CM Punk addresses "high-pressure situation" for Bad Blood, how WWE failed Hell in a Cell
CM Punk has a goal to achieve beyond getting a win over Drew McIntyre inside Hell in a Cell at WWE Bad Blood. Unlike its previous renditions, Punk is looking forward to restoring the match type's brutality.
From 2009 to 2022, WWE used "Hell in a Cell" as the name of a PLE, which meant that the dangerous match was a guarantee every year, irrespective of whether the rivalry warranted such a stipulation or not.
Speaking to O'Shea Jackson Jr. & TJ Jefferson on No-Contest Wrestling, The Voice of the Voiceless noted that he hopes to "deliver a classic" with Drew McIntyre this Saturday. He feels that the company's aforementioned move sanitized the concept of the cell, and it is time to revert back:
"It’s a high-pressure situation, and I feel like I have to deliver a classic and I have to stay true to myself and my beliefs of what good wrestling is and that cell. I feel like as a company, we’ve gotten away from for so long, where it just became a toy. 'We’re just going to have a Pay-Per-View, call it Hell in a Cell, and everyone is going to go inside and have matches.' In reality, that should be presented as the most dangerous and diabolical thing that any wrestler would ever want to do." [From 48:13 to 48:49]
Check out the video below:
Interestingly, The Best in the World competed in the first-ever Hell in a Cell PLE in 2009. He defended the World Heavyweight Championship against The Undertaker in a losing effort at the event.
CM Punk believes the Hell in a Cell stipulation was earned for WWE Bad Blood
Drew McIntyre and CM Punk have been at odds with one another since January 2024, during the build-up to Royal Rumble. They began their series of high-profile contests at SummerSlam, upon Punk's return from a six-month break owing to a triceps injury he sustained at the Rumble.
With each man holding a win over the other, the upcoming showdown is the rubber match of their trilogy. CM Punk feels that there is no other way to go about it, but to step inside The Devil's Playground:
"As a business, capitalist country, you get away with it. I want to bring [Hell in a Cell] back to what it’s supposed to be. I don’t want to have a cell that needs a match, I want to have a match that needs the cell. I feel me and Drew have done that. There is no other way to settle this," he said. [From 48:54 to 49:23]
WWE Bad Blood emanates from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, this Saturday. CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre III inside Hell in a Cell is one of the most anticipated bouts of the year.
If you use any of the quotes, please credit No-Contest Wrestling and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.