Hell In A Cell is over. Amidst all the chaos, we have two new champions. Now that the smoke has settled, we analyze who are the real winners and losers from last night.
On Sunday night, WWE created history at Hell in a Cell. For the first time in history, two women stepped into the demonic structure. To create an even bigger impact, they did so in the main event of the night. There is no further testament for the women’s revolution than this as we witnessed history in the making. The PPV also told us that no PG rating can take away the savagery of Hell in a Cell.
Two new champions emerged from the ruins of their battles. Two other champions prevailed over their foes. It was a night where winners were actually losers and at times, where losers were winners. The cruiserweight division gets a boost now that it has a veteran on the top, while New Day also looks poised to break Demolition’s record title reign.
Seth Rollins fell short once again as Kevin Owens toppled him with the help of his best friend. Speaking of that, Jeri-KO didn’t implode as one would have suspected. Above all that, Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair went to hell. Now that it’s all over, let’s have a look at the real winners and losers.
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Roman Reigns – Loser
Reigns went into Hell in a Cell as the United States champion. While he retained the title, he belongs on the loser list. Credit still goes to Reigns and Rusev for a hard-hitting contest and in-ring work.
Despite all this, the match was really underwhelming. A lot of the blame can be attributed to a poor storyline. These two didn’t have enough reasons to step into the demonic structure in the first place. The storyline often dragged when it came to this feud as well. It all started with a wedding cake for starters. That tells you how bad this was.
To make matters worse, Reigns is coming out of this feud with zero momentum for himself or the US title, a belt he doesn’t really need. It would have helped a foreign heel like Rusev to generate some heat. Instead, last night we saw a portion of the fans chanting ‘Let’s go Rusev’. At the moment, The Bulgarian Brute will have a better chance of getting cheered as a face than The Big Dog.
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The Club – Winners
We should have known what awaited Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows when WWE creative gave them a very lazy name. ‘The Club’ sounds like a bunch of men sitting around and playing cards all day. To say these two bruisers have been treated as afterthoughts would be an understatement.
Regardless, on Sunday, The Club picked up a huge victory over one of the most popular tag teams on the roster. The fact that it was a clean win adds more credibility to them. This will hopefully set them in the right direction. Given the amount of talent these two possess, The Club should have been tag team champions by now.
Amore and Big Cass took another loss. But given the team’s popularity, this should not affect them in the least. Win or lose, they will continue to be one of the most over acts because of their exception mic skills. Anderson and Gallows, on the other hand, needed this win desperately. They can hopefully find their way back to tag team title contention soon.
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Kevin Owens – Winner
Kevin Owens walked into Hell in a Cell as the champion. He made sure it stayed the same when he walked out. In one of the most entertaining bouts of the PPV, Owens and Rollins put in a great performance. These two men showed the world that no PG rating can stop them from putting on a great Hell in a Cell match.
The fact that this was his first outing to the devil’s playground plays up his accomplishment even more. Owens had only one word to describe the structure – ‘daunting’. The champion made sure he took care of business as he powerbombed Rollins onto a couple of chairs. Everything about this match was great from the methodical use of tables, chairs and the cell itself being in use.
Though both the champion and the challenger put in great performances, retaining the title makes Owens the bigger winner. The fact that the entertaining duo of Jeri-KO is still intact is added bonus. However, he isn’t the biggest winner of the night.
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T.J. Perkins – Loser
You have to feel bad for Perkins at the moment. He is a fine young man, a gifted athlete, and the inaugural WWE Cruiserweight Classic winner. This also made him the first Cruiserweight Champion on the renovated cruiserweight division on Raw. However, the division still lacks storyline and character depth.
TJP defended his title against the veteran Brian Kendrick, which had a story of the latter being his previous mentor. However, a relatively quite crowd watched these two battle it out for the title. In the end, it was Kendrick who came on top through some questionable means.
The cruiserweight division hasn’t connected with the crowd yet. This has nothing to do with the performers and everything to do with creative decisions. There are no noteworthy characters on the entire roster except Kendrick. All we have on the cruiserweight division are exceptional athletes who do not have a character that tells the audience to pay attention to them, which eveb goes for Perkins. Perhaps he will have some character development now that he is chasing the gold he lost.
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New Day – Losers
The New Day retained their titles at Hell in a Cell and look more than ready to break Demolition’s record. However, they pretty much lost to Cesaro and Sheamus at the PPV. The referee called for the bell and awarded the challengers the win, via disqualification, when Woods tapped out to the Sharpshooter, behind the referee’s back.
The fact that the reigning champions could have easily lost their titles last night is a huge statement. Moreover, they were about to lose it to a team that was formed merely a month ago. What does that tell the WWE Universe? Not only does that make the WWE tag team champions look bad; it makes the entire division look bad.
New Day can now look forward to extending their title reign and possible breaking Demolition’s record. However, at what cost? The trio is running out of challengers. We also see their promos and segments not hitting the mark occasionally. If creative doesn’t come up with some intriguing options for them, New Day might be in danger of losing their momentum.
WWE.com
Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair – Winners
Without a doubt, these two women are the biggest winners from Hell in a Cell 2016. They created history and paved the way for many women of the future. Banks and Charlotte showed the world that women can just as well belong inside the demonic structure.
The match itself was extraordinary. How often you see the use of chairs and announcer desk in a women’s division match? There were even rumors of Charlotte asking Vince McMahon permission to do a moonsault from the top of the cell. While that spot never happened during the match, it takes nothing away from the brutality these two women created in the ring.
Everything about the match, from their entrance to the action inside and outside the cell told the WWE universe that these two phenomenal athletes were the biggest stars of the night. Despite losing the title, Banks looked like a real champion. Charlotte showed the world once again that you must always respect your queen. Many years from now, fans of a future era will look back to this match as the one that truly raised the bar for the Women’s division in the WWE.
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