How’s it going everybody? Thomas Robinson here once again with the Armbar Analysis for SLTD Wrestling. Hell in a Cell is a very important event for WWE. With RAW ratings dropping to new record lows, it’s important that this pay-per-view succeeds. The main event is centered around two of the biggest part-time stars WWE have to offer battling for “one last time.” However this build, along with stars like Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin being featured, have not helped out a great deal with getting the ratings up. They were up from last week I believe but it was not to the viewership numbers that stars like Michaels and Austin should be getting. However, WWE might be able to rest easy knowing that one of their top draws Brock Lesnar will be in the main event of this show and could potentially get PPV buys and WWE Network subscriptions up.
The pressure is on though to capitalise on fans coming back to check out the “final battle” between Brock Lesnar and Undertaker. However, who will emerge victorious in one of the biggest rubber matches of all time? Who will win the other Hell in a Cell match between Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt? Will Seth Rollins retain the WWE World title or could Kane shock us all and walk out with the belt? Who will accept John Cena’s US Open Challenge? Could stars be made at Hell in a Cell?
Last time I did predictions for SLTD Wrestling, it was for NXT TakeOver: Respect. For that event, I successfully predicted all six matches correctly in my predictions debut! Can I continue my very own streak for Hell in a Cell?
Pre-Show: Six Man Tag Match – Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro & Neville vs. King Barrett, Sheamus & Rusev
I would put the European Elite over again in this six man tag team match. They got the win in their first match on RAW but I feel they should pick up this win on the pre-show. I don’t know if they’ll do anything with this trio of Rusev, Barrett and Sheamus but I feel they should. This could be a great means to get Rusev back on his feet after the finish to his Summer Rae storyline. This could actually get Barrett over by having him part of a stable once more, as he seems to struggle getting over on his own. That’s not entirely Barrett’s fault but this trio could get him on the right tracks. If the stable gets over, then Sheamus will get over which is hugely important for somebody that could potential win the WWE World title in the next few months. I feel that this stable could help build Sheamus as a legitimate title contender in the same way that the Authority helped Seth Rollins become a legitimate title contender. With that being said, I think the WWE would not risk having Ziggler, Cesaro and Neville lose twice. WWE are very cautious about protecting all of their talent if they lose. It’s this kind of defensive booking which prevents them from making stars in my opinion. For that reason, I think Ziggler, Cesaro and Neville will win the match. However, the Europeans should be the winners.
Winners: Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro and Neville
WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The New Day vs. The Dudley Boyz
I’ve been really unsure about who I think will win. Logic would dictate that the New Day would go over considering how over they are. That’s what should happen. However, it also wouldn’t seem right if the Dudley Boyz were brought in only to lose their first feud back. They’ve won via disqualification at Night of Champions and the Madison Square Garden special but they’ve not beat the New Day for the titles. If there was an event which I thought that the Dudleyz were to win the tag titles again, it was probably the Madison Square Garden show. This would have made sense and would have been a good feel moment on the WWE Network. Also, the New Day could have just won the tag titles back at Hell in a Cell and wouldn’t have lost a lot from getting beat in the first place. However, they never did that. So if they have the Dudleyz win here, then the New Day would have lose three PPV title matches in a row. That would be bad news for them. Therefore, I don’t think WWE are willing to have New Day lose again just to put the titles on the Dudleyz for a month or two. I don’t think they’ll want to drop the ball with New Day so I’m going with the New Day to win.
Winners: The New Day
Intercontinental Championship Match: Kevin Owens vs. Ryback
I’ve been left disappointed with this feud since Kevin won the title at Night of Champions. There was a few aspects about how he won the title which kind of annoyed me but WWE’s treatment of this feud was even worse. They had Ryback challenge for the title again on SmackDown! shortly at Night of Champions but Kevin just got himself counted out. Since then, these two have had hardly any interaction which is really mind-boggling. When they’ve done something with them, it’s mostly just Ryback running off Kevin. The build for this match has been very poor on RAW. This one’s really a no-brainer for me as far as who I think is going to win. Kevin Owens retains the title somehow in the rematch from Night of Champions. If it was me booking the show, I’d like to have Kevin pull off the powerbomb on Ryback if he could as it would continue on from what happened on RAW. Kevin powerbombed Mark Henry but then got powerbombed by Ryback. Michael Cole was teasing that if Kevin could powerbomb Henry, he could do it to Ryback. Well, why not have him do it and win clean?
Winner: Kevin Owens
US Championship Open Challenge: John Cena vs. ????????
There’s been a lot of reports about who will challenge John Cena for the US Championship in the US title open challenge. I’ve read a bunch of names including Dolph Ziggler and Tyler Breeze. Breeze’s name was brought up just after RAW and just before the SmackDown! tapings. Me and a few other people on Facebook were talking if Breeze were to challenge for the title. In the midst on this conversation, I claimed that whoever would face John Cena at Hell in a Cell will beat him for the title. I believed that if Tyler Breeze were to have debuted at Hell in a Cell, he would have won the belt. However, Tyler actually debuted on SmackDown! instead in an angle with Dolph Ziggler and Summer Rae. After this happened, I was thrown completely off guard. I had heard that Tyler was backstage for SmackDown! tapings. However, he’d also been backstage for RAW and never appeared on screen. I figured that if he was to turn up, it would have been at Hell in a Cell. Now that he’s debuted early and is currently with Summer Rae, I now doubt that Breeze will challenge for the title at Hell in a Cell and win. I figured that if anyone was to beat Cena this Sunday, it would have been him or possibly Ziggler. I guess they could still have one of these men challenge Cena, even Ziggler despite his pre-show match. However, after SmackDown!, I don’t think it’s likely. I think John Cena will retain and I’m really not good with picking mystery opponent. I’m going to wildly guess Sami Zayn again since he has been working at EVOLVE as of late. There was speculation that he would be wrestling in those events but it turned out that he didn’t. He might be OK to go though. Other than him, I’m not sure.
