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Why WWE Hell in a Cell 2015 Could Be Lackluster Pay-Per-View

By Brandon Carney

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Has WWE done a poor job building up to Hell in a Cell?

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After a little over a month of build-up, WWE Hell in a Cell is almost upon us, but it feels like something is missing. For some reason, Hell in a Cell just doesn’t feel like a pay-per-view that fans are compelled to be invested in. Why is that? Well, WWE has done a horrible job of building up to this Sunday’s PPV, and that could lead to a lackluster show overall.

I’m not going to say Hell in a Cell will definitely be a dud, because if WWE has taught us anything, it’s that anything can happen (other than John Cena losing clean more than once a year). So maybe a big return saves the show. Maybe Daniel Bryan returns and defeats John Cena for the United States Championship. Maybe The Rock does. Maybe Finn Balor makes his grand entrance and debuts in front of a packed crowd, taking Cena’s title in the process. Sounds great right? Unfortunately, that’s all speculation on my part.

ALSO ON DAILY DDT: Ranking All 30 WWE Hell in a Cell Matches

If we base our expectations strictly off of what WWE has advertised, then Hell in a Cell, quite frankly, could be boring.

First, let’s dive into what makes PPVs so interesting today. The title matches. Aside from John Cena’s U.S. Open challenge, titles are rarely defended on Raw or SmackDown. And when they are, the challenger has almost no chance of actually winning the match. So that’s why we wait for PPVs, because we actually have a good chance of seeing a title or two change hands. But that is where WWE went wrong here. The matches they have given us leave no sign that any titles have a chance to change hands.

Let’s go down the list. The New Day could theoretically lose their titles to the Dudleyz, who are pursuing their 10th reign as champs, but it definitely doesn’t seem like a smart move. New Day are one of the hottest attractions in the company right now, so taking the titles off them for a second time would be a mistake.

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    • On to Charlotte. After Nikki Bella’s 301-day title reign, she gets her rematch. Although the Divas Revolution has been somewhat stale lately, WWE surely will not put the title back on Nikki Bella if they want to have any chance of reviving the divas division. Nikki wasn’t a bad champion, but pinning the title back on her during a time where change is being emphasized seems counter-intuitive.

    Then we have Kevin Owens. The Intercontinental Championship has been to hell and back, as all of its glory was seemingly lost after everyone holding it kept getting injured. Now that the title is finally in the hands of someone who can not only do it justice, but is also one of the best overall superstars in the company, WWE will not take it off of Owens after just one month.

    And of course, Seth Rollins. At this point it’s pretty clear WWE wants to keep the title on Rollins until WrestleMania. As fun as the split-personality Kane storyline has been, the aging superstar has no real chance of winning the title.

    The only match where a title change seems likely is John Cena vs the mystery opponent. With Cena rumored to be leaving WWE for a little while, it’s unlikely that he would bring the title with him. This is the one match that can be truly advertised as must-see for WWE fans, based solely on all the different directions WWE could go with it.

    Aside from the title matches, the other rivalries seem to be burnt out. Although I’m looking forward to Lesnar vs. Undertaker, and it’s being advertised as the last stop in Brock’s “Go to Hell Tour”, it seems like the build-up was mainly based on what happened at SummerSlam. That was 2 months ago.

    As for Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns, this thing just needs to end. It was fun for a while since they are both super talented guys who don’t have much else going on, but man, this thing has gone on since WWE Money in the Bank back in June. Since then it’s just been different tag matches involving the Wyatts, Reigns, and Ambrose. Now we finally have the two alone in a cell to settle the score. It will be a good match, but the build-up has been the same for months. It’s just “Anyone but you” and then “Yeah but I’ll beat you, believe that.” Hopefully this is the last stand for this feud.

    Hell in a Cell could be good. Like I said, there’s no telling who could show up, or what unpredictable match endings could happen. But based solely on what we’ve seen the last month or so leading up to this PPV, it seems like it could be one of the more disappointing PPVs of 2015.

    Next: Latest on Lesnar vs. Undertaker at Hell in a Cell

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