The 2019 Hell in a Cell was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE, held for wrestlers the promotion's main roster brands, Raw and SmackDown. It was the 11th annual Hell in a Cell event and took place on October 6, 2019, at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. 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.
Nine matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. Two Hell in a Cell matches were contested at the event, both of which were for the Raw brand. The main event, which was a Universal Championship Hell in a Cell match between defending champion Seth Rollins and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt, ended by referee stoppage. In the other Hell in a Cell match, which was the opening bout, Becky Lynch defeated Sasha Banks to retain the Raw Women's Championship. In other prominent matches, Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns defeated Erick Rowan and Luke Harper in a tornado tag team match, and Charlotte Flair defeated Bayley to win the SmackDown Women's Championship for a record fifth time, and her record 10th women's world championship overall on WWE's main roster.
The event was met with a mixed-to-negative reception from both critics and fans. Although the first two opening matches were generally praised, the main event was universally panned due to its conclusion.
Production Background
Hell in a Cell was an annual professional wrestling event produced by WWE since 2009, generally held in October. 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 July 19, 2019, the 11th Hell in a Cell event was scheduled for October 6, 2019, at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California and featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. This returned the event to its regular October slot after the previous year was held in September, and it was the second Hell in a Cell event held in the U.S. state of California, after the 2015 event in Los Angeles. Tickets went on sale on July 26 through Ticketmaster.
Storylines The event comprised nine matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live (with the latter renamed to Friday Night SmackDown two days prior to the event).
Amid speculation that Bray Wyatt would challenge for the Universal Championship at Hell in a Cell, Wyatt seemingly confirmed the rumors in a "Firefly Fun House" segment on the September 2 episode of Raw. Following Seth Rollins' successful title defense at Clash of Champions, Wyatt appeared as his sinister alternate persona The Fiend and attacked Rollins with a Sister Abigail and the Mandible Claw. The following night on Raw, Rollins addressed The Fiend's attack and announced that he would be facing The Fiend in a Hell in a Cell match at the event. However, the match wasn't necessarily for the Universal Championship, as before Hell in a Cell, Rollins had a scheduled title defense on the September 30 episode of Raw. That match ended in a no-contest when The Fiend attacked Rollins. As a result, Rollins retained the title, thus officially making his match against The Fiend at Hell in a Cell for the Universal Championship.
At Clash of Champions, the Raw Women's Championship match between defending champion Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks ended in a disqualification win for Banks, thus Lynch retained as titles do not change hands via disqualification unless stipulated. Following the match, Lynch and Banks brawled throughout the arena. The following night on Raw, Banks challenged Lynch to a rematch at Hell in a Cell. Lynch later accepted and subsequently changed the match stipulation to a Hell in a Cell match.
Prior to Clash of Champions, Erick Rowan attacked Roman Reigns backstage and lied to Daniel Bryan about it, resulting in him and Bryan splitting as a tag team. Rowan then defeated Reigns in a No Disqualification match at Clash of Champions thanks to the returning Luke Harper, reforming their tag team. On the following SmackDown, Rowan explained that he began to target Reigns to scare him and to show that Reigns was not the dominant figure he was presumed to be. Rowan also claimed that he had been overlooked, underappreciated, and disrespected and that he was not Bryan's equal, but better than him. Bryan later stated that regardless if he was a face or a heel, he never used to lie, and he thought of Rowan as his friend. Bryan was interrupted by Rowan and attacked by Harper. Reigns came out to Bryan's aid, only for Rowan and Harper to dominate Bryan and Reigns. The following week, Rowan defeated Bryan, and after the match, Harper and Rowan attacked Bryan. Reigns again came to Bryan's aid, and this time, they eventually overcame Rowan and Harper. Bryan and Reigns then challenged Rowan and Harper to a tag team match at Hell in a Cell, which was made official. On SmackDown's 20th Anniversary on October 4, Reigns defeated Rowan in a lumberjack match. After the match, Bryan shook Reigns' hand out of mutual respect. The day of the event, the match stipulation was changed to a tornado tag team match.
At Clash of Champions, Bayley controversially defeated Charlotte Flair by slamming her head into an exposed turnbuckle to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship. Their feud would continue on subsequent episodes of Raw and SmackDown, also involving Sasha Banks and Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch. On SmackDown's 20th Anniversary on October 4, Flair and Lynch defeated Bayley and Banks when Flair submitted Bayley. Due to this win, Flair earned herself a rematch for the SmackDown Women's Championship at Hell in a Cell.
