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

2. Hometown Hero Loses Again

Theory mustafa ali
WWE.com

Once again, WWE took the opportunity Sunday to play up a wrestler’s hometown as they competed in a big match… only for that superstar to then lose in fine fashion and look like a geek.

This time, it was Mustafa Ali, introduced as “Chicago’s own” for his United States Championship match against Theory at Hell in a Cell. The two has a spirited match, but once again we saw Ali come up short, as he missed a 450 splash and quickly was downed with an ATL, allowing Theory to escape Chicago with his title.

The match was fine, and even the idea of Ali losing wasn’t a terrible one, but that’s the kind of thing that can take the crowd completely out of the event, deflating the fans. If you had a heel who knew how to channel that negative energy into heat on himself it could work, but instead, Theory just did what he always does – take selfies.

Don’t get it wrong: Theory has a big upside and is doing well for himself. But this was a swing-and-miss Sunday.

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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.