WWE Hell In A Cell 2018: Ranking the most likely title changes

The latest WWE pay-per-view, Hell In A Cell 2018, is just around the corner, which means it’s time to take our monthly look at the most probable title changes that we could see at the event.

Last month’s PPV, SummerSlam, featured 13 matches and a total of four title changes, including Roman Reigns’ long-awaited Universal Championship triumph against Brock Lesnar.

Looking ahead to Hell In A Cell, the Intercontinental and United States Championships have been largely ignored on WWE programming over the last month, so Sunday’s show will only feature six title matches.

From the Raw brand, Reigns will put his Universal Championship on the line against Braun Strowman in a Hell In A Cell match with Mick Foley as the special guest referee, while Raw Women’s champion Ronda Rousey will face Alexa Bliss and new Raw Tag Team champions Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre will defend their titles against Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose.

From the SmackDown Live brand, Samoa Joe will get another opportunity at AJ Styles’ WWE Championship, Becky Lynch will go one-on-one with SmackDown Women’s champion Charlotte Flair, and Rusev Day will challenge SmackDown Tag Team champions The New Day.

In this article, let’s take a look at the most probable title changes we could see on Sunday, ranking them from least likely to most likely.

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#6 Raw Women’s Championship

Ronda Rousey dismantled Alexa Bliss last month

After giving Alexa Bliss the most one-sided defeat of her WWE career at SummerSlam, there’s no way that Ronda Rousey is walking out of Hell In A Cell without the Raw Women’s Championship.

It has been widely speculated that “The Baddest Woman On The Planet” will go on to have a title feud with Nikki Bella after Sunday’s event, while Bliss is already confirmed to be facing WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus at the first women's PPV, Evolution, on 28 October.

Chances of a title change: Zero

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#5 SmackDown Tag Team Championship

Rusev Day are yet to hold the tag titles

The New Day became WWE tag champs for the fifth time when they defeated The Bludgeon Brothers for the SmackDown Tag Team titles in August, so it would be a surprise to see their latest reign end in less than a month.

Rusev and Aiden English wouldn’t look out of place as champions – they’ve been in the tag title mix for the last nine months – but it doesn’t seem realistic for a title change to occur just yet, especially when you consider that The Bar are being advertised to challenge The New Day for the championships at Super Show-Down on 6 October.

Chances of a title change: Very unlikely

#4 Universal Championship

This match will be Braun Strowman's Money In The Bank cash-in

Braun Strowman will receive his fourth pay-per-view opportunity at the Universal Championship when he steps inside Hell In A Cell for the first time in his career against Roman Reigns on Sunday.

The peculiar addition of Mick Foley as the special guest referee makes this match less predictable than it seemed when it was first announced, but all signs still point to a Reigns victory and a lengthy reign with the Universal Championship for "The Big Dog".

Chances of a title change: Unlikely

#3 SmackDown Women’s Championship

Becky Lynch betrayed Charlotte Flair at SummerSlam

Judging by the fan reaction to Becky Lynch over the last few weeks, she is destined to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship from former best friend Charlotte Flair at some point over the next couple of months.

The early rumours suggest that this heated rivalry will continue at least until the first women’s PPV, Evolution, in October, so it seems unlikely that Becky’s long-awaited title victory will come in the first of multiple matches between the two women.

Chances of a title change: Possible but unlikely

#2 WWE Championship

Samoa Joe won via disqualification against AJ Styles at SummerSlam

AJ Styles has held the WWE Championship for almost 10 months, defeating Superstars including Jinder Mahal, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura to become the longest-reigning holder of the title in SmackDown history.

Samoa Joe is a worthy next holder of WWE’s most prestigious championship, which makes it believable that he could win the rematch on Sunday, but Styles still has possible title feuds with Daniel Bryan and The Miz to come in the future, so “The Phenomenal One” remains the favourite to walk out as champion.

Chances of a title change: Possible but unlikely

#1 Raw Tag Team Championship

Seth Rollins is already the Intercontinental champion

The Raw Tag Team Championship storyline has suddenly changed ahead of Hell In A Cell, with The B-Team and The Revival no longer in the picture and Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler set to defend the titles against Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose.

WWE’s last-minute change of priority in the tag division before the PPV has some people believing that Drew & Dolph are simply transitional champions and that the Shield members could be pencilled in to win the titles, meaning that the three “Hounds of Justice” will hold all four of Raw’s male championships.

As it stands, Drew & Dolph are still considered slight favourites to leave the PPV as champs, but this is the one match on Sunday which has the most potential for a title change.

Chances of a title change: 50/50