Twenty-seven years ago, at WWE’s inaugural Bad Blood event, not only did the first Hell in Cell Match take place, but the most memorable debut in wrestling history changed WWE forever. Undertaker battered and bloodied Shawn Michaels in the climax of their historic matchup. Then the lights fall, the arena turns red, and a large crimson figure storms toward the ring.
“IT’S GOT TO BE KANE!” McMahon infamously yelled as the masked man ripped the door off the Cell and tombstoned his older brother, allowing Shawn Michaels to pin the Undertaker. After two decades, WWE presents the 4th edition of Bad Blood, emanating from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
CM Punk and Drew McIntyre will complete their hellacious trilogy inside Hell in a Cell and perhaps the most star-studded tag team since the Mega Powers take center stage as Cody Rhodes teams with the returning Roman Reigns to take on Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu.
- Hell In A Cell Match: CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre
It felt weird having a Hell in a Cell Match open a PLE, especially when it’s the first one in years where the intensity of the feud justifies using the Cell. I got over that quickly due to the great work of two top-tier wrestlers. “I’m gonna end your career. Your wife is gonna leave you,” McIntyre shouted at Punk while admiring the brutality he unleashed.
A weary Punk whacked McIntyre out of nowhere with a toolbox to the head, which made the Scotsman bleed like a stuck pig. Corey Graves mentioned the Muta Scale on commentary due to the amount of blood pouring out of McIntyre’s forehead. Punk applied the Sharpshooter, which was the same move he beat McIntyre with in Berlin. McIntyre grabbed a wrench from the pile of tools scattered around the ring and contorted his body enough to hit Punk in the back to break the hold.
McIntyre reversed a vertical suplex attempt on the ring apron and put Punk through a table on the floor. McIntyre hurt his back on that one as he could barely get the steel steps in the ring, which he used later to hit Punk with White Noise. Following a low blow, McIntyre grabs a bag of thumbtacks, but no, it was a bag of beads. The same type of beads were used to create the cherished bracelet McIntyre stole from Punk, which he made him swallow in a prior attack.
McIntyre dumped the beads on Punk as a final insult. Punk ducked the Claymore, and McIntyre landed spine-first on the steel steps. Punk returns the favor and shoves the beads down McIntyre’s throat before hitting a GTS with a chain wrapped around his knee to get the 1-2-3. Punk needed medical attention and oxygen on his way back to the locker room. Punk said, “Let me call my wife,” adding realism to the moment as McIntyre stood in the ring in utter disbelief.
Punk/McIntyre was a gritty and bloody battle that personified the hatred between the two. The ending was brilliant; once again, McIntyre lost because he was his own worst enemy.
Winner: CM Punk via pinfall
- WWE Women’s Championship Match: Nia Jax (c) vs. Bayley
Nia countered a powerbomb out of the corner with an almost hurricanrana and immediately followed up with a Bayley to Belly for a nearfall. Nia kicked out of Bayley’s top rope elbow. Nia powerbomb Bayley on the steel steps. (The steps are getting a lot of work tonight). Bayley came back with a Samoan Drop on Nia. The referee gets accidentally splashed by Nia. Bayley hits a distracted Nia with the Rose Plant.
Tiffany Stratton ran down to cash in the briefcase, but Nia caught her. Out of fear, Stratton switches gears and distracts Bayley on the top rope, allowing Nia to hit a second rope. Samoan Drop. Nia drills Bayley with the Annihilator for the pin. Once again, Stratton goes to cash in on Nia but ends up helping her retain the title.
The match was good while it lasted. Bayley has been consistently one of WWE’s best performers in 2024, and Nia Jax is still going strong on the run of her career.
Winner: Nia Jax via pinfall
- Damian Priest vs. Finn Balor
Priest cracked Balor with a right hand that he sold because of how hard he landed the punch. Priest hit a falcon arrow for two. Balor countered Priest and delivered a beautiful Russian leg sweep to take control. Priest threw some kicks, but Balor regained control with a Pele Kick. Priest came back with a Razor’s Edge.
The action spilled to the floor. Priest sent Balor over the commentary table and delivered a Razor’s Edge on the apron: Cue JD McDonagh and Carlito for the interference play. Balor capitalized on the chaos and drilled Priest with the Coup de Grace twice, which Priest sold like a champ. Balor went for one more, but Priest moved and hit a South of Heaven chokeslam for the win.
The entrances, in tandem with commentary, provided that big fight feel. Bell to Bell it was okay but didn’t live up to the emotion expected from former stablemates going to war. It came across as a TV match instead of something produced for pay-per-view. Again, there is nothing wrong with Priest and Balor’s performance.
Winner: Damian Priest
- Triple H’s Big Announcement
Triple H put over the city of Atlanta, mentioned how he used to “Terra-Ryz” WCW, put over the sold-out attendance (largest arena gate), and gave a shout-out to Goldberg, sitting in the front row with his family. Triple H plugged Riyadh Sason and Crown Jewel, which didn’t get as many boos as I thought it would.
Hunter announced that going forward, Crown Jewel would feature a match where the WWE Champion would face the World Champion, for the men and the women. While their respective championships won’t be on the line, the winner will be crowned the Crown Jewel Champion with a new and quite large title belt with “50 carats of diamonds.
The belt is reminiscent of the AEW World Title in its shape.
Gunther interrupted, citing Bad Blood should have the world champion present. Gunther mentioned the legends in attendance and turned his attention to Goldberg sitting in the front row. Gunther lied a few weeks ago on Raw when he told Bret Hart that Goldberg was his favorite wrestler.
Gunther called Goldberg a one-trick pony and told Gage (Goldberg’s son) he hoped he was better farther to his son thenhe was a wrestler. Goldberg jumped the barricade and was swarmed by security guards and suits. Sami Zayn came out to attack Gunther and sent him packing as Hunter raised Goldberg’s arm to end the segment.
