10 WWE Hell In A Cell 2019 Impulse Reactions

7. Randy Orton Vs. Ali

Seth Rollins The Fiend
WWE.com

Ali taking a vicious beating from the announce table early doors helped inform Randy Orton's typically "methodical" pace, thanks mostly to the vibrant red gash across his chiseled abs on display for most of the match.

Selling the sh*t out of it when he wasn't revealing the horrors to the hard camera, Ali's selling of an ostensibly injured rib was as good as Orton's measured, targeted strategy to smother salt on the wound.

In a year where the former police officer has suffered knocks at the worst time for his career, this was a karmic freebie - 'The Apex Predator' has killed a fair share of crowds in his time with matches such as these, but the audience stuck with his beatdowns enough to come alive a little bit during his comeback spots.

The victorio RKO was a popper supreme despite the fact that Ali probably should have been given the win after an jaw-dropping handstand counter to the same move seconds earlier. This escape was the moment of the match, and the sort of moment that's had him come so close to all those opportunities before being pulled away by the hand of fate.

This was, bizarrely, a huge push from that same hand, even if it's not, you know, a push.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett