" and started to laugh. The lights went off and when they came back on, Rowan and Harper were in the ring and attacked Miz.
They put the boots to Miz as the crowd chanted for Kane. So Kane's pyro popped and he came out. Seriously, Kane returned. He ran off Harper and Rowan and then chokeslammed Miz. He popped his pyro and left…
Shore's Slant: I guess we'll get the explanation tomorrow on Raw. Nice treat for the PPV crowd.
Fandango and Summer Rae made their entrance to a big pop for his music. Fandango cut a promo saying that Miami didn't know anything about Salsa dancing. He said there was only one master of the Salsa: Faaaaaan-daaaaaan-goooooo. They started to do a Salsa--well, Summer Rae did, Johnny Curtis just looked stupid--and Khali and crew cut them off. WTF is this shit…
2. Fandango and Summer Rae vs. Great Khali and Natalya (w/Hornswoggle) in a mixed tag match. Khali beat up Fandango so he tagged out. The women came in and started sloppy but settled in a decent exchange. Summer Rae hit a drop kick and danced around so Natalya attacked. She slapped her on the ass, which got a big pop, and Summer tagged out. Fandango tried to harass Natalya but Khali kicked his ass again. Fandango tagged out again and Natalya hit a clothesline and tried for the Sharpshooter. Summer made the rope and shoved Natty into the ropes on the break. She rolled her up for the win…
Fandango and Summer Rae defeated Great Khali and Natalya in too much time…er, 4:48.
The announce team tossed it up to the panel and Kaitlyn tried to put a positive spin on the mixed tag match. Wow. My head hurt too much to pay attention after that…
3. Big E Langston vs. Dean Ambrose for the United States Championship. Ambrose jawed at Langston and then slapped him. Langston clobbered him and went to work with power moves and strikes. Langston tossed Ambrose over the top rope and Ambrose sold the leg. Ambrose crawled to the edge of the ring and pulled Langston into the apron. He followed by shoving Langston into the post.
Langston powered back and went for his splash but Ambrose moved. Langston no sold it and hit a belly to belly for two and then hit the splash for another two. The crowd was dead by this point. Ambrose tried to leave and Langston chased him down. He rolled Ambrose into the ring and Ambrose kicked the rope when Langston came back in. Langston was bleeding under his eye and Ambrose from his chin. Langston hit a spear that dumped both men to the floor. Ambrose stalled outside the ring as Langston climbed back in the ring for the victory…
Big E Langston defeated Dean Ambrose by countout at 8:43.
Shore's Slant: After a hot start to this PPV it's been very weak since then. This match didn't have enough juice to make people care and the match wasn't good enough to carry on its own. Langston has a lot of potential but they haven't built him enough yet.
The cell lowered and a video recapped how the CM Punk match came about. Punk made his ring entrance, followed by Ryback. Ryback stood in the cell and waited. Paul Heyman rode out in a scissor lift that took the operator about 30 minutes to figure out how to drive. You would think they would have practiced this before the show. When they finally reached the cell, they drove the lift into the door and Heyman took a mic.
Heyman said he was the best in hell. He said when Punk was breaking in he didn't realize he had sold his soul because Heyman was the devil incarnate. As he cut his promo the scissor lift raised and Heyman walked onto the top. He said he owned CM Punk and now Ryback was going to collect for all the things Heyman had done for Punk…
4. CM Punk vs. Ryback and Paul Heyman in a Hell in a Cell match. Punk knocked Ryback to the floor quickly and dove on him. Both guys crashed into the cell. Punk got a kendo stick, but Ryback scooped him up and slammed him into the cell several times. After a hope spot, Ryback suplexed Punk into the cell several times.
Ryback rolled Punk in the ring and hit a chin buster for two and locked in a bear hug as Heyman continued to watch from the top. Punk fought out and hit the high knee, but both guys sold being hurt. Punk went for a springboard move and Ryback caught him for a powerslam and a near fall.
Ryback lifted for shell shocked, but Punk escaped and grabbed the kendo stick. He wore Ryback out with the stick and hit the high knee again, followed by a clothesline. He hit the top rope elbow for two. Punk beat the crap out of Ryback with the kendo stick and then put a table in the ring. He started to set it up, but Ryback recovered and clubbed him. Ryback set the table on it's side and went for a powerbomb. They jostled back and forth and Ryback ended up dropping Punk nut first onto the table.
