7 things that went wrong in Hell in a Cell

WWE Hell in a Cell pay-per-view entered its 10th year last Sunday, and even though the line-up didn’t include the likes of Finn Balor or Shinsuke Nakamura, it still had a stacked card full of talent, with a number of great matches that delivered on the night.

Follow Sportskeeda for the latest WWE news, rumors and all other wrestling news.

From Jeff Hardy’s attempted splash hanging from the roof of the Cell to the Raw Tag Team Championship match stealing the match of the night, there were a number of memorable moments that this event gave us.

Hell in a Cell has proved to be a strong contender for one of the best pay-per-views WWE has had this year.

However, taking the quality of the wrestling aside in this pay-per-view, there are a number of things that WWE got wrong at Hell in a Cell.

---

#7 Rusev Day not winning the Tag Team Championship

It would have been great if Rusev Day came out as champions

While The New Day’s popularity continues to soar since they first formed in 2014, the last 12 months have suggested that Rusev Day can give them a run for their money.

The thing that made Rusev Day unique is that they looked somewhat of a mismatch of a team.

With the extra addition of Lana supporting these two wrestlers, this stable could have given Titus Worldwide a few tips on becoming more noticeable.

The WWE Universe have already gone through the motions of their topsy-turvy relationship, developing a sympathetic side for Aiden English wanting to help but somehow always getting in the way.

Nevertheless, they were still popular and the Rusev Day fans were quick to make themselves known when they appeared, so a brief run as tag team Champions would have been the icing on the cake for this team before they eventually go their own ways.

What made matters worse after Rusev Day’s loss was the New Day’s announcement that they were planning to take on The Bar next, completely taking Rusev Day out of the picture.

Whilst Rusev Day may not have been as well-oiled a team compared to The New Day or The Bar, they proved at Hell in a Cell that they are a team that worked well enough to have some credibility as title holders.

Instead, we have now witnessed a somewhat premature break-up with English attacking Rusev.

#6 How Becky Lynch won the Championship

No problems with the end result - just the way it ended.

Despite being one of the hardest working female wrestlers in the WWE and one of the key players in the current women’s division to steer us into the future of women’s wrestling, Becky Lynch’s individual accomplishments on the main roster have left little to be desired despite being the first ever WWE Smackdown Women’s Champion.

If you add Lynch’s recent change in character in SummerSlam, anything other than Becky Lynch walking out of Hell in a Cell without the Championship would have been a major mistake, so at least WWE got the result right.

The issue lies with how Lynch won the Championship. While I don’t believe that every match needs to end with a finishing move, and the occasional fluke is always appreciated, this particular match ended very randomly.

Charlotte attempted a spear and Becky countered it with a pin, which Charlotte was unable to get out of. Considering that during the match Lynch’s sole focus was on Charlotte’s hand/arm, it was a bit of a disappointment that they had to end the match with a lucky counter.

Despite The Queen of Pay-per-views has a reputation to protect, Becky Lynch is a worthy contender in her own right and should have won in a much more convincing manner.

#5 Daniel Bryan losing again

The Miz is now 2-0 against Daniel Bryan

As stated in a previous article, the feud between Daniel Bryan and The Miz is one of the most interesting feuds in the WWE right now, with many fans still questioning if there has ever been any bad blood between the two behind the scenes over the years.

Due to the fact, The Miz had to use brass knuckles at SummerSlam, it ultimately led to a rematch which included their wives.

However, this match ended in similar fashion with Daniel Bryan being on the losing side again, but this time involving Maryse having to resort to dirty tactics to get a victory.

The problem with this result is that we can assume that Daniel Bryan and The Miz will probably feud one last time but this would be marked as a ‘dead rubber match’, where even if Daniel wins, he’d still be on the losing end of the scorecard.

The irony to the ending of this result is that if it was Brie Bella holding onto Maryse’s tights for the victory, it would have set the fans up for a deciding match with a stipulation to finally end the feud.

#4 The failure to put the WWE Championship match in the main event again

AJ Styles has yet to main event a co-branded pay-per-view in his current reign.

The WWE Championship is widely considered as the most prestigious title in sports entertainment due to the history and longevity this title has acquired over the years.

A title that has existed well over half a century (albeit with a fair few belt differentiations), this title has been won by only 51 different wrestlers, where a third of whom have already been inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame.

