Starting off Hell In A Cell 2022 proper was the only women’s division match on the card. A triple threat not contested within the storied cell, Belair vs. Asuka vs. Lynch stood out with match of the night qualities and the program wasn’t even a quarter of the way finished!
Asuka strolled to the ring in a mask that would make only Jason Vorhees’ mother proud, and Belair came through literally dancing in flames, while Lynch looked like she couldn’t decide between a ’08-era Lady GAGA cosplay or her best impression of Emma Stone as Cruella Deville. Of course Lynch couldn’t spend the entire match mean mugging her competition in the corner, though that would have served to be just as entertaining as what the Chicago crowd received during the duration of the match.
The spots were epic from the start as Belair shrugged off leg drops and Manhandle slams, tapping into a level of invulnerability yet to have been seen in any of her countless face offs with Lynch, but still Lynch proved to be no slouch as she was dropped with a marching suplex from Belair and survived countless submission attempts from Asuka, when she could find herself within the ring.
Being Asuka’s first premium event since her hiatus, there was noticable ring rust; but even though she spent a majority of her time regaining her stamina on the sidelines, she provided the spot of the night as she locked both Lynch and Belair in a double ankle lock, setting the two bitter rivals up to work together and have an hilarious exchange of strikes after they escaped Asuka’s clutches.
With all the slams and submission attempts (honorable mention was the modified GlamSlam Belair pulled off on the corner) things finally came to a head as Belair broke up a pin attempt on Asuka, rolling Lynch off the apron and taking the cover for herself to retain the Raw title; much to the excitement of the WWE Universe.
With a match like that leading the program, I was comfortable enough to skip the rest of the event. I would have stuck around had there been more matches in the women’s division. There’s no excuse for Rousey not to be defending the Smackdown title on this night in tandem with Belair’s successful retention, but even if she did, I don’t believe she could have stood up to this match even if the gates above lowered itself for her and a potential competitor. This is all the more evidence that WWE should just unify the women’s titles, given that at this point Creative is impossibly grasping at straws with it’s talent, given their refusal to create storylines for the NXT call-ups that they have in locker room limbo. But with Belair putting down another HIAC marquee matchup for the second year in a row , these women’s division issues can be contested another day.
Tonight WWE did it again, they shot their load early … but this time it actually paid off.
Score : 4.5/5
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