Cody Rhodes won one of the most uncomfortable matches in history as he defeated Seth Freakin’ Rollins at 2022.
The American Nightmare went into Sunday night’s main event and as he revealed his bruised chest and shoulder.
What followed was a deeply unnerving but undeniably gutsy performance from Rhodes as he defeated Rollins to put an exclamation point on their epic trilogy of matches.
The Visionary stunned fans for a very different reason during his own entrance as he came out sporting the polka dots worn by Cody’s late dad Dusty, and at one point he even used a belt bearing the same pattern to punish his opponent.
The Hell In A Cell match itself saw Rollins dominate for a long time, targeting Rhodes’ injury as an settled hush fell over the arena.
Once Cody was able to avoid a splash sending Seth through a table, the tide turned and the bout became more competitive, with plenty of references littered throughout.
Seeing the bout become a Bull Rope Match was a nice touch given the Rhodes family’s history in wrestling, while the use of the sledgehammer and Cody hitting a Pedigree was fantastic.
In the end, Rhodes got the win and stood tall, although there could be a very real physical cost as his focus now goes on rehabbing his injury.
Bianca Belair and Theory retain gold, Happy Corbin gets stretchered out and more
The night kicked off with a blistering instant classic as Bianca Belair in an incredible match showing the wild chemistry between all three stars.
It was a match full of highlights at a breakneck pace, with Big Time Becks looking like she’d won on several occasions as the Empress of Tomorrow kept the fight alive in front of a packed crowd roaring its approval.
In the end, Belair played Lynch at her own game with the EST of WWE sending her rival to the outside after a Man-handle Slam and then stealing the pin on Asuka.
After MVP and Omos shrugged off Cedric Alexander’s offer for extra help in their handicap match against Bobby Lashley, and he played into the ending as he jumped in the ring causing a distraction.
With attention focused on being thrown out of the ring, the All Mighty hit a huge spear on Omos and followed up with the Hurt Lock to make MVP submit at the end of a fun match helped by a hot crowd.
Kevin Owens picked up a win over Elias’ younger brother Ezekiel with a Stunner to end an entertaining match, with the Allstate Arena audience getting into the action after a relatively quiet start.
After a slow start, the match pitting The Judgement Day against AJ Styles, Finn Balor and Liv Morgan really picked up steam and delivered some exciting action.
The Phenomenal One was bleeding heavily by the end of the bout and looked to be getting taken care of by medical personnel at ringside, while Edge, Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley picked up the win with no new member entering their ranks just yet.
Madcap Moss picked up a huge win over Happy Corbin in a brutal No Holds Barred Match as the bitter rivals delivered some real punishment to each other, making the most of the stipulation despite calls from the crowd for tables.
In the end, Moss hit a fallaway slam onto the steel steps, followed up by the Punchline and another shot with the steps with a chair wrapped round Corbin’s neck.
Up next, the sold out Allstate Arena were fully behind as he challenged Theory for the United States Title.
After a fantastic match giving both stars plenty of opportunity to shine, the champ retained the gold to the disappointment of the fans – while plenty of John Cena references could point to his bigger summer plans.
WWE Hell In A Cell results and grades
- Raw Women’s Title: Bianca Belair (c) defeated Becky Lynch and Asuka (A+)
- Bobby Lashley beat MVP and Omos (B)
- Kevin Owens pinned Ezekiel (B+)
- The Judgement Day beat Finn Balor, AJ Styles and Liv Morgan (A-)
- No Holds Barred: Madcap Moss pinned Happy Corbin (B+)
- United States Title: Theory (c) defeated Mustafa Ali (A-)
- Hell In A Cell: Cody Rhodes beat Seth Freakin’ Rollins (A+)
