Hell in a Cell (2015)

Hell in a Cell (2015)

Promotional poster featuring The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar
Tagline(s) The Final Chapter
Theme
song(s)		 "Cut the Cord" by Shinedown
Information
Promotion WWE
Sponsor(s) WWE 2K16
Date October 25, 2015
Attendance 14,184[1]
Venue Staples Center
City Los Angeles, California
WWE Network event chronology

NXT TakeOver: Respect Hell in a Cell (2015) Survivor Series (2015)
Hell in a Cell chronology

Hell in a Cell (2014) Hell in a Cell (2015)

Hell in a Cell (2015) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on October 25, 2015, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.[2] It was the seventh event under the Hell in a Cell chronology. This was the first WWE PPV other than SummerSlam that ever held in the of Los Angeles since 2007's No Way Out.

Eight matches were contested at the event, with one match on the pre-show. In the main event, Brock Lesnar defeated The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match. The show is also notable for Alberto Del Rio's return to the WWE, as he answered John Cena's "Open Challenge" and defeated him to win the United States Championship.

Background

Hell in a Cell featured professional wrestling matches that involved wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds or storylines that played out on WWE's primary television programs, Raw and SmackDown. Wrestlers portrayed heroes or villains as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[3][4]

Alberto Del Rio made his unannounced return to WWE at the event. Accompanied by his new manager Zeb Colter, he answered John Cena's US Open Challenge and defeated him for the WWE United States Championship.

The main event match heading into Hell in a Cell is a Hell in a Cell match between Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker, dubbed as the final chapter in their rivalry. The rivalry started at WrestleMania XXX in 2014 where Brock Lesnar defeated The Undertaker to break his undefeated WrestleMania streak.[5] Over a year later at Battleground Lesnar was about to win back the WWE World Heavyweight Championship from Seth Rollins when the lights went out and Undertaker attacked Lesnar; Lesnar won the match by disqualification but not the title. After a vicious brawl between the two on Raw, Undertaker and Lesnar would face each other in a rematch at SummerSlam. Undertaker defeated Lesnar in controversial fashion; the timekeeper ringing the bell after seeing the Undertaker supposedly indicating submission; since the referee hadn't see a submission and never stopped the match, the match continued. The confusion allowed Undertaker to surprise Lesnar with a low blowed before trapping him in the Hell's Gate submission hold, which caused Lesnar to pass out and gave Undertaker the win.[6] At Night of Champions, it was announced that Lesnar would face Undertaker one last time in a Hell in a Cell match at the event.[7]

At Battleground, Bray Wyatt defeated Roman Reigns after interference from Luke Harper.[8] At SummerSlam, Reigns and Dean Ambrose defeated Wyatt and Harper.[6] At Night of Champions, Wyatt, Harper and Braun Strowman defeated Reigns, Ambrose and Chris Jericho.[7] On the September 21 episode of Raw, Randy Orton helped Reigns and Ambrose fend off an attack by Wyatt, Harper and Strowman.[9] Subsequently, Reigns challenged Wyatt to a Hell in a Cell match at the event, which Wyatt accepted.[10] A match pitting Ambrose and Orton against Harper and Strowman was also scheduled for the Hell in a Cell Kickoff show[11] but after Orton suffered a Shoulder injury, the match was cancelled.[12]

At Night of Champions, Kane returned from injury as "Demon" Kane and attacked Seth Rollins after Rollins retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Sting.[7] At Live from Madison Square Garden, Demon Kane attacked Rollins after Rollins lost to John Cena in a steel cage match.[13] Subsequently, Rollins was scheduled to defend his title against Demon Kane at the event, but that should Demon Kane lose, Corporate Kane, Kane's alter ego, would be fired from his role as Director of Operations.[14]

At Night of Champions, The Dudley Boyz had defeated WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day by disqualification, therefore not winning the titles.[7] At Live from Madison Square Garden, The Dudley Boyz again won by disqualification.[13] This led to another rematch for the title at Hell in a Cell.[14]

