FEEDBACK: WWE Hell in a Cell 2022

What did you think of WWE Hell in a Cell?

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Mj - wrote this, deleted this, and now un-deleted it even though it won’t be read on air because I’m shocked I have a minority opinion here based on listening to the review. I’m surprised this would be viewed as memorable for any good reasons. Sheer negligence and further tarnishing the HIAC gimick. Beating a top guy illogically. Crowd reactions for all the wrong reasons (deafening silence, crowd turning on Cody, then rallying for Cody while he puts his body through utter hell which is morbid fandom).
If it’s incredible for Cody to do this, why would we ever cry foul if a performer guts out a performance while injured going forward. It’s not about the safety of Cody, he’s working with others and therefore shouldn’t be. Here is what I wrote last night after the show ended when takes are always more :hot_pepper::

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In 2019 I called you guys after what I consider to be the jump-the-shark moment for Hell in a Cell. Fiend vs Seth. I vividly remember being so turned off I ranted that WWE was creatively bankrupt.

Cody means a lot to me. One day I’ll write about it. But Tonight, I would like to say Cody is Good-Will-Bankrupt. He used his last ounce of good will with me tonight by fulfilling his savior complex desires and further ruin both the Cell and Seth. 3 years after Seth did it to Fiend and the gimmick.

How would a person survive the Cell with a torn pec? It’s illogical he would. Especially if his opponent was remotely competent. But Seth isn’t that apparently. This really really makes Seth feel some kind of lame. And nobody would have questioned Cody not wrestling if the fans had even seen a picture. Instead Cody seems so hell bent on being some kind of super hero and risked negligence, had fans uncomfortable, got a crowd to turn on an injured person, and then won. Narcissist meets savior complex on tilt.

I guess this was the WWE’s scripting a Willis Reed or Kirk Gibson moment.

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Edit edit: I’m at a loss to understand how one should view workers working hurt and hurt in clearly obvious ways. Do we want them to protect themselves and others, or do we want to pass judgement from afar based on whether we are entertained or not? We never have all the info as quickly as the judgements are made (good or bad), nor are we ever medical professionals. But every time faced with watching it, the reactions are so inconsistent. By fans and pundits.

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Mannie from pacoima

Much like mjf was the talk of dynamite and punk’s announcement was the talk of rampage. Cody was all we will probably remember about Hell in a cell. He must really want the adoration of the fans to put himself through this match and boy did it really heighten the match. I do wonder if money in the bank plans will change but nonetheless much respect to cody for continuing with the match. Do you feel if this happened on dynamite the crowd would be against cody?

Overall very good show, as many of WWE’s lesser PPVs are these days. Loved the women’s match and I thought the show elevated some new people, which they need to do with Roman taking a lesser role. I loved the women’s match, although I wouldn’t have had Asuka take the pin- she still feels like the fresher matchup for either Bianca or Becky.

Where do you think the pressure on top tier wrestlers like Cody, Kenny Omega, and Kota Ibushi (either from themselves or their employers) to perform with pretty serious injuries (although the full extent of Cody’s might be better than it looked) will stop? Or will it?

So, I am totally on your side here and agree with everything you say, but I think you have jumped on Cody a little hard and are singling him out a bit too much. If you say/think this stuff about him, cant the same be said about Kenny Omega, who had a pile of injuries and went out there for months still competing?

The boys are never going to want to not compete. At the end of the day, it has to come from Vince or Tony to make the call to sit these guys out. First and foremost is for the health of the performers involved. That is always the most important thing. Also for the booking as well. With Kenny, we didnt really know how injured he was, until he was out, so you could get away with it.

In this HIAC match though, it was basically Seth Rollins vs a one armed Cody Rhodes and they made Seth look like an incompetent fucking dork. I’ve seen people talk about how amazing this match was and how compelling it was. It was not amazing at all. It was actually kind of boring up until the pedigree spot and then it was a few big moves and then the finish. The only thing compelling about the match, was how much bigger of an idiot Seth could look each passing minute.

I get that you want to protect Cody, but if it is that bad, he shouldnt have been in the match. Seth should have been constantly going after the injury and stomping the shit outta his arm. Doing everything he can to hurt the arm. Not only did he barely go after it, he then willingly allowed himself to be connected to Cody with the bullrope. How fucking dumb?

