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It's Hell in a Cell time. Here's our take on what will happen.
WWE Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre inside Hell In A Cell. If Drew loses, he will not receive additional title shots at Lashley.
Dave: This show lost a lot of its luster when WWE gave FOX Roman Reigns' match in an effort to pop a rating. I understand why they did it, but it still hurts the PPV on the whole. Also, this totally feels like they are having Cell matches just because it's the PPV of the month. That should never be the case but that ship has sailed. We have been seeing this match for months now due to lazy booking by the Raw team. Given all of the chances that they have given Drew, and he has lost (cleanly too), it would seem like they will go with Lashley getting the win here and Drew heading in a different direction.
Mike: I am going the opposite way. I think they need to do the old Memphis Wrestling "This is the last shot" and Drew has the miracle win after hitting the Claymore and escaping the cage. We just saw he laid out Bobby on Raw with it and pinned him, so the breadcrumbs are there and Lashley can lose without being pinned. Drew and Lashley have had some damn good physical matches and Drew did a lot to make Lashley at the top. I think there's far more interesting stories to be told with Drew on top right now and I think he deserves a top run IN FRONT OF FANS after everything he did to try and carry the place through the pandemic. So, I would book the title changing.
Richard: This is Drew's last chance at the title while Bobby Lashley is champion (until he asks nicely and Pearce says no, but Sonya says, why the hell not). This is one of the many matches that have not had a strong build for this pay per view, but since they have wrestled so many times, it makes sense to have it inside the cell. Will Lashley's Ladies Legion get involved in the match? This should be a good match but I don't see Lashley losing the title. If Lashley wins, who is the next opponent for him since they have put almost all of their eggs in the Drew basket? Will Kofi get a shot at MITB and then move on to the speculative opponent at SummerSlam?
WWE Smackdown Women's Champion Bianca Belair vs. Bayley inside the Hell In A Cell.
Dave: It's too soon, IMO opinion, to have Bianca lose the belt. They need to give her time to germinate as a champion, especially with live crowds coming back next month. With her, and a lot of talents really, they need to see how the fans react to them and gauge reactions.
Mike: I am with Dave. Bianca is great. We know that but she needs to have her legacy made before you pull a title switch. Bayley's heel work has been really great forever and I expect this will be a lot of fun. But in the end, Bianca needs to be the one with her hand raised.
Richard: With what they have done over the last few weeks with Bianca and Bayley, this match deserves to be inside the cell (more than the match we saw on Friday night). Andrew and I talked about the effect of Bianca wrestling in the cell, but if you are going to put her in this type of match, there probably isn't a better opponent than Bayley. I expect to see Bianca do some super athletic spot using the cell. Bianca should retain, but they need to figure out whether Bianca is a face or a heel because her promos hit both ends of the spectrum. Also, please stop with the bullying angles since they have worked so well in the last few years (see Sullivan, Lars and Strowman, Braun). A Bianca victory should set up a match against a possibly returning Sasha Banks at SummerSlam (imagine the possibility of Four major title matches against people who have not been on television for months [or longer])
WWE Raw Women's Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair.
Dave: Much like with Bianca, they need to have Ripley get the win and then see how fans react to her next month. What they SHOULD do is have Rhea win in strong fashion. What they will actually do? Well, it's Vince and I can't say I am confident he will do the right thing.
Mike: They really need to overcome the booking here as the creative has been so stagnant here. The worst thing that could happen is Flair winning here as I still feel that Ripley is in the process of entrenching her roots in the soil, so to speak, in the eyes of the Raw fans. If they can hit the lightning in a bottle they had at Wrestlemania 36 again but with Rhea earning the win (not stealing it with some banana peel nonsense), then they can spotlight her and Flair can come back to fight another day as she's already a made woman. They need to make Rhea.
Richard: WWE is handed a match/feud that just needs to put the two wrestlers in the ring and it will work, and they failed (not the only match on this card that you can say this). The only person in this feud who has been enhanced in any way is Nikki Cross and she isn't in this match. This is also another match where someone who ALWAYS gets title matches is complaining to get a title match. Does Charlotte's BFF, Sonya, help Charlotte in this match. If Charlotte wins, it can start the build to a potential Wrestlemania level match at SummerSlam, but do you cut Rhea's title reign short at the hands of Charlotte again? All signs point to maybe. We still have Money in the Bank to establish that SummerSlam match so if they are going to take the title off Rhea, wait until next month.
Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins.
Dave: I would like to see Cesaro get another win here and move on. A loss won't hurt Seth at all and a win will help Cesaro a lot.
Mike: I am with Dave on this. Cesaro getting the win continues to legitimize him, but I'd have Rollins lay him out after to build to a blow-off match at Summerslam. They had such a great bout at Wrestlemania that I'd like to see them close that loop with a massive crowd watching. This has the chance to be really damn good.
Richard: If this match was just two men who are damn good in the ring having a match, this would be awesome. However, when you add the stuff we see on a regular basis on Friday nights, this is still a great match but with a poor build on a logical basis. This is a mini version of Roman's 'acknowledge and respect me' storyline because Seth lost to Cesaro at Mania. (I thought we already had the pay per view with Mania rematches, see above and below). This should be the match of the night and I think it will deliver. Cesaro should win and then get him out of this feud and into a title feud.
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn.
Dave: This will be good, as always, but does it really matter? Sami has been wasted so much by WWE but KO still means something so I put him over here.
Mike: Old reliable! It doesn't matter who wins, because they will have a great match and could accomplish that with their eyes closed. I'll argue Zayn could use the win here, so I predict some dastardly means to that end. This should be very good to great if they are given the time for that to happen.
Richard: This match is part of the rotating IC title contender wheel and is part of one of the more compelling feuds in wrestling over the last decade. Their last singles match was at Wrestlemania and was a pretty good match. This should be a good match, but would these two men rather be watching Game 4 of the Canadiens/Golden Knight series (taking place at the same time). Since Sami was gloating over Owens' loss on Friday night, you would think that Owens wins, but I would give Zayn the win and then he can be the wacky weatherman on Ever Rise Live.
Alexa Bliss vs. Shayna Baszler.
Dave: I expect more stupidity here. Shayna is afraid of a doll for God's sake. I expect the doll to give Alexa superpowers and she will mop the floor with Shayna.
Mike: I wrote I needed to have ramifications to the Lilly-Shayna thing on Raw. They didn't do that beyond this match. My guess is Shayna will find herself completely scared and befuddled thanks to pyro and lights and mist and will lose. I hope this incarnation of Alexa sells tons of merch, because otherwise, where are we really going here?
Richard: If we didn't have the bells and whistles surrounding Alexa's character, this should be an easy victory for Shayna. However, with the power of the "IS IT A DOLL", all bets are off. With WWE going on the road in a few weeks, this is the last Pay Per View where they can go 'cinematic' and I would not be surprised if they do some things. Just as Shayna is about to win, they can have the lights do something crazy and then from out of one of the ring posts, Lilly can arise and scare Shayna to allow Alexa to get the win. (You didn't think they would let Shayna win, did you?)
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