Well October has been quite a month in WWE, we had the October 3rd Madison Square Garden Supershow, The Brock Lesnar ‘Go To Hell Tour’ the return of the Undertaker & Alberto Del Rio, HIAC, the rise of the Waytt Family, and Roman Reigns as the new No1 contender. So WWE has had a lot going on as we approach the end of the year.
WWE’s return to MSG marked the 25th anniversary of the career of Chris Jericho and the return of Brock Lesnar who hadn’t competed in the arena since 2004. The event itself was exclusive to the WWE Network and it featured some never before seen matches and some conflicts we’ve witnessed many times in the squared circle. Lesnar’s 1000th win over the Big Show on the event also kick started the ‘Go To Hell Tour’ which included Brock’s appearance on Steve Austin’s podcast and his feud ending HIAC match with the Undertaker. The live MSG special was well received I believe and it was also another nice edition for those of us who subscribe to the WWE Network.
Another story that hit social media in October was the decline in ratings of both Raw & Smackdown, WWE insiders were quick to blame other types of entertainment such as Monday Night Football, Love & Hip Hollywood etc. However those of us who tune in every week to watch the product know why there is a decline and yes one of the reasons is competing programmes on other channels but it’s also the fact that WWE pushed the same characters in the same scenario week after week. Like @Chica_SLTD has commented over the month of October….Do we need another 6 Man Tag match on Raw???? I for one was asking that question at one point, so okay the matches provided entertainment and action but it featured the same faces week after week. Stop looking for external reasons WWE, just take a closer look in the tent.
Due to some viewers turning over WWE panicked and on the Raw before Hell In A Cell WWE packed the 3 hour broadcast with legends such as Steve Austin, HBK, Ric Flair, the return of the Undertaker and Brock Lesnar. The said legends did little more than introduce or spar with the talent and to be honest I really didn’t think they added much to the show overall. The only thing I noticed is that Austin is still more over 13 years after his retirement than what Roman Reigns or John Cena are. The star-studded go home show was mediocre to say the least, however it didn’t dampen down the excitement for HIAC 6 days later which delivered more than we could possibly imagine.
Just before we go to HIAC Brock Lesnar was the guest on Steve Austin’s latest WWE network exclusive podcast. Stone Cold and Brock talked wrestling, hunting, trucks, UFC and Football. Brock I feel came across as an honest, hard-working business man, he pulled no punches and I think he earned the respect of many with this interview. Austin to his credit mixes well the talk of wrestling and other activities close to Brock’s heart and the podcast came across really well. It was nice to hear Brock talk about his passion for hard work in all he did and his dedication to everything. It was also great to hear he would be sticking around for a while yet.
So even after a lacklustre build the excitement was fever pitch come Hell In A Cell, the crowd at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles were absolutely buzzing for the event and it felt like a supershow. Each match also delivered the goods with every performer making a statement of intent in their respective matches, I personally felt Roman, Seth, Lesnar and The Wyatts excelled greatly on the night and came out of it brimming with confidence. Two main matches which received the most focus on the evening were Roman Reigns vs Bray Wyatt and Undertaker vs Brock Lesnar.
Bray and Roman went at with full force in this match, from the opening bell they hit each other with everything they had to try to gain the victory. I personally felt Bray should have come out on top but Roman needed the push for the following night’s Raw and Wyatt would get his spoils later on in the evening. The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar was the main event of the evening and this match delivered. This was billed as the last ever time these two superstars would lock horns so the hype for this match alone was big, if it was the last time then my god did they deliver. For just over 20 minutes they destroyed each other in one hell of a match, we even saw both men get colour as the contest went on, personally this helped massively to the match being as epic as it was. Lesnar picked up the win on the night and secured his place in the history books, the Undertaker however would get even more punishment after the bell rang as the Bray along with his family attacked the Deadman and carried him away.
Another notable happening from the HIAC PPV was the return of Alberto Del Rio who made his entrance along with Zeb Colter and accepted the challenge to John Cena’s US title. No matter the challenger we all knew the outcome of this match due to John’s already announced break from the squared circle. Del Rio however was not the name on people’s lip but his return was met by jubilation from the fans in LA and I for one welcomed backed Del Rio. He has the look, talent and credentials for WWE and at HIAC he proved it with an impressive clean win over Cena.
So to close out October we hard action packed episode of Raw where a new No1 Contender would be crowned for Seth’s World Title. There were four individual matches where the winners then went on to battle it out In the main event in a Fatal-4-Way, Roman Reigns as many predicted came out the eventual winner. He then went nose to nose with Rollins at ringside to end Raw. Roman’s feud with Seth has been 6 months in the making, ever since Rollins took the title at Wrestlemania 31, and their proposed showdown at the Survivor Series should tear the house down. Is it Roman’s time now? We shall see.
The other question on people’s lips is what is going on with the Wyatt’s and the Undertaker, after the Deadman was abducted at HIAC many scenarios are being discussed. One idea is that the Wyatt’s will challenge the Undertaker and tag team partners to a traditional Survivor Series elimination match. There is so much intrigue in this current storyline and I for one thinks it will only get better.
@Ciaran_1986
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