The 2021 Hell in a Cell was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE, held for wrestlers from the promotion's main roster brands, Raw and SmackDown. It was the 13th annual Hell in a Cell event and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it took place on June 20, 2021, from the WWE ThunderDome, a bio-secure bubble that at the time was hosted at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida. 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.
Seven matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. Two Hell in a Cell matches were contested with one for each brand. In the main event, which was Raw's Hell in a Cell match, Bobby Lashley defeated Drew McIntyre to retain the WWE Championship with an added stipulation that it was a Last Chance match. In the other Hell in a Cell match, which was the opening bout, Bianca Belair defeated Bayley to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship. In other prominent matches, Charlotte Flair defeated Raw Women's Champion Rhea Ripley by disqualification, thus Ripley retained the title as titles do not change hands by disqualification unless stipulated, and Seth Rollins defeated Cesaro.
This was WWE's final PPV and livestreaming event to be broadcast from the ThunderDome, and subsequently the final such event in WWE's residency at the Yuengling Center, due to the company's resumption of live touring with fans in mid-July. This also made Hell in a Cell the only PPV and livestreaming event to be produced from the ThunderDome twice, with the prior year's event broadcast from the bio-secure bubble's original location of the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. It was also the first Hell in a Cell event to be held in June, as the event was generally held in October, and only the second time the event was not held in October, the first of which was the September 2018 edition. This was also the first Hell in a Cell event to livestream on Peacock in the United States after the shut down of the American version of the WWE Network in April.
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.
During WrestleMania Backlash on May 16, 2021, it was announced that the 13th Hell in a Cell event would be held on June 20, 2021, marking the first time for the event to be held in June and only the second time for it to not be held in October, after the 2018 event, which was held in September. The event's date was planned for Money in the Bank after it had switched dates with WrestleMania Backlash, with Money in the Bank subsequently moved to July 18. It featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions, and in addition to airing on traditional PPV worldwide and via livestreaming on the WWE Network in international markets, this was the first Hell in a Cell to livestream on Peacock after the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock in April.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that began affecting the industry in mid-March 2020, WWE had to present the majority of its programming from a behind closed doors set. Initially, Raw and SmackDown's shows were done at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. A limited number of Performance Center trainees and friends and family members of the wrestlers were later utilized to serve as the live audience. In late August, these programs were moved to a bio-secure bubble called the WWE ThunderDome. The select live audience was no longer utilized as the bubble allowed fans to attend the events virtually for free and be seen on the nearly 1,000 LED boards within the arena. Additionally, the ThunderDome utilized various special effects to further enhance wrestlers' entrances, and arena audio was mixed with that of the chants from the virtual fans. After being hosted at Orlando's Amway Center and Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, the ThunderDome was relocated to the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida in April 2021.
On May 21, WWE announced that they would be leaving the ThunderDome and returning to live touring in mid-July, thus Hell in a Cell was WWE's final PPV and livestreaming event to be presented from the ThunderDome, and subsequently the final such event in WWE's residency at the Yuengling Center. Additionally, the 2021 event made Hell in a Cell the only PPV and livestreaming event to be held twice in the ThunderDome, after the 2020 event was produced from its original location of Orlando's Amway Center.
Storylines The event comprised seven 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 Friday Night SmackDown.
At WrestleMania Backlash, Bobby Lashley defeated Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman to retain the WWE Championship. The following night on Raw, MVP and Lashley issued an open challenge to anyone on the Raw roster except McIntyre and Strowman. Later in the main event, it was revealed that the open challenge was just to face Lashley rather than a title match. The New Day's Kofi Kingston answered the challenge and defeated Lashley thanks to McIntyre's distraction. The following week, WWE official Adam Pearce scheduled a match between McIntyre and Kingston where the winner would face Lashley for the WWE Championship at Hell in a Cell, only for it to end in a no-contest after interference from Lashley and MVP. A rematch was scheduled for the following week where if Lashley and/or MVP were at ringside or interfered in the match, Lashley would be suspended for 90 days without pay; McIntyre defeated Kingston to earn another title match against Lashley at Hell in a Cell. During the contract signing on the June 7 episode, the match was made a Hell in a Cell match with a further stipulation that this would be McIntyre's last chance at the WWE Championship for as long as Lashley was champion.
