WWE Pay-Per-View Preview: Hell In a Cell Roundtable (Updated with McIntyre vs. Truth Preview)

In my mind, two questions need to be weighed in terms of who wins this match.

First, the ratio of heel-to-face winners on the card and the ratio of heel-to-face champions going forward.  I personally think we’re going to see a lot of face winners on this card, especially in the main event matches.

So, I’m keeping that train of thought in my head.

Second, does Kofi still need this belt?  Again, I don’t think so.  He’s one of the most over superstars on the RAW roster.  I could see him being pushed up the roster before too long, especially with a general lack of faces at the moment.

So, if not Kofi, then who?

I think Miz comes out on top in this match and leaves with the US Title.  Swagger just earned a clean nearly-squash win over Evan Bourne on Monday, so I just can’t see him getting the win at the PPV.  He recently had a run with a singles belt, something which Miz still can not claim.  I think WWE has big plans for Miz, and this PPV is sort of the “road on the road to Wrestlemania.”  Miz’s road begins Sunday at Hell in a Cell.

Ideal Winner: The Miz

Projected Winner: The Miz

It’s been quite the year for the Intercontinental Championship, as a great feud between two seasoned veterans in Chris Jericho and Rey Mysterio brawled for the belt as well as Rey’s mask and his honor. Mysterio walked out of the smoke victor and a new young, eager, and vicious contender in Dolph Ziggler emerged to not only make sure the world knew his name, but to take the Intercontinental Championship. Mysterio had his number and he had the number for any competitor when it came to defending his Intercontinental Championship, but 6-1-9 quickly turned to 1-2-3 when he felt starship pain thus a new champion in John Morrison.

Morrison didn’t have to look for challengers; he never got the chance to as Dolph Ziggler inserted himself into the title picture again. The arrogrant youngster had been defeated at Night of Champions and Summerslam for the title by Rey Mysterio and was headed for his third match against the masked flyer at Breaking Point.

Things obviously changed after the loss to Morrison and it didn’t alter Ziggler’s plans at all. The Intercontinental Championship is now on the line between two rising stars taking a trip to the future after the two vets waged war for it earlier in the year.

The very first Intercontinetal champion Pat Paterson, showed up at Breaking Point and spoke to the fans before being interupted by Ziggler. The two exchanged words and Ziggler was decided to shut him up, but John Morrison came to the rescue. The Guru of Greatness proceeded to call his opponent “Mr. Ziggles”, managing to get the entire WWE universe chanting the nickname he bestowed upon him. Things began to heat up when Morrison returned to ECW as a guest on the controversial Abraham Washington show, where Ziggler crashed the party uninvited and was denied a chance to speak as a result.

On the decade of SmackDown celebration, the Shaman of Sexy teamed with U.S. Champion Kofi Kingston to take on his old partner Miz and Dolph Ziggler, the man he’ll be facing at Hell in a Cell. Ziggler was able to strike while the iron was hot and got the pin on Morrison, gaining momentum into their heated PPV match.

Ziggler should become Intercontinental Champion, but the timing is all wrong. If he continued on with Mysterio then he should have picked up the title at Breaking Point, but he should lose here. Obviously not only did Morrison just get the belt, but he’s never pined Ziggler and will have to walk out as champion to continue rising as well as sercuring the belt’s prestige. Ziggler would save some momentum if he was DQ’ed thus extending the feud to another PPV. With the tag titles and WHC pretty much filled or locked, it seems these two will be at it for a while.

Ziggler can win later after Morrison raises the prestige for a huge payoff similar to the pay off the star who beats Kofi Kingston for the U.S. title will get.

Ideal Winner: John Morrison

Projected Winner: John Morrison

Divas Championship Match: Mickie James vs. Alicia Fox – Tenechia Haynes

Leave it to me to draw the least interesting match on the card. Oh well…I guess you could say they had some kind of build up even though I think Fox still has a ways to go before she’s Women’s Champ…er…Divas Champion material. So she has this one sweet kick that’s potentially deadly. That’s not saying much when Mickie James is the real deal.

Mickie James learned from the best and though her match against Gail Kim was a mess, it’s not enough to take away the skill she has in the ring. I’m going to say she and/or Gail had an off night that night. We’ll also factor in the possibility that the two never faced each other before so that could very well be the reason it turned out so badly. Personally, I think The Glamazon should have been Mickie’s opponent; but one can’t over look the fact that Fox has improved in the ring. She’s starting to make me believe she wants to “wrestle” and be taken seriously.

That being said, Fox still needs to prove  to me. I don’t think this new contender should just beat the champion right away. She needs to work for it in some kind of long program. Better yet, let her keep Mickie busy until Maryse returns.

I don’t think the WWE really cares too much about the Divas belt or credibility is so Fox may take the win here.

