Dave Meltzer Awards 5* Rating To WWE Main Roster Match For The First Time In ELEVEN YEARS
Wrestling Observer chief bestows highest honour to WWE match for the first time in over a decade.
The WWE Hell In A Cell main event between Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins became the first WWE main roster outing to earn Dave Meltzer's five star rating since John Cena and CM Punk's legendary Money In The Bank 2011 main event.
The Wrestling Observer boss confirmed it in his most recent newsletter, making Rhodes/Rollins just the sixth match in the company's history earn the ranking. Only Shawn Michaels Vs Razor Ramon from WrestleMania X, Bret Hart Vs Owen Hart from SummerSlam 1994, Bret Hart Vs Steve Austin from WrestleMania 13, Shawn Michaels Vs The Undertaker from Badd Blood: In Your House and the aforementioned Punk/Cena battle have managed the feat, putting the 'Visionary Of Drip' and 'The American Nightmare' in elite company, as if they weren't already.
Rhodes defeated Rollins in the hugely dramatic encounter that was understandably centred around the torn pectoral muscle the former AEW EVP suffered in the build-up. A terrifying prominent bruise elevated the stakes from the off, and the two tore the house down to conclude what many have already classified as one of WWE's best ever trilogies. Dave Meltzer seemingly agreed.
Meltzer had previously gone full five on several NXT TakeOver bouts, but all of those featured during an era where the black-and-gold brand was intentionally distinct and distanced from WWE's typical output.
How much any of this matters is often as debated as the Dave's ratings themselves, but the wrestlers can and should take pride in the near-unanimous praise the epic encounter received irrespective of this one specific case.