More On WWE Airing Hell In A Cell Match On SmackDown

Call it a scheduling curiosity. WWE is ready to present its annual Hell In A Cell pay per view event, which will of course be centered around shows taking place inside the show’s namesake structure. That makes for some major matches to take place in the Cell, but this year featured a twist as Roman Reigns and Rey Mysterio met in the Cell on the SmackDown before the pay per view. Now we know a bit more about the change.

According to Wrestling Observer Radio, the idea behind moving the match was to have it available to as many viewers as possible, hence moving it to SmackDown on FOX. The match took place as it would have at the pay per view and Reigns is not expected to wrestle at the show. The move was not seen as a big deal and now Bianca Belair defending the SmackDown Women’s Title against Bayley will take place inside the Cell as a replacement match.

It was a heck of a fight. Check out how the match went down, plus how we got there:

Roman Reigns brawls with Rey & Dominik Mysterio: SmackDown, June 11, 2021

Rey Mysterio engages Roman Reigns in a war of words: SmackDown, June 18, 2021

Roman Reigns vs. Rey Mysterio - Universal Title Hell in a Cell Match: SmackDown, June 18, 2021

Opinion: On one hand I get the idea of moving the match, but at the same time, announcing the match on Thursday to hold it on Friday does not exactly maximize the audience. You are not going to get many people to hear about the match on one day’s notice and I can’t imagine WWE had the idea in mind before then. The match was good, but how many more people would have seen it with some more notice?

What did you think of the match? How should WWE have set it up? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books.

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