The event also included two more rematches from Night of Champions: Charlotte had defeated Nikki Bella to win the Divas Championship[7] and Kevin Owens had defeated Ryback to win the Intercontinental Championship.[7] Both champions had to defend their newly-won titles against the former champions.[15]

An open challenge title defense by United States Champion John Cena was also scheduled for the event.[12]

On the October 19 edition of Raw, Sheamus, King Barrett, and Rusev defeated Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro, and Neville. Later that night, a rematch between the trios was scheduled for the Hell in a Cell Kickoff show.[12]

Broadcasters

The English commentators were Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and John "Bradshaw" Layfield while there also Spanish and German commentators ringside. Lilian Garcia and Eden Stiles handled ring introductions. The analysis team was hosted by Renee Young and consisted of Booker T, Byron Saxton and Corey Graves, while JoJo and Rich Brennan served as social media correspondents.

Aftermath

After immediately losing to Brock Lesnar at the event, The Undertaker was given a standing ovation from the crowd. He decided to pay back their respects by doing his signature pose, but as he did so The Wyatt Family appeared and attacked him before carrying his unconscious body backstage. On the following night of Raw, Bray Wyatt explained that he wanted to claim The Undertaker's Soul and obtain its powers.[16] Kane then appeared and attempted to attack Wyatt, but he too gets ambushed and attacked by other members of The Wyatt Family, before also being carried out to the backstage.[16] On the November 9 episode of Raw, The Undertaker and Kane reunited as The Brothers of Destruction, reemerged and attacked The Wyatt Family.[17] On the November 12 episode of Smackdown, Wyatt challenged The Undertaker and Kane to a tag team match against two members of The Wyatt Family of his choosing at Survivor Series, which they accepted later that night.[18]

On the following night of Raw, The Authority held a tournament by pitting the winners of their respective matches at Hell in a Cell against each other to determine the next No.1 contender to Seth Rollins's WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Roman Reigns would win the final Fatal 4-Way match also involving Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Owens and Alberto Del Rio to become the No.1 contender and face Rollins for the championship scheduled for Survivor Series. On November 4, however, Rollins suffered a multiple knee injuries during a live event in Dublin, Ireland and was forced to vacate the title. On the November 9 episode of Raw, a new tournament has started to determine a new champion in the finals at Survivor Series. Reigns would win the tournament and the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the event but his reign would be short-lived when Sheamus cashed-in his Money in the Bank contract and pinned him to win the title, ending Reigns title reign of 5:15.

On the October 26 episode of Raw, Paige continued to persuade Charlotte and Becky Lynch, that she did not attack Natalya. While still not convinced Charlotte and Lynch allowed Paige to join them as PCB and faced Team Bella on that night in a losing effort. After the match, Paige attacked Charlotte and Lynch, cementing her heel turn. On the November 2 episode of Raw, Paige defeated Lynch, Sasha Banks and Brie Bella in a No.1 contender's Fatal 4-Way match to face Charlotte for the WWE Divas championship at Survivor Series.

After Hell in a Cell, Jack Swagger entered into a brief feud with Alberto Del Rio and Zeb Colter, when Swagger confronted Zeb about joining Del Rio and then after a match against Neville, Alberto Del Rio continued to assault him until Swagger made the save.

Results

No. Results Stipulations Times[19]
1P Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro and Neville defeated Sheamus, King Barrett and Rusev Six-man tag team match[20] 11:30
2 Alberto Del Rio (with Zeb Colter) defeated John Cena (c) Open Challenge for the WWE United States Championship[21] 7:48
3 Roman Reigns defeated Bray Wyatt Hell in a Cell match[22] 23:03
4 The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) (c) defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) Tag team match for the WWE Tag Team Championship[23] 8:24
5 Charlotte (c) defeated Nikki Bella by submission Singles match for the WWE Divas Championship[24] 10:39
6 Seth Rollins (c) defeated Kane Singles match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Since Demon Kane lost, Corporate Kane was fired from his role as Director of Operations.[25]		 14:35
7 Kevin Owens (c) defeated Ryback Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship[26] 5:35
8 Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) defeated The Undertaker Hell in a Cell match[27] 22:10
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
  • P – indicates the match took place on the pre-show