In the King of the Ring final on the September 16 episode of Raw, Baron Corbin defeated Chad Gable to win the tournament, subsequently changing his ring name to King Corbin. The following night on SmackDown, after Corbin insulted Gable, Gable attacked Corbin. A rematch between the two took place the following week, which ended in a disqualification win for Gable after Corbin attacked Gable with his scepter. The day of the event, another rematch between the two was scheduled for Hell in a Cell.
On the September 16 episode of Raw, The O.C. (United States Champion AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson) defeated Cedric Alexander and The Viking Raiders (Ivar and Erik) in a six-man tag team match. Following the match, The O.C. attacked Alexander and The Viking Raiders. On the next two episodes of Raw, The Viking Raiders defeated Gallows and Anderson in tag team matches. On October 6, a six-man tag team match pitting all three members of The O.C. against The Viking Raiders and a partner of their choosing was scheduled for Hell in a Cell.
The day of the event, Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross were scheduled to defend the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane). Bliss and Cross last eliminated The Kabuki Warriors in a fatal four-way tag team elimination match to win the titles back in August.
Also on the day of the event, after weeks of feuding, a match between Natalya and Lacey Evans was scheduled for the Hell in a Cell Kickoff pre-show.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:CommentatorsMichael Cole Corey Graves Vic Joseph Jerry Lawler Dio Maddin Spanish commentatorsCarlos CabreraMarcelo RodríguezGerman commentatorsCarsten SchaeferTim HaberCalvin KnieRing announcersGreg Hamilton Mike Rome RefereesDanilo AnfibioJason AyersShawn BennettJohn ConeDan EnglerDarrick MooreEddie OrengoRyan TranRod ZapataInterviewersCharly CarusoKayla BraxtonSarah SchreiberPre-show panelJonathan CoachmanCharly CarusoSam RobertsBooker T
Pre-show During the Hell in a Cell Kickoff pre-show, Natalya faced Lacey Evans. During the match, Evans attempted her own Sharpshooter on Natalya, only for Natalya to send Evans out of the ring. In the climax, as Evans attempted a Moonsault, Natalya avoided it and forced Evans to submit to the Sharpshooter to win the match. After the match, Natalya performed her own Woman's Right on Evans, just like Evans did to Natalya following Evans' win over her on the previous Raw.
Also on the pre-show, Randy Orton and Ali had a confrontation backstage which lead to Ali challenging Orton to a match which would take place on the main card.
Preliminary matches The actual pay-per-view began with Becky Lynch defending the Raw Women's Championship against Sasha Banks in a Hell in a Cell match. Before the match began, Banks attacked Lynch, leading to the two fighting outside the cell, where Banks gained the upper hand. After Banks gloated inside the cell, Lynch slammed the cell door into Banks, and once both superstars were inside the ring, the match officially started. After Lynch gained the upper hand on Banks with the chain that locked the door, Lynch locked the door with the chain herself. Lynch and Banks then introduced a ladder, a table, and chairs into the proceedings. Outside the ring, Banks performed a Meteora from the ring apron on Lynch into the ladder, which was leaning against the cell wall, for a nearfall. Banks then focused on injuring Lynch's arm before performing another Meteora on Lynch, who was seated on a chair, for a nearfall. The momentum shifted when Lynch dropkicked Banks from the ring apron into the cell wall. Lynch then performed an Exploder suplex on Banks into the cell wall. Back inside the ring, Lynch sent Banks face first onto the chair for a nearfall. Lynch then performed a top-rope dropkick on Banks, who was holding the chair, for a nearfall, after which, Banks rolled out of the ring to retrieve a kendo stick. After using it to momentarily take down Lynch, Banks wedged two other kendo sticks into the corner of the cell and attempted to send Lynch into them, however, Lynch blocked and sent Banks face first into them. Lynch then performed a dropkick from the ring apron on Banks, who was seated on a chair being held up by those kendo sticks, and followed up with a top-rope leg drop back inside the ring for another nearfall. As Lynch set up the table, Banks performed a Backstabber on Lynch. After avoiding being powerbombed through the table, Banks sent Lynch through the table with a Meteora for another nearfall. Banks then retrieved another kendo stick and used it to apply the Bank Statement, but Lynch escaped by crawling out of the ring and repeatedly struck Banks with the kendo stick. Banks then sent Lynch face first into the chair that was sticking off the cell wall. In the closing moments, with Lynch knocked out inside the ring, Banks threw several chairs in the ring and struck Lynch 23 times with one of the chairs with a couple of chair shots to the head. However, while Banks was on the middle rope, Lynch intercepted Banks with a light punch and followed up with an Exploder suplex onto the chairs. Lynch applied the Dis-arm-her, and Banks submitted after attempting to grab Lynch's hair to escape. As a result, Lynch retained the title.