Hell in a Cell 2012: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Hell in a Cell 2012 was indeed a cracker of a PPV or was it really? There were moments were I felt relieved things didn’t happen as we predicted them to be which did give the PPV some stature to hold on to. The PPV maintained a decent momentum throughout though there were a few moments I wouldn’t have wanted in the event. On the whole the PPV needs to be appreciated. But as fans it is necessary that we look at the good, the bad and the ugly moments of the PPV.
The Good
- I’d be sinning if I do not include the opening match of the event between Randy Orton and Alberto Del Rio in this part of the article. Indeed one of the best matches I have seen in a while. Though for quite a long time I have hated Randy Orton’s role in the company and still continue to, he is a wrestler who never disappoints with regard to his wrestling. Orton and Del Rio, both excellent technical wrestlers, gave us moments that set a standard for the matches to come next. The two legged stomp on Orton’s chest and Orton’s unbelievable RKO gave this match a stunning finish.
- Wrestling on the whole was very much up to par as each match had done great justice to the money that fans paid to get to the PPV. Special mention to the Tag Teams Hell No and Rhodes Scholars who gave us a pretty appreciative match in a time when Tag Team division has just regained pace. The other two Tag Teams also did their part with Mysterio, Sin Cara and the Prime Time Players doing their best.
- Cesaro and Gabriel looked brilliant and seem to be a healthy prospect for the WWE in the future. Cesaro particularly displayed a lot of maturity in the way he wrestled and carried the match in the right path. However this doesn’t mean Gabriel didn’t play his part just that Cesaro seemed to do it better.
- Big Show is the new World Heavyweight Champion. How thankful should I be to the WWE? Sheamus (Boremus I would prefer calling him) was troubling me ever since he got into a feud with Show. He seemed very ignorant right from the beginning and with Show warning him to be cautious about the fight this was without doubt a fitting end to the match. Finally something to lookout for in Smackdown.
- The event ended with Ryback ending up on the losing side. I would have been gladly content had this happened with interference from Lesner or some other unexpected wrestler but WWE thought a step ahead and gave Brad Maddox (Referee) the role of spoiling Ryback’s day
- A PPV finally without Cena. Yes, you have heard me right. HIAC had no Cena (If you do not consider the pre-show a part of the main PPV). No disrespect to Cena though, but still I have hated his role in the WWE for almost an eternity now. It is high time WWE did something with him and most preferably turn him heel.
The Bad
- Personally, the matches held in this PPV did not match its name even to the slightest. There was a time when I feared Hell in a Cell matches. But unfortunately now, times such as those have faded away courtesy the PG era we are in. Hell in a Cell is known for its brutality and had Orton, Del Rio, Sheamus and the Big Show been in the Cell, we would surely have experienced a completely different PPV on the whole. It is high time WWE came out of the PG ratings.
- Kofi Kingston Vs The Miz. We have gone through a similar match during the Main Event why not try something new with these two? Kofi and Miz had a below average fight that did not last long. Despite the fact that Orton and Del Rio have faced each other several times we never felt a pinch of boredom through the entire stretch of the match and here we were looking at two wrestlers who put up a below par match especially considering this was a PPV.
- The way the Tag Team Championship match ended was sad. I personally felt Rhodes Scholars fought really hard and deserved the title. Kane and Bryan have done enough to support the Tag Team division and is time they moved on. Getting them to retain their titles and that too by a DQ seemed unnecessary.
The Ugly
- The pre-show, in simple words, was agonizing. With Ziggler’s pathetic tease to the Money in the Bank to Cena’s presence in the show everything the WWE tried to give the fans for free looked modest. I mean what is the point of putting Cena in a pre-show? We aren’t that desperate to look at Cena. Yes, he answered a few questions but that would have been a really good segment in RAW this week.
- Circling Cena again, Vickie Gurrero’s attempt to get the crowd involved in AJ’s affair with Cena looked horrible. Precious time of the PPV wasted. I instead would have preferred watching Brodus Clay dance rather than experience this boring piece of I-don’t-know-what. The segment looked even lame because it aimed at promoting a story for the upcoming RAW.
- Talking about the only match that happened within the Cell, I have to say the use of the Cell looked hideous to say the least. The match inside the Cell had to be brutal and horrific at least to a certain extent instead we see Ryback casually throwing Punk around without much use of the Cell. There were moments where I felt I saw improvement but frankly things never got to the point I had least expected it to go. I agree the PG ratings do tie up WWE’s hands but still keeping the Cell unexploited to such an extent is a disgrace to the Cell itself.
Conclusion
A decent PPV that generated a lot of anticipation all around. Though in some parts I’d say the PPV did make me feel better there were many other moments which I regretted watching. Instead of a major PPV called Hell in a Cell it would be better if WWE started using the Cell as it was used before. Selective surprise events inside the Cell in other meaningful PPVs could make it much more interesting and give the writers to think of something creative.