Hell in a Cell 2018 Results and Recap: One Hell of a Ride

LaToya Ferguson
Braun Strowman, Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns (source: WWE)

With a new take on the demented structure and both Evolution and Super Show-Down on the horizon, WWE is once again ready to go straight to Hell.


The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E) (c) def. Rusev Day (Rusev & Aiden English), for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship (SmackDown LIVE) (Kickoff)

The champions are out first—with pancakes, of course—and they have some words to say about Fall. Kids back in school, foliage, and most importantly, pumpkin spice latte season. They also sing “RUSEV DAY” themselves, which has to offend Aiden English. Oh, it definitely does, because he interrupts New Day before they can also sing their own “little ditty” that they wrote just for this match. Then there’s a battle of the throat-clearing—a sentence that can only really make sense in the context of sports entertainment—before Rusev makes his official entrance and the match is underway. Sorry to everyone (especially Byron Saxton) who wanted to hear New Day’s ditty.

Aiden English and Kofi Kingston start things off, with Kofi quickly getting the advantage, so English lets “The Bulgarian Brute” tag in and dominate. Now Rusev Day are cooking with gas, quick tags in and out to take on Kofi, but Rusev mainly focuses on making sure Big E—who could actually be the big equalizer against Rusev—can’t be tagged in as well. But a major DDT out of nowhere turns the tide, as Kofi’s finally able to tag in Big E (and then Rusev tags English in as well). Big E gets English prone fairly quickly, but once Rusev is able to blind tag in, it’s finally all about the power vs. power dynamic that’s been on the horizon since it became clear Big E would be repping The New Day in this match.

From this point on, while Rusev (and Rusev Day, in general) is able to get quite the advantage, some failures to properly communicate—despite firing on all cylinders—between him and Aiden English tell the story for this match. The “RUSEV DAY” chants rise, then following a missed Machka Kick, English makes a blind tag that allows him to take out Big E and almost get the win. When New Day think they have the advantage again, Big E launching Kofi to the outside ends with Kofi eating a massive Machka Kick. But then, when they have Kofi right where they want him, English decides to call an audible and have Rusev go for a diving headbutt… which fails and takes Rusev out for longer than expected. English’s follow-up splash hits, but come crush time, he has to hit Rusev’s patented Accolade himself. And no offense to Aiden English, but an Accolade from him isn’t half as effective as an Accolade from “The Super Athlete.”

Rusev is eventually up—and gives a Machka Kick to Big E too, to save English—and asking for the tag so he can apply the hold properly, but English instead gets sent through the ropes by Kofi, and the same is true for Rusev when he tries to help. No tag ever connected, English is still the legal man when he eats a Trouble in Paradise from Kofi Kingston, and The New Day retain. A lot of miscommunication really prevented Rusev Day from getting the win, because they had this match in the bag a number of times.

You can watch the whole Hell in a Cell Kickoff Show here.


Randy Orton def. Jeff Hardy, in a Hell in a Cell match (SmackDown)

The first official match of the night is in the new Hell in a Cell structure, and while Randy Orton may be excited to destroy Jeff Hardy, “The Charismatic Enigma” is more focused on ticking something off his sports entertainment bucket list: competing in Hell in a Cell. Sure, he wants to put Orton away for all the pain he’s inflicted upon him recently, but he’s not going to ignore the artistry of this violent structure and match concept. These are two men who are willingly getting into Hell in a Cell without a sense of trepidation.

Hardy starts off hot and is actually the one to bust out the weapons first—with the trusty table as the first to enter the equation—which naturally ends up punishing the daredevil himself. Chairs and ladders soon come into play as well. But despite everything that’s happened between these two men, Hardy wants to win the match early. At least, that’s the case at first. Meanwhile, Orton takes pleasure in inflicting more pain upon Hardy, using the man’s belt as a weapon and eventually even household tools.

