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#9 Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens (Hell in a Cell)
SmackDown's programming looked bleak as fall began. With a gloomy Jinder Mahal title reign that still had no end in sight, the blue brand desperately needed a kick in its rear following a dismal summer. The Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens program was that kick in the rear.
Unfortunately, we were showed the weakness of having a set date for Hell in Cell matches once again this time, as the feud could have used a bit more buildup before going to the climax that a Hell in a Cell match should be. That didn't stop the match from being very good though, with the appropriate ending.
The match did last a bit longer than it needed to, but it was full of great spots that made it a roller coaster. Whenever it seemed to lull, there was a sudden spike in adrenaline that kept the crowd invested in it. We saw Kevin Owens go through a table by way of his own missed cannonball on Shane McMahon, then a Coast to Coast from Shane onto a downed Kevin Owens, crushing a garbage can into his face, but the most brutal spots in the match were still to come.
The appearance of bolt cutters signified that the action was heading outside the cell, and that's always where Hell in Cell matches become their most exciting and dangerous. Both men found themselves fighting on the roof of the cell for an extended period, and even though it's now been nearly 20 years since the infamous Undertaker/Mankind match, its ghost lingers strongly. You thought that somehow, someway, the cell roof would break with all the bumps that came on top of it, but after all the teases, it didn't come to pass. Your momentary letdown was short-lived however, as you saw two big bumps coming off the cell. The first came when Shane McMahon rammed Kevin Owens' head into the steel from a bit more than halfway up, sending him crashing through the announce table below. Shane by all rights had the match won at that point, but this was so personal that he wasn't finished delivering punishment.
Shane put Kevin Owens on the second announce table and went to the top of the cell. He jumped off, getting ready to drop an elbow through Owens' heart...only to find nothing but the announcer's table to fall through.
At the last second, Sami Zayn saved Kevin Owens' from Shane's most wrathful attack of the night, rolling Owens on top of the heap that had once been the SmackDown commissioner for the pinfall. In the last bit of excellent storytelling, we saw Kevin Owens leaving on his feet with assistance, but Shane McMahon being carried out on a stretcher.
Sami Zayn's heel turn that night was shocking, but it's given him a much-needed second wind in the closing period of the year. Gone from doing nothing, he's become one of SmackDown's most prominent acts. A good match should create long-term ripples and this one succeeded in doing that.
