Predicting WWE “Hell in a Cell” 2014 Card

We’re two weeks removed from the “Night of Champions” pay-per-view and yet the card for WWE “Hell in a Cell” on Oct. 26 remains completely bare of matches.

No main event has been scheduled and it looks like Brock Lesnar, the current reigning and defending WWE World Heavyweight Champion, will be off the show entirely. The lack of direction is frustrating, but there’s still three weeks to put together a solid lineup.

All hope isn’t lost.

With that being said, perhaps it’s best that we get ahead of the game and do all of the dirty work for the creative team at World Wrestling Entertainment.

With the way certain storyline’s are (slowly) progressing, the following eight matches could be a shoe-in for the show.

 

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.

After losing his United States Championship match to Sheamus at “Night of Champions,” Cesaro now shifts gears and sets his sights on the other mid-card title, the WWE Intercontinental Championship.

If history has shown us anything, it’s that Cesaro can put up one heck of a fight in titles matches before eventually coming up short in the end.

His 10-match losing streak in title bouts just about sums up his ineptitude under those circumstances.

With Cesaro having already lost to Ziggler in a controversial decision on “Friday Night SmackDown” and avoiding the pinfall loss in their Triple Threat match with The Miz on “Monday Night Raw,” another title opportunity is just around the corner.

Will history repeat itself?

 

I sense a pattern here.

Cesaro moves on from his United States Championship program with Sheamus to challenge WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler, while The Miz ditches Ziggler to take on “The Celtic Warrior.”

You’d think the WWE roster was down to four guys with the way creative is just rotating the same superstars in and out.

Considering Rusev’s anti-American persona, having him challenge the United States Champion makes perfect sense. Perhaps WWE will keep that for “Survivor Series” and use Miz as a placeholder for a lesser pay-per-view like “Hell in a Cell.”

 

Rusev vs. The Big Show

WWE is slowly running out of names to throw in the way of the mighty Rusev. There are only so many Americans on the roster who could pull off the whole “red, white and blue against the world” schtick properly anyways.

Rusev and Big Show are scheduled to go one-on-one during the Oct. 6 edition of “Monday Night Raw,” but that shouldn’t stop the two behemoths from going at it once again on pay-per-view. If not for a hernia injury, fans would have gotten Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins on both “Raw” and “Night of Champions” in the same week.

It’s been done before.

Mark Henry will likely play an important role as he makes his transition from face to heel (again). The most logical scenario would be for Big Show to be moments away from ending the undefeated streak of Rusev before Henry appears and costs his former ally the match.

If Henry can’t pull out the win for America, then no one can.

 

This program between two of the most highly-touted Divas on the roster needs to meet its maker.

Having spanned three pay-per-view events and possibly a fourth at WWE “Hell in a Cell,” Paige and AJ Lee have reinvigorated a Divas Championship picture that was in desperate need of a shot in the arm.

Unfortunately, there’s only so many times you can go to that well before it runs dry.

This has to be it. It should be billed as the “Final Encounter” to not only raise the importance and significance of the match itself, but to also ensure the WWE Universe that they may not be seeing the two sides cross paths again for quite some time.

Factoring in the new Paige/Alicia Fox alliance, WWE can always have Fox accompany the challenger ringside and have her be AJ’s next adversary at “Survivor Series” or beyond.

 

The wasteland that is WWE’s tag team division fails to produce another legitimate tandem to throw in the path of the titleholders.

To be fair, Jimmy and Jey are entitled to a rematch after dropping the gold at “Night of Champions.” One would think they’ll cash that in during the next pay-per-view.

If not The Usos, then who else? The Ascension are getting kicked in the skull down in NXT by Hideo Itami, half of RybAxel is on the shelf and Slater Gator is too busy being tossed around by a man in a bunny costume.

Since there’s no one left, The Usos get tossed back in the tag team spotlight by default.

 

Brie Bella vs. Nikki Bella

This is bound to happen sooner or later.

It’s best to rip it off like a bandaid and get the inevitable Brie vs. Nikki Bella match over and done with before it has a chance to do some serious damage.

Nikki’s work as a heel hasn’t been the train wreck that many perceived it would be, but even so, fans continue to struggle investing themselves in a storyline where the heat is so overtly manufactured.

WWE will continue to shove this down our throats until it works, failing to realize that a Bella battle is the last thing people want.

You have to get at least one match out of them, though.

 

Dean Ambrose vs. Randy Orton (Hell in a Cell)

Wait, what? Did I really just bypass a Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins match inside the hellish structure in favor of another clash with “The Viper” Randy Orton?

For now.

Reports had circulated over the possibility of WWE booking Ambrose vs. John Cena in the opening match with the winner earning the right to face Rollins and exact their revenge in the cell. The loser would then face Orton, devaluing his stock.

Bad move. The last thing the company needs right now is for their two top faces to duke it out, resulting in one man looking like a ragamuffin and the other emerging unscathed (in terms of character, standing and momentum).

Besides, a “Hell in a Cell” match is so final. They usually come at the end of storyline’s and not somewhere in the middle. By keeping Ambrose and Rollins away from each other, you prolong a feud that has produced the some of the best matches of 2014, leaving the fans wanting more.

The inclusion of Orton is merely for an Authority representative to act as a roadblock for “The Lunatic Fringe” in his quest for vengeance against Mr. Money in the Bank.

If WWE really wants to get creative, they could always throw in the stipulation that if Ambrose were to somehow get past the 12-time World Champion, he could then insert himself into the main event of……..

 

John Cena vs. Seth Rollins vs. ???? (Hell in a Cell)

With so many big names (Daniel Bryan, Reigns, Lesnar) unable to compete, you better believe that WWE has every intention to close this show with Cena somehow involved.

It would be interesting to see how Cena would fair inside the cell, seeing how he’s 0-2 in his career in “Hell in a Cell” matches. It’s never been his cup of tea.

It’s not a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match, but it’s the best thing you’re going to get. If Ambrose somehow gets involved and it turns into a Triple Threat, even better.

A match with Cena is a feather in the cap of Rollins and a testament to how much faith management has in the 28-year-old star. If he can thrive against the face of the company on the big stage, that can only mean good things for his future prospects, even though he probably has nothing to worry about regardless.

The Money in the Bank briefcase wouldn’t/shouldn’t be up for grabs, unless WWE feels that can be used as a means to get to Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena III.

 

Christopher Walder is a staff writer here at WrestlingRumors.net. He also covers the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association for both Bleacher Report and SB Nation. You can follow him on Twitter at @WalderSports26.