WWE Hell In A Cell: Historic Matches, Controversial Bookings and More
This year's WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view is considered as one of the most historic HIAC pay-per-view events in a long while. The pay-per-view event which happened last Sunday, October 30th, in TD Garden, Boston had 16,199 in attendance and millions of viewers around the globe.
The Hell In A Cell was one of Team Raw's exclusive pay-per-view ever since the brand split. It had three main events, meaning three different competitions will be inside the horrendous "cell". Critics will argue that this is Raw saying that the pay-per-view had no main event.
This leaves the fans questioning which one of these three matches is the actual main event. With five championship titles on the line (WWE United States Championship, WWE Universal Championship, WWE Cruiserweight Championship, WWE Raw Tag Team Championship, WWE Raw Women's Championship), none had made quite the controversy as the Women's Title Match with Sasha Banks going against Charlotte Flair to defend her title.
These female superstars took their rivalry to new heights as they battle inside Hell In A Cell. For the first time, these female superstars were given the opportunity to make history inside the cell.
Their match, albeit controversial, was one of the most exciting and anticipated games of all time. Both women made their entrance in the most fitting way possible. Charlotte's door was fit for a queen, and Sasha's entry did make her look like a total boss.
As the cell was being lowered into the ground, Charlotte immediately attacked Sasha from behind. The two fought into the crowd, giving the match a more dangerous fell. Charlotte would then powerbomb Sasha through the announce table, leaving millions of fans wondering whether Sasha had legitimately hurt her back.
THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE! This match hasn't even STARTED... #HIAC @MsCharlotteWWE @SashaBanksWWE pic.twitter.com/1aDBZHSyoX
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) October 31, 2016
Minutes later, medical aids were running through the ring to help Sasha into a stretcher. This caused the official to forfeit the match and almost, almost gave the title to Charlotte. As the announcement was about to be finished, Sasha hopped off the stretcher to fight, gathering the loudest pop from the crowd.
#TheBoss @SashaBanksWWE is NOT about to lose the #RAW #WomensTitle by forfeit in Boston! #HIAC pic.twitter.com/IiueZJxgNS — WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) October 31, 2016
For the next 20 minutes, these two superstars battled almost non-stop. Fans saw table spots, chair stunts, and more. The match was as brutal as fans can expect, and was truly worthy of the main event spot. The match ended with Charlotte taking home the title after executing the Natural Selection to pin Sasha Banks.
The result shocked and left thousands in attendance speechless. This was not the ending that fans were expecting, thus making the main event heavily criticized by the majority of the fanbase. Fans wanted to see The Boss reign supreme in her very own backyard of Boston. The fact that she had lost the title took away from the strong performance that each superstar had.
Congratulations to NEWWW #RAW #WomensChampion @MsCharlotteWWE after an incredibly grueling, history-making #HellInACell match! #HIAC pic.twitter.com/PJRoq5USyI — WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) October 31, 2016
The controversy, however, was that this was not what WWE had originally planned for the Women's Hell In A Cell match. Sasha was originally planned to retain the title to end the Banks vs. Flair feud, and everybody would go home happy.
What changed? WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon, reportedly made a last decision to run Charlotte Flair's record in pay-per-view singles matches to 14-0 by defeating Sasha. Charlotte's father, the Nature Boy Ric Flair, even admitted that there were changes in the match. According to the Nature Boy, WWE changed it the last minute because they were afraid Sasha was going to get hurt.
"They took two huge spots out of the match, during the match, because they were afraid Sasha was going to get hurt. If the original plan had been, there were two things, and I don't want to say what they were, but you can only imagine. One of them involved a moon sault."
The statement is open for interpretation. Were the changes made while the match was already ongoing? Was it made after the table failed to break under Sasha's weight after she had already landed on it twice? However, sources close to Vince McMahon revealed that he changed it the day prior to the match and that it had nothing to do with Sasha's back injury or Charlotte's pay-per-view streak.
Who's telling the truth? Regardless of the controversies, it does not take away the fact that both of these women had made history for all other women in the sports entertainment industry.
