The Hell in a Cell event Sunday night in Dallas was better than I perceived it would be considering the event had only two weeks build on TV. Bottom line is that HIAC exceeded my personal expectations.

Any company producing multiple PPV’s in a span of a few weeks time in today’s economy can’t have overly, lofty financial projections for multiple PPV’s however I felt like from a creative standpoint that HIAC was solid.

Creative is such a subjective entity that it will never make every one totally happy and when looking at creative in hindsight one can usually fine something by looking in the rear view mirror to criticize or want to tweak.

HIAC presentations in a PG world is a tough one to execute. Competing in an environment erected of steel ‘feels’ condusive to be more aggressive that a PG franchise can provide.

Interesting dynamic with the three man announce booth at HIAC. At times, more often than not, the trio really meshed and I enjoyed their work. At other times it felt somewhat like a free for all. Some people like free for alls, by the way, but the end game of the three man booth is that when individuals only work together sporadically their performance and presentation will always be somewhat hit and miss. I enjoyed King’s interaction with Matt Striker as the two seemingly don’t philosophically see eye to eye. With all that said, if not seeing eye to eye is done effectively it can make for entertaining TV.

Saw where the UK Sun interviewed Steve Austin about another of Steve’s movies being released eminently. Again, when Austin said “never say never” regarding him returning to the ring one can surmise that is true as long as Steve is healthy enough to want to train to get back into the ring but I would be shocked to see Steve ever want to wrestle anyone at anytime at any place in the future. Could it happen? Sure. Will it happen? Highly unlikely. Let the rumors begin and the speculation run wild, BROTHER! Steve is immersed in is movie career and to get back into the ring would take time away from that endeavor as Austin would never step back in the ring without several weeks or perhaps even months of preparation. Stone Cold has too much pride to ever step in the ring merely for a pay day and not to give his fans a helluva bout.

For more from Ross, as always, check out www.JRsbarbq.com.
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For full show results, click here. For 10 Thoughts, click here and a report card on the show, including match ratings, here.
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Daniel Bryan – B – Bryan came off as a star, again, getting the crowd involved and having a good match as the glue guy in a gimmick that didn’t make the world of sense. Still, three ways are Danielson’s worst kind of match and so this was just good rather than great.

John Morrison – B – Morrison was filler here and not needed, but still made the most of his opportunity via some really good selling and a few high spots that were important in getting the crowd involved in the show.

The Miz – A- – He was excellent at being an opportunist in the match to gain heat and his promo before the show set the tone for the night, getting the crowd involved. In fact, the only thing missing from Miz’ performance was bothering to look like he might win.

Daniel Bryan retains the US Title by making the Miz tap to the LaBelle Lock in a match that also featured John Morrison (***) – The beauty of this match is how everyone had their role to play and played it well. Danielson was the guy who could win at any time, Morrison excited the crowd, and Miz pissed them off. The match was good, but not so good it couldn’t be followed. Match quality may have only been ***, but in terms of what it was for the show, its an A+.

Sheamus – B+ – Sheamus is really a main event guy now, as he controlled much of the match, made it interesting, and seemed vicious. He can still use some work on selling during babyface comebacks, but his willingness to take big bumps made up for a lot in this area.

Randy Orton – A – Well, he has his face selling down, there’s no stopping him. Absolutely awesome comebacks and great selling, along with how over he already is, make Orton pretty clearly ready to be the top man in the company.

Randy Orton defeats Sheamus with an RKO on the steps (*** ¾). Arguably match of the night, this one featured excellent storytelling. Sheamus was working Randy’s ribs with no shame in utilizing weapons to get his advantage and put Orton away. Orton’s comebacks, meanwhile, involved those same weapons, as he is just as evil and devious as Sheamus and better at using the environment to his advantage. This one really didn’t need the cell and so is bumped down from ****, but was still a great match.

Alberto Del Rio – B – He had a big entrance, his speech got heat, but if you want to sell us that you might fight, wear some damn tights so it isn’t obvious when the next two guys come out wearing tights you won’t be involved.

Edge – D – Edge doesn’t work as a face and his war against all things “stupid” only works if fans can get behind him as a good guy, which he can’t. Saving him from failing is at least the stupid G-Mail GM is now a heel. His match was also terrible and killed the crowd. As veteran, it’s his job to prevent that.

Jack Swagger – C – He’s a good promo and does some impressive things in the ring, but something is still missing.

Edge defeated Jack Swagger (* 1/2) – A beat-down Edge still managed to beat Swagger after Edge made the match as dull as possible, having no hope spots and no babyface timing.

