Raw Women’s Championship (Hell in a Cell)
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sasha Banks
They started the night off with a bang and had the women’s hell in a cell match to kick the night off. I feel like the stage for the night is a lot like the new SmackDown stage but have not double-checked to verify that. This was a very intense and creative match. I was very impressed by The Man and The Boss in this one. They did things never before seen in Hell in a Cell to my knowledge. They even set a chair up on top of Singapore canes in the corner. This one ended with Becky retaining her belt after a long-fought battle and she is still standing strong on top of the mountain that is the women’s division. That will give me a 1 for 1 score on predictions to start the night.
Becky Lynch wins
Tornado Tag Match
Roman Reigns & Daniel Bryan vs. Erick Rowan & Luke Harper
This match was changed to a Tornado Tag Match at the last minute which should make things a bit more interesting. That is something this match needed in my opinion and it should definitely help. This one was action-packed and ended with Roman & Daniel taking down Rowan and Harper. After that ending, I would say this storyline is all the way played out. Nothing else to do from here. Hopefully, they have something good in store for Harper and Rowan. Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns ended it with a mutual show of respect which could possibly signal a Bryan babyface turn. I was wrong with my prediction on this one so that will bring me to 1 and 1.
Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan win
Randy Orton vs. Mustafa Ali
This match was not announced on the official website beforehand and from what I am hearing on commentary is taking place because of some stuff that happened on the pre-show. I did not get to make a formal prediction on this one but I would like to see Randy Orton used better than they have been using him lately. That being said he has nothing to gain by winning this match while it would be a huge win for Ali. Let’s hope that Ali can come away with the victory and we can see a better storyline for Randy Orton in the near future. Just to be clear I won’t be counting this one for my predictions either way since I was not able to get one in before tonight, same for any other matches like this that were thrown together last minute. Well, I guess its a good thing that I decided not to because I was wrong on this one as well. Randy Orton came out with the win as Ali did his flip and roll into the ring which turned into an RKO out of nowhere. Hopefully, they can use this momentum to keep Randy rolling and get something interesting going with him in the near future.
Women’s Tag Team Championship
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross (c) vs. The Kabuki Warriors
Another match that was not on their promotional page which is actually a women’s tag team title match. I will go with The Kabuki Warriors to win this one, I don’t really understand what they are trying to accomplish with Bliss & Cross at this point. Pretty strange how poorly this PPV was promoted for, I knew there was no way there could only be 4 matches but I guess as long as they have The Fiend in action later that is all they really need anyway. Asuka just channeled Tajiri for the win!! She just busted out a green mist spit which I haven’t seen in forever. That was a very cool way to end that one and I am very glad to see the end of the Cross and Bliss reign.
Just a side note, It kind of feels like the WWE spent so much effort in making the Raw & Smackdown season premiers feel like PPV’s that they forgot they had an actual PPV right around the corner. They really should give each PPV a month of breathing room so that there is plenty of time to promote and prepare. Every 2 weeks is just overkill.
Six-Man Tag Team Match
The O.C. vs The Viking Raiders & Braun Strowman
Man, they didn’t promote like all of these matches. I will go with the Viking Raiders & Strowman to win this one although I would prefer seeing The O.C. as the winners. For a moment there I thought they might be letting Balor join up with the O.C. and having the faction run all over the WWE. Balor is in NXT now, and I doubt that will be happening anytime soon if ever. It seems like they don’t have anything that great in the works for the stable that could be the most dominant thing running in the WWE. They ended it in a way that doesn’t hurt the O.C. as bad as a loss as they rushed Braun Strowman in the ring and gave him a beat down until the ref disqualified them. That means my pick was correct but not for the right reason. It does not count again though because they only promoted like half of this PPV.
Baron Corbin vs. Chad Gable
This is another that was not on the promotional page and I will have to go with Gable winning either clean or by disqualification. I don’t really get why they are continuing this rivalry after the KOTR tournament finished. I guess we will see what happens and then that should end this storyline. It ended with a clean win for Gable, I am all for it, but that does make their King of the Ring selection look pretty weak. I think that Drew McIntyre or Samoa Joe would have been so much better than Corbin.
Smackdown Women’s Championship
Bayley (c) vs Charlotte Flair
One of the four matches that we actually got a preview for, well la-dee-da. My choice for this match was Charlotte Flair and I still feel confident in that pick. We will see how it plays out, but it feels like Bayley’s time is up. I feel even more reinforced with that now that Sasha did not win. Of course, they could always go with an angle where Sasha comes out to help her retain and then stabs her in the back to get the belt later. Backstabbing is what Sasha does with Bayley, but I still feel like Bayley will lose clean in this one. I had this one right and Charlotte won with the Figure 8 for her 10th Women’s championship. It sounds like she is trying to match or surpass the record of her father at 16.
Charlotte Flair wins
Universal Championship (Hell in a Cell)
Seth Rollins (c) vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt
Yowie Wowie! It is time for the main event of the evening which has all the makings of an incredible match. I will be disappointed if The Fiend does not come out with the win on this one. Looking forward to seeing his entrance as it is truly a sight to behold. The whole arena has been bathed in red light for the entire match. it was mostly a one-sided beat down by The Fiend to Rollins but has turned into Rollins throwing more finishers than he has ever thrown at anything only to be kicked out at 1 each time. He even came at him with a chair shot to the head. When the fans thought Rollins was about to win they were booing very loudly, I will be very much with them on that if they let Rollins pull out this win somehow. He is still going at him with everything that he can at this time. The fans are pissed, I am pissed, they chose a pretty crap way to end this one. Apparently, there are rules in Hell in a Cell now and they disqualified Seth for using a sledgehammer, how stupid is that. When they were about to stretcher The Fiend out he came back and beat Seth down again. The fans came with a thunderous chant of restart the match as well as many AEW chants. WWE really screwed this one up big time. Everyone wanted the Fiend to win this one, but not by DQ in a freakin HIAC match. Has that even ever happened? UGH. Well, that will do it for tonight folks, that was a very sour way to end it and the fans could be heard booing the whole way out.
The Fiend wins by DQ Seth Rollins retains
I ended up with 2 right and 2 wrong on this one. I technically called the fiend to win so I guess that could be a correct guess also but screw that match! I refuse to claim that one as a win. Let me know how you did with your predictions and let me know your thoughts on the show below!
C. D. Kester 