5 Ups And 9 Downs From WWE Hell In A Cell 2016

Women finally close out a PPV, but it's not enough to save lackluster event.

by Scott Carlson
Charlotte Sasha Banks
WWE.com

That thud you just heard was the Raw brand hitting the ground floor. No doubt, some will declare that Hell in a Cell was a great PPV filled with brutal spots, historic firsts and wild hyperbole.

But make no mistake. Hell in a Cell was WWE continuing its trend of cluelessness, from matches with minimal storylines, to unworthy PPV matches, to bad finishes, to booking the hometown girl in the historic main event and then having her lose. We saw a Cruiserweight Champion who won a 32-man tournament this summer, only to lose his title because he fell for a fake injury from a guy who sucker-headbutted him a few weeks ago. We saw a United States champ overcome the kitchen sink being thrown at him to win yet again, drawing boos for the 11 millionth time with no new results.

And we saw women crack the glass ceiling by headlining a PPV (despite the announcers repeating over and over that they had three main events) and holding their own. That alone gives HIAC some additional positive vibes, but it’s hard to look at this PPV and not be disappointed overall. There was some potential here though, which makes it even worse.

So what rose to the occasion and what fell flat on its face? Let’s get to it…

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Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.