John Cena – A+ – However this plays out, it’s always risky for a #1 babyface to play this vulnerable of a role to the heels, let alone the heels who are so green. Cena made Barrett seem his equal here, before doing the job, taking on a new role, and managing to look heartbroken about it. This is one of Cena’s finest nights in the company and why it should be impossible for anyone who loves wrestling to really hate a guy who does the right thing this often.

Wade Barrett – A – Barrett was absolutely golden as the mastermind here, putting on a good match where he came off as the equal of the company’s ace and, equally important, held his own in the little things throughout the match. Barrett might not have enough “it” to be the #1 heel, but he’s damn close.

Wade Barrett defeats John Cena thanks to “fan” (Husky Harris and Michael McGuillicuty) interference (*** ½). Another very good match, this one was far more back and forth, with Barrett constantly fighting back against Cena and coming out ahead regularly, but Cena just had another gear Barrett couldn’t physically touch… so he utilized NXT season 2 rookies to win anyway. A+ storytelling and angle- this is just pure wrestling gold.

I’m not rating the divas, sorry. I had to use the bathroom and walked back into a big conversation, missing most of the match. From what I saw, both divas looked good before the weak finish.

Kane – F – He spent the match throwing punches, ended up looking incredibly weak, and, as usual, showed he has no business with the top title. He’s good, but not good enough for this program.

Undertaker – F – His timing is off and he’s still quite slow, despite that he now got his “magic” back. I think he’s done and, what’s more, I think he’s wildly over-rated. He’s incredibly inconsistent, usually good for 1 or so memorable match per-year. When you’ve been around this long, that leads to an impressive seeming resume. But really, his great matches were Bret, Kurt Angle, Mick Foley, and Shawn Michaels… oh and a prime of life Triple H. Couldn’t those guys, at that point, have had awesome matches with me? When he was expected to carry Brock, Brock got over, but Taker hurt the match due to messing up his hand selling badly. His mystique did the heavy lifting for him. Same for Jeff Hardy who nearly killed himself to end up looking good against Undertaker, and Edge who’s entire storyline was based around going nuts against Taker’s mystique as Taker did the exact same shtick he always does. He’s not bad, but goddamn is he overrated.

Kane defeats Undertaker when Paul Bearer turned on Undertaker and gave Kane the Urn (**). A slower version of every Undertaker Kane match ever with a finish everyone in the room figured out the second the match started, this was an utter waste of time and I can’t believe I’m going to be subjected to overrated but not really good up-to-par star vs. overrated “legend” once more. Wake me when this is done.

Okay, this show, besides the main event, was stellar. The Raw picture is really interesting, with Cena taking a huge risk by joining Nexus, Nexus’ new members, and Orton hopefully moving on from Sheamus to see where the show can go.. I also assume we’re getting Bryan vs. Morrison soon, which should be all kinds of awesome. Smackdown… well… Smackdown sucks… but, the show was still a huge success with three very good matches and tons of storyline movement. High recommendation to get this one and an A show.

Stay tuned tonight for the WWE Raw Report, and tomorrow for my thoughts on that show and it’s ratings slide in the Tuesday Morning Backlash, up live at 10am!
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What was surely a heel turn was Paul Bearer giving Kane the urn with which to hit the Undertaker and cost him his match. Bearer then left with Kane.

For full show results, click here. For 10 Thoughts, click here and a report card on the show, including match ratings, here.
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For full results, click here.
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We change things up this week, as PK is MIA and replaced by A2Z Analysiz’s Jake Ziegler and I’m also joined by Tom Daniels. The WWE Hell in a Cell 2010 PPV was solid and unspectacular, with a turd main event angle destined to be remembered in infamy for it’s lameness.

Can Jake’s connection hold up? Find out on this week’s show!

For full show results, click here. For 10 Thoughts, click here and a report card on the show, including match ratings, here.
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-Natalya defeated Michelle McCool to win the Diva’s Championship
-The Miz defeated Daniel Bryan (CAW) & John Morrison to win the US Championship
-Wade Barrett (CAW) defeated John Cena
-Kane defeated The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell Match to retain the World Championship
-Randy Orton defeated Sheamus (CAW) in a Hell in a Cell Match to retain the WWE Championship

Of course, these are not the actual results, for those, make sure you follow Inside Pulse Wrestling’s Live Coverage!
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In the meantime, here is the card for tonight’s PPV!

Hell in a Cell Match for the WWE Championship
Randy Orton (c) vs. Sheamus

Hell in a Cell Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Kane (c) vs. The Undertaker

Wade Barrett vs. John Cena
If Cena wins, Nexus disbands. If Barrett wins, Cena joins Nexus

Submissions Count Anywhere Match for the US Championship
Daniel Bryan (c) vs. The Miz vs. John Morrison

WWE Diva’s Championship
Michelle McCool (c) vs. Natalya
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