WWE Hell in a Cell (June 2022)

Original Airdate: June 5, 2022

From Chicago, Illinois; Your Host is Corey Graves, with Jimmy Smith and Byron Saxton (RAW) and Michael Cole (Smackdown)

Opening WWE RAW Women's Title Triple Threat Match: Bianca Belair v Becky Lynch v Asuka: First fall wins it. They work together to dump Becky at the bell, and Asuka lands a clothesline on the champion, but gets pulled out of the ring by Becky while running the ropes. Becky goes to the top, but Belair slams her off, and hooks the leg for two. They trade off, but Asuka returns to take both out, and she pinballs around with strikes on both. Asuka goes for the Asuka Lock on Belair, but Bianca counters to the KOD - Asuka able to block. Asuka gets a cross-armbreaker on, but Belair powers to a vertical base, and bucklebombs her to escape. Becky slams Asuka off the ropes onto Belair for two, and Lynch hits the champion with a somersault necksnap for two. Becky gives the champion a 2nd rope rocker dropper for two, and she goes for the Dis-Arm-Her, but Belair blocks. Becky responds with a suplex, so Belair bails, but Becky rolls her right back in. Becky goes up with a flying legdrop, but Asuka breaks the cover at two. That triggers a slugfest between the two challengers, and Asuka gets the better of it with a backslide for two. German suplex follows, and a running hip attack is worth two. Asuka Lock, but Becky counters with a victory cradle for two. Belair runs in for a KOD on Lynch, but Becky blocks, so Bianca drills her with a hanging vertical suplex instead. Belair piles them in the corner for a double ten-punch count, and they’re all so short that the spot looks legitimately silly. Belair slams them both down for a double handspring moonsault for two, and she takes Becky up for a superplex, but Asuka rushes over for the tower of doom spot. Belair blocks it, thankfully, since I’m crazy sick of that stupid cliche. Asuka takes everyone out with knees, and charges into both with a running hip attack, getting two counts on each. Asuka puts Lynch in an ankelock, so Belair rushes over with a kick, but Asuka catches it, and applies the hold to both simultaneously. That doesn’t go anywhere, and Asuka ends up getting dumped, leaving the others to slug it out. Belair hooks a schoolboy for two, but Becky gets the Dis-Arm-Her with the momentum of the kickout. Belair muscles into the KOD, but Becky holds the top rope to block. Becky tries a 2nd rope bodypress, but Belair rolls through, and hooks a small package for two. Becky comes back with a uranage, but Asuka breaks the pin at two. She tries another backslide on Lynch, but Becky blocks, and tosses Asuka over the top. That allows Becky to cover Belair, but Asuka breaks the pin at two again. Asuka German suplexes Becky again, but misses a running hip attack, and Lynch hooks a Dis-Arm-Her on the ropes. Belair saves, allowing Asuka a cradle on Lynch for two. Lynch comes back with a rollup for two, but winds up in the Asuka Lock! Lynch kicks off the ropes into a cradle for two, but Asuka keeps the hold applied anyway! Belair comes in to force a break, so Asuka tries hip attacking her, but gets dumped into the buckles to block it. Cover, but Lynch dumps Bianca to the outside. Lynch tries to steal the pin for herself, but Belair is having none of that, and tosses Becky to the outside so she can have her rightful pin on Asuka at 18:54. Hey, I liked that finish! The ‘steal the pin’ finish is such a cliche in these matches, and it’s nice to see them turn it on its ear. Actually, they were doing all sorts of things like that, like setting up (and then not delivering) the tower of doom spot, as well as avoiding the usual ‘one person takes a nap’ booking of these triple threats. A really good effort all around. *** ¾ 

Handicap Match: Bobby Lashley v Omos and Montel Vontavious Porter: MVP starts, and stalls. Tag to Omos without even making contact, and Omos no-sells stuff. He beats Bobby down long enough for Montel to come in with some stuff, before passing right back to Omos. Lashley manages to clip the leg of the giant, but Omos counters a suplex with a gourdbuster. Omos adds a snake-eyes and a clothesline, leaving Lashley limp in the corner. Omos with a pair of avalanches, and MVP tags in with a corner big boot that knocks Lashley over the top. Omos follows to blast Bobby through the barricade, but Lashley beats the count anyway. MVP welcomes him back with some mounted punches for one, and a kneedrop is worth two. Lashley fights back with a spear, but Omos breaks the pin. That draws Cedric Alexander in to distract Omos, and Lashley is able to spear the giant out of the ring. Full nelson on Porter, and good night at 8:22. The announcers putting it over like Lashley just won the world title is a bit much. Oh, and Omos continues to be unwatchable, in case you were wondering. ¼*