It’s hard to tell if this was just a Goldberg appearance to pop the hometown Atlanta crowd or if there will be a match between the two. Even in his prime, Goldberg never took prolonged damage in the ring. I can’t picture him taking Gunther’s chops and stiff shots. I don’t even want to think about the alternative to that scenario. I’ve probably said too much already.
- WWE Women’s World Championship -Liv Morgan (c) vs. Rhea Ripley: Dominik Mysterio Inside Shark Cage
It looks like Dom is chained inside the cage. Morgan delivered a sweet Code Breaker off the top rope that folded Ripley in half. Ripley counter Oblivion, where she rolled out/limped out of it with a hurt leg. The door to the cage is open, which increases Dom’s fear of heights.
Ripley hits Morgan with the Brutilizer on the floor. Dom pleaded with Ripley not to hurt Morgan, but he wouldn’t move until he had to, and fell out of the cage, chained and hanging upside down. Ripley beat him with a kendo stick until the returning Raquel Rodriguez interfered, causing a disqualification.
The match was all about seeing Dom fall out of the cage. Besides that, Morgan took the fight to Ripley, which I’m surprised looked as good as it did. Looking at the two of them, it’s hard to believe the smaller Morgan could fight toe-to-toe with the larger Ripley. Rodriguez’s return changes things because Ripley won’t have the power advantage in their matches.
Winner: Rhea Ripley via Disqualification
- WWE Champion Cody Rhodes & Roman Reigns vs. The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa & Jacob Fatu)
University of Arkansas Pine Bluff Marching Band played “Kingdom” for Rhodes’ entrance, followed by the Georgia Philharmonic playing “I Am Greatness” as Reigns walked down the aisle. Cody Rhodes and Jacob Fatu started things off. Solo jumped in quickly and was met by Reigns and a loud “F**k you, Solo” chant.
Reigns and Solo are now in the ring. Solo won the early exchange, but Reigns came back, only for Fatu to distract him long enough for Solo to regain the upper hand. Solo and Fatu drilled Reigns with a pair of running hip attacks. Fatu missed a jumping splash (Stinger Splash) in the corner and hit his head on the post.
Rhodes gets the tag and has his way with The Bloodline, including a shout to Dusty via a bionic elbow to pop the Atlanta crowd. Fatu eventually hit a pop-up Samoan drop, which was the start of the heat, and Rhodes took the brunt of the punishment. Reigns purposely dropped down as Rhodes went for the tag.
Wait, no. It only looked that way. Fatu pulled Reigns off the apron off camera. Rhodes got his knees up for a senton bomb from Fatu and tagged Reigns. Solo blocked a Superman punch and went for a Samoan spike; however, Reigns countered it with a crucifix pin for a nearfall. It’s not a move you normally see from Reigns.
Reigns eats a superkick from Fatu and a double superkick from Solo and Fatu. Fatu hits Reigns with a moonsault, and Solo immediately follows with a big splash off the top. Rhodes broke up the cover and another nearfall. Rhodes ducked out of the way, causing Fatu to crash through the barricade.
Rhodes connected with Cross Rhodes and several superkicks before returning the favor from SummerSlam, and as he went to the top rope, and frog splashed Fatu through the commentary table. Rhodes and Fatu are out of the equation as Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa distract Reigns so that Solo can deliver a spear.
Someone with a hoodie jumped the barricade and laid out Tonga and Loa with superkicks. IT’S JIMMY USO! Reigns speared Solo to get the win and hugged Jimmy Uso after the match. Rhodes and Reigns had a stare-down, but Reigns looked at the WWE Title draped on Rhodes’ shoulder.
The Bloodline jumped Rhodes as Reigns and Uso left the ring. Reigns looked on at the beating as Uso reminded him that he gave Rhodes his word that he’d have his back. That’s what Reigns needed to hear as he and Uso ran back in and nailed Solo with a Superman Pumch to clear the ring.
“IF YOU SMELL WHAT THE ROCK IS COOKING.” The Rock comes and stands in the aisle with his People’s Championship. Rhodes, Reigns, and Uso try to make sense of the situation. The Rock raised the people’s eyebrow, raised his finger in the air, and made the throat slit motion before leaving to end the show.
Winner: Roman Reigns & Cody Rhodes via pinfall
Final Thought: Going into Bad Blood, some felt Hell in a Cell should have been the main event, but Reigns & Rhodes teaming up against The Bloodline was the hot angle. In hindsight, you couldn’t go wrong with either match to close the show. Of course, The Rock’s surprise appearance almost guarantees that anything he does is going on last.
Punk/McIntyre brought Hell in a Cell back to its roots as the culmination of an epic feud. The match had to open the show if it wasn’t going on last. Putting it in the co-main event position would have taken all the thunder away from the main event. The main event played all the right notes, which produced some nice music. Rhodes and Reigns are super over, and Jacob Fatu looked right at home in the headline bout.
A five-match PLE worked exceptionally well. Some don’t like the change and yearn for more matches. However, Triple H applied the same booking formula with NXT’s TakeOver events. It will take time for fans who are not used to the less is more approach to adjust to the new norm.
A word of caution, though.
The five-match formula worked well in NXT because the shows were geared toward diehard fans who yearn for five-star matches above all else. WWE’s main roster audience is much larger; most want to be entertained above all else and are not as concerned about seeing a string of match-of-the-year candidates.
It will take time to retrain the audience after nearly 30 years of filling PPV/PLE events with as many matches as possible. In NXT, the matches meant more. In WWE, the stories mean more. If Triple H can make the stories on the main roster as meaningful as the matches in developmental, everybody wins.
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