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What’s the story?
On October 8th, 2017, Jinder Mahal will defend his WWE Championship yet again against Shinsuke Nakamura at the SmackDown Live-exclusive Hell In A Cell event. It was astutely pointed out by Wrestling Inc that according to WWE's official preview, this main event match has ambiguity because it has not been given the Hell In A Cell stipulation.
In case you didn’t know…
Jinder Mahal defeated Shinsuke Nakamura at SummerSlam for the WWE Championship. Nakamura had the chance to earn another shot at Mahal's title when he faced off against Randy Orton in a Number One Contender's Match on the most recent episode of SmackDown Live. The King of Strong Style connected with a Kinshasa to earn another shot at Hell In A Cell.
The heart of the matter
All that is currently known regarding Mahal vs. Nakamura II is that it will happen on Sunday, October 8th, supposedly in a typical singles match. It may have a stipulation but as can be seen in the following excerpt from WWE's official preview, there's no reason to believe that this match is anything other than a standard one on one contest.
"Now that he knows what to expect, will Nakamura be ready to fend off The Singh Brothers, best Mahal and capture the WWE Championship? Find out at WWE Hell in a Cell, streaming live on WWE Network Sunday, Oct. 8, at 8 ET/5 PT!"
It's not unheard of for WWE to not have their top singles title defended inside of the eponymous environment. As recent as 2015, Kane challenged Seth Rollins on the undercard - and not inside Hell In A Cell - for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
What’s next?
If WWE does want this bout contested inside the marquee gimmick of this pay-per-view, they'll need to lay the groundwork in the following weeks. There are still four full episodes of SmackDown between now and Hell In A Cell... perhaps they are just taking their time to build to that reveal? There's nothing wrong with a little bit of pacing towards a big match.
Author’s take
Personally, I hope this WWE Championship sequel happens inside Hell In A Cell. We've already seen these two fight in a standard singles match so it would help up the ante for them. Also, Jinder has already busted out the Punjabi Prison structure in a previous title defence against Randy Orton. It would be a shame for Nakamura if Randy got an over the top structure to throw the Singh brothers around in and Shinsuke didn't.
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