WWE Hell in a Cell (October 2012)

 

Original Airdate: October 28, 2012

From Atlanta, Georgia; Your Hosts are Michael Cole, Jim Ross, and John Bradshaw Layfield

Opening Match: Randy Orton v Alberto Del Rio: Orton blitzes him at the bell, and Del Rio ends up on the outside, taking a smash into the announce table, then the post. Inside, Orton keeps the hurt coming, but Del Rio gets holds of the arm, and grounds him in a hold. Randy slugs free in the corner, so Del Rio hooks him in a hanging cross-armbreaker, then chucks Randy shoulder-first into the post. Del Rio with a single-arm DDT for two, and he continues working the arm with zeal. Orton buys tide with an inverted headlock backbreaker for two, and the rope-hung DDT follows. He looks for the RKO, but Del Rio counters with a lungblower for two. Orton manages a snap powerslam for two, but Del Rio fights him off in the corner. He tries a dive, but then just lands on his feet, and it looks like they crossed wires there, or something. Looked bad. Orton tries for the RKO, but gets blocked again, and Ricardo swipes at the bad arm. That allows Del Rio to get the cross-armbreaker on, but Randy escapes, and lands the RKO at 12:38. Good psychology, good selling from Orton, but I just didn’t connect with it. *

WWE Tag Team Title Match: Kane and Daniel Bryan v Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow: The challengers won a tournament to get this shot. Bryan and Sandow start, and Bryan dominates. Tag to Kane for a seated dropkick, but Sandow bails, tagging Cody. Kane gives him a shining wizard for two, and a corner clothesline leads to tag to Bryan for a combo. Daniel unloads on Cody for a bit, but a tag to Kane ends badly, and the heels work him over. ‘Kane taking a heat segment’ was not on my bingo card for today. Tag to Bryan, but he doesn’t run wild, and instead gets worked over. Bingo. Kane gets the hot tag, and Roseanne Barr the door. The champs have it won, but squabble over who gets to score the pin, and blow it. Everyone ends up on the outside, and Bryan accidentally nails Kane with a dive from the apron. That leads to Kane flipping out, and he gets disqualified at 13:00. Too long for what it was, especially with that finish. ½*

WWE Intercontinental Title Match: Kofi Kingston v Miz: Kofi dominates early, but runs into a big boot while trying some speed on the outside. Inside, Miz hooks the leg for two, and he goes to a chinlock from there. Miz with a flying axehandle for two, but Kofi blocks a charge with a clothesline, and throws a dropkick, then a jumping clothesline. Kofi lands the Boom Drop, but Miz bails to avoid Trouble in Paradise. Kofi chases him back in and schoolboys for two, then hits a springboard flying bodypress for two. A reversal sequence ends in Kingston landing the SOS for two, but Miz swipes at the leg, and goes to work on it. A half crab looks to finish, but Kingston finds a cradle for two. Miz cuts him off with a DDT for two, but Kofi hooks a victory cradle for two. Trouble, but Miz ducks. He tries for the Russian facelock, but Kofi blocks, and lands Trouble at 10:20. Solid work, but like the opener, I just couldn’t make a connection with it. * ¼ 

WWE United States Title Match: Antonio Cesaro v Justin Gabriel: Cesaro with a takedown right away, and he schools the challenger a bit. Justin tries flying around, but Cesaro dumps him over the top to stop that game, and the champ follows to drop him on the apron out there. Back in, Cesaro delivers a legdrop for two, and he hammers Gabriel with mounted punches for two. An uppercut to the back of the head gets two, so Cesaro goes to a modified chinlock, and a fallaway slam gets him two. Cesaro with a pair of double stomps for two, and he goes to a waistlock from there, but Justin escapes, and lands a spinkick to allow him to make a comeback. Gabriel with a flying moonsault for two, but Cesaro throws a clothesline to cut him off, for two - the lateral press reversed by Justin for two. Cesaro unloads on him in the corner to take the pep out of his step, but Justin comes back with a tornado DDT for two. Justin goes up with a flying 450 splash, but Cesaro dodges. Justin keeps coming with (a sloppy) sliced bread for two, so Cesaro bails, but Gabriel is on him with a baseball slide, followed by a springboard - only to land on an uppercut from the champion. Cesaro rolls him back in for the Neutralizer at 7:20. This was okay. **

The Prime Time Players v Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara: Darren Young and Sin start, and Darren schools him on the mat. Sin comes back with a headscissor takedown, and he passes to Rey, who uses a snapmare to set up a combo for two. 619, but Young counters with an overhead suplex, and he passes to Titus O’Neil. The Players go to work on Rey, but he slips out of the heel corner, and gets a tag. Sin comes in hot on Titus, and a springboard flying bodypress gets him two. He tries another dive, but Titus catches him this time, and delivers a three-alarm no-release backbreaker. Tag to Young for a saito suplex for two, and the Players cut the ring in half on Cara, until he fights off Titus, and hot tags Rey. Rey runs wild on Young, and a tornado DDT gets him two. In come the partners, and Roseanne Barr the door. Rey hits a 619 on Young, setting up a flying splash at 12:19. Competent work. *

World Heavyweight Title Match: Sheamus v Big Show: Show knocks him around early, and a sidewalk slam gets the challenger two. Show keeps destroying him, until Sheamus finally gets something off, in the form of a slingshot shoulderblock. Sadly for him, Show cuts him off with a big boot for two, and he works a bearhug from there. Sheamus tries slugging free, but Show hits him with a pump-splash for two, and a chokeslam gets him two. Sheamus goes into comeback mode, and muscles through a Samoan drop for two, but walks into a knockout punch for two. Show goes for a second one, but Sheamus counters with the Brogue kick for two. Sheamus goes for a second one now, but this time Show counters with the punch at 20:13. Solid story, and they made a real effort, but this was just too long. In particular, the first act with Show dominating went on for some ten minutes, and it dragged. Drop five minutes, and this is a pretty decent match. *

WWE Divas Title Triple Threat Match: Eve Torres v Layla v Kaitlyn: First fall wins it here. Both challengers gang up on Eve to start, but things break down after Layla tries to score the pin. Would it really kill them to switch up that formula just a little bit, like, ever? Layla and Kaitlyn trade cradles until Eve recovers and attacks. Eve jumps Layla out so she can isolate Kaitlyn, and the champ works the leg. Layla recovers to end that effort, and everyone trades off. The finish comes as Eve breaks up a pin attempt from Kaitlyn, and covers Layla at 6:25. DUD

Main Event: WWE Title Hell in a Cell Match: CM Punk v Ryback: Punk stalls at the bell, and then tries sticking and moving, but Ryback no sells him. Ryback gets hold of him and goes to town, and Punk is in trouble. Punk finally gets some traction with a series of flying axehandles, but a third one gets caught, and Ryback railroads him into the corner for another pounding. Punk fights back with a spinheel kick, and he knocks Ryback to the outside for a tope into the cell wall. Punk with a neckbreaker on the floor, and he gets a sleeper on as they head back in, but Ryback escapes. Punk dodges a charge from the challenger, and delivers a kneesmash, followed by a short-clotheslne. Punk goes up with a flying elbowdrop, and he grabs a kendo stick to unload on his challenger with. Ryback absorbs the shots and makes a comeback, and a lariat nearly takes Punk’s head off. A muscle buster looks to finish, but the referee (Brad Maddox, in his first WWE role) hits Ryback down low, and Punk topples him at 11:19. This was a solid one note type match, but the finish was goofy as hell for a pay per view. ¾*

BUExperience: A few decent matches, but no standouts, and I found it pretty uninteresting.

DUD