WWE Hell In A Cell 2018: Star Ratings For All 8 Matches
7. Randy Orton Vs. Jeff Hardy - Hell In A Cell Match
It became apparent at the midway point of what would become the best Hell In A Cell match in years that Jeff Hardy was not going to escape the Cell.
The giveaway?
Hardy and Randy Orton wrestled a brilliant, proper nasty match that wasn't merely filler pretext to a superficial stunt. Hardy promised something memorable and delivered a superior subversion of that promise by entering his best performance since his return. Complemented by an all-timer of a shift from Randy Orton, who performed as the best and most despicable version of himself, this was such an achievement. WWE is routinely (and justifiably) criticised for a lazy refusal to script absorbing storylines outside of the title divisions. This gory minor masterpiece pierced that notion as effectively as Orton pierced Hardy's ear in a dry heave-triggering, instantly mythical spot that was far safer and far more effective than the cheap idiocy we were witness to later in the night.
Orton played the killer, Hardy the prey, in a match that saw the latter somehow, after 19 years of becoming synonymous with ladders, find new ways to brutalise himself with them. He even surfed with a table in another novel spot before his big wipeout moment at the climax.
Orton was having none of the referee's moral panic; he was just doing his d*mn job, and so should he have been.
Outstanding.
Star Rating: ****1/2