Ryback hit the meat hook for two and then stood the table up. Punk hit a low blow and Ryback decided to sell it on the table for some reason. Punk hit the top rope elbow through the table and both men sold as the crowd chanted for Punk. Punk hit Ryback with the kendo stick, followed by Go To Sleep for the win…
CM Punk defeated Ryback and Paul Heyman at 13:50.
Post-match, Punk looked up at Heyman and asked him where he was going to go. He pulled a new kendo stick out and stuffed it in his trunks. He climbed the cell as Heyman looked around for what to do. Punk made the top, kissed Heyman on the head, and then beat him half to death with the kendo stick. Yes, Heyman was wearing the body protection again. Punk lifted him up and hit GTS on the top of the cell and Punk played to the fans…
Shore's Slant: A decent match but not one anyone will be talking about tomorrow. Even the Heyman beat down was lackluster considering we had basically seen it once and they never really teased the top of the cell as a factor.
Backstage, Renee Young asked Daniel Bryan what his driving motivation was. Bryan said all he ever wanted was a chance to prove he was qualified to be WWE Champion and tonight he got that chance. He put over the building they were in as the crowd that started the whole "Yes" phenomenon. He said tonight he was going to win the title for all of the fans and started a "Yes" chant…
The announce team stalled for Heyman to get collected off the top of the cell by hyping the main event. They didn't stall long enough as we still got the damn Los Matadores and El Torito entrance. A video recapped El Torito goring Zeb Colter on Smackdown. The Real Americans were out next. Colter cut a promo and said the three of them belonged in a cell for El Torito's assault on him. He said it was a shame they had to be in the same building with the three banditos…
5. Los Matadores (w/El Torito) vs. The Real Americans (w/Zeb Colter). Cesaro did the swing, acted like he was going to stop, and then powered back for a few more revolutions. JBL said it was 31 spins. Los Matadores hit a double team move to win…
Los Matadores defeated The Real Americans at 5:30.
Post-match, Zeb threw a fit in the ring. Cesaro tried to save him but El Torito dumped him with a head scissor. He gored Colter from the ring and then hit a dive onto Swagger…
Shore's Slant: Well, mostly quick and painless. I guess there's that.
The John Cena recovery video aired, intercut with Del Rio putting the cross arm breaker on several people. Del Rio made his ring entrance to decent heat. Cena got a good pop for his music, but the normal mix when he stepped through the curtain…
6. John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship. Del Rio went right after the arm, which had a big compression wrap on it. He sold it a little and then went right back to the ring as the first "Let's go Cena/Cena sucks" chant started. Cen scored a flurry and hit his bulldog but Del Rio came back with a kick to the arm. Del Rio hit a nasty looking German suplex for two and then worked over the arm.
Sandow was shown watching backstage on a monitor while holding the briefcase. Del Rio did his miss through the ropes crash and burn but immediately hit a hangman. He went for a top rope move and Cena dropkicked him out of the air. Cena started the five moves of doom and smirked to the crowd before the five knuckle shuffle. Ugh. He lifted for the AA, but Del Rio escaped and hit the backstabber.
Del Rio called for the arm breaker and went for it, but Cena pushed him away and hit a slam for two. Cena went to the top and Del Rio hit his enziguri for two. Both men reversed move setups and Del Rio finished with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Del Rio tied Cena in the tree of woe and hit kicks. He went for a drop kick but Cena sat up and then locked in the STF. Del Rio made the ropes by fingertips.
Del Rio hit his superkick from the knees for a near fall the crowd should have bought but didn't and then locked in the cross arm breaker. Del Rio pulled the compression bandage down and Cena almost got pined. Instead, he powered over and reversed into a powerbomb. Cena lifted for the AA. Del Rio slid out and tried for the arm breaker again, but Cena pushed away and hit the AA for the win…
John Cena won the World Heavyweight Championship at 15:05.
Shore's Slant: Bleh. The match itself was OK. They told a little bit of the story with the arm, but not enough of one, and then one AA is all we needed to give Cena yet another win and title belt. I could not be more underwhelmed.