Furthermore, there are a plethora of legends that have never won this Championship including Mr. Perfect, Owen Hart, and Jake ‘the Snake’ Roberts to name a few, and with all of the accolades this belt has behind it, it is the most desired belt in all of WWE.

Or is it? If you actually look at the WWE pay-per-views in the last few years, you will notice that the WWE Championship has played second fiddle to the Universal Championship.

Since the Universal Championships’ inception just before SummerSlam 2016, the Universal Championship has been the main event in three out of the last five ‘big four pay-per-views’, whereas the WWE Championship last main evented a pay-per-view at Fastlane 2018, a pay-per-view exclusive to the Smackdown brand.

In fact, the WWE Championship has failed to main event any co-branded pay-per-view since the introduction of the Universal Championship.

Whilst one can argue that this pay-per-view made sense to have a Hell in a Cell match as the main event, this brings me to my next point…

#3 Samoa Joe and AJ Styles not contesting in a Hell in a Cell match

How could a match so personal not be in a Hell in a Cell match

Hell in A Cell matches have typically been implemented for one of two reasons: it involved a Championship title, or a feud so personal that it cannot be resolved through a normal match.

In the case of Samoa Joe and AJ Styles’ match, we had both! By his own admission, AJ Styles wears his heart on his sleeve, gets emotional in the ring and generally comes across as someone unable to control his temper.

However, out of all his rivalries he’s had since capturing the WWE Championship again, this rivalry is by far the most personal, with Samoa Joe almost immediately involving Styles’ family.

While it does make sense to not have more than two Hell in a Cell matches, it is hard to argue that this shouldn’t have been a Hell in a Cell match.

Even though it can be argued that the other two matches have their own reasons for fighting in such a destructive match, it’s hard not to think of what could be more personal than involving someone’s family. This brings me to my final point of this particular match…

#2 Ending the WWE Championship match in a controversial fashion…again

Another controversial ending for AJ Styles

AJ Styles’ current reign as WWE Champion is the twelfth longest in the titles’ history, and third longest in the last 23 years, is no small feat.

In comparison to his Raw counterpart, former Universal Champion Brock Lesnar throughout most of his reign, Styles has appeared on shows week in, week out and defended it at 10 of the last 11 pay-per-views, with the other one being a Raw Brand exclusive.

However, one thing that makes a small mark on Styles’ current reign is the way the majority of his results have ended.

SummerSlam ended in disqualification, Backlash ended in a double count-out, Extreme Rules ended with Aiden English inadvertently assisting Styles by exposing a turnbuckle, and at Royal Rumble, the match ended in Styles pinning someone who wasn’t the legal man.

The absolute last thing Styles needed was another controversial ending, yet unfortunately, this match ended with Styles tapping out before the referee counts to three, not seeing what happened in the middle of his count.

Although this result does give us at least one more match between these two exceptionally talented wrestlers, the fact that WWE has gone to the well too many times of a controversial/lucky ending with Styles results is tarnishing what should be a credible reign.

#1 Strowman not winning the Universal Championship

Strowman doesn't leave with the Championship

Prior to this match, in the history of all 20 Money in the bank winners cashing in, 17 of them have successfully walked away with their desired title.

If you take into account John Cena’s failed cash in attempt was due to interference from another wrestler, you can see how Braun Strowman being on a list which includes Damien Sandow and Baron Corbin is unfathomable.

Since Strowman has become exclusive to Raw as part of the WWE draft in 2016, he has constantly been stealing headlines and the show.

From pay-per-view, main events to causing backstage destruction, something usually exciting or insane happens every time we see Strowman.

The only thing that’s missing from his resume is a WWE major championship. Despite his ever-growing highlight reel, his accomplishments only include a Tag Team Championship he shared with a 10-year-old for one day, a pointless ‘Greatest Royal Rumble’ victory, and a Money in the Bank Contract win, which he has now failed to cash in.

While Lesnar’s return was unexpected, the fact of the matter is that the WWE Universe doesn’t care about Reigns/Lesnar anymore.

Whilst their feud gained a fair amount of interest in 2014, it is safe to say that the majority of the WWE Universe stopped caring as soon as Roman Reigns won the Elimination Chamber match, with WrestleMania 34, Greatest Royal Rumble and SummerSlam becoming very unpopular matches.

However, if Strowman had won the Championship and Lesnar interfered afterward, then the Championship would have another potential direction for the future than what we’ve come to know for the last six months.