A Very Positive Hell in a Cell Review

 Well, it's been a hot minute since I last reviewed a wrestling show right? I have to admit that I’ve missed it and feel as though it's time to bring these back and enjoy writing once again and what better show to chat about on my first post back than WWE’s Hell in a Cell? Okay, so the card may not have had me oozing with excitement but there were certainly a handful of encounters I was interested to watch and some promising collisions set to take place.  With all that in mind let's not waste any more time and jump right into my 2022 Hell in a Cell Review.

 

Bianca Plays it Smart

Despite not originally being a fan of this RAW Women’s championship match being a triple threat I was left genuinely entertained and impressed during this opening contest. Belair, Asuka, and Lynch comfortably sit at the top of the WWE women’s division today, and here they proved exactly why. Each bringing something different to this match I was delighted to see them given a decent amount of time to put on a strong contest to kick start a long evening. The Chicago crowd was red hot for the champion, Bianca Belair with EST chants from the start and throughout with interest in both challengers also. There were a few slow moments and it took me some time to truly find myself invested in the match but once things really got started I was hooked! Belair’s power was once again on clear display and continued to impress with effortless showcases of strength. Lynch played her role of the villain here to perfection using the ropes to her advantage and attempting sneak pinfalls while Asuka reminded us all why she is so beloved. Several close falls left everyone watching on the edge of their seat with both Asuka and Becky coming close to scoring the win, especially during those final moments where the Asuka lock was locked in tight leaving Lynch ever so close to tapping out! In the end, however, Belair was able to successfully walk out as champion after a sneaky victory. Throwing Lynch out of the ring moments after executing her finisher on Asuka, Belair stole the pinfall giving her former foe a taste of her own medicine.

 

A strong opening match and a brilliant title defense for Belair. These women know each other so well and the chemistry and individual history Lynch shares with both Bianca and Asuka made this match even more interesting to watch.

 

Did Lashley need that Win more than Omos?

I’m not typically a fan of handicap matches. I cant off the top of my head name a previous handicap match I’ve found myself genuinely enjoying, however, the build, the story, and the execution of Bobby Lashley vs Omos and MVP certainly kept me entertained and interested enough to enjoy the match. I will never be used to seeing Bobby manhandled and looking so small as we witnessed another encounter in which Omos was dominant throughout most of the action. His raw power was on display including a spot where he sent Lashley through the barricade. There was nothing particularly special or standout about the wrestling here but the story was strong. I did question how much Bobby truly needed the win and a part of me did feel as though Omos was more in need of building momentum however, the involvement (while having zero actual effect) of Cedric Alexander and seeing MVP come face to face with Lashley to the point of tapping out was great to see and strong storytelling once again. The fact MVP took the loss here doesn’t do harm to Omos and I’m interested to see where their pairing 111goes moving forward.

 

Why Did I actually enjoy this?

There was no genuine part of me that believed I would enjoy Kevin Owens vs Ezekiel. While the build since the night after Wrestlemania has been entertaining throughout and Owens has genuinely had me laughing as has Ezekiel I wasn’t expecting this to be a wrestling match I would actually enjoy. Now, it was far from the match of the evening but it was fun to watch and Ezekiel had an extremely impressive performance. The bout was much longer than I was expecting it to be and Zek got way more offense in than I anticipated. The match was fairly split down the middle with a strong and promising opening from Ezekiel who looked to score an early victory but the experience and momentum of Owens were simply too much and a predictable end result took place. Again, there were no true surprises with how this match was booked however, it was brilliant to see these two given more time than expected and for Ezekiel to have such a strong showing.

