Roundtable: Hell In A Cell 2019

Which match are you most looking forward to?

Matthew Smith: Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt. I’ve been looking forward to this since the tweet revealing Bray would be in the main event. Looking back on Rollins, when he defeated HHH at WrestleMania, he should have been the most pushed babyface. The fans were hot for him, but for whatever reason, it just all fell flat. That’s why as hot as The Fiend is, he needs the win here. It’s best for both guys: it lets Bray continue his dominance and Rollins is better when positioned to chase the title. Honestly, dropping the title and going to SmackDown may give him the fire he needs to burn it down once again.

Chad Gelfand: I’m looking forward to Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch more from an in-ring perspective, but in terms of spectacle, I’m intrigued by what The Fiend has in store for his Hell in the Cell match with Seth Rollins.

Neal Wagner: Easily The Fiend vs. Rollins. Bray Wyatt in his current character is amazing and it’s the best thing WWE has going right now and the best thing created in years. This match can be violent and it’ll be interesting to see how Rollins works his style of match with Bray.

Juan Bautista: The Fiend vs. Seth Rollins. The Undertaker has been the only character that has really been suited for this match. There’s no escape from the cell and The Fiend is suited for this match.

Steven Jackson: Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt. I have to eat my hat as The Fiend gimmick is brilliant and I really like the feud these two have had. I hope Bray gets the win!

John Corrigan: The Fiend destroying Seth Rollins.

Jack Goodwillie: It’s a light card, which is unusual for this being the biggest week of the year for professional wrestling. I guess I’m most interested in seeing how Seth Rollins vs. “The Field” Bray Wyatt will play out. This new character is going up against a guy who has been largely untouchable this year (Brock Lesnar being the exception) and is yet to be put on his back. Will that change? Will this be the first-ever Hell in a Cell squash match? That’s the intrigue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-wZ6VQQzGQ

Is it too soon for The Fiend to be challenging for the Universal Championship?

Smith: Yowie Wowie not at all! The overall work Wyatt has put in positioned him to be here and it is time for him to get the credit he truly deserves. His Undertaker-like character will make it to where having a title is not a big deal; the man himself is the draw. For now though, let The Fiend feast in Hell and creepily crawl out of it with the Universal title.

Gelfand: I believe in striking while the iron is hot or else you run the risk of cooling a character off as we’ve seen in the cases of Braun Strowman and Ryback. So with that said, I’m down with The Fiend challenging and winning the Universal Championship this early.

Wagner: NO! They need to make Bray the champion at this point. He is the most over character you have running right now and RAW in particular needs a shot in the arm to get people watching. If Bray wins, I’ll tune in Monday night to see the follow up.

Bautista: Yes and no. Aside from taking out legends and tormenting current members of the roster, he’s only beaten Finn Balor. It seems pretty early, but the issue with the original Bray Wyatt character was they waited too long to push Wyatt to the top. The risk with putting the belt on The Fiend is there has to be a credible challenger to beat him. The key to booking The Undertaker as champion was there was someone credible to beat him, such as Steve Austin, Batista and Edge.

Jackson: I don’t feel it is too soon. Bray has been with the company several years and is definitely a worthy contender for the title.

Corrigan: If he doesn’t win the title, it sure is!

Goodwillie: No. There’s no blueprint for how quick someone should be challenging for a world championship, and if Bray’s new character has been anything, it’s been highly unorthodox. I can see a future where a returning Finn Balor comes back as the Demon to confront The Fiend, hopefully at WrestleMania.

How do you feel about Luke Harper reuniting with Erick Rowan?

Smith: Too little too late for me to care about this pairing.

Gelfand: I’m all for it. Harper and Rowan have a lot of history with each other, plus they’ve put on many great tag matches in the past, so them reuniting is a good thing.

Wagner: Harper and Rowan just go well together. They didn’t really 100% click with fans as singles, so them together is almost like breaking up the Dudley Boys back in 02. It didn’t work and they were back together before the end of the year. Harper and Rowan can do their own singles matches and rivalries, but they need to be near each other.