All while smirking his way around the Cell, even when he himself is suffering its effects. Somehow, hate fuels Orton to kick out after Hardy hits him with a Twist of Fate followed by a Swanton Bomb (with an assist in the form of a chair), and that only causes Hardy to focus on getting vengeance. That vengeance is what leads Hardy to make his big mistake in attempting to DELETE Orton once and for all: He hits another Twist of Fate, sets Orton up on a table, and then climbs a ladder. Then he climbs another ladder. Then he decides to dangle from the top of the Cell. And then he hits a major senton—right through the table itself, as Orton moves at the last second. Honestly, you might be able to say Jeff Hardy defeated himself, as his need to live for the moment and do something crazy truly ends this match.

After this moment, the referee wants to end match completely, but Orton tells him to do his job and count the three before he calls for help. Randy Orton wins, and Jeff Hardy ends up leaving the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view—enroute to a local medical facility—on a stretcher.


Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair (WWE)

Becky Lynch def. Charlotte Flair (c), for the SmackDown Women’s Champion (SmackDown)

According to the announce team, “Tonight, Becky Lynch finds out if it was all worth it.” And she does so against a woman—her former best friend—who, going into this match, is 18-2 in singles pay-per-view matches. The San Antonio crowd definitely thinks it’s been worth it, as they are very pro-Lynch. In fact, it’s not even a split crowd: They are 100% for Becky Lynch and 100% against Charlotte Flair.

The match begins with some early grappling, with both women going counter-for-counter and attempting to get an early advantage. They clearly know that the competitor who makes the first mistake will be in the worse position moving forward. Like Lynch turning a Figure Four attempt into a Disarm-her. And from that point on, Lynch absolutely dismantles Flair’s arm—she even busts out a Pentagon Jr.-esque armbreaker—while Flair does her best to go for Lynch’s leg.

Despite the amount of anger and resentment and frustration that has fueled this match’s existence in the first place, both women try hard simply to outwrestle each other—proof that it really is about who’s better. Lynch’s technical ability and resilience vs. Flair’s power and athleticism. And in the end, it’s Becky Lynch who’s able to outwrestle Flair, as she reverses a spear from Flair into a DDT and a pin attempt for the win.

After all is said and down, a teary-eyed Flair attempts to shake the new champ’s hand. It’s finally over, after all. But Lynch simply raises her title up and then leaves the ring.


Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre (c) def. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose, for the RAW Tag Team Championship (RAW)

Dolph Ziggler is probably at his most 1980s movie villain jock in this match, eventually mocking Rollins for being unable to tag Ambrose and just having a cockiness that is still unearned no matter how accomplished he is. Early on, he thinks he’s got the upper hand against Rollins, only for that to be a blatant falsehood. And while Ziggler and McIntyre are on a roll as of late, they’ve still got nothing on the tandem offense of Rollins and Ambrose. They’ve also kind of got nothing on this new, more aggressive Ambrose, which is why they have to rely on distractions throughout this match.

But these distractions really work, with the most frustrating one leading to the referee not seeing Rollins tag Ambrose in at a very crucial point in the match. However, once Ambrose does get in again, he’s on a roll, with the only problem at first being how difficult it is to get the Dirty Deeds on McIntyre. And eventually, you have Rollins dipping into the reserves to bust out his surprising strength against Ziggler, and it so very much looks like The Shield will hold all the gold they can in WWE. But in the end, Ambrose no longer has an answer to McIntyre on the outside, which allows McIntyre to save Ziggler from a Falcon Arrow… by hitting Rollins hard with a Claymore and basically placing a limp Ziggler for the cover. (He even has to carry Ziggler—along with the titles—out, post-match.)

Despite the disappointing ending, before the night is even over, this might just be the match of the night.


AJ Styles (c) def. Samoa Joe, for the WWE Championship (SmackDown)

When questioned about how he will be able to stay focused after everything Samoa Joe’s said and done—going back as far as before SummerSlam—AJ Styles says he’s already laser-focused. Because this is the house that AJ Styles built, no matter how much Joe huffs and puffs. (Get it? Because Joe’s telling fairytale stories all of a sudden? You get it.)