 

My Personal Favourite

The match I was most looking forward to on this year's Hell in a Cell card was the six-person tag team match between Judgement day and Liv Morgan, AJ Styles, and Finn Balor. A strong build, fantastic character development, and some exciting names involved this one had me hooked and I was not let down at all! Once I got past enjoying Rhea’s new gear a little too much it was time to focus on the wrestling on show with the women kick-starting the action. Now, it has got to be said that Liv Morgan does not get enough credit for how far she has come and how greatly she has improved. This match was yet another example of the progress she has made as an in-ring performer. Her offense was brilliant, she executed some exciting moves, she looked confident, showed character, and her selling as always was on point. She fitted in well with superstars who have all held gold in their careers and proved she’s a woman who is more than ready and worthy of her own championship reign. The intensity between the men was solid and made for a fun match to bear witness to. Priest was in his element staying in character completely, punishing both Balor and Styles (especially Balor), and paying attention to the orders coming from Edge.

There was a brilliant balance here between this being a fun match to watch but also an intense and personal one. Balor spent a lot of time in the ring with Judgement Day doing a brilliant job of isolating him from his team throughout. The tag team unity between both sides was also evident and Edge’s slow but intense performance showcased him as the leader and executioner of his team. I was not surprised to see Judgement Day take the victory here and I’m sure moving forward we will see new names added to the faction and new storylines come their way.

 

I think I’m a Madcap Moss Fan and Austin Theory is the Future

There really was a great display from the future of the WWE during this year's Hell in a Cell live event (I keep forgetting to not call it a PPV). From Austin Theory and Mustafa’s enjoyable United States championship match to Ezekiel’s impressive showing and a huge victory for Madcap Moss. I’ve previously stated that I don’t see anything particularly special or interesting about Madcap however, I have to admit, I really enjoyed what we saw from him last night! Okay, so maybe I’m going mad or I was watching when I was in too good of a mood but this is a young man who looked confident, strong, and athletic. He told a story of a man who felt walked over and took the spotlight from the man who brought him in. His victory came as a surprise to me but he had a very impressive performance and one that is sure to get more people talking about him and more opportunities coming his way.

Another standout was once again, Austin Theory. Young looks good, athletic, strong, and super charismatic, Theory has been unstoppable in 2022 and things are looking to only get better and better for him. While his match last night was probably my least favorite of the evening I enjoyed what was being done here in terms of the character stories and the performance and charisma coming from Theory. This is a man who is going to have a brilliant second half of the year.

 

A Hard to Watch Main Event

After seeing these two work a couple of matches now, I wasn’t all too excited for their third Live Event collision however, every time we have seen Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins step in the ring together we have seen something simply fantastic and so I was certainly interested to see what would take place this time around and inside Hell in a Cell. Before the bell had even rung these two men has us hooked! Rollins entered the ring wearing gear sure to get Rhodes fired up. Sporting Dusty Rhodes classic yellow poker dot attire Rollins immediately got in the head of his opponent who soon revealed his own shock to the WWE Universe. Upon removing his jacket Rhodes revealed a shocking injury. A huge bruise covering his pec, shoulder, and arm it was clear Cody was not stepping into this brutal structure at a hundred percent and the gasp and silence of the audience spoke volumes.

 

The visible injury made this one a tough one to watch. Rollins targeted the injured area of Cody with such violence it made me cringe to keep my eyes on the TV. Throughout the match Rhodes would showcase the pain he was in, work with just the good side of his body and fight off a brutal attack at the hands of his vicious opponent. We saw kendo sticks, tables, and a sledgehammer used during this contest, and while it was exciting and entertaining to watch it was absolutely brutal! The fight and passion in Cody were evident and his victory was well received and deserving however, the charisma from Rollins has got to be mentioned. He played the perfect heel throughout. The disrespect he showed during the entire match, his brutality and his ruthlessness was something special and he proved why he really is the best at what he does even in a loss.

 

I have to be honest, I did finish off watching most of Hell in a Cell at the gym this morning so maybe that is why this is coming across like such a positive review but I did genuinely enjoy the show! We had some strong matches and impressive induvial performances. I would have liked to have seen another women’s match but that’s me being picky. I, of course, would love to know what you guys thought so feel free to leave a comment below or tweet me over at @TezangiVictoria to tell me your opinions! You can also show some support by checking out my Onlyfans which is vtezangi