Okay, the problem here is where to start. The booking, the seemingly clueless handling of the show, the apparent disillusion with what we as fans want, or the lack of a solid ending to salvage the event?
As you may have guessed, this is about the Hell in a Cell’s main event. We’ve grown accustomed to weak pay-per-views. It’s been the norm. But this time, WWE creative really outdid themselves.
The build up to this was awesome and left the door open for the potential second rebirth of a dark character in the vein of the Undertaker.
Things were going well until…
Though the matches weren’t all pay-per-view quality, they were enjoyable and made the show entertaining. Even the Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins match was enjoyable until Rollins decided a thousand and one stomps were needed (talk about only having a few moves). As has been Rollins’ MO in matches her should’ve lost, he repeated the Stomp ten or so times. His usage of it as escalated from Lesnar, to Strowman, and not Wyatt.
The fans wasted no time in showing their displeasure with the predictability of Rollins’ (lack of) move list and what was another apparent unbelievable win. Thankfully, the Fiend continued to kick out and gave us hope things would be different.
About that…
Rollins then went off the deep end, seemingly losing his mind and pushing the referee’s advice against using a sledgehammer aside.
Never mind the kayfabe angle of this, or the fact that ending what is meant to be a brutal match in ambiguity for the second straight year.
Many say it was a no contest ruling, but let’s be honest. It was a disqualification. The terminology is meant to soften us to what was a horrid ending.
Here’s the thing. Why have Rollins cower and be so thoroughly dominated if the belt’s not going to change hands? Why have Wyatt looks so powerful and unbeatable if he’s not going to win the championship? Why even bother setting the match up if they’re incapable or unwilling to have the ended that has to happen — the same ending fans wanted and Wyatt deserves?
Rollins is Vince McMahon’s golden boy 2.0 (Roman Reigns was 1.0) and he’ll push and keep him as champion no matter what happens (though now that that’s said and how my luck works, he’ll drop the championship tonight). Adding some weight to it are some internet rumors claiming the plan is to have Rollins and Reigns face each other for the Universal championship at WrestleMania 36.
Final Thoughts
In the last two shows, the WWE had Kingston lose his title in under ten seconds and ended a no DQ match in, essentially, a DQ. This one decision undermined the rest of the night as the main event is what’s generally remembered, and that’s a shame for the superstars that worked hard to put on some fun matches.
Sometimes, debacle isn’t a strong enough word.
