9 Match Star Ratings For WWE Hell In A Cell 2019
4. Braun Strowman & The Viking Raiders Vs. The O.C.
What was the point of this?
This unscheduled match somehow ended in a disqualification, as if Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson A) suddenly need protecting, B) haven't already been stigmatised as jobbers, and C) will benefit from the finish.
A DQ is meant to drive support behind the babyface's eventual quest for just retribution. The War Raiders have already decisively defeated Gallows and Anderson multiple times, so where is the drama here? A decent TV-quality match overshadowed entirely by a typically empty nothing-ever-matters WWE finish, AJ Styles was on form here, at least: his cutoff spots were creative, allowing the heat and action to build, and the over, explosive Ivar benefitted from AJ's tidy heel work. His physical burst of offence worked as release from the tension AJ engineered, not that it mattered. It didn't bury anybody, but it didn't help anybody. It merely existed, and AJ's hysterical post-match sell-job was pure house show stuff befitting of the match.
How hard is it?
Strowman is about to do something of significance with Tyson Fury. Have him annihilate somebody to put himself over ahead of it. But who? Who? Hmmm. Perhaps a tag wrestler WWE has shown zero interest in promoting as a player? Then again, what would that accomplish, really? Who did he beat?
Nobody in either scenario.
Star Rating: ★★¾