10 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2022 (So Far)
5. Cody Rhodes Vs. Seth Rollins - WWE Hell In A Cell
Should the match have even happened?
While it might scan as indictment of WWE in more than one way - its medical protocol and inability to reach the MOTY stratosphere without the palpable danger of a man bleeding internally alike - Cody Rhodes Vs. Seth Rollins was such a masterpiece that the bloodthirsty fans never asked that question across its 24 minutes and 18 seconds.
Cody's entire upper half or virtually all of it, anyway, was bruised after he suffered a torn pectoral muscle days before the show. This enabled Seth to mount a gruesome and compelling heat sequence, in which he targeted the very real injury so well that it elicited an uneasy atmosphere unlike anything you'll see in WWE. Cody's selling should not go unmentioned, even if he barely had to work it; he maximised the distinct story beat to anxious perfection, and worked his offensive phases around the injury. He had to compensate for it, and as a result, even the angle of impact elevated his signature repertoire. Cody was only ever one miscalculated bump away from defeat.
Except he wasn't, because he fought with such outrageous heart. The match didn't solely rely on a device that was once a shortcut and anything but; deep into the final third, it evolved into a philosophical war that captured the heart of the home team versus interloper dynamic with several excellent nods to Dusty Rhodes and Triple H.
As gruesome as it was artful; if the match had to happen, it was just as well it unfolded as the best version of itself.