Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman inside Hell in a Cell is a match that could have been so much more but sadly left many feeling flat when all was said and done.
Looking back to 2018, it’s hard to believe that just 6 years later Reigns would become one of the most popular and captivating characters of the modern era. Pushed by the company and rejected by the fans, many accepted that Reigns would beat Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 34, finally be coronated and everyone could move on to whatever was planned for the road to SummerSlam. However, swerving fans just for the sake of it, Lesnar emerged victorious in the main event of the show to continue the feud even longer.
While fans grew tired of the Reigns experiment and were very much done with Lesnar as a part-time champion on Raw, one of the shining lights of that period was the rise of Braun Strowman. Despite being booked as a heel, Strowman’s regular paths of destruction and targeting of Reigns saw him ironically cheered by the fans. Despite the fact that Strowman was pinned by Reigns numerous times, the big spots and Reigns attacks always popped the crowd, who repeatedly made it clear that they wanted anyone but Roman.
Strowman and Reigns went their separate ways and both had very different WrestleManias, this was the one where Strowman won the Tag Team Championships with a 10-year-old child as his partner, their paths would cross once again at SummerSlam. With Strowman winning the Money in the Bank contract earlier in the year and first teasing a cash-in at SummerSlam, which was where Reigns finally defeated Lesnar, The Monster later announced his cash-in ahead of time and would use his opportunity at Hell in a Cell inside the steel structure. To make the match even bigger, one of the competitors most associated with the cell structure, Mick Foley, was assigned as the special guest referee. Set up to be something big, fans once again were left very disappointed when all was said and done.
Roman Reigns And Braun Strowman Battle It Out In Underwhelming Hell in a Cell Match
Whether it’s a lack of interest in the match itself or just audience fatigue considering this is the main event, the crowd do not make a lot of noise when it is time for a Hell in a Cell main event match. Foley and Strowman are met with indifference while Reigns receives a strong negative reaction.
The match itself followed the classic formula of babyface trying to find a way to beat the much bigger and more dominant heel and did have some fun moments with Reigns getting hit with the stairs in a callback to the viral office chair spot from their feud and some fun power moves from Strowman. However, the match quickly descended into the worn-out formula of the time of Reigns spamming Superman punches and getting 2 counts, or 3 counts that are halted as Foley seems to have issues with his counting speed multiple times in the match.
Watching the match back, you actually realise that the live crowd cheers for everything not involving Reigns or Strowman and show little interest in the match itself. Even a table coming out gets a golf clap compared to the pop heard in the modern era. On one plus side, at least there was not the obnoxious “We want tables” chant from the crowd.
Following a spear through the table, both men are down for a long time and the crowd finally came alive as Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose all fought around the ringside area and on top of the cell. Finally waking the crowd up, the sight of all 4 men fighting on top of the cage was fun along with Rollins and Ziggler taking the Shawn Michaels bump through the announce table in a callback to the first cell match. However, during this lengthy brawl, Reigns and Strowman do not move at all.
With everyone down, fans awaited what would happen next. Unfortunately, this would be the beginning of the end of one of the worst Cell matches of all time…
Brock Lesnar’s music hit to a great pop from the crowd. Lesnar stormed his way to the cell and ripped the door off the hinges. As Mick Foley attempted to stop the interference, Heyman sprayed mace in the eyes of the Hall of Famer.
Lesnar attacked both Strowman and Reigns with the remains of the table and delivered F5s to both men. As Lesnar walked away, a replacement official entered the ring and called the match off, marking the first time in the history of the match that it ended in a non-finish. Considering what fans had seen in previous Cell matches over the decades, calling the match off because of a couple of F5s was met with the expected reaction.
Fans were heard heavily booing the finish in the final minute before the show quickly went off the air and there were also reports of fans chanting “This is bullsh*t” after the show went off the air. Obsessed at the time with keeping both competitors strong and not wanting either to lose, this was one of many Vince McMahon-devised finishes in this era that made the product frustrating to watch.
With a rating by Dave Meltzer of 3.25 stars in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and the match being voted by readers as the worst match of the show, this isn’t one that many will look back on too fondly. John Canton of TJR Wrestling shared a similar sentiment, giving the match 2.5 stars and also criticised the finish of the match.
A few weeks later, Roman Reigns would relinquish the championship as his leukaemia had returned, meaning he would go onto an indefinite hiatus, returning in February 2019 to thankfully announce that his leukaemia was in remission once again. During his time away, a match was booked between Strowman and Lesnar for Crown Jewel and looked to be Strowman’s time. Sadly, things didn’t play out that way for Strowman in his next title match as he was beaten by Brock Lesnar in 75 seconds, drastically halting The Monster’s momentum that he arguably never truly recovered from.
Fast forward to WrestleMania 36 in 2020 and Strowman finally got his moment as champion as he defeated Goldberg inside an empty Performance Center to win the Universal Championship after being announced as a last-minute replacement for Reigns, who did not compete at the show due to being immunocompromised and wanted to protect himself and his family. While the moment was a special one for Strowman, it felt like it had come about 2 years too late.
Strowman and Reigns would cross paths once more later that year when Reigns destroyed Strowman and Bray Wyatt following their match at SummerSlam, which saw Wyatt as The Fiend defeat Strowman and become the new champion. One week later, Roman Reigns won the Universal Champion to start his epic run as The Tribal Chief, a reign that will be remembered for decades to come.
At Bad Blood 2024, WWE will present the 53rd Hell in a Cell match in company history as Drew McIntyre settles his differences with CM Punk once and for all. While it is a low bar to clear, fans will be hoping that at the very least the finish to the match is better than what took place 6 years earlier.
Featured image: WWE