Glad you pointed this out:

  1. Nobody knew how injured Kenny (or any talent is) and it’s not a marketing reason to tune in
  2. It’s not visible and uncomfortable to see which Codys was to the point it deflated a hot crowd for a solid stretch
  3. It didn’t prompt fans to chant this is awesome or put them in a strange spot to applaud such reckless behavior you wouldn’t advise your children

In sports, your either injured or hurt. Assume everyone is banged up and dealing with issues. When somebody is so overtly dealing with a real injury that will require surgery, what is the value in performing if not to generate tons of sympathy and fanfare for your heroic actions. So narcissistic. If I’m harsh on Cody it’s because Cody is for Cody.

He knew what some of his injuries were. He knew he had vertigo for a while. That itself is dangerous enough, performing some of the moves that he does, for both himself and other performers.

These guys do not have the final say though. Kenny or Cody arent going out there, if Vince & Tony tell them no. Of course Cody, Kenny or any of these guys is going to go out there and perform, if they think they can go. You have to pretty much chop off a limb and even then, they would still want to go out there.

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So in the case of Kenny his injuries were kept quiet so I guess I draw a distinction there. He also made a guy on the way out to recovery. Seth took 3 straight losses the last one being illogical Idk, I view them different but recognize and hear what you are saying on a whole.

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Just watched the show tonight, and I have to say overall it was a great show.

Match of the night for me was probably the main event, but the woman’s opener was a close second.

@MJfromNJ @Rated_R_Poster I see what you two are saying about Cody, for Seth to loose to a one armed man is a bit of a stretch, but at the the same time you can use this logic anytime a guy like Daniel Bryan faces a guy the size of Warlow or a guy in his 50’s (say Chris Jericho) goes up against a wrestler in their prime, none of these things could or would ever happen in the UFC. I feel that in wrestling we have to suspend our belief, though what is accepted vs not of course changes from person to person. I cant say anything either of you are saying is wrong, it just didn’t bother me too much, especially as the match went on (early on it did). If I could change one thing, I would have had Cody do something to Seth early to severely injure him so from a storyline perspective it evened things up.

As for Cody wresting, I don’t love wrestlers going out there with injuries, but I think it also really depends on what the injury is. Concussion or Spinal/Neck/Back injury, I think there needs to be a line drawn from management. A muscle tear, I’m ok with it if the performer isn’t being pressured and it isn’t going to cause any serious long term damage. Regardless though, I think that performance is going to be remembered for a long time, and I do think that right now Cody may be the biggest star in wrestling so at least it wasn’t for nothing.

I’m not sure about that. I’m not a huge UFC fan, but didnt an older Randy Couture have a pretty good run against younger guys? And it isnt exactly a stretch for a small guy to get a bigger guys number in a fight. I’m sure Chris Jericho got Goldbergs number in a fight and I believe both Sin Cara & Yoshi Tatsu schooled a much bigger Sheamus in backstage fights.

This was essentially a guy working with only half of his upper body and my main gripe was that it wasnt even booked to make Seth look smart at all. Why didnt he just do the same thing to Cody at HIAC, as he did on Raw? I kept saying during the match, why isnt he stomping the shit out of Codys arm? Obviously I know you want to protect the guy, but at the same time, he did what I was asking for the next night. Just dont make the performers look like fucking dimwits is all I am asking.

Why didn’t he do the same thing as he did to the Fiend in 2019?

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When Randy Couture beat Tim Sylvia for the world title he was 43, so essentially he was Randy’s Orton’s age. Jericho is 51. You will never see a 51 year old compete for the world title in the UFC, it just wont happen. As far as as fights go, yes with non combat athletes a smaller guy can take a big guy, but at the highest level in 2022 you will never see an elite welterweight face and beat an elite heavyweight. Wrestlers are not combat athletes, so a backstage fight IMO is no different then a street fight. On screen from a kayfabe perspective, wrestlers are supposed to be legit fighters so that is where you have to suspend your belief.

I’m not saying the situations are identical, my point is just that in wrestling you have to suspend your disbelief to a degree and everyone is different. For me, I was able to get around it, for you two, obviously you couldn’t. Again, I am not saying either of you are “wrong” or that I am “right”, I’m just saying that it didnt bother me that much. At the beginning of the match it did, but is it went on I thought they did a good job of overcoming it.

Very fair point lol, but this can be said for a ton of moves in wrestling. When a guy is down, why not just go to town on his face with hammerfists? Why would a wrestler hit someone in the back with a chair when they can hit them in the head? Why doesn’t every wrestler go for an arm bar and just break their opponents arm like in MMA?. This is where suspension of disbelief has to come in (sorry for saying this so many times lol, its annoying me as I read it back lol but its relevant to say).

Also @MJfromNJ I dont think the crowd turned on Cody, I think they were cheering Seth getting a table because they had been chanting for tables all night.

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