Also before the match, Joe’s “bedtime story” from SmackDown LIVE—“Night Night, AJ”—plays, just twisting the knife (but not the screwdriver) even more in the lead-up. This Styles defense lands on his 313th day as WWE Champion, and he shows just why he’s still the top dog of the blue brand by immediately bringing the fight to Joe. That’s right, there’s gonna be a fight tonight. But as it turns out, Joe’s basically baiting Styles into a false sense of security by taking all this punishment early on. And he strikes—hard—once things get comfortably to the outside. For the rest of the match, Joe’s freaky athleticism keeps getting the better of Styles, much more than any mind games.

Styles gets to that second gear first… only for Joe to catch up to him, busting out the knees as Styles hits the springboard moonsault; then it’s a barrage of moves, from a powerbomb, to a Boston Crab, to an STF, and then topping it all off with a crossface. The only thing that saves Styles after that is a foot on the rope. But somehow, that’s not enough to take Styles out, as he’s soon able to get Joe up (and down) with a rack bomb. But that’s still not enough. Neither is the springboard 450, and he can’t quite get the Styles Clash to lock in.

In the end, the finish is somewhat reminiscent of Shayner Baszler vs. Kairi Sane III at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV, as Styles gets a pin out of Joe’s (Coquina) Clutch. The difference is, Joe seems shocked when he hears “AND STILL…” That’s because, according to him, Styles tapped. And from the footage they show at first, it’s impossible to confirm. But from a different angle, it’s clear Styles tapped out before the referee made it to a count of three—a fact that also clearly surprises Styles.

Later in the night, Joe shows the footage of the tapout and yells at the referee responsible for this colossal error and Paige for having such a poor official employed in the first place. Joe wants his rematch immediately. While that’s not going to happen—it’ll be in three weeks, at Super Show-Down—it will be no disqualification, no countout, and there has to be a winner. There should probably be more than one referee also since that’s actually what the problem was here. (But multiple officials would probably just cause even more issues, you know?) But it looks like Samoa Joe is finally done talking about AJ Styles’ family.


The Miz & Maryse def. Daniel Bryan & Brie Bella (SmackDown)

According to the signs in the San Antonio crowd, this match is Team “NARUTO DORK” (Miz and Maryse, of course) vs. Team “YES MODE!” (Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella, who even have the official merchandise). And according to the match, while Maryse may look like she’s back in ring shape, she still refuses to stay in the ring and wrestle Brie for the majority of the action. She and Brie start things off… only for her to immediately tag Miz in. And when Miz is in with Bryan, Marye’s strategy is to distract their opponent by screaming “HEY!” It works though, so you can’t fault that choice. With the upper hand he has, Miz makes sure to mock Brie as he beats up her husband—even when she’s threatening to beat Miz in the face as a result—and that preoccupation allows Bryan to get in some punches and almost get in a YES Lock early (but Miz runs away, causing Brie to start a “COWARD” chant).

Brie eventually tags back in, so Maryse tags Miz right back in again… yet Maryse has no problem getting back in the ring to break up a YES Lock. And Brie has no problem chasing Maryse around the ring, to which Corey Graves claims, “Maryse is like a gazelle, she can’t be caught!” Touche—she’s not caught. Miz also continues to tease Brie with Bryan’s pain, but it comes back to bite him in the ass when Brie tags in and makes sure to punch the hell out of him before she baseball slides into Maryse (who ends up on the outside to run away from Brie—again). While the guys end up brawling on the outside, Brie finally gets her hand on Maryse in the center of the ring and even has her in a pin attempt, which Miz breaks up by dragging Brie away and sets Bryan off. Cue tandem YES Kicks and then Miz and Maryse attempting to just bail from the match.

Brie and Bryan get them back, and “BRIE MODE” gets going in the ring. Miz tries one more time to interfere, so Brie throws Maryse into him and then attempts to get the pin… but instead, Maryse reverses, pulls the tights, and wins the match. So: Mizanins: 2, Danielsons: 0.


