#180: Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins, WWE Hell in a Cell (6/5/2022).
This is a Hell in a Cell Match.
Following years leading the front line in AEW, Cody Rhodes made a triumphant return to WWE in 2022 at WrestleMania 38, as the mystery opponent for Seth Rollins. From there, the two began a feud that lasted through Backlash, and this show, inside Hell in a Cell. I admittedly don’t know much more about this feud, because I haven’t actively watched WWE since 2020.
This is the first main roster WWE match to receive 5 stars from Dave Meltzer since 2011, when CM Punk and John Cena earned it at Money in the Bank. This match has received critical acclaim over the years, and won Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Match of the Year Award. I’m about to find out if the match itself warrants those distinctions, or if it has all that praise for another reason…
...such as the fact that Cody Rhodes wrestled this match with a torn pectoral muscle so bad, that it looked like he’d been shot.
Rollins is donning polka dot era Dusty Rhodes gear for this match. Cody removes his entrance robe, and his pec looks genuinely awful. You can see all the blood and the vessels and the bruising and everything.
The bell sounds, and Rhodes pops off a jab to the jaw. Rollins can’t hide his confidence, though. Rollins zeroes in on the injury, but Rhodes shoves him away. Rollins tries to stomp the pec, but Rhodes is back up with jabs to the face. Disaster Kick right away to Rollins, followed by the Cody Cutter. Cody is in intense pain, but he’s back to his feet. Rollins avoids Cross Rhodes, and Rhodes goes right into the Figure Four Leglock. Rollins drags himself to the ropes – but hey, it’s Hell in a Cell – no rope breaks!
Rollins grabs a tool box from under the ring, and also grabs a kendo stick. He takes the stick and hits Rhodes right on the pec. Another shot by Rollins, and he sends the stcik into Rhodes’ throat. Rollins holds Rhodes down, and jabs his pec with the kendo stick. Rhodes catches another shot, and jabs Rollins away. He goes to the apron, and is knocked off into the Cell wall by Rollins. He dropkicks Rhodes into the Cell, then sends him face first into it.
Rollins takes the stick and jabs him with it again. He rakes Rhodes’ face against the cage. Rhodes comes back by sending Rollins into the cage next. Back in the ring, Rhodes kicks Rollins in the chest, and clotheslines him to the floor. Cody has not used his right arm in any offense at all so far. He follows Rollins to the floor, who’s waiting with steel steps. He takes the steps and hits Rhodes right on the right shoulder.
Rollins picks up Rhodes’ entrance jacket, and puts it on. Fun fact: Before I realized it was his jacket, I thought it was a Confederate Flag. Rollins also has a weight belt with polka dots on it. He returns to the ring, and swings it at Rhodes’ back. He uses it to chop Rhodes on the chest, hitting the injured pec. That looked really painful. Rollins brings a table out from under the ring, and the crowd loves that. He drives his boot into the throat of Rhodes against the corner.
Rhodes tries to come back with a strike, and Rollins responds with a rake to the eyes. Rollins places Rhodes on the top rope, and chops him. Rhodes avoids a suplex, and tries for a powerbomb. Rollins escapes, and places Rhodes on the table. He returns to the top rope, and goes for a Frog Splash, and Rhodes moves out of the way! Rollins crashes through the table. Rhodes ponders at using the belt, but he tosses it away. Instead, he grabs a bag from under the ring, and pulls out a bullrope, Dusty Rhodes style! He puts the bullrope around his wrist, and invites Rollins to do the same with the other end. He does it, and now we have a Bullrope Match inside Hell in a Cell. Rhodes uses the rope to low blow Rollins, then he goes to doink him with the cowbell. Rollins counters it, and eats a superkick instead. Rhodes grabs the cowbell, and doinks Rollins right between the eyes. He makes the cover, but Rollins kicks out.
Rhodes pulls Rollins to the floor, and Rollins uses this as a chance to pull the bullrope through the ring post, rebounding him pec first off the steel. He’s free of the bullrope now. Rollins grabs another table, and slides it into the ring. Both men return to the ring, as Rollins sets the table up in the corner. Rollins goes for the Buckle Bomb, but Rhodes counters it into the Cross Rhodes, and Rollins is still able to kick out.
