Choke's WWE 2014 Hell in a Cell Predictions: Ambrose vs Rollins highlights a show without a WWE title match
Posted by: choke Oct 26, 2014 | 1621 views | 1 comments
Well as anyone who reads my stories knows, I've found the buildup to this PPV to be lackluster at best. Too much of the same types of matches (6 man tag anyone?), some terrible promos (Ambrose with the mannequin) and bizarre booking (Layla and Fox pick up non-title wins over AJ, yet Paige has the title shot?) have just boggled my mind. Then there's the fact that the WWE Champion hasn't shown his face in a month and naturally Lesnar's title isn't on the line. Not a fan of that.
All that being said, on paper this actually looks like a fairly solid show that I'm looking forward to.
Preshow: Mizdow TV. Sandow has been great in his role with the Miz, but I really hope they branch him off on his own sooner than later. I think that having him pick up the actual pinfall on Sheamus a few weeks ago could lead to him eventually turning on the Miz. Not sure if they will lay out some seeds of doubt for that, or if this will just be an opportunity for Sheamus to kick Mizdow's face off to get the crowd amped. Probably that.
Sheamus vs Miz for the United States Championship: I'm a little bored of this feud, but both of these guys can put together a great match on occasion. Mizdow has helped keep it fairly entertaining and regardless of whether Miz wins or loses I look for Sandow to play a factor in the finish and as I've mentioned lead to him eventually turning on the Miz. I'll actually go with the Miz winning the US title with Sandow's help. Sheamus has had the belt for a while and lately just seems to be going through the motions as far as storyline. He could use some adversity from a story perspective.
Brie Bella vs Nikki Bella in a Personal Assistant for a Month match This feud sure fell from prominence over the last few months. It seemed to dominate our telelvision sets immediately after Summerslam and now it just feels like an afterthought. I think the WWE should have involved the Divas title into this feud to make it seem more noteworthy. Instead they've tacked on the personal assistant stip which will mean a month of backstage skits with these two containing terrible attempts at humor. Nikki has the best chance to win IMO because they need to really make the audience want to see Brie get her revenge in the coming months. Faces don't degrade their personal assistants.
Gold and Stardust vs the Usos for the WWE Tag Team Championships. Wow the buildup to this couldn't have been worse. I actually like Dust 2 Dust's crazy cosmic key promos, and I think all four of them can put on great matches, so I'm not sure how they've made me so disinterested from a story standpoint. I'm hoping for a clean finish, and I think D2D need a legitimate title defense that doesn't end in a DQ or countout. I understand that heels need those sort of finishes on occasion to garner heat, but every once in a while it's nice to see them actually earn a win as well.
John Cena vs Randy Orton in a Hell in a Cell match for the #1 contender slot for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. That's a long stip title. I was dreading this match when they first announced it because it just feels unnecessary. I must say they did a pretty nice job in making it seem a lot more important with the #1 contender's addition, as well as with the Heyman/Orton/Cena confrontation and the Seth Rollins/Orton build. They've actually created reasons why one can think Orton has a shot when I wouldn't have thought so prior. When Cena and Orton put their best foot forward, they can have a great match. As much as I'd like to see the WWE not go the "obvious" route with Cena, I can't go against it. Cena wins to face Lesnar at Survivor Series
AJ Lee vs Paige for the WWE Divas Championship: I've already talked at length about my disappointment in the build to this match. I have to admit though there's still not two other divas I'd probably watch going at it for the title (or going at it for anything). I still don't think AJ and Paige have had their defining match, so I'm hoping this one could be it. I think at some point they're going to get the Bellas involved in the Divas title picture, and that AJ will eventually have a feud with Stephanie, and the way for those to happen is for AJ to retain the title here, and get mixed up with Nikki soon after.
Dolph Ziggler vs Cesaro in a two out of three falls match for the IC Championship: As much as I enjoy Ziggler as a wrestler, his promos and "gimmick" work so much better as a heel for me, and I'm not really sure the crowd has bought in fully. Then again the WWE has all but killed all the momentum Cesaro had leaving Mania and the crowd seems lost when he's out there. A loss here for him, in what looks to be his final chance against Ziggler, oddly feels like it'd be a nail in the coffin, and that's why I'm going with Cesaro to win the IC title. Ziggler works much better in an underdog/chase mode scenario anyhow.
Big Show vs Rusev: I've been enjoying the Rusev stuff more than I probably should. I like that they've created some doubt as to whether he'll continue his streak, and with each opponent you question it more and more. Ultimately I think we'll see Rusev's streak continue, possibly by Mark Henry turning on Big Show to cause him the loss, and Rusev ultimately will move onto an even bigger American hero, maybe John Cena?
Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins in a Hell in a Cell match. Even though it seems like we've seen these two wrestle each other quite a bit, I still can't help but to be excited for what they come up with in a primetime spot like this match. Oddly enough there's not much to this match as far as a title, a #1 contender's match or anything for the winner to gain outside of it just being a pure grudge match. Since Rollins has for the most part gotten the best of Ambrose so far, andwith the fact that he still has the briefcase which will probably come into play in the next few months, I think it makes the most sense for Ambrose to go over here. Truthfully it doesn't really even matter who wins (unless you have one of them on your fantasy team), it's more about how they get us to the outcome. Expect great things.
Overall: Really solid card on paper, even without the WWE Title on the line which surprises me a bit. With all the other titles, a WWE title shot, PLUS THE PRIDE OF THE UNITED STATES on the line, there's quite a bit of potential.