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

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SmackDown Women’s Championship Match

Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Becky Lynch

Result: Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte Flair via pinfall to become the NEW SmackDown Women’s Championship

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Coming immediately on the heels of a tremendous show-opening Hell in a Cell match, Charlotte and Becky had their work cut out for them. It was a very different match than what came before it, but it was just as good.

From a wild, all out brawl with broken bodies everywhere, the show pivoted to a mat-based affair. Lots of submission attempts by both champion and challenger, which makes sense with both superstars utilizing submission moves as their finisher.

Becky’s limb work was especially on point — the hammerlock is such an underrated move, and she spent nearly the entire match working it into her offense. And wisely, Becky tried to damage both arms as opposed to just one. Depending on ring position, you might need to lock up one side instead of the other. It’s just planning ahead.

There were a few strange moments: Becky’s apparent missile dropkick off the top rope looked like the classic “jump into nothing” so many superstars have attempted, only to be RKO’d into oblivion. A few of the transitions seemed a little wonky, too — nothing major, but if you’re following a great match, any slight little flaw ends up standing out.

But it didn’t take away from the match one bit. My only real complaint is the finish disregarded all the storytelling from early on. Why have both superstars work towards a submission only for the finish to come from a surprise roll-up? Imagine watching a movie about killer sharks, and at the end of the third act it turns out that sharks don’t really exist and the protagonist dances a little jig before getting eaten by a lion.

A roll-up reversal of a spear at the end of the match we saw makes about as much sense as that. It’s the only real negative, as the SmackDown brand continued to kill it on WWE Hell in a Cell 2018. And Becky as champ should have happened long ago, so it’s a net win.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1041479517519269888

New Day Celebration

Poor Bootyworth, that tuxedo T-shirt will never be the same after being doused with flapjacks.