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TD Garden – Boston, MA – Sunday, October 30, 2016
Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, and Corey Graves are on commentary.
~MATCH #1~
United States Champion Roman Reigns defeats Rusev at 24:35 in a Hell in a Cell match to retain the title. Reigns has been the Champion since 9.25.16, and this is his second defense. This is Rusev’s first time in the Cell, while Reigns is making his second appearance after a victory over Bray Wyatt last year. This is also the first time the United States Title has been contested inside the Cell. Reigns uses his cell experience to control the early going. Rusev’s arm gets cut open, but he doesn’t let that deter him from his plan of attack. The steel steps and a kendo stick get brought into the ring to further increase the brutality. Rusev controls a bulk of the match, using any and all weapons at his disposal, including a chain-assisted Accolade on top of the steel steps. Reigns powers out and drops Rusev on the steel steps with a Samoan Drop. Rusev stands up on the steps and Reigns crushes him with a Spear to get the pin. There was some good brutality in this one, but it just ran too long. If they cut six-eight minutes out this could’ve been really good.
Rating: ***¼
~MATCH #2~
Bayley defeats Dana Brooke at 6:30. Dana defeated Bayley a few weeks ago on RAW, and now they’re wrestling again. This is why the writing team gets paid the big bucks folks. Bayley is energetic in the early going, so Dana uses her power to slow her down. Bayley makes the comeback and hits the Bayley-to-Belly Suplex to get the pin. Dana is greener than grass, but they kept this short and it was fine. I mean that in the “I only paid $9.99 for the Network so I’m not bothered by these matches on PPV anymore.”
Rating: **
~MATCH #3~
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson defeat Big Cass & Enzo Amore at 6:40. Enzo controls the early going but the Club double-teams the Certified G to take the advantage. Yadda yadda yadda, Cass get the hot tag and he’s a house afire. The referee loses control and the Club gets rid of Cass. Moments later, Anderson and Gallows hit Enzo with the Magic Killer to get the win. Fine, tv-style match there.
Rating: **¼
~MATCH #4~
Universal Champion Kevin Owens (w/ Chris Jericho) defeats Seth Rollins at 23:09 in a Hell in a Cell Match to retain the title. Owens has been the Champion since 8.29.16, and this is his second defense. Rollins took a powerbomb on the apron last week on RAW, so he’s coming in with an injured back. He controls the early going, hoping to end the match quickly. Owens withstands the early onslaught and takes control, wisely targeting Rollins’s back. The champion and the challenger battle back and forth, and when Owens uses a fire extinguisher he accidentally sprays the referee with it. Another referee comes down and opens the door to check on his fallen comrade, and Jericho sneaks in and locks himself into the cell with the competitors! Rollins fights him off, and moments later powerbombs Owens through two tables at ringside. Awesome spot there. But then Jericho continues getting involved and it becomes every other match ever. Jericho brings chairs into the match, and Rollins almost fights off both Owens and Jericho. Owens fights back and hits a DDT onto the chair, and then powerbombs Rollins through two side by side chairs to get the pin. This was going along okay and then Jericho interfered and it all went downhill from there. Big disappointment.
Rating: ***
~MATCH #5~
Brian Kendrick defeats WWE Cruiserweight Champion TJ Perkins to win the title at 10:29. Perkins has been the Champion since 9.14.16, and this is his second defense. The buildup to this feud was Kendrick asking Perkins to lay down for him because he needed it more. There might be an interesting story in there somewhere, but the promos were pretty bad and they didn’t really give the angle any depth. Kendrick controls a bulk of the match, working slowly and keeping Perkins grounded. Perkins pulls out the occasional offense, but Kendrick repeatedly cuts him off. Kendrick tries Sliced Bread #2 and appears to have injured himself on the landing. Perkins, like an idiot, buys it and checks on his former friend. Kendrick blasts him with a headbutt and then locks on the Captain’s Hook to get the tap-out win and the title. I like both these guys but the match was dull and the finish was weak.
Rating: *¾
~MATCH #6~
Cesaro & Sheamus defeat RAW Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) (w/ Kofi Kingston) by disqualification at 10:58. New Day have been the Champions since 8.23.15, and this is their seventeenth defense. The challengers control the early part of the match and show some impressive teamwork despite this being just their fourth match as a unit. Basically, when Woods is in the match the challengers are on offense, and when Big E is in it’s the opposite. Woods does hit his swank flying elbow drop from the top rope but Cesaro kicks out at two. The referee loses control and the tag rules go out the window. Cesaro traps Woods in the Sharpshooter, while Sheamus fights Big E on the floor. Sheamus grabs Francesca and Kingston comes to her aid with the Trouble in Paradise, and the ref sees it and calls for the disqualification. Good chemistry between these teams and a creative finish to keep the feud going. I have no issues.
Rating: ***
~MATCH #7~
Charlotte Flair defeats RAW Women’s Champion Sasha Banks in a Hell in a Cell Match to win the title at 21:59. Banks has been the Champion since 10.3.16, and this is her first defense. Both women get super special entrances, further highlighting the fact that this is the first time ever that a women’s match has main evented a pay-per-view. Charlotte attacks Sasha before the bell and before the cell comes down, and they end up fighting into the crowd. They brawl around ringside and Charlotte delivers a vicious powerbomb through the announce table! This is all before the match has even started. Officials take Sasha out on a stretcher and JoJo is about to announce Charlotte has won the title via forfeit, but Sasha gets up and she wants to fight! The bell rings and here we go!
Sasha is fired up and beats on Charlotte for the first few minutes, but her back is in bad shape and Charlotte quickly takes advantage of that fact. Charlotte is absolutely brutal in her attacks, and frequently cuts Sasha off when she tries making comebacks. Sasha fights valiantly but every time she tries to turn it around it can’t last due to her bad back. They fight both inside the ring and around ringside, using the cell and a steel chair. Late in the match a table gets introduced, but oddly it doesn’t get broken. Somewhat out of nowhere, Charlotte hits Natural Selection to get the pin and win her third RAW Women’s Championship. This was an outstanding match, and the competitors made it feel like they hated each other and needed to win the Championship, which isn’t always the case in today’s WWE. I’m only a little disappointed in the finish – it felt flat, and seems like Charlotte hasn’t finished anyone with that move in a while. Plus, it didn’t really play into all the back work she did. Still, a really good main event here.
Rating: ***¾
A2Z Analysiz
The first two Cell matches were fine and the third one was very good but short of great, so this show is a definite disappointment. Aside from that, the undercard was pretty not good, and provided nothing you can’t see on a normal episode of RAW. The main event is worth watching, take a pass on the rest.
