Hell in a Cell 2018: Ranking each match by its probable quality

Hell in a Cell may be a C level pay per view event on the WWE calendar, but the company has seemingly stumbled into what looks like a great card for Sunday's show. For the Raw brand especially, it's a welcome development. With little bad on the card and a whole lot of good, it's definitely a show worth checking out. If the event is booked properly, Hell in a Cell could be one of the best main roster shows of 2018.

Eight matches have thus far been announced. We'll now look at the prospects of each one.

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#8 Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella vs. The Miz and Maryse

Dragged down.

Daniel Bryan and The Miz are very good professional wrestlers on their worst days. Their wives are much, much worse than that. This is ultimately what makes this match feel like a chore rather than something fans should spend time getting excited about.

Bryan and Miz will undoubtedly do most of the legwork in this contest, but at some point, their wives will get involved, and when that time comes, the quality of the match will dip dramatically. The less time Brie Bella and Maryse spend in the ring, the better. Hopefully, the match is appropriately short as well.

It's a microcosm that mirrors the feud between Daniel Bryan and The Miz in general. The involvement of Brie Bella and Maryse after SummerSlam has cooled the story off by a substantial margin. Now it already feels like Bryan and Miz need a break from each other, even when fans were beforehand eagerly anticipating a match between them for two years. With a faceoff at Super-Showdown, an immediate pause in the rivalry is unlikely, but hopefully, their wives will be gone from the angle after Sunday.

#7 Ronda Rousey vs. Alexa Bliss

Unnecessary filler.

Alexa Bliss doesn't need to be here, especially after the way she was demolished at SummerSlam. WWE was smart in booking that contest to be one of the year's most one-sided bouts, but it doesn't appear the company will be as smart this time.

Ronda Rousey is selling a rib injury for a reason. Seeing her sell for Alexa Bliss on Sunday is going to be very, very awkward. Hopefully, that won't last for too long.

Rousey is a natural at this, but if the contest is more than a squash, she'll have a tough task ahead of her. Asuka, Charlotte, Becky, Sasha, and Bayley have all failed to carry Alexa Bliss to a notable match. If this goes on for longer than a few minutes, it's almost guaranteed to be a drag.

#6 The New Day vs. Rusev Day

It won't be a happy Rusev Day.

Ranking the matches now gets tougher. Each of them should be good at worst, which makes deciding harder. This is probably the worst of a good bunch.

There's no way that New Day is in danger of losing on their first title defense, much less to Rusev Day. Still, this should be a nice contest. The New Day always delivers in these tag team title situations, and Rusev Day is a reliable team of opponents for them, even if they aren't quite on their level in the Ring (Aiden English in particular).

The biggest intrigue about this match is if it helps to lead to Rusev Day's breakup, but that would be unwelcome.

#5 Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy

Showdown.

Jeff Hardy's recent body of work has been solid, but unspectacular. Randy Orton's heel turn has reinvigorated him, but his recent track record doesn't equal his peers on the night, either.

Thankfully, this match will have the cell to make up for any weaknesses in the performances of the two men, even if it doesn't quite deserve the stipulation. We can expect Hardy to take at least one crazy bump, while Orton will have a ton of toys to play with to amp up his sadistic side. It should definitely be worth a watch.

#4 Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre vs. The Shield

This should be a fight.

Convoluted as the Shield's reunion on Raw has been, this is the kind of match that the Raw Tag Team titles needed. At this time last year, Ambrose and Rollins were tearing up the tag team division with their recent reunion. There's no reason to expect otherwise this time, and in Ziggler and McIntyre, they have a formidable team of opponents.

For the sake of Raw, it's imperative that McIntyre and Ziggler retain, but regardless of booking, this is going to be a highly intense and enjoyable fight.

#3 Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch

Here we go!

This is what the "women's revolution" was always supposed to be about.

Becky Lynch is finally returning to pay per view in a singles match after nearly two years. It should be her most intense one yet as she finally gets her title shot against the woman who took what should have been her victory last month.

Charlotte is woefully miscast as a babyface and that's going to be apparent on Sunday, but this is going to be an intense and technical contest that will be well worth the watch, regardless of who wins.

#2 Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman

Here we go again.

This angle has been horrible, in stark contrast to their excellent feud last year. It's at that point that we should remember that these two have great chemistry together. They've been involved in almost every kind of match except for this one and there's certainly intrigue in seeing them inside the cell for the first time. For two people that tried to murder one another multiple times last year, a Hell in a Cell match should be a natural environment.

Reigns is miscast as the babyface here and again, that's going to be apparent on Sunday, but it shouldn't take away from the contest itself so long as it isn't an overbooked mess. WWE must avoid trying to make Roman Reigns a sympathetic figure.

And hopefully, Mick Foley's presence is benign and doesn't detract from the match for some kind of overbooked angle.

Absent overbooking, this should be great.

#1 AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe

Why no cell?

Last month, these two delivered one of the main roster's few match of the year candidates, despite the screwy finish. There's no reason to expect they won't do so again, now that the feud has gotten even more personal.

Why this match isn't taking place inside the cell is beyond me. It's the main roster's most intense angle at the moment and it feels like it isn't getting its due.

Even so, absent overbooked shenanigans, this should be the easy match of the night, regardless of who wins.