Ideal Winner: Mickie James

Projected Winner: Alicia Fox

DX vs. Legacy – Mike Cranwell

You know, we live in a society where instantaneous over-analyzation is the norm, to the point where I actually just created the word “analyzation” to properly portray how we now do things. In that mindset, it would have been easy to dismiss Degeneration-X’s Summerslam victory over Legacy as the two legends burying the youngsters who would’ve gotten far more of a rub had they actually gotten the victory.

The WWE often times gets buried for their inability to book long-term, and rightfully so. Even though this feud is not considered a “Main Event” feud per se, it does involve two heavy main eventers in Shawn Michaels and Triple H, which means that it is being booked in a main event fashion regardless of where on the card it takes place. This is a good thing, because it means that long-term booking is taking place, which while not evident at the beginning, certainly is now.

The purpose of having Legacy lose at Summerslam made perfect sense. You saw Rhodes and DiBiase put up a damn good fight, struggling to stay ahead of the legends, but eventually, the legends dug down deeper, pulled out a few tricks, and the end result wasn’t the least bit of a surprise.

The second time around? The WWE has the ability to utilize a booking prop – a submission match – in such a way that it allows Legacy to take one giant step to the next level, in such a way that they hadn’t been booked to do since the Legacy group began last year. The kids got to show both intelligence and ruthlessness in their isolation of each of their opponents, gang-beating one (Hunter) to the point where he was a non-issue for a long period of time, which then allowed them to take out the other (Shawn). This allowed Legacy to gain a victory, and as legitimate a victory as possible within the confines of such a stipulation (as in, no they didn’t pin them clean in a one-on-one or two-on-two match, but they did beat them decisively in this particular match).

Which now brings us to Sunday’s match, which for the record I’m guessing will be the second of the three Chamber Matches.

The dueling interview segment recently between the two factions was the perfect metaphor for what is happening within this feud. Legacy comes out and is cutting a promo on DX (by the way, who else likes Cody and Ted on the mic? Everyone’s hands are up, good!), and DX interrupts. From there, Hunter tries to get his cutesy lines in downplaying Legacy, but Legacy interrupts, only to be interrupted by Hunter, who was gonna get those lines in come hell-or-high-water.

• Legacy is the next big deal on RAW

• DX still rules RAW

• Legacy is about to change that

• DX isn’t going to let that happen

That segment and subsequent brawl was the perfect metaphor for what has happened between these two sides so far. I don’t say this often…WWE has done a great job booking this feud. To wit, if I had to guess I’d say that Hunter and Shawn are the ones doing a great deal of the booking on this one, as Chris Jericho does with his feuds. How else to explain how Legacy is suddenly getting legitimized?

Now, the final question: How do you end this well-booked feud perfectly? The answer is easy: You create two new main eventers. And while that may not be able to be done in these three short months, having Legacy win a 25 minute hellraiser of a match with DX, where the two teams absolutely destroy one another, only to see Legacy reach deep down and figure out an intelligent way to win (meaning one that doesn’t involve Randy Orton interfering or overkill with international objects), thereby winning the series 2-1, will solidify it in the minds of fans that Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase (Jr. damnit!) will be main eventers for many years to come.

Ideal Winners: The Legacy

Projected Winners: The Legacy

WWE Championship Match: John Cena vs. Randy Orton – Mike Bessler

One of the most popular recurring gags from the vintage Looney Toons cartoons of the World War Two era was the frequent use of the line “Is this trip really necessary?” Back then, the slogan was a reference to the ongoing effort to conserve fuel and resources by cutting down on unnecessary travel and waste. These days, we might easily pose the same question in reference to the Cena vs. Orton match that’s riding high on the card for the Hell in a Cell PPV. Seriously, fans…is this trip really necessary?

I’m going to say “no” on that one.

Look, this was a really good idea at one point in time. Unfortunately, that point in time was back in October 2007 when Cena and Orton were embroiled in a white-hot feud, the highlight of which was when Orton repeatedly tormented Cena’s dad (who was strangely billed only as “Mr. Cena” for the duration of the feud) by punting him in the head one week and giving him a beat down in the middle of the ring another night. The point here is that these guys had some serious momentum going into that year’s No Mercy PPV, but it never fully matured as Cena was sidelined with a torn pectoral muscle shortly before the scheduled event.

Yeah, back then this all would’ve made sense. Now…not so much.

Each of these wrestlers has his own dedicated fan base and even among those fans who don’t care for either guy, there is likely agreement that both Cena and Orton are good workers and that they are surely capable of putting on a good match. But the fact of the matter is that things have changed dramatically in the WWE Universe.

This is the era of “PG” wrestling in which the WWE front office and production staff are woefully afflicted with a collective case of hemophobia (the abnormal and persistent fear of blood) and it seems rather apparent at this point that the feared “Devil’s Playground” has undergone an exorcism which has reduced “Hell in a Cell” to “Heck in a Cell.” Add the over-the-top ring persona of “Super Cena” – hero of the hallowed halls of elementary schools from coast to coast – and the event shapes up to be more like “Gee Willikers in a Cell.”