Ronda Rousey (c) def. Alexa Bliss, for the RAW Women’s Championship (RAW)

You can read the full match recap here.


Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns (source: WWE)

Roman Reigns (c) vs. Braun Strowman, in a Hell in a Cell match for the Universal Championship went to a No Contest (RAW)

Earlier in the pay-per-view, Mick Foley attempted to give Braun Strowman a word of warning about how Hell in a Cell changes a person. (Doesn’t he know Strowman’s not a man—he’s a monster?) But Strowman really isn’t hearing it; he just wants Foley to stay out of his way and count the pins. “You don’t want a monster problem,” he “warns” Foley.

Come main event time, we’re reminded that Braun Strowman is the third person to cash-in their Money in the Bank contract in advance, following in the footsteps of Rob Van Dam (who succeeded, at ECW One Night Stand 2006) and John Cena (who failed, at RAW 1000). Meanwhile, Roman Reigns is undefeated in Hell in a Cell matches (having faced Bray Wyatt in 2015 and Rusev in 2016)… but his Money in the Bank cash-in defense streak sucks, thanks to Seth Rollins (WrestleMania 31) and Sheamus (Survivor Series 2015). So neither man exactly has the advantage when it comes to the stats. The only saving grace for both men is that you can’t fit a vehicle into the Cell. Or could you?

Right before the match begins, Strowman grabs the Universal Championship and tells Reigns to get used to seeing him with it. That essentially starts the match off hot, but Strowman ultimately ends up throwing Reigns around pretty soon into it, mocking the Universal Champion for the fact his Shield boys can’t get into the ring and help him this time. He even stomps on Reigns’ face like he’s stomping out a cigarette. Strowman naturally goes for the biggest weapon he can find—as soon as he goes for weapons—in the form of the steel steps, but Reigns is able to avoid them for a bit. So then Strowman moves on to a chair, as Reigns gets a kendo stick, which actually does no damage whatsoever to “The Monster Among Men.”

In fact, even when Reigns DDTs Strowman on to a chair, that only gets a one-count. Reigns spends the entirety of the match wondering what he has to do to put Strowman away, but this is not a one-way street: Strowman screaming “WHY WON’T YOU STAY DOWN, YOU MORON?!?” at Reigns reveals the monster’s own frustrations too. And once Reigns looks like he might actually have the answer to getting Strowman to stay down—a spear through a table—look who comes out to try and do something?

Strowman’s boys, Ziggler and McIntyre, after all that talk about Reigns being the one who needs the numbers advantage.  This causes Rollins and Ambrose to come out and make the save, and somehow, this ends up with all four men on top of the Cell. Ambrose even brings a kendo stick with him! He and McIntyre end up taking each other out up there, while Ziggler attempts to run away from Rollins by climbing down the Cell—just like he tried to run away from Rollins earlier by climbing up the Cell in the first place. But Rollins follows Ziggler down to keep him neutralized… and then both men end up crashing down to announce tables below.

But that’s not the end of the insanity, as Brock Lesnar’s music hits, and he’s out here—looking lean and mean—with Paul Heyman. I guess this is what Kurt Angle gets for refusing to let Lesnar have his guaranteed rematch at this pay-per-view, but really, this is on “Constable” Baron Corbin for not rectifying that situation as soon as he got the Acting General Manager gig.

Since the outside official won’t let Lesnar into the Cell, Lesnar lets himself in by kicking the door down. And Heyman handles Special Guest Referee Mick Foley—who does his best to stay impartial and not anger Strowman, except for that moment when he kind of accidentally counts to three and then tells Strowman it was only two—by pepper spraying him. As both Strowman and Reigns have been down since the spear-to-table, Lesnar is able to do whatever he wants. And he does, destroying them both with the remnants of the table, before F-5’ing Strowman and then F-5’ing Reigns into Strowman. And that’s the match. The only winner is Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman’s MITB cash-in has failed, and Drew McIntyre and Dean Ambrose are probably still on top of that Cell.


You can watch the entire Hell in a Cell 2018 pay-per-view on the WWE Network.

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