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It’s been a rough few weeks for SmackDown Live with viewership and attendance figures plummeting.
However, they still managed to create some buzz for their Hell In A Cell pay-per-view, largely due to the headline-grabbing Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon feud.
While some of the other feuds were fairly lacklustre, there was still potential for a number of other matches on the undercard to pull something out the bag. In particular, the New Day and The Usos who would face off one more time inside the Hell In A Cell structure.
So, with that in mind, let’s look back at last night’s action as we run through 10 “Say What?” moments from Hell in a Cell 2017.
#1 Tye Dillinger added to U.S. Title match
The first noteworthy moment of the night came on the kick-off show during a backstage segment with Tye Dillinger and the SmackDown Live General Manager, Daniel Bryan.
Dillinger showed Bryan the footage from last week’s SmackDown of him defeating Baron Corbin and argued that he should be added to the United States Championship match between Corbin and AJ Styles.
Bryan agreed and the U.S. Title match was changed to a triple threat between Corbin, Styles and Tye Dillinger.
#2 Cowbell in a cell
The main show had a hot start as it kicked off with the first of two Hell In A Cell matches, as The New Day defended their tag team titles against The Usos.
These two teams have had some outstanding matches in recent months and this contest was arguably the best of the lot.
New Day began what would go on to be a brutal fight by bringing out some of their own unique weapons, including trombones, a drum cymbal, a cowbell and a number of brightly coloured kendo sticks.
These light-hearted moments did not last long, however, as this bout quickly became violent and resulted in one of the greatest, and most barbaric, Hell In A Cell matches in recent memory…
#3 The Usos’ penitentiary
The Usos’ penitentiary was in full effect at Hell In A Cell, as the tag team title match resembled a prison brawl more so than a wrestling match.
The violence was hard to watch at times, as all four men did not hold back in dishing out a beating to their opponents. However, it would be unfair to classify this as just a demolition derby of a match. New Day and The Usos told a great story and were brilliantly creative throughout.
In particular when Big E and Xavier Woods, with help from Kofi who was outside the cell, trapped Jey Uso in the corner of the structure by creating a makeshift prison out of kendo sticks.
Ultimately, the Usos would prevail and regain the Smackdown Tag Team Titles, but both teams have to be considered winners in the eyes of the fans, as they seemingly ended their feud with what was arguably the best of their outstanding series of matches.
#4 Unhappy Rusev Day
Rusev and Randy Orton had the unenviable task of following the opening match and it turned out to be an unhappy Rusev day all round for the Bulgarian Brute.
After Rusev and Orton traded 10-second victories over one another in the previous encounters, they would finally be given time to show what they can do last night at Hell In A Cell as they battled for just over ten minutes.
This was a decent match that featured a lot of action outside the ring and ended after Orton hit his patented RKO on Rusev and scored the pinfall victory.
You could argue that Orton needed the win after months of losing to Jinder Mahal, but Rusev needed one too and he seemed to have more momentum behind him than Orton.
Let’s hope that this will be a minor blip on Rusev’s rise and pray that we can look forward to many happy Rusev days ahead.
#5 Oh, it’s true; it’s finger-lickin' true
The Raw General Manager, Kurt Angle, followed in the footsteps of Shawn Michaels as he dressed up as Colonel Sanders in WWE’s latest advert for KFC.
If that’s not a “Say What?” sentence, then I don’t know what is.
Angle’s comedic delivery saved this segment from being as excruciating as it could have been and it did end up being quite fun in the end.
These adverts that look like going away anytime soon, so we better get used to seeing our favourite WWE legends dress up for KFC commercials.
Who’s next? Steve Austin? That would be finger flipping good.
#6 Corbin captures gold
The aforementioned triple threat match for the United States Championship was next and it has to be said that this bout exceeded expectations.
The late addition of Tye Dillinger did make a big difference as it added a much-needed extra layer to the story of the match. The three competitors worked well together and produced the best match of the night outside of the two cell matches.
It was a great showing from Styles, as always, and Tye Dillinger put in the greatest performance of his main roster run to date.
However, it was Baron Corbin that people will be talking about from this match, as he took advantage of Styles’ phenomenal forearm on Dillinger to pin the ‘Perfect 10’ and become the new United States Champion.
#7 Hartless attack
Natalya and Charlotte’s rivalry dates back to the first NXT Takeover, where Charlotte the ‘Queen of Harts’ to become the NXT Women’s Champion.
The second-generation superstars tend to have good matches with each other and they had another intriguing encounter last night at Hell In A Cell.
The story of the match quickly became about Charlotte Flair’s injured knee, which Natalya continuously worked on throughout the match. This was either a legitimate injury or an excellent sell job by Flair.
Charlotte would keep fighting and go on to win the match, albeit by disqualification after Natalya attacked with a chair, therefore failing to capture the Smackdown Women’s Championship.
It is unclear whether this DQ finish and post-match beat down on Charlotte was to prolong the feud or a way to write Flair off television for a while. I guess we’ll have to tune in to SmackDown Live on Tuesday to find out.
#8 The Fashion Files return
The belated return of Fashion Files aired this past Sunday and kicked off what will likely be another series of vignettes from Tyler Breeze and Fandango. This was a return that many weren't aware of as it was a filler segment.
This latest edition was far from their best, but it’s just nice to see Breezango back on our screens after a few weeks away.
Hopefully, this new story will actually lead somewhere, unlike the last series of vignettes, and Breeze and Fandango will end up with a meaningful feud at the end of it.
We should have a better idea of where this heading after the upcoming edition of the Fashion Files, which is titled ‘Pulp Fashion’.
#9 The nightmare continues
The monotonous WWE Title reign of Jinder Mahal continues after he once again defeated Shinsuke Nakamura at last night’s Hell In A Cell.
If you haven’t seen last night’s bout, there’s no need to bother; you’ve probably seen it all before.
This match kicked off what was undoubtedly the poorest portion of the pay-per-view, as the crowd was noticeably quiet for this match and the Bobby Roode vs. Dolph Ziggler match that followed.
The fans failed to get truly invested in either of these contests and were seemingly looking forward to the main event match between Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens instead.
#10 Sami Zayn saves Owens!
Undoubtedly, the match that everyone wanted to see last night was the Falls Count Anywhere Hell In A Cell match between Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon.
This feud had become personal in the weeks prior to the show and the promos between the two basically guaranteed that they were going to do something crazy in or off the cell, and they didn’t disappoint.
After a few minutes of table spots and coast-to-coasts inside the cell, the match inevitably spilt outside and eventually onto the roof of the structure.
At one point, Shane and Kevin looked hell-bent and trying to send each other through the roof of the cell into the ring, à la Mankind at King Of The Ring 1998.
Both men looked battered before the finish of the match even came after beating the hell out of each other for the duration of the near 40-minute fight.
The match ended after Shane once again missed his elbow drop from the top of the cell and went crashing through the announcer’s table. The reason Shane missed was that Owens was dragged off the table at the last second by none other than Sami Zayn!
Sami then placed Owens’ body over Shane to hand the Prizefighter a huge victory.
Why did Sami do this? Will he and Kevin Owens reunite to rule over Smackdown Live?
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