6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Hell In A Cell 2022

by Scott Carlson

1. An All-Time Gutsy Performance

Cody Rhodes
WWE.com

What can you say about Cody Rhodes’ performance inside Hell in a Cell against Seth Rollins? If you weren’t wowed by that match, you’re a soulless drone who actually doesn’t like professional wrestling. Please go watch Gilmore Girls instead.

Hours ahead of the PLE, it was widely reported that Rhodes had suffered a torn pec while lifting weights, putting the HIAC main event in jeopardy. We then learned that the match was still going to take place.

When Cody removed his jacket to reveal the extent of the injury, the crowd audibly gasped and fell silent for much of the first five minutes of the match. It wasn’t until Rhodes proved he could do more than struggle along that they really got invested. Rollins played his role perfectly, donning polka dots to get under Cody’s skin and attacking the injured pec and arm mercilessly.

The two strung together an excellent cell match that not only worked around Cody’s limitations but incorporated them into the narrative. Rhodes breaking out a bullrope and goading Rollins into tying himself to one end was a great touch.

Some are going to say that Rhodes shouldn’t have won if he’s leaving for several months for surgery, but after the way he gutted that match out, Cody deserved to win that one and dominate the feud.

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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.