WWE Hell in a Cell 2018: Results, Highlights and Grades

Photo Source: WWE.com

Universal Championship Hell in a Cell Match

Roman Reigns (c) vs. Braun Strowman; Mick Foley special guest referee

Result: No contest, because apparently that’s a thing in Hell in a Cell matches now

Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Not gonna lie, but the beginning of this match actually started to cause me to doze off. I spent much of the weekend in the car heading to (and from) a big state fair two states away. The Kickoff Show started at 6 p.m., and I walked in my door at 5:53. So I’m tired.

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Add to that the fact that the first ten minutes of the match were basically a greatest hits album from the long Reigns/Strowman feud, and there wasn’t a lot to keep my attention. Mick Foley’s bad counts were some of the most exciting things happening early on.

How about the fact that this match never really got out of second gear? The cell was mostly a non-factor — or it was at least less of a factor than it was for Hardy/Orton. There were some weapons being used but everything was just. so. darn. slow.

The most exciting part of the match was the attempted run-in by Ziggler and McIntyre, then Ambrose and Rollins. You knew someone was climbing up to the roof because the footholes cut into the cage were clearly visible during both HIAC matches. So for a good ten minutes, everyone ignored the two championship contenders actually competing in the match while four sidekicks brawled on top of the cage.

If things weren’t bad enough, Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman came down to the ring, and you know what? You know what happened, even if you weren’t watching the show tonight. What happens when Lesnar is around? He annihilates people. That’s what happened, because it’s literally been Brock’s only story for the past five years or so.

We had Heyman mace Foley, because why not? Lesnar broke the new cage, because Vince is going to need a reason to change the cell again. Brock laid out Reigns and Strowman, and caused a no contest in a match literally designed to force the competitors to go to extreme lengths to win. It’s insulting to everyone who watched this show to end it like that.

In our writer’s room chat group, the prevailing thread was that this was the most WCW finish of all time. The undercard was tremendously good, almost as a mea culpa for the garbage the main event brought. But you’re going to remember the last thing you saw, which was the two top superstars on Raw unable to continue a match that has no rules. It’s a horrible copout, and it destroyed an otherwise great show.

Aside from the load of trash in the main event, WWE Hell in a Cell 2018 mostly delivered. Until the Universal Title match went completely off the rails, it was a damn good show. What did you think?