Hell has come early to the WWE Universe in 2021! For reasons no one really understands the company’s annual Hell in a Cell pay-per-view has arrived 4 months early, and thus perhaps it’s appropriate that there’s only 4 matches on the card. Roman Reigns and Rey Mysterio were originally slated to face off in a Hell in a Cell match at the ppv event this Sunday, but are now squaring off on SmackDown this evening.
So, will Shayna Baszler overcome her fear of dolls and Alexa Bliss’ ability to hypnotize her foes? Will WWE ever acknowledge the history and NXT based feud betwen Charlotte Flair and WWE Raw Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley? Can WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair finally get Bayley to stop laughing at her? And last, but not least, will the WWE Universe finally see the end of the eternal feud between Drew McIntyre and WWE Champion Bobby Lashley? Let’s see what our team of experts thinks.
You can watch WWE’s Hell in a Cell 2021 pay-per-view Sunday, June 20, at 7E/4P streaming exclusively on Peacock. Get a head start on the action by checking out the full card and our team of expert’s predictions below. You can stay up-to-date on all the weekly WWE action by listening to our weekly wrestling podcast PTW.
Alexa Bliss vs. Shayna Baszler
WWE
Patrick: Shayna Baszler is an accomplished cage fighter, with a winning record in a career that spans Strikeforce, Elite XC and UFC. She represented the United States in women’s grappling, and has two silver medals to her name. Upon transitioning to the squared circle, she quickly found success as a two-time NXT Women’s Champion, holding the title for longer than anybody in history, en route to also being named 2019’s Female Competitor of the Year.
Alexa Bliss is a supernatural demon from another dimension inhabiting the husk of a former WWE Superstar, with the abilities of mind control, teleportation, bleeding black blood by the bucketful out of her forehead for some reason, and has given life to an inanimate doll in some kind of dark ritual.
My money’s on the demon.
Winner: Alexa Bliss
Shane: I don’t know what to say that Patrick hasn’t already said. If this was a real “fight” Shayna Baszler would wipe the floor with Alexa Bliss. Unfortunately, this is WWE. I expect Alexa Bliss to win.
Winner: Alexa Bliss
Darius: I’m not even sure why we’re all talking about Alexa Bliss being a demon when before she had that buff, she was already winning women’s championships with slaps to the face. The one chance Shayna had to beat Alexa was during her “Nikki Cross’s best friend” phase, as Shayna was going through her own vampire phase at the time. But, alas, it is 2021. Shayna is doomed.
Winner: Alexa Bliss
Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair (Raw Women’s Championship)
Patrick: I like Rhea Ripley. Well, I really liked her in NXT, and I want to like her now. But as WWE is wont to do, they have for some unknown reason sapped all flavor and history from her, leaving her as nothing more than a hollow challenge for Charlotte to overcome. Charlotte’s already won a world title a staggering 12 times in seven years — there’s no reason to doubt she’ll do it again.
Winner: Charlotte Flair
Shane: It’s always scary when Charlotte Flair is in a title match at a PPV event. More times than not she winds up winning these matches much to the chagrin of the WWE Universe. In fact, I almost always pick Charlotte in title matches because of that very reason. This time is no different. If there’s going to be a title change Sunday night, it’ll be in this match.
Sidebar rant here- Let’s not forget to mention that the build to this match has been awful. Has there even been any mention of their WM 36 match from 2 years ago? Are both of these women heels? Is Rhea a baby face? Does Rhea have any ounce of personality anymore?
This feud literally writes itself and the WWE has chosen to go a totally different route giving both Rhea and Charlotte totally absurd losses to Nikki Cross of all people. These losses on TV also make me think that Charlotte will come out on top Sunday night.
Winner: (and NEW Raw Women’s Champion) Charlotte Flair
Darius: Charlotte beat Rhea Ripley before, and though Ripley has gained a lot of power since that loss — having since beaten Asuka at WrestleMania — that does only put Rhea at, say, 2018 Charlotte’s power level?
Though I know Charlotte can and will eventually get that women’s championship back and continue her path toward being a 32-time world champion, I WANT Rhea to win, and I think if I will it hard enough, maybe she’ll pull through.
Winner: Rhea Ripley
Bianca Belair (c) vs. Bayley (SmackDown Women’s Championship)
WWE
Patrick: Currently the lone SmackDown match on this anemic Hell in a Cell card now that Roman Reigns vs. Rey Mysterio has been moved to Friday, Bayley vs. Bianca Belair could easily take match of the night honors. Bianca’s been a credible, fighting champion since winning the SmackDown Women’s Championship from Sasha Banks in the main event of WrestleMania, and Bayley has every reason, both in-character and out, to be miffed at the lack of attention she’s been receiving from the company. I think a solid win over Bayley by Bianca here does a lot more good than the Role Model recapturing the title, so I think Bianca retains here, but this should be a good one.
Winner: Bianca Belair
Shane: Bianca hasn’t really been tested much as SmackDown Women’s Champion yet. I feel like her reign is truly just getting started and a solid win (again) over Bayley will help establish Bianca moving forward. I’d like to see Bianca win here and really do something with the SmackDown Women’s Championship moving forward.
Winner: (and STILL SmackDown Women’s Champion) Bianca Belair
Darius: Bianca Belair is awesome. She’s the strongest, fastest, smartest, and all around best wrestler on SmackDown, and you can’t argue with my facts and logic because she claims to be the EST of WWE.
This was originally supposed to be a dramatic set-up for why I think Bayley has the hole in Belair’s gameplan, but I accidentally talked myself into believing that Belair will be champion for at least the rest of the summer.
Winner: Bianca Belair
Bobby Lashley (c) (with MVP) vs. Drew McIntyre (Last Chance Match — WWE Championship)
WWE
Patrick:I was happy to see Lashley win the WWE Championship in the lead-up to WrestleMania, but since he climbed to the top of the mountain, he’s been pretty boring — especially since they broke up the most interesting thing about him, the Hurt Business, for no discernible reason (sensing a pattern here?). Likewise, his feud with Drew McIntyre just has absolutely no gas left as far as I’m concerned. I like both guys, but this feud ain’t it. No matter what happens here, hopefully they can both just move on.
Winner: Bobby Lashley
Shane: How is it that SmackDown is literally the best thing that WWE has going on at the moment, but they have only one match on this card? Yet, we’re getting things like Alexa Bliss vs Shayna Baszler and Drew vs Bobby 5.0 instead?
No offense to either Drew or Bobby, but this feud has become so boring that I really don’t care who wins. The single most entertaining thing about the build up to this match is the stuff MVP has been doing with Kofi Kingston in backstage segments. A potential Money in the Bank match between Kofi Kingston and Bobby Lashley has had a better build than the (I’m assuming) main event match between Bobby and Drew. Let Bobby win on Sunday so he can face Kofi next month and give Drew some much needed time away from the main event scene. Raw needs new energy and I think this is the best (okay maybe not best) way to do it.
Winner: (and STILL WWE Champion) Bobby Lashley
Darius: It does pain me to check out what’s going on with Raw and see that McIntyre and Lashley are still “fighting forever.” They’ve been at it since February, and though I think the ultimate ending is supposed to be golden boy McIntyre coming out on top, I think he would have beaten him already if that win was coming. Maybe after Bobby Lashley is done dismantling Drew again, he can move onto a feud with real competition like Bad Bunny or my personal pick for the next champion, both members of RKBro at the same time. But at least for now:
Winner: Bob Lashley
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