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Jeff Hardy is an insane man.
Hell in a Cell 2018 was one of the better WWE main roster shows of the year. I was certainly worried that it would be a very predictable show with little to offer when it came to major surprises.
After all, most of the champions had just recently won their titles at Summerslam. We just couldn’t have a lot of crazy things happen in a September pay-per-view right? I was very happy to be proven wrong repeatedly on this fun night from San Antonio.
As I am currently worried for Jeff Hardy’s safety, I will try to distract myself and present my list of the top five most surprising moments of WWE Hell in a Cell 2018:
#5 Alexa Bliss gets in offense
The SummerSlam match between Alexa Bliss and Ronda Rousey was a bit of a disappointment to me. Yes, it seemed inevitable that Ronda would win the title but to see one of the WWE’s best heels destroyed so easily was shocking. I was worried that Alexa would suffer a similar fate on Sunday. I was quite happy to be proven wrong. It was a real competitive match at Hell in a Cell.
The Raw Women’s title match won’t go down as one of Ronda’s best but it did show her vast evolution into a pro wrestler. She sold her rib injury on Sunday better than most of the main event roster Superstars.
She has had less than ten televised matches and is quickly learning effective ring psychology. This allowed Alexa to control the offense during the majority of the match. Ronda naturally won but Alexa was able to still look quite credible in defeat. It keeps Bliss relevant going forward and that serves the division well.
#4 Samoa Joe's opportunity was messed up
I was thinking of writing that the most surprising moment was simply that the WWE Championship was a straightforward, technical wrestling match. I mean Samoa Joe made the feud quite personal and AJ Styles decides he simply wants to beat him in a technical match. That seemed strange.
The title match itself was fun. You can tell these two like working with each other. The finish was, however, a strange and surprising moment itself. From the camera angle we saw, it clearly looked like AJ Styles won. So it seemed strange that Samoa Joe was upset when he left.
We had to see another camera angle to see AJ Styles clearly tapping out before the pinfall. It is surprising to see the heel have a legitimate gripe about losing. You usually don’t give the heels a credible reason to be upset. Samoa Joe should be the champion right now and that is a weird look for any bad guy.
#3 Becky wins the SmackDown Women’s Championship
You missed the chance for the double turn WWE. Becky Lynch is still clearly the crowd favorite throughout the entire feud with Charlotte. It is so shockingly obvious fans are not buying the underdog Becky Lynch as the heel against the constantly successful Charlotte.
The match was a strong women’s match. Becky and Charlotte are two of the better female wrestlers on the roster and it made the match look quite stiff. The finish, a roll-up, was a bit anti-climatic but the fact Becky won at all was surprising. I didn't expect Lynch to win the title so earlier in the feud but happy to see her hard work pay off.
#2 Brock Lesnar ruins the main event
What happened to Drew and Dean? Are they still on top of the Hell in A Cell? We may never know.
It was a strange main event. Braun and Roman sold that spear through a table for about ten minutes. It lead to some fun moments with the Shield and Ziggler/McIntyre using the cell. It all seemed like a fun diversion until Brock’s music played.
I certainly didn’t expect to see Brock in the WWE for a long time. This was the best of Brock as it was simply him beating up the two competitors. It lead to an abrupt ending to the Hell in a Cell and left the Universal title picture a surprising mess going forward.
#1 The entire Jeff Hardy/Randy Orton match
Jeff Hardy never ceases to surprise me. He is a 41-year-old wrestler who continues to take insane risks simply because he loves pro wrestling. In a battle between two of the WWE veterans and they put on a match that doesn’t seem to fit into the current PG era. I expected it to have some high risks but it was filled with many cringe-worthy moments.
I understand that spot with the screwdriver likely wasn’t actually that painful but to see Randy Orton twist Jeff Hardy’s ear. It was quite cringeworthy.
It got even worse as it looks like Orton had part of the table punctured his leg. It was quite brutal. I am surprised Randy was able to stand after that moment.
It ended with Jeff Hardy swinging from the top of the Cell and swinging like a monkey and then face planting through the table. Ouch. Jeff Hardy is insane and he got his Hell in the Cell moment.