Reception

The event received generally positive reviews from critics. Larry Csonka from 411MANIA gave the event a 7/10. He praised Wyatt vs. Reigns and Lesnar vs. Undertaker saying that both matches delivered.[28] The main event went on to win the Slammy Award for Match of the Year.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Paglino, Nick (2015-11-05). "Updated Attendance & Financial Figures for WWE Hell in a Cell, How Was the Live Gate?, Footage of Matt Hardy Replacing AJ Styles". wrestlezone.com. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Johnson, Mike. "COMPLETE 2015 WWE PPV SCHEDULE". pwinsider.com. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on 18 November 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  4. ↑ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on 18 November 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  5. ↑ Caldwell, James. "WrestleMania 30 PPV results (Hour 3): Complete "virtual-time" coverage of Undertaker vs. Lesnar Streak match". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  6. 1 2 Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S SUMMERSLAM REPORT 8/23: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of Lesnar vs. Taker, Title vs. Title, more matches". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S WWE NOC PPV REPORT 9/20: Live Night of Champions Coverage from Houston - Seth Rollins's double duty, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  8. ↑ Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S WWE BATTLEGROUND PPV REPORT 7/19: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live PPV - Rollins vs. Lesnar, Cena vs. Owens III, Orton returns home, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  9. ↑ Mike, Tedesco. "WWE RAW Results - 9/21/15 (Demon Kane attacks Rollins)". wrestleview.com. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  10. ↑ Kahrs, Alex. "WWE SmackDown Results - 10/1/15 (Six Man Tag Match)". wrestleview.com. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  11. ↑ Tedesco, Mike. "WWE RAW Results - 10/12/15 (Seth Rollins vs. Demon Kane)". wrestleview.com. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 Tedesco, Mike. "WWE RAW Results - 10/19/15 (Austin and Undertaker appear)". wrestleview.com. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  13. 1 2 "KELLER’S WWE MSG SPECIAL REPORT 10/3: Lesnar vs. Big Show, Cena vs. Charlotte in a cage, Jericho vs. Owens in an IC Title match, Dudleys vs. New Day for tag titles". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  14. 1 2 Tedesco, Mike. "WWE RAW Results - 10/5/15 (Hell in a Cell takes shape)". wrestleview.com. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  15. ↑ Kahrs, Alex. "WWE Smackdown Results - 10/8/15 (Reigns & Orton team)". wrestleview.com. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  16. 1 2 Dilbert, Ryan (October 26, 2015). "WWE Raw Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from October 26". Bleacher Report. Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  17. ↑ Benigno, Anthony (November 9, 2015). "WWE Raw results, Nov. 9, 2015: The Brothers of Destruction return and five Superstars advance in World Title Tournament". WWE.com. WWE. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  18. ↑ Lopez, Josh (November 12, 2015). "WWE SmackDown Results (11/12) – Usos vs. Wyatts, WWE World Title Tournament Continues?, Undertaker Responds To Bray Wyatt’s Challenge". Wrestle Zone. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  19. ↑ Caldwell, James. "10/25 Live HIAC PPV Report – CALDWELL’S Live Coverage". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  20. ↑ Clapp, John. "Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro & Neville vs. League of Nations (Sheamus, King Barrett & Rusev) (Kickoff Match)". WWE. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  21. ↑ Clapp, John. "John Cena's U.S. Open Challenge". WWE. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  22. ↑ Clapp, John. "Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt (Hell in a Cell Match)". WWE. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  23. ↑ Clapp, John. "WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. The Dudley Boyz". WWE. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  24. ↑ Melok, Bobby. "Divas Champion Charlotte vs. Nikki Bella". WWE. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  25. ↑ Clapp, John. "WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins vs. Demon Kane". WWE. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  26. ↑ Clapp, John. "Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens vs. Ryback". WWE. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  27. ↑ Clapp, John. "The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar (Hell in a Cell Match)". WWE. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  28. ↑ Csonka, Larry. "Csonka’s WWE Hell in a Cell Review 10.25.15". 411MANIA. Retrieved 27 October 2015.

External links

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