Hell in a Cell Predictions

(from Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast episode 154)

...let's get to Hell in a Cell which, on paper, is kind of a one match show... but I think there is a benefit to that as No Mercy suffered from too much hype and I think the fact that this is a one match show means that people will not necessarily be expecting the greatest show in the world and they could have their minds blown a little bit.

...Let's go over the whole show, Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin against the Hype Bros, I think that is an easy one, Gable and Benjamin go over and the Hype Bros continue their story of leading towards break up. Bobby Roode vs Dolph Ziggler, Dolph is in a very interesting spot right now. The story is different to the Nakamura one but it does feel very similar, it feels like every time they bring a high-profile guy to smackdown, Dolph is there to take the first loss, the build-up to this match has been weird, I get what Dolph is saying in some of his promos but some of his entrances have worked better than others, he is in a position to make Bobby Roode look a certain way so I think he (Bobby) will win that match. Randy Orton vs Rusev, this is to me the moment to cash in on the build that you have given to Randy Orton. There was a time when Rusev wasn’t just funny, there was a time when Rusev said "Crush" and it wasn't oh that's hilarious it was he is driving a tank to WrestleMania and he may actually win. I think he has to beat Randy Orton in order for this to work, so I would have Rusev win the match, it doesn't even have to be clean. I think it's a great use of Aiden English having him be Rusev's right hand man and I am fine with that. Then you've got your title matches, starts with Baron Corbin and AJ Styles, I want to see Styles in the WWE Championship match at WrestleMnaia but we are a long way from that yet so I think AJ will come out with his championship. It does seem like the Baron Corbin train has slowed down a little bit so I would imagine AJ Styles will walk out with his championship. Charlotte vs Natalya, I think will be an amazing match, people forget before there was a Charlotte vs Sasha Banks match she had an amazing match with Nattie and if I know Nattie, she realises that she's not going to have all the opportunity in the world to be the champion and be in these matches and I think they will look to steal the show. I think Nattie will probably win this match and Charlotte will win in a rematch at Survivor Series, Nattie will get one more month with the title, I could see Charlotte winning it now but I see Nattie keeping it. I would imagine New Day will keep the titles, I don't like seeing the titles go back and forth all the time but like I said, I think this is going to be the one. I really think Kevin Owens should win this match, I get that there is marketability in Shane but he can afford to lose all his matches and I think Kevin Owens needs to look like a big star coming out of this and coming out of this he should move into the main event. If I'm in charge of Hell in a Cell then I think Nakamura comes out as champion. I don’t think the Jinder thing is working unfortunately, I like Jinder but I think it is a little bit over so I think you still keep Jinder as a fairly main event level bad guy but I think they took a huge misstep with the Asian jokes, it didn’t add drama to the match. I don't think people assume that Nakamura will win and that is the best time to do this and I would have Kevin Owens immediately start chasing after the title and the match that leads us to the Royal Rumble is Kevin Owens vs Nakamura and that climaxes at the Rumble, the rest of the year should be about that. Then at the Royal Rumble AJ Styles should win and then we lead into WrestleMania with Styles vs Nakmaura. I would have Jinder getting the United States Championship, maybe at Survivor Series, with chicanery, beat AJ Styles and then Jinder can do his gimmick and hold the United States Championship hostage. Then you need to find a great patriot to come out and take it back, you've also freed up AJ Styles and you build him back up with a Royal Rumble win. Once you win the Royal Rumble you have erased what happened to you before, you have just beaten 29 other superstars. That's what I see taking us into the Royal Rumble, Jinder Mahl against AJ, Nakamura wins the title and feuds with Kevin Owens for the WWE Championship. Then finally this thing that was looming in the air since Money in the Bank that pays off at WrestleMania when you have Nakamura vs AJ Styles. At that point it would be two and a half years since they left New Japan that they headline WrestleMania, I think that's amazing, I don't know if it will happen, Survivor Series is a big show, they want to load up the big four. They might want to pull the trigger on the match before that but I hope not. I don't even care who wins at that point, I'll tell you in March, as long as we get there.

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