Where there might have been a compelling argument as to the continued relevance of the Cena/Orton feud a couple of months ago, the build for this particular meeting has been less than scintillating. The Legacy stable has been somewhat fragmented in an effort to put over Rhoades and DiBiase through their series with DX. Orton has still had their help here and there and just this week Jericho and Big Show jumped into the fray in an effort to dispense some punishment.

But by and large, Orton’s solo efforts to sell this feud have been spotty and inconsistent. When it comes to and promos, the flat and brooding Orton just can’t compete with the energy and emotion that Cena offers when he’s behind the mic. Even though Cena is ridiculously one-dimensional at this point in his career, he does know how to hype himself. That’s exactly what’s happened this time around, too. Cena’s got the title, the moral high ground, and every bit of the momentum going into this match and Orton’s run as the WWE’s über-heel looks to be winding down.

Sure, we might get one or two moments for the highlight reel out of this match, but it’s unlikely that WWE is going to risk serious harm to Cena’s pretty and profitable face by allowing any hardcore hijinks. Without that, there’s not much to look forward to in a matchup that we’ve seen over and over again already. The best we can hope for here is a merciful end to a stale and stagnant feud with (hopefully) some indication that more promising days lie ahead for both performers.

Cena’s appeal would remain intact should WWE completely defy my expectations and place the belt back on Orton. Orton is the ideal winner in this situation as he might effectively retain his status as the monster heel of WWE. It’s a win for Legacy as well, irrespective of the outcome of the Rhodes & DiBiase vs. DX match, as the prestige of having a slot in a powerful stable will continue to guarantee them a spot in the midcard. Regrettably, the smart money is on Cena to walk away with the belt and all the “street cred” he needs to be the face of WWE for a long time to come.

Move it along, folks. Nothing to see here…

Ideal Winner: Randy Orton

Projected Winner: John Cena

World Heavyweight Championship Match: CM Punk vs. Undertaker – Michael Scanlon

This match must be for all those belly-aching that some of the feuds in the WWE have been going on for too long.  Sometimes a feud has had years and countless matches, before it escalates to the feared Hell In A Cell.  But not this one.  In its whopping third official match, The Undertaker and CM Punk need to settle this bitter rivalry in a Hell In A Cell.

About the only thing that needs to be determined is this:  How the heck is CM Punk going to win this one?

After Breaking Point, it was clear that Punk was getting the “Randy Orton win at all costs even if it hurts the Champion’s credibility” treatment.  If Punk is going to win, it is going to be a tough haul for Creative to make it believable that the Deadman would lose a match that he pioneered.

Never before has a Hell in a Cell ended in submission.

Does the fact that “Hell’s Gate” is no longer banned give a clue that this may be the first HIAC to end with a tap out?  Maybe.  We’ve all heard the rumors of the impending knee surgery for The Undertaker.

Mere hours before the PPV, in a move surely designed to pop an extra 20,000 buys, the WWE announced that R-Truth would square off against Drew McIntyre in what can only be described as a grudge match.

The Puro Dude likes this news, because he is a fan of Drew McIntyre. Surprising? I know, he’s Scottish. By all rights I should want the fans to throw things at the kilt he’s not wearing because it would infringe on “Rowdy” Roddy Piper’s gimmick and tell him to spend 6 months learning how to do things right, in NOAH. But I digress…badly.

Drew McIntyre is awesome. Drew McIntyre is one of the future main-eventers of this business. How can I know that having never seen him wrestle a full match? Because he’s got that “It Factor.” This kid knows his stuff on a very advanced level for a barely 24 year old. He is one of the people that I will feature prominently when I momentarily jump back from Japan to talk about the next generation of North American wrestlers and why things look far brighter than everyone makes it sound (which three-quarters of this site’s braintrust found out about at the same time as those reading this did. Consider yourself lucky.).

Okay, let’s live dangerously for a moment, and assume that this match will get a solid 8 minutes of in-ring time. This means that R-Truth is gonna get in his flippy-dos that make him so over with the younger crowd, and for that matter yours truly.

This also means that Drew McIntyre is going to…have time to counter said flippy-do-ness with some raging Scottish ass-kicking-ness. And glorious, it will be.

How often does R-Truth get on PPV? That’s a big 0. Who’s been getting plenty of mic time on TV, including quality face time during the SmackDown party on Friday night? The Scottish Slugger himself. So let’s be real here. After the flippy-do’ing is over and done with, Drew McIntyre will end the night for R-Truth in devastating fashion, with a double-arm DDT that would make Kenta Kobashi cringe (a.k.a. the guy who created the move).

Projected Winner: Drew McIntyre

Ideal Winner: Drew McIntyre