Kevin Owens v Ezekiel: Ezekiel looks like a Scott Putski tribute act. Owens charges right into a high knee, and Ezekiel is quick to capitalize with a nice flying elbowdrop for two. To the outside, where Ezekiel pounds him, and feeds Owens some apron, followed by a helping of announce table. Post, but Owens reverses, and Ezekiel takes a nice bump. Kevin with a DDT for two on the way back inside, and a senton splash is followed by a springboard moonsault for two. He works a chinlock from there, and a clothesline finds the mark when Ezekiel tries to escape. Cross corner whip, but Ezekiel reverses. He tries a charge, but hits boot, allowing Owens a tornado DDT for two. Owens with a flying somersault senton splash, but Ezekiel lifts his knees to block, and makes a comeback. Has anyone ever noticed that Ezekiel looks just like Elias? Someone should follow up on that. Ezekiel with a pair of corner splashes and a rotating spinebuster for two, Reversal sequence ends in Owens delivering a sitout powerbomb for two, but Ezekiel counters a stunner with a schoolboy for two. High knee sets up another dive, but Owens crotches him, and delivers a pair of superkicks. Cannonball finds the mark, and a nice stunner puts it away at 9:19. This was mostly decent, but the transitions were amateurish. * ¼  

Six-Person Tag Team Match: AJ Styles, Finn Balor, and Liv Morgan v Edge, Damian Priest, and Rhea Ripley: Ripley is looking more and more like Marilyn Manson every day. The women start, and Liv delivers a rana. Liv unloads in the corner, but runs into a headbutt, and Rhea suplexes her. Ripley with a vertical suplex, and a hanging version follows for two. Ripley with a corner whip to allow her to unload on Liv, but the referee steps in, giving Morgan the breathing room to deliver a 2nd rope dropkick. Tag to Edge, which necessitates a tag on the other side, and AJ takes it. Edge messes with him by tasking Priest with it instead, so AJ dropkicks him, and follows with a pele kick. Tag to Balor to work the arm, and he clips the leg with a dropkick to the knee. Finn cranks on the leg in the corner, so Edge distracts him, and Priest is able to knock Balor down. The heels work Balor over, cutting the ring in half, and boy do they do instant replays for the weirdest things. Balor fights Priest off long enough for the tag to AJ, and Roseanne Barr the door! Phenomenal forearm finds the mark on Edge, but Priest breaks the count at two, and apparently he does so with such force that Styles is left barely conscious. That was one hell of a break. Tag to the women, and Liv uses another rana, this time into a cradle for two. Crucifix gets two, but a dropkick misses, allowing Ripley a suplex. Riptide, but Morgan blocks, so Rhea shifts to a suplex instead, getting two. Back to the Riptide, but Liv blocks again, and tags Balor. That draws all the men in, and the babyfaces clean house, setting up a trio of dives. Balor goes for the kill on Priest, but Ripley shakes him off the ropes, and Priest chokeslams him. Edge adds a spear, but Balor is ready with a cradle for two, and a running dropkick puts Edge down. Coup de Grace, but Ripley blocks his path. Morgan takes her out, but the distraction allows Edge to dodge the dive, and a spear finishes Finn off at 15:55. As usual in these matches where gender mixing is prohibited, the women were just window dressing, and there was no need for them, as they couldn’t participate in the heat segment. It was basically just a tag match between the men, with each team having Sensational Sherri in their corner. *

No Holds Barred Match: Happy Corbin v Madcap Moss: They spill to the outside almost immediately, where Moss gets sent into the entrance set. Back down to ringside, Moss reverses him into the barricade, and then clotheslines Corbin. He grabs a chair, but Corbin blocks with a shoulderblock, and sends Moss into the announce table. Moss responds by chucking an office chair at him, which is quite the escalation, frankly. Moss chucks him into the steps next, but Corbin fights him off, and delivers a chokeslam on the way back in. Corbin goes to work with a chair, and a Deep Six gets him two. More chair abuse, but he runs himself into it in the corner, and Moss uses the chair. Moss delivers a DDT for two, and a shoulderblock sends Corbin over the top. Moss follows for a charge, but Corbin trips him up, and tries to decapitate him with a chair to show his pimp hand. That just pisses Moss off, however, and he fallaway slams Corbin into the steps. He follows by Pillmanizing Corbin’s neck, and you’d better believe that’s enough for a pinfall at 12:05. This was junk. ½*

