One Moment WWE Wants You To Forget From Every Year (1985 to 2026)

8. 2019 - The Fiend Vs Seth Rollins, Hell In A Cell

WWE Hell in a Cell 2019 Seth Rollins The Fiend Bray Wyatt
WWE.com

In 2025, "slop" was named Word Of The Year by Merriam-Webster, the American Dialect Society, and Macquarie Dictionary.

The people behind the decision weren't Godwinns fans finally getting an opportunity to upgrade their contribution to popular culture. Not outwardly anyway. The word had been attached to the particular strain of content coming from rapidly-emerging and escalating AI platforms, used to describe creations of no discernible quality that were nonetheless getting as much if not more cultural capital than actual art/work/anything of reputable standard.

2019 produced it multiple times a week, and the Hell In A Cell PLE main event between Seth Rollins and The Fiend was the peak/nadir. 

Hideously and destructively over-thought because WWE were so hellbent on rushing The Fiend into a top spot regardless of what worked or didn't about the character, the match was structured around Universal Champion Seth Rollins utilising his entire repertoire to no avail against the most evil and unstoppable incarnation of Bray Wyatt. His curb stomp, Pedigree and even his Shield-splitting chair-based violence couldn't get it done. 

This might have scanned as a decent take on a horror movie victim plot had a) WWE not done the very best version of this in the very first Hell In A Cell match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker, never to be topped and b) useless performances from everybody from creative downwards fluffed, all the way to a finish that called for a referee stoppage when Rollins tried to smash Fiend's face in with a hammer and toolbox.

Ordinarily, the main complaint from a match like this might simply have been the obstructive red lighting. Not here - audiences were more than content to not be able to see the state of things in front of them. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 65,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live.