WWE Hell in a Cell Kickoff
#HIAC
Original Air Date: October 6, 2019
Event Date: October 6, 2019
aired live on the WWE Network
City: Sacramento, CA
Venue: Golden 1 Center
Panel: Jonathan Coachman, Charly Caruso, Booker T, Sam Roberts
Commentary: Vic Joseph, Dio Maddin, Jerry Lawler
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome
Brand: Co-Branded
Panel
Jonathan Coachman welcomes everyone to the show and introduces the panel.
Video
A look at the feud between Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch.
Panel
The panel debates whether Becky or Sasha is more confident going into their Hell in a Cell match tonight.
Panel
Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross join the panel via video. Alexa doesn’t know what the Kabuki Warriors did to deserve a title shot tonight. Booker T defends Kairi Sane and Asuka, but Alexa doubles down on forgetting about the title match the Kabuki Warriors never really got.
Backstage
Kayla Braxton welcomes Charlotte Flair. Charlotte is annoyed when Kayla brings up Clash of Champions. Charlotte says she is about to become a ten-time women’s champ.
Panel
Sam Roberts and Booker T argue about agreeing about Bayley and her chances tonight.
Match 1
Lacey Evans vs Natalya
(referee: Darrick Moore)
Result: Natalya wins via submission with the Sharpshooter
Time: 9:21
Match Thoughts
Good match. We’ve seen this match a few times before, but this was a nice way to (hopefully) end the feud. Lacey fought dirty early in the match, and that allowed her to control Natalya for most of the match’s length. Natalya had to make a comeback towards the end when Lacey started looking for a Sharpshooter like she’s been doing recently. This was a fine kickoff show match.
Video
Clips of the debut of SmackDown on Fox from this past Friday night.
Panel
The panel discusses SmackDown surpassing its own hype.
Backstage
Sarah Schreiber welcomes Ali. Ali says he feels like he’s been taking two steps back for every one step forward lately. He might be down, but he won’t stay down. Ali begins to talk about the opportunity of the upcoming draft, but Randy Orton interrupts him. Orton tells Ali that he was the man who stopped Ali’s momentum when he arrived on SmackDown. Ali challenges Orton to find out who has the momentum heading into the draft. Orton accepts.
Video
Clips of the feud leading up to the tag match with Bryan and Reigns teaming up against Rowan and Harper.
Backstage
Kayla Braxton asks Erick Rowan about Roman Reigns. Rowan doesn’t care that he lost to Reigns on SmackDown. That was one battle, but this is a war. Tonight, there are no rules for Reigns and Bryan to hide behind.
Panel
The panel discusses Daniel Bryan’s place in the tornado tag match tonight.
Moving on, the panel discusses the almost-altercation between Braun Strowman and Tyson Fury on SmackDown.
Video
A look at the buildup to the Hell in a Cell match between Seth Rollins and The Fiend.
Panel
The panel discusses Seth Rollins defending his title against The Fiend.
Show Impressions
With only one match (and that being being one we’ve seen at least twice before), this wasn’t a great kickoff show. Of course, I’m glad none of the title matches ended up on the kickoff show. I was afraid the Women’s Tag Title match was going to be buried on the pre-show, but it wasn’t. So for that, I’m glad.
>> Read the Recap & Review for Hell in a Cell. >>