One of the most anticipated pay-per-views year in and year out takes place Sunday when SmackDown presents WWE Hell in a Cell 2017. The event will be SmackDown’s first exclusive pay-per-view since July’s Battleground and features several standout matches.
WWE Hell in a Cell 2017 is led by two matches inside the most demonic structure in WWE history when Kevin Owens battles SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon and The New Day defends the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The Usos in the blue brand’s current longest-running rivalry.
The WWE Championship will also be on the line when Jinder Mahal defends his championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. Other matches at Hell in a Cell include A.J. Styles defending the United States Championship against Baron Corbin, Natalya defending the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Charlotte, Bobby Roode battling Dolph Ziggler, and Randy Orton battling Rusev.
The blue brand hopes Hell in a Cell turns out to be a big success and with the card it has lined up, all signs are pointing to a successful showing. There are also strong storylines involved with Hell in a Cell and these storylines will come to a head on Sunday.
The leading storylines surrounding Hell in a Cell are particularly intriguing and will be showcased heavily. With that being said, let’s take a look at the three biggest storylines heading into Hell in a Cell.
Smackdown. Photo by WWE.com
3. The New Day and The Usos’ Drive to Be the Best
By a lot of accounts, the two best tag teams in the WWE both reside on the blue brand. The New Day and The Usos have changed the game on SmackDown and their battles over the past few months have been as solid as any tag team feud the WWE has seen in years.
The teams’ feud that began when New Day came over to SmackDown from Raw in the superstar shakeup following WrestleMania 33 will come to an end Sunday at Hell in a Cell. And to add to the big-fight feel of this match, the teams will compete against each other inside Hell in a Cell.
This will be the first tag team Hell in a Cell match since 2009 and is a fitting way to end a memorable feud, at least for now. The most recent edition of SmackDown saw the focus between both The New Day and Ths Usos shift to a strive to be the best.
The in-ring promos did a great job of making the match feel even bigger and put just how great of a feud they have had into perspective. The main storyline in this feud has developed into simply a drive to be the best and both teams have proven over the past few months that they are arguably the class of WWE’s entire tag team division.
These teams will raise the bar to the highest-level Sunday night and could have a match of the year type of performance inside Satan’s prison.
Smackdown. Photo by WWE.com
2. Will Weeks of Insults Come Back to Bite Jinder Mahal?
Jinder Mahal’s reign as WWE Champion has been one of the most unexpected moves the company has made in a long time. And while a large part of the reason they decided to make Mahal champion has to do with tapping into the WWE’s Indian market, Mahal has been a solid heel champion.
His in-ring performances are far from perfect, but fans should expect a solid showing when Mahal defends the WWE Championship against The King of Strong Style Shinsuke Nakamura at Hell in a Cell on Sunday. Nakamura fell victim to the numbers game at SummerSlam and in defeat to Mahal, but his rematch comes Sunday with a chance to take the championship from the Modern-Day Maharaja.
Since becoming the number one contender again, Nakamura has been the target of poorly-told and borderline racist jokes by Mahal and the Singh Brothers on episodes of SmackDown and that has been the primary buildup towards this match. Mahal and the Singh Brothers have told joke after joke about Nakamura and those jokes might come back to haunt the WWE Champion at Hell in a Cell.
Mahal got the upper hand on the most recent edition of SmackDown and laid out Nakamura with the usual help of the Singh’s. But if the WWE has told us anything indirectly over the years, it’s that when a superstar goes into a pay-per-view with the momentum, that superstar will probably lose. And that added to the fact that Nakamura doesn’t lose very much might spell doom for Mahal’s title reign.
Will we finally see a changing of the guard at Hell in a Cell and will one of the most popular superstars in the company get his big break? We’ll find out on Sunday night.
Credit: WWE.com
1. Shane McMahon Fighting For His Family
The Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon feud has been months in the making and it will come to a head Sunday inside Hell in a Cell. KO and Shane O’Mac’s issues started out as allegations thrown out by Owens that Shane was trying to keep him down, but quickly became much more personal.
After feeling that he was robbed out of the United States Championship, Owens turned his frustrations to the SmackDown commissioner and made some very harsh statements towards Shane in the process. KO more or less called out Shane’s entire family and the two’s issues were just getting started. When WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon got involved, things were about to get even more personal.
Owens attacked Vince to send a message to Shane of what he could expect at Hell in a Cell and this incensed Shane O’Mac even more. This angle has a bit of a CM Punk summer of 2011 feel and Owens is the hottest heel in the WWE right now.
Pitting KO and Shane against each other inside Hell in a Cell with Shane defending his family name is a money match. Owens even said on the most recent edition of SmackDown that he plans on throwing Shane off the top of the cell and given Shane’s history with high-risk maneuvers, you can almost bank on something wild happening.
Next: 5 Takeaways From Oct. 3 SmackDown
Shane O’Mac defending and standing up for his family could lead to a classic encounter with Owens and whether the feud ends or continues past Hell in a Cell, these two will leave a big mark on Sunday.