Bautista: They are a good team, but there’s no division for them to go after, plus the timing is awkward because creative is trying to get out of the “who done it” storyline.

Jackson: Rowan and Harper are a brilliant tag team and when they are apart, both men really struggle to find their way. Together they are a ready-made monster duo and really feed off each other well to produce great matches.

Corrigan: Glad that Harper is back on TV, but been there, done that. At this point, just send him to wreak havoc on NXT.

Goodwillie: Luke Harper needs a plan, good, bad or indifferent. I’ve heard much speculation that WWE was done with him, and maybe it was before a need for a Rowan ally was necessitated. But he’s too good to ride the bench, so I’m definitely not up in arms about this.

Who wins: Becky Lynch or Sasha Banks?

Smith: I love Becky. She is an amazing champion, but can you image the heat and chase once Sasha Banks (with help from Bayley) steals the Raw Women’s Championship from the Man? I know Banks took time off and cried about her position in the company, but I’m with her. She did deserve more than a tag match at Mania and right now I don’t see any other woman in the division that is close to Becky’s level who could beat her.

Gelfand: Sasha Banks has to win. She’s come back revamped and rejuvenated, her character has new life again and having her lose here would basically be WWE throwing all of that away.

Wagner: Sasha takes the title off Becky. Sasha runs Raw while Bayley runs SmackDown, barring the draft soon, and hopefully they can build Becky back up again because it seems that she has lost some of that edge and luster since Mania.

Bautista: Sasha Banks. Becky Lynch’s title reign has begun to run its course and losing to Sasha will give a new layer to Becky’s character. This will also give the opportunity for Sasha to have a long title reign for once.

Jackson: It’s going to be a Sasha Banks victory.

Corrigan: Becky retains. Sasha has been a shot in the arm for the women’s division, but she’s never been perceived as championship material by management. On the other hand, Becky is still the chosen one.

Goodwillie: We can kind of forecast this with the impending draft looming large. Sasha and Bayley need to be on the same brand, so either Sasha is winning a belt, Bayley is losing her belt or both will be beltless after Sunday. My guess? Becky retains. Bayley retains. Both are drafted to opposite brands and end up swapping titles.

Most importantly, will Brock Lesnar dethrone Kofi Kingston this Friday on SmackDown’s premiere on FOX?

Smith: Yes and I truly hate it for Kofi. The man busted his ass to get here and unfortunately, his 11-year journey ends with another stupid Lesnar squash match.

Gelfand: I know almost everyone is going to say Brock is 100% taking the title off of Kofi on SmackDown, but I’m going to go against the grain and say Kofi retains his title. Kofi has been prominently featured in all of the SmackDown adverts and media appearances, he’s been built up as a very strong WWE Champion and Brock created an enemy in Rey Mysterio on Monday that could potentially cost him his championship match tonight.

Wagner: If WWE and FOX want to go “sport” with the product, then their biggest star in that case is Brock. He will win the title, but the only thing that throws me off is the lack of a match for the pay-per-view, so there’s chance of a DQ finish and rematch later.

Bautista: Brock Lesnar will win the WWE Championship unless WWE has been pulling major strings to get Cain Velasquez to show up tonight.

Jackson: I really hope not! Kofi has been an incredible champion and I want his reign to be long and historic. Taking the belt away from Kofi just because Brock is coming back to SmackDown is an awful move. But I know FOX has a lot of influence on what it wants to see from WWE, so inevitably Kofi’s reign could be up. Please don’t let it happen!

Corrigan: This is like asking if Goodwillie has still not sent his fantasy PPV…OF COURSE!

Goodwillie: Yes, he will. The Kofi Kingston era is about to come to an end and it’s really just time. It would be a huge coup for Lesnar to lead the SmackDown on FOX effort as champion, and it would not shock me at all if FOX execs personally requested him to be their champion.