The 2016 Hell in a Cell was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE, held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's main roster brand, Raw. It was the eighth annual Hell in a Cell event and took place on October 30, 2016, at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The event centered on the Hell in a Cell match, a 20-foot-high roofed steel cage that surrounds the ring and ringside area with no countouts or disqualifications and the only way to win is by pinfall or submission in the ring.

Eight matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. There were three Hell in a Cell matches on the card. For the first time ever for a WWE PPV and livestreaming event, a women's match was the main event, which was also the first-ever women's Hell in a Cell match that saw Charlotte defeat Sasha Banks to capture her third Raw Women's Championship; this was subsequently the first time a women's championship match was the main event. WWE promoted two other matches as main event matches, which were also Hell in a Cell matches: Kevin Owens defeated Seth Rollins to retain the WWE Universal Championship, and in the opening bout, Roman Reigns defeated Rusev to retain the United States Championship.

This was the first Hell in a Cell event held since the reintroduction of the brand extension in July. This was also the first to be brand-exclusive for either brand split period. The first two events in 2009 and 2010 had featured wrestlers from both Raw and SmackDown as brand-exclusive PPV events during the first brand split were discontinued in April 2007, and then the first brand split ended in August 2011.

Production Background

Hell in a Cell was an annual professional wrestling event produced every October by WWE since 2009. It was originally broadcast exclusively via pay-per-view (PPV) before it began simultaneously livestreaming on the WWE Network in 2014. The concept of the event came from WWE's established Hell in a Cell match, in which competitors fought inside a 20-foot-high roofed cell structure surrounding the ring and ringside area. The main event match of the card was contested under the Hell in a Cell stipulation.

Announced on August 22, 2016, the eighth Hell in a Cell event was scheduled to be held on October 30, 2016, at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Tickets went on sale on August 26 through Ticketmaster. Following the reintroduction of the brand extension in July, where WWE again split its main roster into two brands, Raw and SmackDown, where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform, brand-exclusive PPV events were also reinstated, which had been discontinued during the first brand split after WrestleMania 23 in April 2007. As a result, the 2016 Hell in a Cell was held exclusively for Raw, which made it the first brand-exclusive Hell in a Cell event, as the first two events in 2009 and 2010 featured wrestlers from both brands before the original brand extension ended in August 2011.

Storylines The event comprised eight matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw brand, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television show, Monday Night Raw.

At Clash of Champions, Charlotte defeated Sasha Banks and Bayley to retain the Raw Women's Championship. On the October 3 episode of Raw, after Bayley took out Charlotte's protégé, Dana Brooke, backstage, Banks defeated Charlotte by submission to become a two-time champion. A rematch was scheduled for Hell in a Cell, and on the October 10 episode, Banks challenged Charlotte to a Hell in a Cell match, which Charlotte accepted. This was later confirmed by Raw General Manager Mick Foley, making this the first women's Hell in a Cell match.

At Clash of Champions, Roman Reigns defeated Rusev to win the United States Championship. The following night on Raw, the rematch between the two ended in a double countout. On the October 3 episode, Rusev's wife, Lana, demanded a rematch, after which, Rusev attacked Reigns and tried to leave with the title belt, but Reigns attacked him with a Superman Punch and declared he would fight Rusev in a Hell in a Cell match, a request that was later approved by management.

At Clash of Champions, Kevin Owens defeated Seth Rollins to retain the WWE Universal Championship, largely due to interference from Chris Jericho. In the following weeks, Rollins and Owens continued to taunt each other and a rematch was scheduled for Hell in a Cell. On the October 10 episode of Raw, General Manager Mick Foley and Commissioner Stephanie McMahon made the match a Hell in a Cell match to prevent further interference. That same night, Rollins defeated Jericho to keep the match one-on-one; had Jericho won, the match would have become a triple threat match.

Dana Brooke defeated Bayley on the October 17 episode of Raw and attacked her the following week during an arm wrestling contest. On October 26, a match between the two was scheduled for Hell in a Cell.

At Clash of Champions, T. J. Perkins defeated The Brian Kendrick to retain the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Kendrick subsequently attacked Perkins after the match. The following night on Raw, Kendrick challenged Perkins to another match. The following week, Kendrick defeated Perkins by submission. On the October 10 episode, a match between the two was scheduled for Hell in a Cell.

