Hell in a Cell 2017: The full rundown and why you should care

Hell In A Cell. Just the name alone conjures some painful memories. Mick Foley getting thrown off the cell and onto the announcers’ table by Undertaker, then getting thrown through the roof of the cell and almost through the ring below as well — and through it he did go several years later at the hands of Triple H. Kane ripping the door off the cell in the first-ever Hell In A Cell match to attack his brother Undertaker. Triple H hitting the Pedigree on Chris Jericho high atop the cell.

Suffice it to say, Hell In A Cell is not a night for the faint of heart, and Sunday night’s WWE pay-per-view event promises to be no different, with four huge title matches at hand — as well as a Hell In A Cell match between the commissioner of SmackDown and an angry wrestler who created the match in one of the most brutal ways possible. It’s going to be a long night, it’s going to be a bloody night — and it might just be one of the most important nights for WWE SmackDown Live in months.

Jinder Mahal’s reign with the WWE Championship seems almost unending and unassailable as long as the Singh Brothers are there to run interference for him. But Shinsuke Nakamura is hoping to put an end to that on Sunday night, looking for revenge for his loss at Mahal’s hands at SummerSlam. The Japanese Superstar’s first loss on the main roster was not well received by anyone, and he will be itching to set the record straight.

Nakamura has been one of WWE’s most popular stars ever since he debuted with NXT a year and a half ago, but he has yet to win a title since joining the main roster shortly after WrestleMania earlier this year. His fans will be eager to see what he has in store for this match to try and get the prize he desires, especially now that he knows what to expect from the Singhs after their interference cost Nakamura his first try at the WWE Championship.

This bitter feud between the commissioner of SmackDown Live and one of the show’s biggest stars has been brewing for months, and it exploded in the weeks following SummerSlam. Kevin Owens felt aggrieved that Shane McMahon’s decisions cost him multiple matches challenging for the United States Championship, and the two have had several explosive confrontations because of it — not to mention Owens’ brutal assault on Vince McMahon that left Shane’s father and the chairman of WWE bloodied in the middle of the ring.

This could well prove to be one of the most explosive Hell In A Cell matches in recent memory. Owens is a brutal force even in a normal one-fall match, but give him a punishing structure like the Cell to work in and take away any disqualification, and he can become downright cruel. Shane O’Mac won’t back down, though, and he’s fighting for vengeance now after what Owens did to his father. What could be most intriguing, though, is the added Falls Count Anywhere stipulation. You can only imagine that this match will not end inside the Cell, and that Shane’s penchant for diving off very high objects will come into play in a big way.

The months-long feud between The New Day and The Usos is finally coming to a head, with one last SmackDown Tag Team Championship match to decide things between them once and for all. The belts have passed between the two dominant teams several times during this feud, but after Sunday night there will be no more rematches — and to put an extra dose of finality on this bitter tag-team war, this match will be one of the few tag team matches to ever take place inside Hell In A Cell.

If for no other reason, you should care because almost every match between these two teams in the last few months has been a potential Match of the Year contender. They’ve helped lead a revolution in tag-team wrestling in the WWE that’s seen RAW start to pick things up of late as well, but The New Day and The Usos are only going to keep raising the bar as high as they can, especially with such a high-profile match as this one will be.

Charlotte has been chasing after the SmackDown Women’s Championship ever since she moved to the blue brand earlier this year, but she’s been thwarted at almost every turn by Natalya since her arrival. Now Natalya is the champion after locking Naomi in the Hart trademark Sharpshooter at SummerSlam, and Charlotte has her sights set on one of her oldest rivals to finally achieve her goal.

Charlotte and Natalya have a long history of fighting over championships, dating back to their days at NXT when Charlotte beat Natalya to win the then-vacant NXT Women’s Championship. They’ve put on some stellar matches in the past, and with the tensions between the modern representatives of the Flair-Hart rivalry higher than ever, this one has the potential to be their best — plus, there’s still the lurking threat of Carmella with her Money In The Bank briefcase, waiting to claim her title shot.

Baron Corbin has been an avatar of rage lately on SmackDown, but while that rage has given him a title shot at Hell In A Cell, it’s also cost him dearly over the last couple of months. He lost his Money In The Bank title shot because he got distracted by John Cena, he lost focus against Cena at SummerSlam and lost when he’d had the veteran beat, and just this past week he lost focus again when facing Tye Dillinger. A.J. Styles has been watching all the while, and while he hasn’t been impressed with what he’s seen, he’ll certainly have to use all his considerable skill in the ring to defend the United States Championship successfully.

This match has the makings of a big evolution moment for Corbin, who has largely floundered when given big chances on the main roster. His lack of focus both in and out of the ring has cost him dearly, but he has all the talent to be a massive star in the wrestling industry. Styles is a legend already, and if Corbin can keep his cool and take the Phenomenal One down, he might just be on track to create a legacy of his own. There’s also the potential that Tye Dillinger becomes a factor in this match somehow, as he’s been on the fringes of this feud from the beginning. What the Perfect 10 could have in store is a mystery, though.

There’s just one word to describe Bobby Roode: Glorious. The former NXT Champion is a recent callup to the SmackDown Live roster, and his flamboyant entrance has drawn the ire of Dolph Ziggler, who has seen his star fall significantly over the past year. Ziggler just wants respect, but he sure hasn’t been going about it in a way that’s gotten it from the fans, mocking one popular entrance after another while proclaiming himself the greatest technical wrestler in WWE history. Roode is no slouch in the ring himself, and he’ll be eager to show Ziggler just how much substance there is behind his flashy entrance gimmick.

Roode is finally making his WWE pay-per-view debut, something that no one would have thought would happen just a couple of years ago. He’s been a major star all over the industry, and even as late in his career as this is, he still has a lot to offer, as evidenced by his extraordinary run in NXT. Now we’re seeing a different side of Roode in WWE, and seeing how his dynamic works on the main roster with a talent like Ziggler will bear close watching.

Randy Orton just won’t leave poor Rusev alone. All the bearded Bulgarian wanted to do was celebrate being given the key to his hometown and being celebrated as a local hero, and Orton ruined the party with RKOs out of nowhere. How incredibly rude is that?

Look, I’m going to be honest here: this feud is simply here because neither guy had anything else to do for right now, so they got thrown together in a pretty sloppy story until something else comes up. There’s a chance they have a real match here, and if so it could be good — Randy is still great when he gives a damn, and Rusev is always fun to watch when he goes to work.

Match Date/Time: Sunday, 8 p.m. ET, local

Venue: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan

Watch Online: WWE Hell In A Cell will be shown live on the WWE Network, which is currently offering a free month to new subscribers.

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