7 New WWE Directions After Hell In A Cell 2017

Has Jinder Mahal just sent Shinsuke Nakamura back to mid-card hell?

by Jamie Kennedy
kevin owens shane mcmahon
WWE.com

Hell in a Cell 2017 featured the usual mix of top-notch drama and other matches that just seemed to exist for the sake of it. We're looking at you, Randy Orton vs. Rusev and Bobby Roode vs. Dolph Ziggler. Neither was bad as such, but they did fail to come across as pay-per-view worthy. The same cannot be said for either Cell match on the card.

Both The Usos vs. New Day and Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens used the gimmick in unique, exciting ways. Nobody could be blamed for watching the opener, then taking a nap until the main event. If they had though, they'd have missed some set up for Starrcade, a title change that hints at better things for AJ Styles, and the continued slow death of a New Japan legend in WWE.

Shinsuke Nakamura is going nowhere on SmackDown. Yet again, he failed to draw a great match out of Jinder Mahal and will now suffer because of it. No WWE title match should ever feel throwaway on pay-per-view, but this one leaves Naka looking like the only direction is down...

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Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.