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MITCHELL'S TAKE
MITCHELL'S TAKE: HIAC - A middle of the road PPV that showed us some things about Triple H, Randy orton, Hell in a Cell concept, more Oct 4, 2009 - 11:50:21 PM
Two of the three Hell in the Cell matches tonight could have just been regular matches, since the no-blood-cage never came intyo play during them.
Randy Orton plays the reptilian sociopath so well that it's as if you can actually see what he's thinking as he stalks John Cena around the ring. Orton and Cena had another good match, and it's not as if WWE hasn't re-matched stars to good effect many more times than you would think possible, but they've got to be getting to the end of even the biggest Cena's fan's patience with this feud.
Batista & Rey Mysterio really are the babyface side of Chris Jericho & Big Show's championship coin, and that chemistry made for a very good match, one that was particularly well laid out in the ring. Dolph Ziggler lost another good match against John Morrison, but these two need some help from creative, both with their characters and an issue between the two they can sink their teeth into.
Undertaker and C.M. Punk's efforts were really crippled by having another out-of-order gimmick blow-off match so early in the feud. Their program is also crippled by the simple fact that it's hard to imagine any threat Punk could pose to "Taker.
The Drew McIntyre squash and the U.S. Title three-way really took a lot of the steam out of the third hour. I bet a lot of the Newark crowd had no idea who McIntyre was, thanks to the simple fact that a large portion of the Raw audience doesn't watch Smackdown. Mickie James sure planted Alicia Fox's head through the mat with that DDT.
The DX-Legacy "Hell in The Cell" match was creatively laid out, but the seminal moment of the year for WWE came when Triple H came down with the bolt-cutter for the ultimate in hot tags and didn't get anywhere near the reaction he should have. Triple H isn't over this year anywhere near the way he has been in previous years (despite a stronger push than ever before), Shawn Michaels's return didn't mean nearly as much either, and the DX gimmick has finally run its course, except as a once-off special attraction. Triple H shouldn't be the number one center main event of a wrestling show any more. It's time he moved into the legend role.
So, why didn't Triple H just ask the referee to unlock the cage at the start of the match and let him in? He was, after all, booked in the match.
SCORE: 5.0
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