PPV Evaluation - WWE Hell in a Cell
By Nathan Kyght, PWTorch PPV specialist

BEST MATCH – THE RHODES VS. THE SHIELD VS. THE USOS

First off, let’s take a moment and give Dustin Rhodes some serious kudos. Since his return, he has consistently been as good in-ring as I can ever remember him being, and has had entertaining match after entertaining match on both TV and pay-per-view. This match, the opener to the show, was the best match of the night. The Rhodes retaining was a pleasant surprise, as I feel their run should be a memorable one, and The Shield worked hard as they always do. Also, the addition of the Usos did not detract, as they have stepped their game up recently and more than held their own. This was a really good opener.

WORST MATCH – THE GREAK KHALI/NATALYA VS. FANDANGO/SUMMER RAE

Bonus match! Sort of. I get that WWE likes to occasionally put an unannounced match on the card to let the fans feel like they got a treat for buying or attending the show, but honestly, why this? Did this, at any point, look good on paper? Natalya and Summer Rae were fine (Natalya is great), but I defy anyone to enjoy the Khali-Fandango exchanges. Defy, I say!

BIGGEST SURPRISE – DANIEL BRYAN LOSES

I guess this shouldn’t have been this much of a shock to me, but I genuinely thought that the time would finally be right to pay off the story and put the WWE Title on Daniel Bryan (well, Battleground would have worked as well, but I digress). Instead, it was the third straight pay-per-view going off the air with Bryan getting screwed out of the win. The booking of this story has been mind-boggling, and although there is always the belief that fans should "wait and see what happens next." I think that the majority of those advancements should be made on television. Since Summerslam, some people have paid upwards of $150 to watch three shows, and can anyone tell me that there has been any progression in the Bryan-Orton story since August? Anyone? Answers on a postcard, please.

BIGGEST LETDOWN – THREE IN A ROW

Summerslam was a great show, capping off what felt like the WWE being on a roll. Since? Not so much. I’m not sure if it’s been the change in the Creative department, or perhaps just a general lack of focus, or maybe even having that extra Battleground PPV to write for... but something isn’t clicking, at all.

BEST MOVE – CODY RHODES & SETH ROLLINS

A superplex from the top rope to the rest of the participants standing at ringside? I’ve never seen that before, and while crazy-dangerous, wow, what a visual.

BEST MATCH FINISH – THREE-WAY TAG

I mentioned before that it’s great to see such a rejuvenated Goldust back in WWE, and I’m glad the Rhodes Family retained the titles here. The closing sequence was exciting, and the crowd loved it.

OTHER THOUGHTS

- The Miz needs a massive overhaul. He just doesn’t come across as the badass tough guy that is calling out three men, and the fact that Kane, after saving him, beat him up on a whim didn’t help matters. What’s Miz’s purpose as a character in the WWE?

- Big E. and Dean Ambrose had an okay TV match until the bad count-out finish, although perhaps that call was made on the fly after the men cracked heads, and required stitches. Either way, the match was just there.

- So, that was the pay-off to Punk vs. Heyman? It was essentially the exact same “beating” that Punk gave Paul at The Night of Champions show, except on top of a cage. We’ll see. The match was nothing special.

- Los Matadores and The Real Americans. It was okay. It’ll happen a dozen or so more times on TV I’m sure.

- Cena’s back! I didn’t expect Cena to win the World Title, and when he did, I expected Sandow to cash in. Nope. Instead Cena just came back four months early and beat up the Champion. ‘Cause that’s how he rolls. The match was fun, though, and say what you want about Cena, but that guy works hard.

- Brie vs. A.J. was decent, but seemed to just be there to sew the first seeds of the Bella break up. I really hope this is on the new season of "Total Divas." ... I meant to think that, and not type it. Damn.

- So, Shawn was in cahoots with Triple H? The announcers sold it like he just gave Bryan a receipt for attacking HBK’s friend, which seems like quite the over-reaction when the entire point of him being there, by his own admission, was to keep things fair. Still, the match was good until the end, which was over-booked and sucked the life out of the Miami crowd. Maybe Vince comes back on Raw and makes things right?

WHAT IT'LL BE REMEMBERED FOR

Well, that depends on the follow up. Either this begins Bryan’s push down the card as Orton moves into a program with Big Show, or maybe Punk, or hopefully we get a fresh take on this storyline. Also, Cena with the World Title doesn’t seem like something that is long-term, but we’ll see. All in all, this was much better than Battleground, and a bit better than Night of Champions. But it felt like $50 Raw.

UPDATED 2013 PPV EVALUATION RANKINGS

1 - WWE SUMMERSLAM (2013-08-18)
2 - WWE PAYBACK (2013-06-16)
3 - WWE WRESTLEMANIA XXIX (2013-04-07)
4 – TNA SLAMMIVERSARY (2013-06-02)
5 - WWE MONEY IN THE BANK (2013-07-14)
6 - WWE ROYAL RUMBLE (2013-01-27)
7 - TNA LOCKDOWN (2013-03-10)
8 - WWE EXTREME RULES (2013-05-19)
9 - WWE ELIMINATION CHAMBER (2013-02-17)
10 – WWE HELL IN A CELL 2013 (2013-10-27)
11 – TNA BOUND FOR GLORY (2013-10-20)
12 - WWE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS (2013-09-15)
13 – TNA GENESIS (2013-01-13)
14 - WWE BATTLEGROUND (2013-10-06)

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