Winner: John Cena
Divas Championship Match: Charlotte vs. Nikki Bella
If you were to ask me who I’d think would win a week ago, I would said Charlotte with 100% certainty. Right now, I’m not so certain and here’s why. Firstly, the Divas Revolution storyline since Paige’s “PaigeBomb” has really went downhill and Charlotte has not really looked that strong as a champion. I figured that it would lead to top officials in the company thinking that the issue with the storyline is Charlotte. She’s trying her best but she’s really just been put in a hard position as champion. However, there’s another reason why I’ve changed my mind on this match. I’ve always found it irritating to see Nikki Bella complete no-sell her title loss to Charlotte at Night of Champions. What I mean is, she brushed it aside as if to say that her title reign meant nothing. The night after the pay-per-view, Nikki came out smiling. A former champion that just lost her title 24 hours beforehand should not be this happy and should really be angry at herself for tapping out. I always wondered why Nikki was treating the title loss like it was nothing. Then I saw this week’s edition of RAW. I saw Nikki looking at Charlotte, who made Brie tap out in a match. Michael Cole teased that Nikki could tap out again at Hell in a Cell. As soon as Cole said that, the first thought I had was: “Nikki’s going to win the belt.” Usually when Cole speculates on what my happen in the pay-per-view in that manner, what he speculates usually never happens. I’d find it hard to believe that Charlotte could pin Nikki either. Paige could get involved to help Charlotte win to prove that she’s a team-player but I don’t think WWE wants to relegate Nikki to being the third wheel in the storyline between Paige and Charlotte. So the bold prediction I’ve come to is that Paige is going to cost Charlotte the title. I know a lot of people are going to be upset about it but I just have this weird feeling that Charlotte’s title reign is coming to an abrupt end.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Hell In A Cell Match: Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt
I’m very much looking forward to this one. The Reigns/Wyatt feud has actually been one of the best aspects of RAW in the past month or so. It’s not that strong of a feud compared to a lot of the feuds in the first half of the year but it’s been decent in the past month or so. The two had an incredible brawl a few weeks ago which lead to Roman getting the pop of the night for spearing Bray through the announce table. I think this feud is going to have a great ending with this match. I think this match will fit with the styles of both these men and they’re going to have a creative match. I think to close the book on this feud, Roman Reigns needs to go over. I think that is what’s going to happen and this will help insert Roman into the main-event scene nicely.
Winner: Roman Reigns
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match: Seth Rollins vs. Kane – If Demon Kane loses, Corporate Kane is fired as Director of Operations
I’ve actually not minded this feud between Kane and Seth Rollins. I certainly think it’s a lot better than a lot of people might think. Kane’s delivery as “Corporate” Kane has actually been really good over the course of this storyline and the feud has gotten some of the best pops and crowd reactions in the past month of RAW. However, my issue is how bad Seth Rollins has looked during this feud. This week, Seth was actually made to look pretty good with his clean win over Ryback and his six man tag team match with Reigns and Dean Ambrose. However, Seth had lost the majority of segments with Kane in the weeks prior to that which made the champion look incredibly weak. I think WWE will start to rectify those wrongs with Seth going over Kane at Hell in a Cell. I think it will be the case where Seth takes off Kane’s mask and Kane will kind of faze out, leading to Seth picking up the win or something. I think we will have the conclusion of the storyline at Hell in a Cell and “Corporate” Kane will be fired.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Will Sheamus cash in his Money in the Bank contract?
Not a chance. If Seth vs Kane was the main event of Hell in a Cell, then there would be a chance. However, WWE would not have their Money In The Bank holder cash in during a title match that’s not even the main event of the card. Sheamus needs to be the talk of the town when he cashes in. Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker would prevent Sheamus from making a big impact with the cash in.
No
Hell In A Cell Match: The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar
What’s clever from WWE is that both Brock and Undertaker have wrestled since their last match at Summerslam. Brock beat the Big Show at Madison Square Garden while Undertaker won on a house show in Mexico. That doesn’t appear to be much but whenever a big name wins a match just before a big match with a big name, they’re usually doing the job. Having them win a match prior to their loss would mean that they would not look so bad when they get beat. Remember, Brock beat Kofi Kingston at Beast in the East before failing to beat Seth Rollins at Battleground and losing to the Undertaker at Summerslam. Sting even wrestled on RAW just before losing to Seth Rollins at Night of Champions. The point is, WWE had them win a match beforehand to protect them before taking a loss at a pay-per-view. However, both Brock and Taker have BOTH won matches on the road. Therefore, the loser is protected a bit if they were to lose and it doesn’t make it obvious about who is doing the job. With that being said however, I thoroughly believe that Brock is going to go over. I think that if Vince McMahon brought forward the rubber match between these two that was meant for Wrestlemania 32, then he must have big plans for Brock heading into Mania. I think Brock needs to go over for those plans to be a reality so I think he’ll win the feud at Hell in a Cell.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this prediction piece. What do you think will happen at Hell in a Cell? Who’ll win the Hell in a Cell matches? Will any titles change hands? Leave a comment below or tweet @SLTDWrestling with your thoughts on Hell in a Cell.
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