7. Brie Bella (w/Nikki) vs. AJ Lee (w/Tamina) for the Divas Championship. The crowd died at the bell and only woke up when AJ slammed Brie and skipped around her. AJ went for the Black Widow. Brie slid out and went for the X Factor. AJ blocked, but Brie ended up hooking a half crab. Tamina jumped on the apron and Nikki pulled her down. In the chaos, AJ made the rope and Brie accidentally kicked Nikki in the face. AJ used the distraction to hook the Black Widow for the win…
AJ Lee retained the Divas Championship at 5:35.
Shore's Slant: Mediocre match with an absolutely dead crowd. This has not been a good PPV. I would be upset if I was a fan paying for this. Hopefully the main event is enough to get this over.
Backstage, The Prime Time Players and Bob Backland basically did a commercial spot for WWE 2K14 and then did the Players dance together…HBK and Triple H were shown talking. They were shown laughing earlier in the night but now with HBK in the ref shirt they were arguing. Shawn walked off and Triple H looked pissed… A video recapped how the main event story. Ring entrances were HBK, Randy Orton, and then Daniel Bryan.
The cell had not been lowered and Triple H made his ring entrance holding the WWE Championship. He climbed in the ring and shook Orton's hand after showing him the title. He showed Bryan the title and offered his hand but Bryan wouldn't shake it. He handed the belt to HBK who held it up and final the cage lowered…
8. Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan with Shawn Michaels for the vacant WWE Championship in a Hell in a Cell match. Orton hit his powerslam quickly and went for the hung DDT, but Bryan escaped and hit a missile dropkick. Orton came back with a dropkick of his own and dropped Bryan over the ropes several times. He slammed into Bryan which drove him from the apron into the cell.
Orton went to the floor and hit Bryan with the top part of the stairs. He stood the bottom part in the corner of the cell and ground Bryan's face into the cage. He tried to whip Bryan into the setup stairs, but Bryan reversed and Orton crashed into the stairs. Back in the ring, Bryan hit a back suplex for two. Orton rolled to the floor and slammed Bryan into the ring post. He used the positioning to hit his backbreaker.
Orton rolled Bryan in the ring and set him on the top rope. Bryan fought back and hit a sunset bomb. Both men crawled to each other and traded shots. The stood and continued to trade shots until Bryan hit his running clothesline. He hit two clotheslines in the corner and then a top rope ranna. He followed with the diving head-butt for two.
Bryan went for his knockout kick from the knees and Orton ducked and rolled him up. Bryan kicked out into the Yes lock. Orton made the ropes, but Bryan didn’t have to break and Orton finally wiggled to the floor to escape. Bryan followed and slammed Orton into the cell several times, followed by a dropkick into the cell.
Bryan pulled a chair out and hit Orton with it three times. He went back under the ring and started throwing chair after chair into the ring. There were close to a dozen chairs in the ring when he was done. He hit Orton with the original chair a few more times and rolled Orton in the ring. He went for another chair shot, but Orton raked the eyes and hit Bryan with his own chair shot.
I had some sort of Internet glitch and when I came back, Michaels counted a near fall and Orton complained. Triple H came down and yelled at Shawn. Orton hit a slam on Bryan and covered and Shawn missed it because of Hunter. Orton came to the floor and yelled at HBK. Triple H acted like he was climbing the cage and Bryan shoved Orton into Michaels for a ref bump.
Triple H ordered the ref on the floor to open the door. Bryan hit the running knee and covered, but no one was there to make the count. Bryan checked on Shawn as Hunter made it into the ring. He grabbed Bryan and slung him aside to check on Shawn. Bryan stood up and hit the running knee on Hunter. Bryan setup to hit the knee on Orton again, but HBK hit Sweet Chin Music on Bryan and counted the pin fall when Orton covered…
Randy Orton won the WWE Championship at 22:17.
Post-match, HBK stormed straight to the back without doing anything heelish. A couple of refs helped Bryan from the ring as Orton and Triple H, who at least still sold the running knee, celebrated the win…
Shore's Slant: What is the fascination with overbooking main events in wrestling today? It’s everybody, from WWE and TNA down to the indies. Whay can't we just have a clean win? I'm guessing tomorrow HBK says he kicked Bryan because Bryan hit the knee of Hunter, but that's about as weak of a reason as there is. I guess the good news is that at least someone is the champion, but I can't image Daniel Bryan gained anything from this match. What a mess. Jason Powell will have more on Member's exclusive audio later tonight. Thanks for watching along.
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