| Hell in a Cell (2011) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Promotional poster featuring John Cena |
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| Tagline(s) | John Cena Goes to Hell | |||
| Theme song(s) |
"Set the World on Fire" by Black Veil Brides | |||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | WWE | |||
| Date | October 2, 2011 | |||
| Attendance | 9,400[1] | |||
| Venue | New Orleans Arena | |||
| City | New Orleans, Louisiana | |||
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||||
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| Hell in a Cell chronology | ||||
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Hell in a Cell (2011) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE that took place on October 2, 2011 at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana.[2][3] It was the third annual Hell in a Cell event. Like the 2009 and 2010 events, this event also featured the Hell in a Cell match. Seven matches took place at the event.[4]
Contents |
Hell in a Cell featured professional wrestling matches which involve different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that played out on WWE's television programs. Wrestlers portrayed villains or heroes as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[5]
The main rivalry from Raw involved the WWE Championship. On September 18, 2011, John Cena defeated Alberto Del Rio at Night of Champions to become the ten-time WWE Champion.[6] On the following night's episode of Raw, WWE COO Triple H announced the first-ever Triple Threat Hell in a Cell match, in which Cena would defend his title against Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk,[7] giving Punk the rematch clause he never received.
The main rivalry from SmackDown involved the World Heavyweight Championship. On September 18, 2011, Mark Henry defeated Randy Orton at Night of Champions to win his first ever World Title.[8] On the following night's episode of Raw, SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long announced that Orton would invoke his rematch clause at Hell in a Cell, and that the rematch would take place inside that structure.
The Sun Reviewed the events as follows: The Mexican claimed his second belt in a three-way match inside the cell structure against John Cena and CM Punk. Del Rio prevailed in the main event after interference from his ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez ended up with Cena trapped outside the cell. Alberto used a steel pipe on Punk, knocking him out and drawing the three count. However, the real action came after the match ended. At the start of the night The Miz & R-Truth, fired by Triple H according to storyline, appeared in the crowd, but were ejected by John Laurinaitis. Later, a commotion backstage revealed that Miz & Truth had attacked Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston. At the conclusion of the match the Cell lifted into the air, and John Cena rushed into the ring to attack Del Rio. The Cell dropped again, though, and Miz & Truth emerged from beneath the ring to attack all participants and referees inside the cell.
Triple H & Laurinaitis ran to the ring to attempt to remove Miz & Truth from the scene, but could not penetrate the cell. Almost the entire locker room as well as policemen joined the siege, and eventually the door was breached. Miz & Truth immediately surrendered to police, although Triple H got a few shots in on them before being dragged away himself. The match itself had been a decent yet unspectacular affair, but the post-match was definitely eye-catching and unique. The only other match inside the Cell saw Mark Henry retain the World Championship against Randy Orton. Henry won cleanly, kicking out of Orton's much vaunted RKO finishing move, but there was again a post script. Henry attempted to inflict some extracurricular punishment but Randy fought back, indicating we may not have seen the last of this feud.
The show began with a very serviceable Sheamus v Christian bout which contained no surnames but plenty of action. The Irishman prevailed, and is another possible challenger to Henry should WWE choose that direction. A Sin Cara v Sin Cara battle drew very little from the live crowd, who were somewhat subdued all evening, but it was a decent match, offering a refreshingly different style of wrestling. The 'original' Sin Cara prevailed over the dark imposter. Bourne & Kingston — Air Boom — got their hands raised in a tag title defence against Jack Swagger & Dolph Ziggler in an unannounced bout. In another surprise title match, Cody Rhodes fended off the challenge of John Morrison. Rhodes brought back the classic design of the Intercontinental title belt in a move sure to pop longstanding fans. There was one other title change, though, as Beth Phoenix finally got the better of Kelly Kelly to get her hands on the Divas Title.
It was an odd show in the sense that there were no bad matches on the show, yet nothing really raised its head above the parapet as being exceptional, or worthy of having paid PPV money for. As many correspondents noted on Twitter at the conclusion of the show, rather than a PPV this felt like a three-hour episode of Raw — albeit a very good episode of Raw. For giving us close to three hours of decent entertainment — but leaving us with no sense of value for money satisfaction — we award WWE Hell in a Cell a rating of 6 out of 10.
| # | Matches | Stipulations | Time[1] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dark | Daniel Bryan defeated JTG | Singles match[9] | n/a |
| 1 | Sheamus defeated Christian | Singles match[10] | 13:40 |
| 2 | Sin Cara Azul defeated Sin Cara Negro | Singles match[11] | 9:44 |
| 3 | Air Boom (Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston) (c) defeated Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler (with Vickie Guerrero) | Tag team match for the WWE Tag Team Championship[12] | 11:16 |
| 4 | Mark Henry (c) defeated Randy Orton | Hell in a Cell match for the World Heavyweight Championship[13] | 15:58 |
| 5 | Cody Rhodes (c) defeated John Morrison | Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship[14] | 7:20 |
| 6 | Beth Phoenix (with Natalya) defeated Kelly Kelly (c) (with Eve Torres) | Singles match for the WWE Divas Championship[15] | 8:31 |
| 7 | Alberto Del Rio (with Ricardo Rodriguez) defeated CM Punk and John Cena (c) | Triple Threat Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Championship[16] | 24:07 |
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(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
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