Hell in a Cell 2016: Sasha Banks and Charlotte Made History, but the Show Fought Itself

Roman Reigns and Rusev use the Cell as a physical endpoint to a feud that had already run for months. Rusev attacks with steel steps, a kendo stick, and a chain while repeatedly trying to turn the Accolade into something more dangerous than the standard submission. The best visual comes when he traps Reigns in the hold across the steel steps with the chain across Reigns' face. Reigns powers free, hits a Samoan Drop onto the steps, and finishes with a Spear from the elevated steel. The match is longer than necessary, but the escalation is coherent and the clean finish gives the rivalry the decisive conclusion it needed.

Bayley and Dana Brooke work a short rematch around Bayley's injured right arm, but the match never escapes the rhythm of an ordinary Raw segment. Dana spends most of her control period attacking the shoulder with simple rope and turnbuckle work, which gives the bout at least one clear idea. Bayley sells the damage and gradually creates a comeback, but the crowd has little reason to believe Dana is about to win a major pay-per-view match. Bayley ultimately powers through the arm problem and hits the Bayley-to-Belly for the clean pin. The result is predictable, the story is basic, and the match exists mainly to restore Bayley after her television loss.

Gallows and Anderson against Enzo and Cass follows the familiar Enzo-in-peril formula almost exactly. The Boston crowd enjoys the pre-match talking, but the wrestling settles into routine isolation once Gallows and Anderson take over. Enzo absorbs the punishment, creates the hot tag, and Cass briefly accelerates the pace with power offense. The comeback never develops into a major finishing stretch because Anderson cuts Cass off and the heels quickly isolate Enzo again. The Magic Killer ends the match cleanly. Giving Gallows and Anderson a credibility win is useful, but the match itself offers little that could not have happened on weekly television.

Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins deliver the night's best conventional match by escalating the Cell environment through increasingly dangerous weapon spots. Owens attacks Rollins' injured back, Rollins answers with repeated dives, and the match peaks when Rollins powerbombs Owens through two stacked tables between the ring and cage. Chris Jericho enters after the referee is accidentally sprayed with a fire extinguisher, turning the final stretch into a two-on-one problem. Rollins still survives the Popup Powerbomb and briefly appears capable of overcoming both men. Owens finally DDTs him onto a chair and powerbombs him through two opened chairs for the pin. The interference is heavy, but the work is excellent.

TJ Perkins and Brian Kendrick wrestle a technically competent title match that struggles to generate the crowd response the cruiserweight division needs. Perkins has the cleaner athletic sequences and repeatedly escapes Kendrick's submission attempts, while Kendrick works with the desperation of a challenger who has made the championship personal. The finish leans completely into that desperation. Kendrick pretends to injure his knee, waits for Perkins to check on him, then headbutts the champion and traps him in the Captain's Hook. Perkins submits and Kendrick wins the title. The deception fits Kendrick's character, but it also means the championship change is remembered more for the trick than the wrestling.

New Day against Cesaro and Sheamus is more interesting for the challengers' developing chemistry than for the championship result. Cesaro and Sheamus still argue, but they increasingly discover combinations that make them look like a legitimate team instead of two singles wrestlers forced together. The finishing sequence creates the problem. Cesaro has Xavier Woods trapped in the Sharpshooter while Kofi Kingston attacks Sheamus outside the legal action. The referee calls for the disqualification just as Woods appears to submit, so Cesaro and Sheamus win the match while New Day retain the titles. The work is solid and the story advances, but the finish feels engineered to delay the inevitable rematch.

Sasha Banks and Charlotte carry the weight of two historic firsts and wrestle with enough aggression to make the main-event placement feel legitimate. The match begins before the Cell fully lowers, and Charlotte powerbombs Banks through the announce table in the opening fight. Inside, they use chairs, tables, the cage wall, and Banks' damaged back to create repeated danger without simply copying the men's matches. The closing sequence is less successful. A table fails to break, Banks' back gives out on a powerbomb attempt, and Charlotte repeatedly throws her into the table before hitting Natural Selection for the pin. The ending is flat, but the historical ambition and physical commitment remain substantial.