wrestling / TV Reports

Kevin’s WWE Hell In A Cell 2020 Review

October 25, 2020 | Posted by Kevin Pantoja
Randy Orton Drew McIntyre Hell in a Cell Image Credit: WWE
6
The 411 Rating
Community Grade
12345678910
Your Grade
Loading...
Kevin’s WWE Hell In A Cell 2020 Review  

WWE Hell in a Cell
October 25th, 2020 | Amway Center in Orlando, Florida

WWE 24/7 Championship: R-Truth [c] vs. Drew Gulak
Kickoff action! Drew Gulak interacted with Little Jimmy at the start and attacked him, causing Truth to snap. Gulak did a bit of grappling but Truth channeled his childhood idol, John Cena for some Five Knuckle Shuffle. They had some okay back and forth before Truth countered a pin into one of his own to retain after 5:24. An inoffensive match that had a few fun bits. Nothing more. [*¾]

Main show time!

WWE Universal Championship Hell In A Cell I Quit Match: Roman Reigns [c] vs. Jey Uso
Their Clash of Champions match was fantastic (****¼). Right off the bat, they picked up where they left off, with Reigns battered Jey. One thing I love about the new environment is getting to hear some of the trash talk. Things like Roman telling Jey that in 5-10 minutes, he’ll wish he had quit was a great addition. Reigns started delivering Spears and demanding that Jey quit. Not using the constant referee, “DO YOU WANNT QUIT?” gimmick was beneficial. Jey’s “YOU BOUT TO GET THIS WORK TOO” was also tremendous. I liked how he was the one to resort to things like the strap because he has to do more to put him down. It became something of a strap match on top of the cell and I Quit stipulations. I loved Jey almost making Reigns pass out, Heyman pleading with Jey to quit, and Roman using the guillotine. When Jey didn’t quit, Roman Drive-By dropkicked the steel steps into his head. The ref wanted to call for the bell but Roman stopped him. Officials came out to stop it but Roman simply locked them in the cell too. He went to crush Jey with steel steps until Jimmy came out and begged him to stop. He got real, telling Roman he didn’t have to act this way. Roman cried as he said he didn’t know who he was anymore. He seemed genuinely sorry but then grabbed Jimmy in a guillotine. Jimmy grabbed Jey’s hand as he was being choked out, which shook him out of it. Seeing his brother in that position, Jey quit at 29:08. The range of emotions Roman went through were nuts. Fantastic acting. A brutal match with top-notch storytelling. Roman is on another level right now. Nobody in wrestling can touch him, regardless of company. Jey was fantastic at drawing sympathy too. [****½]

Elias vs. Jeff Hardy
This is quite the come down. I haven’t cared much for this feud other than Elias putting on a better concert than Chris Jericho ever could. They had a lackluster back and forth match but nothing more than that. It felt like the kind of thing you’d see on any other Raw or Smackdown. That included the finish. Elias avoided a move by Jeff off the top on the apron, so the angry babyface hit him with a guitar to get disqualified in 7:42. Bland as hell. [*¼]

Money In The Bank Contract: Otis [c] vs. The Miz
Another storyline that I haven’t liked. Like the previous match, this just felt like something you’d get on weekly TV or a house show. It lacked energy. That’s disappointing because Miz is a phenomenal heel and Otis can be a fun babyface but none of that was clear here. There were lots of John Morrison shenanigans and he got ejected. Then, Tucker clocked Otis with the briefcase behind the referee’s back. A shocked Miz covered and won it in 7:27. Another lackluster match but it was inoffensive. [**]

WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship Hell In A Cell Match: Bayley [c] vs. Sasha Banks
Imagine not putting this as the main event. The story indicates a Sasha win here but after the Charlotte feud in 2016 (and the Alexa one in 2017 and the Becky one in 2019), that’s not a thought process I have anymore. Like Roman and Jey, the heel wore black and the face wore white. Bayley came out with her chair, only for Sasha to knock it out of her hands and out of the cell before the cage lowered. Still, once they started battling, Bayley brought out things like tables and kendo sticks. Sasha running up the table for a Meteora into the cell was splendid. A few of their spots felt a bit contrived but there were some brutal ones that evened it out. The sunset flip bombs into the cage and steel chair were both vicious. They were making the most out of the environment. Bayley laid out Sasha across a ladder propped up on two chairs but missed her move off the top. Sasha responded with a Bayley to Belly of her own onto a ladder but that still wasn’t enough. The finish was outstanding and as brutal as it needed to be. Sasha put on the Bank Statement with the chair around Bayley’s head and stomped on it until she tapped at the 26:28 mark. Similar to Roman/Jey in that it was everything it needed to be. They had a violent match with tremendous callbacks to their history and left it all out there. Outstanding. [****½]

WWE United States Championship: Bobby Lashley [c] vs. Slapjack
On the Kickoff Show, Ali challenged anyone from Hurt Business to take on someone from Retribution. They picked Lashley to face Slapjack and offered to put the title on the line. For those who don’t know, Slapjack is Shane Thorne. It made no sense to put Slapjack here because he’s literally the member people care about the most. It should’ve been Ali going over Cedric or Shelton so Retribution doesn’t take another loss. Alas, Lashley won with ease by using the Hurt Lock in 3:50. A nothing match. [¾*]

WWE Championship Hell In A Cell Match: Drew McIntyre [c] vs. Randy Orton
Orton snuck up on Drew dressed as a cameraman or something during his entrance. They brawled outside of the cell for a bit before it officially got underway once they were inside and locked. While they had a bit of a vicious brawl, it was paced much slower than what we had earlier in the night and felt a bit bland compared to those. It kind of plodded along until they found their way out of the cell and Orton climbed to the top. Drew followed and the fight continued up there. Not much happened there and they kind of just climbed back down. Halfway down, Drew took a bump through the announce table and they did a fake blood spot for INTERNAL BLEEDING. Once back inside, they teased the SummerSlam finish but Orton kicked out and then rolled outside after eating the Claymore. Orton eventually avoided another Claymore and won the title with the RKO after 30:33 that felt closer to 60:33. That was a good match as an idea but it took forever to get to the point and dragged on badly. [**¼]

6.0
The final score: review Average
The 411
This is such a strange show to rate. It actually reminds me of WrestleMania X in that it was wildly lame outside of the two classics. Come for Roman/Jey and Sasha/Bayley, skip everything else. However, those two matches are so good that this deserves the above average score.
legend

article topics :

WWE Hell in a Cell, Kevin Pantoja