Grading all of the Hell in A Cell pay-perviews
Although Hell in A Cell is a perilous structure that has been around in WWE for more than two decades, it has become a regular pay-per-view in the annual WWE calendar since 2009. As the name suggests, the pay-per-view is a thematic one with at least one Hell in A Cell match taking place at the event.
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In 2009, The Undertaker and CM Punk faced off in a Hell in A Cell match with the World Heavyweight Championship on the line, Randy Orton defended his coveted WWE title against John Cena inside the demonic structure. Triple H and Shawn Michaels joined forces to take on the duo of Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes inside the titular structure.
In 2010, Randy Orton put his WWE title up for grabs against Sheamus in one of two Hell in A Cell matches. The main event of the night saw The Undertaker, with Paul Bearer on his side, battle Kane in a Hell in A Cell match for the World Heavyweight Championship.
In 2011, Mark Henry put his World Heavyweight title on the line against a revengeful Randy Orton inside the brutal Hell in A Cell structure.Elsewhere on the card, Alberto Del Rio defended his WWE title against John Cena and CM Punk.
In 2012, only one Hell in A Cell match took place, i.e between the undefeated Ryback and CM Punk for the WWE Championship.
In 2013, CM Punk looked to exact revenge on Paul Heyman and Ryback inside the unforgiving structure known as Hell in A Cell. The vacant WWE Championship match between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan took place inside Hell in A Cell with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee.
In 2014, Randy Orton and John Cena wrote another chapter in their epic rivalry when they battled inside Hell in A Cell for a future world title opportunity. In the main event, Dean Ambrose looked to dismantle Seth Rollins in a structure that would suit his purpose fittingly,i.e Hell in A Cell.
In 2015, Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt fought inside the gruesome structure in their personal rivalry. Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker wrote the final chapter in their epic rivalry inside Hell in A Cell.
In 2016, Roman Reigns defended his US title against Rusev in the opening match of the night. Seth Rollins continued his pursuit of the Universal Championship when he battled Kevin Owens inside the steel structure. Charlotte and Sasha Banks competed in the first-ever women's Hell in A Cell match.
In 2017, The Usos looked to capture the title from their arch-rivals, The New Day, in a solid match of the year candidate and Shane McMahon looked to sought revenge from the vicious Kevin Owens in a highly physical bout.
Now, let's grade all the HIAC pay-per-views in WWE history.
#1 Hell in A Cell 2009
The inaugural Hell in A Cell pay-perview was a decent and entertaining show, with a few disappointments.
First of all, The cell was seldom used and the matches weren't as brutal and gruesome as you'd expect. Undertaker and CM Punk were given less time and they could've had a much better match if they had been given more time. John Cena Vs Randy Orton was a good match but the fans had grown tired of the rivalry. The main event between D-Generation X and The Legacy was the best of their entire series in 2009.
Secondly, other than John Morrison Vs Dolph Ziggler, the under-card was extremely underwhelming. None of the matches were on par and time placement was a major issue. There was something off about the tag-team match and Batista and Rey Mysterio never clicked as a tag-team. The less said about the Divas match, the better and The US Championship match was pretty stale too.
All in all, Hell in A Cell 2009 wasn't that good, but it wasn't bad either.
Grade: C+