He tries for a powerbomb, but not with that pec! He goes to throw Rollins through the table, but Rollins counters out and nearly rips Rhodes’ arm out of socket. He hits a superkick, and then hits the Buckle Bomb through the table! Rollins makes the cover, and Rhodes kicks out, using his injured right side at that! Rollins goes to the floor, and grabs a sledgehammer from under the ring, Triple H style. He returns to the ring, and Rhodes kicks him in the gut. Rollins goes for the Pedigree, and Rhodes turns it into his own Pedigree! He covers, and Rollins kicks out.
Rhodes grabs the hammer now, and Rollins quickly rolls to the floor. Both return to the ring, and Rollins catches him with the Curb Stomp! He covers, and Rhodes is somehow able to kick out. Rollins goes for it again, and Rhodes counters into Cross Rhodes, which Rollins counters into his own Cross Rhodes, and Rhodes counters THAT into the Cross Rhodes! Try that for a drinking game, saying Rhodes over and over again.
Both men crawl towards the sledgehammer, and Rhodes grabs it first. He can’t hold it, due to the pec. Rollins grabs the hammer, and Rhodes is right there to hit 2 straight Cross Rhodes. He drops Rollins, then goes for the hammer again. He nails Rollins across the face, and makes the cover. That’s enough for the win.
Before I criticize this match, let me get one thing out of the way: God Bless Cody Rhodes. The fortitude it took for him to wrestle this match with THAT injury is insane. If you’ve never seen his torn pec from this match, look it up. Then, imagine that he wrestled a near 25 minute match with THAT. That’s just incredible. Props to him for being stubborn and having the guts to wrestle with such a fucked up injury.
That said, the match itself is just fine. It’s a Hell in a Cell Match in modern day WWE. Despite my own personal feelings towards CM Punk, his match with Drew McIntyre at Bad Blood in October brought back the old school feeling of Hell in a Cell. This match between Rhodes and Rollins did not do that. It was a weapons match that happened to take place inside of the Cell. And unlike the Randy Orton/Sheamus Cell Match I reviewed recently, this did not have air tight psychology to it that would otherwise lift it from mediocrity.
Coming into this match, Rollins had lost to Rhodes twice, and here, he was determined to win by any means necessary. Add to that that his opponent has a ghastly injury, and Rollins should’ve turned into a cold blooded assassin and destroyed Rhodes from the moment the match started. Instead, he played up his obnoxious Visionary character, acting like a cocky ass throughout the match. So, it’s no wonder that a one armed man with a bad neck tattoo beat him in the end. That’s what this match was missing: common sense. Rollins never approached this match with anything resembling lethal focus. It was just a normal brawl with a few spots centered around Cody’s injury. Cody, to his credit, was perfection in selling the injury throughout the match. Of course, that might’ve just been Cody’s real pain. Seriously, Google the torn pec. Now, traditional wrestling tells us that in the end, the bad guy gets his, and is made to look like a fool by the good guy. That certainly happened here.
But you know what would’ve made this so much better? If Rollins had targeted that injury, and nothing else. Don’t worry about weapons, or a table pop. Just beat the holy fuck out of Rhodes until his arm falls out. Take for example, the legendary encounter between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Minoru Suzuki from 2012. Tanahashi came into that match with an injured arm – not nearly as bad as Cody’s, but injured nonetheless. What did Suzuki do? He targeted the arm for 29 minutes. He didn’t go for nearfalls, or high spots. He was ruthless in his targeting of the arm with submissions.
Had Rollins done that strategy here, this match would’ve been far different than what it was. You’d have Rollins as a stone cold killer, and Rhodes are the underdog in peril, trying to survive the onslaught inside the Cell. Instead, you have a basic weapons brawl with a Cell surrounding the ring. Very, very disappointing. That said, I still highly recommend you see it at least once, just for Cody Rhodes. That man shouldn’t have been out there at all, and yet he gave 100% to make this match happen.
You could almost say he turned an American Nightmare into an American Dream.