At WrestleMania Backlash, Rhea Ripley defeated Charlotte Flair and Asuka to retain the Raw Women's Championship. The following night on Raw, Flair confronted WWE officials Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville, demanding another opportunity at Ripley for the championship as Flair did not take the pin in the triple threat match. Pearce and Deville stated that if Flair won her match against Asuka, they would consider it. However, Flair lost the match thanks to a distraction from Ripley. The following week, however, Flair defeated Asuka. A match between Ripley and Flair for the title was then scheduled for Hell in a Cell.
At WrestleMania Backlash, Bianca Belair defeated Bayley to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship. On the following SmackDown, WWE official Sonya Deville hosted a parade of champions to celebrate SmackDown's champions. Bayley interrupted, taking issue that she was not acknowledged as the longest-reigning SmackDown Women's Champion and claimed that Belair had cheated at Backlash by using her hair as a weapon. On the June 4 episode, Belair challenged Bayley to a rematch at Hell in a Cell with the title on the line, and Bayley accepted. Two weeks later, Belair changed the stipulation of their match to a Hell in a Cell match.
During Night 1 of WrestleMania 37, Cesaro defeated Seth Rollins. On the following SmackDown, Rollins interfered and attacked Cesaro during the latter's match, with Rollins proclaiming that their rivalry was not over. Cesaro defeated Rollins in a rematch on the May 7 episode, which also earned himself a Universal Championship match against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania Backlash, which Cesaro lost. Following the title match, Rollins came out and brutally attacked Cesaro, smashing his arm in a steel chair. On the following SmackDown, Cesaro attempted to challenge Reigns to a rematch for the title only for Rollins to attack Cesaro once again, this time resulting in Cesaro being taken out on a stretcher. On the June 18 episode, following more weeks of feuding, another match between Cesaro and Rollins was scheduled for Hell in a Cell.
During Night 2 of WrestleMania 37, Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn, who was accompanied by YouTube personality Logan Paul. On the following SmackDown, Zayn claimed that he lost to Owens because he was distracted wondering if Paul was okay. Zayn then called out Owens for a rematch. Owens defeated Zayn by count-out after Zayn retreated from the ring, after which, Owens brought Zayn back to the ring and performed a Stunner on him. Zayn would continue to be a hindrance to Owens over the next several weeks, and another match between the two was scheduled for Hell in a Cell.
On the May 17 episode of Raw, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler lost their WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match after Alexa Bliss set off flames that blinded Reginald. After Jax and Baszler again lost the following week due to the flames, it was announced that Baszler would take on Reginald in an intergender match on the May 31 episode, which Reginald won when flames shot from the ring post. On the June 7 episode, Baszler was a guest on "Alexa's Playground". She stomped on Bliss's doll, Lilly, but when flames shot up from the ring posts, Baszler retreated and locked herself in a room, only to see Lilly's reflection in a mirror before the lights turned off as the show ended. The following week, Jax said Bliss would face Baszler at Hell in a Cell.
Canceled and rescheduled match On the June 4 episode of SmackDown, The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) challenged Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, however, the match ended in a controversial finish in which the referee did not notice that Jimmy had his shoulder up during the pin. The Usos were granted a rematch later that same night, but during the rematch, The Usos's cousin and Universal Champion, Roman Reigns, interfered by attacking the Mysterios, not wanting The Usos to embarrass themselves again. Following the match, Reigns brutally attacked Rey's son Dominik, which Jimmy felt Reigns took too far, also furthering tensions between Reigns and Jimmy. The following week, Rey confronted Reigns and challenged him to a Hell in a Cell match, wanting to take revenge on Reigns for what he did to Dominik, and a brawl ensued. The next day on Talking Smack, Reigns's special counsel Paul Heyman accepted Rey's challenge on Reigns's behalf with the Universal Championship on the line. On June 17, however, Rey posted to Twitter, stating that he did not want to wait until Sunday, and it was announced that the match would instead take place on the June 18 episode of SmackDown, marking the first Hell in a Cell match to take place on an episode of SmackDown; Reigns defeated Rey in 16 minutes to retain the title.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English commentatorsMichael Cole Pat McAfee Jimmy Smith Corey Graves Byron Saxton Spanish commentatorsCarlos CabreraMarcelo RodriguezRing announcersGreg Hamilton Mike Rome RefereesDanilo AnfibioJason AyersShawn BennettJessika CarrDarrick MooreEddie OrengoChad PattonInterviewersSarah SchreiberMegan MorantPre-show panelKayla BraxtonJohn "Bradshaw" LayfieldPeter RosenbergJerry LawlerSonya Deville Pre-show