WWE United States Title Match: Theory v Mustafa Ali: Theory works a wristlock to start, but Ali uses speed to escape, and Theory bails after eating a chop. Theory grabs a headlock on the way back in, but Ali forces a criss cross, so Theory barrels into him with a shoulderblock. Again, but Ali uses a headscissors takedown to block, and Theory bails again. Theory stalls to try and break the challenger’s momentum, but Ali blasts him with a baseball slide to prevent that. Ali adds a flying bodypress on the floor, but a charge ends badly when Theory pops him into the post. Inside, Theory hammers him, but gets distracted by the crowd, and misses a charge. That allows Ali to climb the ropes, but Theory shoves him out of the ring before he can dive, with Ali taking a bump on the floor. Theory rolls him back in for a corner clothesline, and a fallaway slam is worth two. Theory works a chinlock from there, but Ali manages a victory cradle for two, and a spinheel kick finds the mark. Theory tries a charge, but Ali isn’t having it, and criss crosses into a jumping forearm. Ali with a neckbreaker, and he lands a superkick for two, but hurts his knee in the process. Looked like he might have actually messed it up there. Ali climbs to the middle, but Theory brings him off with a Spanish fly for two, but Ali counters the pin with a crucifix cradle for two. Theory tries a fireman’s carry, but Ali blocks, and delivers a tornado DDT. Dive, but Theory crotches him, and brings him off with a fireman’s carry, but Ali blocks the move. Ali takes him down in an STF, but the champion makes the ropes to save his title. Theory bails to the apron, and snaps Ali’s throat across the top when the challenger goes after him, but still manages to get DDT’d on the way back into the ring. That allows Ali to climb with the flying 450 splash, but Theory dodges. Theory immediately clips the knee of the dazed challenger, and a fireman’s facebuster finishes at 10:23. The crowd was really into hometown boy Ali, so, of course, he has to do a clean job here. That’s just how these things work, you know? Solid match, though. ** ½ 

Main Event: Hell in a Cell Match: Seth Rollins v Cody Rhodes: Rollins is dressed like 1990 Dusty Rhodes to mess with Cody, and Cody… is also doing a Dusty tribute of sorts with a giant splotch on his body. Apparently, he has a dislocated pectoral muscle, which looks… gnarly. Not sure if it’s worked or not, but Seth goes after it right away regardless. Cody fights him off with a stunner, and puts him in a figure four, but Rollins whacks him in the pec with a kendo stick to escape. Seth launches him into the cell, but Rhodes fights back, and that injury is looking legit. I mean, you can paint it up with makeup all you want, but it’s hard to fake swelling like that. Rollins finds a weight belt to beat on Cody with, and a shot right to the pec gets him two. I get that Cody is consenting to all of this, but the poor guy looks like he’s literally dying in there. Seth brings a table in (which the crowd chants ‘thank you Rollins’ for, since they’ve been chanting for tables all night), and he tries a superplex through it, but Cody blocks. He tries a powerbomb through the table, but Seth blocks, and he puts Rhodes on the table. Rollins goes up with a flying frogsplash to drive him through it, but Cody rolls off, and Rollins goes through. Cody brings a bullrope in and challenges Seth to lash up, since apparently we’re turning this into a second gimmick match for good measure. Well, what’s more ‘Dusty’ than that? Rollins accepts the challenge, but gets crotched with the rope right away, and Cody bashes him with the cowbell for two. To the outside, Seth uses the rope to pull Rhodes into the post a few times, and he brings another table into the ring, leaning it in the corner. Bucklebomb, but Cody blocks, and lands a Crossroads for two. Cody tries a powerbomb through the table, but the pec is too battered, and Seth reverses it on him for two. Rollins finds a sledgehammer, but Cody kicks it away from him, so Seth tries a pedigree - only for Rhodes to reverse for two! Rhodes grabs the sledgehammer, but he’s too slow, and Seth knows it - suckering him into a chase, and delivering a curb stomp for two when Cody takes the bait. Another one, but Cody blocks. Crossroads, but Rollins reverses. He tries another, but now Rhodes reverses, and both men are left looking up at the lights. Rollins grabs the hammer as they stagger up, but Cody dodges, and delivers a pair of Crossroads. He grabs the hammer for himself, and knocks Seth silly for the pin at 24:19. I didn’t really like this. It was just kind of an average modern WWE Cell match, only with Rhodes fighting through a nasty legit injury as they work through the usual finisher reversals and dead zones between big spots. The injury makes for an interesting story, but where’s the artistry in selling actual pain? It’s still an impressive performance, no question, but the actual match was completely average aside from that, and the crowd seemed largely disinterested, aside from the biggest moments. * ¼ 

BUExperience: The opener is awesome, the rest less so. No world title match, only one title defended… but, hey, at least they used the Cell match the way the Cell match was meant to be used. That’s nice to see again. 

DUD