#92: Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns, WWE Hell in a Cell (10/25/2015).
If you couldn't guess, this is a Hell in a Cell Match.
These two had been going at it for months, starting back at the Money in the Bank PPV, when Bray Wyatt cost Roman Reigns a chance to win the namesake Ladder Match, and thus earn a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match whenever he wanted. When asked why he was targeting Roman, Bray would simply respond with "Anyone but you, Roman."
The details of this feud have been lost on me since it happened. I would assume it had something to do with that perception that Roman Reigns was the new golden boy of WWE, and thus was having everything handed to him on a silver platter. I wouldn't go that far, but I will say Roman suffered through six years of mostly shitty booking before he found his footing as the Tribal Chief.
This is the blow off of this feud, and the Cell is here to ensure that Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman, or any of Roman's allies at this time wouldn't get involved. It would be settled here, one on one.
The match begins as Reigns kicks low, and then punches Wyatt in the face. He sends him into the turnbuckle and punches him more. He drives his knee into the midsection multiple times.
Wyatt fights back with strikes. Reigns comes off the ropes with a diving clothesline. Reigns with a gut wrench Suplex that sends Wyatt across the Ring. Reigns with another Suplex.
Reigns with another strike, and then he goes to the outside. Wyatt hangs on the ropes, and Reigns goes for the Drive By. Wyatt avoids it, but Reigns strikes him still. Reigns hits the Drive By, then sends Wyatt face first into the cell wall.
Reigns smashes Wyatt face first off the steel steps, then throws him into the wall again. Wyatt rolls to the opposite side, and catches Reigns with a punch. Reigns headbutts him. He grabs Wyatt, who responds with a kendo stick to the body.
In the Ring, Wyatt continues the assault with the stick. Wyatt drills Reigns in the back with the stick repeatedly, as he looks to maintain his first bit of control of the match. Reigns tries to fight back, but Wyatt is relentless with the kendo stick.
He places Reigns on the top rope, and hits him with the stick, which sends him to the floor into the cell wall. Wyatt takes the stick and drives it into Reigns' hand. Wyatt throws Reigns into the cell wall, and then he grabs a chair from under the ring.
He sits on the chair and continues to use the stick on the midsection of Reigns. Wyatt positions the chair legs into the cage, and then drives the stick into Reigns again. Wyatt positions the stick into both sides of the cage wall.
Reigns with headbutts to fight back, but Wyatt grabs him and smashes his face into the kendo stick, breaking it in half. That was a unique spot! Reigns fights back with strikes, then sends Wyatt face first into the chair!
Reigns sends Wyatt into the cage again, and now he grabs two kendo sticks. Reigns smiles, as he slowly approaches Wyatt. He starts the onslaught, as he hits him with both at the same time all over his body.
Now Reigns brings a table into the ring. He says that one ain't enough, so he grabs a second one. He places it on the outside against the cell wall. Reigns connects with the Drive By to Wyatt on the ropes.
The other table gets set up on the outside by Reigns. He avoids an attack from Wyatt, but then the Eater of Worlds fights back and sends Reigns crashing through the table with a Urinage off the apron.
Wyatt rolls Reigns into the Ring and gets a nearfall. Wyatt explodes with a running senton, which also gets a 2 count. On the outside, Wyatt squashes Reigns into the cell wall.
He places Reigns on the apron, and forearms his head into the Ring post. Then, he tackles himself into Reigns' head, again against the Ring post. Wyatt brings another table into the ring. Back inside, Wyatt drives his knee into Reigns' head in the corner.
Wyatt sets the table up, then places Reigns on the top rope. He looks for a Suplex through the table, but Reigns is blocking it. He headbutts Wyatt, then slips out under Wyatt, and powerbombs him through the table! He makes the cover, but Wyatt kicks out.
Both men are slowly back to their feet, and Reigns gives Wyatt several clotheslines in the corner. He looks for one more, but Wyatt catches him in Sister Abigail. Reigns escapes and gets a roll up for 2.
Reigns connects with the Superman Punch, which Wyatt barely kicks out of. Both men end up on the apron, and Reigns connects with a spear, sending he and Wyatt flying through the table on the floor. Reigns' head bashed off the cell wall on the way down.
Reigns brings Wyatt into the ring and makes the cover, but he barely kicks out at 2. Reigns goes for the Spear, but Wyatt boots him in the face and finally hits the Sister Abigail! He makes the cover, and Reigns still kicks out.
Wyatt hammers Reigns with the two kendo sticks. He then positions the sticks on the turnbuckles like some wicked iron maiden. Reigns should run to the hills! Get it?
Wyatt picks Reigns up and tells him that he asked for this. Reigns fights out of it and uses one of the sticks to attack Wyatt, then he sends him face first into the other one. Reigns runs the ropes and hits the Spear for the 3 and the win.
I really enjoyed this match! It's not an all time classic, but I think in the PG era of Cell matches, this one shines as one of the better ones. Everyone knows that when WWE went PG, the potential of Hell in a Cell tanked with it. No longer a blood soaked battleground where feuds ended, the Cell was now a namesake PPV where matches simply happened, and the Cell itself was rarely, if ever, a key element other than just surrounding the ring.
Here, it felt like an important part of the match, as both Reigns and Wyatt used it in very creative manners. Weapons were aplenty, as expected, but it was nice to see the titular Cell get some air time, too. The slow and methodical pace this match had added to the intensity of the feud coming into it. Unlike a lot of Cell matches from this time period, this one felt like it belonged inside Hell in a Cell.
I'll even go as far to say that aside from the element of blood, this felt like a throwback to the old school Hell in a Cell matches of days gone by.