At Clash of Champions, the final match of the Best of Seven Series for a title opportunity between Cesaro and Sheamus ended in a no contest. The following night on Raw, General Manager Mick Foley would not allow further matches between the two and decided to put Cesaro and Sheamus together as a team against Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods). Cesaro and Sheamus continued to argue with each other over the following weeks, but on the October 10 episode, they were given a title match against New Day at Hell in a Cell.

On the October 10 episode of Raw, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson attacked Enzo Amore and Big Cass. The following week, Big Cass defeated Anderson. On October 24, a match between the two teams was scheduled for Hell in a Cell.

On October 26, a cruiserweight division match pitting Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado, and Sin Cara against Tony Nese, Drew Gulak, and Ariya Daivari was scheduled for the Hell in a Cell Kickoff pre-show.

Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English commentatorsMichael Cole Corey Graves Byron Saxton Mauro Ranallo Spanish commentatorsCarlos CabreraMarcelo RodríguezGerman commentatorsSebastian HacklCarsten SchaeferRing announcerJoJoRefereesChad PattonDarrick MooreJohn ConeRod ZapataShawn BennettInterviewerTom PhillipsPre-show and Raw Talk panelRenee YoungBooker TJerry LawlerLita

Pre-show During the Hell in a Cell Kickoff pre-show, cruiserweights Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado, and Sin Cara faced Tony Nese, Drew Gulak, and Ariya Daivari. Alexander won the match for his team by pinning Gulak after executing the Lumbar Check.

Preliminary matches The actual pay-per-view opened with Roman Reigns defending the United States Championship against Rusev (accompanied by Lana) in a Hell in a Cell match. During the match, Reigns executed a Superman Punch for a near-fall. Reigns attempted a Spear, but Rusev countered with a Jumping Sidekick and pushed Reigns into the steel steps, which were positioned on the top rope, for a near-fall. Rusev applied The Accolade on Reigns, but Reigns escaped. Rusev re-applied The Accolade on Reigns, who was draped over the steel steps, using a steel chain, but Reigns countered with a Samoan Drop onto the steel steps. Reigns executed a Spear off the steel steps on Rusev to retain the title.

Next, Bayley fought Dana Brooke. In the end, Bayley performed a Bayley-to-Belly Suplex on Brooke to win the match.

After that, Enzo Amore and Big Cass wrestled Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. Gallows and Anderson executed the Magic Killer on Enzo to win the match.

In the fourth match, Kevin Owens defended the WWE Universal Championship against Seth Rollins in a Hell in a Cell match. During the match, Owens accidentally sprayed the referee with a fire extinguisher, resulting in a second referee entering the cell to check on the downed referee. Chris Jericho ran into the cell and locked the cell door. Rollins attempted a Pedigree on Owens, but Jericho prevented the attempt, leading to Rollins performing a Pedigree on Jericho. Rollins performed a powerbomb on Owens through two tables stacked outside the ring, which was followed by a frog splash, but Jericho pulled the referee out of the ring to void the pinfall at a two count. Rollins attacked Jericho with a powerbomb into the cell wall. Owens performed a superkick and a pop-up powerbomb on Rollins for a near-fall. Rollins attacked both Owens and Jericho with a chair, but Owens executed a DDT on Rollins onto a chair. Owens performed a powerbomb through two chairs on Rollins to retain the title. After the match, Jericho attacked Rollins with a Codebreaker.

Next, T. J. Perkins defended the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against The Brian Kendrick. The match ended when Kendrick feigned a knee injury. A concerned Perkins checked on Kendrick, who attacked Perkins with a headbutt and applied the Captain's Hook. Perkins submitted, thus Kendrick won the title.

After that, The New Day (Big E and Xavier Woods, accompanied by Kofi Kingston) defended the Raw Tag Team Championship against Cesaro and Sheamus. In the end, Cesaro applied the Sharpshooter on Woods. Meanwhile, Sheamus attacked Big E with The New Day's trombone, followed by Kingston executing Trouble in Paradise on Sheamus. As Kingston was not a contestant in the match, the referee disqualified The New Day for outside interference. At the same time, Woods submitted to Cesaro's Sharpshooter. However, as the referee had already issued a disqualification, Cesaro and Sheamus won the match, but The New Day retained the titles.

Main event