by Rob Goodwin @REALRobGoodwinRemember when there was feud in the WWE? Remember the feeling it used to give you, watching CM Punk and John Cena, or The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels beating the loving bajesus out of each other, dropping insult after insult in promos that lit the WWE Universe on fire? And we as fans knew that the feud would end, not with a wimper, but with a vicious Hell in a Cell bout that would leave us screaming for more. Cheers of 'Holy Shit' and 'This is Awesome' were commonplace and everyone would go home happy.
Then WWE did what it always does when they stumble blindly onto a good thing, either it shoves it down our unwilling throats at every opportunity; see Roman Reigns, John Cena, Rocky Maivia or Bobby Lashley. Or, they don't get it and destroy it by giving it a stupid gimmick or just booking them in bafflingly stupid angles; see Enzo and Cass, The Club, Bayley, Dusty Rhodes or The Red bloody Rooster. However, with Hell in a Cell, the WWE decided that the 'feud ender' should have its own PPV, similar to such successful gimmick themed PPVs such as Breaking Point or Fatal 4 Way. Needless to say, it's been, a mixed bag to say the least! Since the inaugural event in 2009, the gimmick has grown very stale, and far from it continuing as the terrifying, brutal ender of feuds that it always has been, it's now a tired concept that the WWE have over saturated! Never has this been so apparent as this year when, seemingly overcome with love of the gimmick, Mick Foley has thrown 3 separate matches into the cell this time. 3 matches in a cell...in one night...Good grief! Yes, this PPV hasn't really built anything to make me interested in the same way I feel Smackdown builds some of it's own feuds (NOT JACK SWAGGER VS. BARON CORBIN! Do not use that as your example), in fact the main star of the RAW show at the moment is Chris Jericho, a man not taking part in the PPV at all!? To then put every main event into the cell just seems stupid, and a bit directionless. The only thing that I feel could redeem this PPV is the idea of Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks being the main, main event (of the three billed), making history as the first women's match in the cell, but reports have surfaced that big, bad Vinnie Mac doesn't want the women's match on last (article in Wrestling News). This hasn't soured my thoughts on the PPV as a whole, as I feel it will just play out in the exact same way it always does! No change, Lord no, apparently WWE fears change like I fear a Dana Brooke promo. Has the gimmick themed PPV died out? Yes! If WWE keep over saturating us with Hell in a Cell matches then obviously a PPV of them gets boring extremely quickly! Let's make this match interesting...Erm let's...Erm... throw it in a Hell In A Cell match! Something that offends me on a molecular level, is the way that these matches rarely, if ever, actually utilise the 'Hellacious Structure!' at all. Yes there's the standard, here's a fence, I'm going to throw you into it, followed up by the same spot with the roles reversed. I'm not into it WWE stop forcing me to be into it! Powerbombs on top of the cell, chokeslams through the roof, spears through the side of the metal cage is what these matches are made for, but the sheer over exposure we have to them has made us numb to these spots if they ever do come along - similar to how I feel when I watch a Matthew McConaughey film, where good acting is like trying to find a public toilet when you are desparate for a poo...impossible! Its a shame as it's the same that befell Elimination Chamber, matches which I love! Don't let the same fate befall the concept that has given us the King of the Ring 1999 match between Undertaker and Mankind, or the debut of Kane in 1997 following an excellent match between Undertaker and Shawn Michaels! Don't do it WWE, just make it a once in a blue-moon stipulation and make it as violent as you can in the goddamn PG era, to build it up again as this terrifying structure once more. Do this, and the WWE Universe will be on board, 100%! Comments are closed.
|