WWE Hell in a Cell 2016 Preview: Matches & Predictions

RAW is back to continue WWE’s new line of brand warfare. After Smackdown’s disappointing presentation of No Mercy, they’re prepped to finish off the month of October on a high note with Hell in a Cell.

History is set to be made at the 2016 installment of this speciality match PPV. The RAW Women’s Championship will be up for grabs in the demonic cage as Sasha Banks defends it against Charlotte. Roman Reigns will look to keep the United States Championship around his waist as he’s going to face Rusev inside the massive structure. And Seth Rollins will get his RAW Universal Championship rematch against title holder Kevin Owens inside the Hell in a Cell.

Let’s offer our match predictions for these marquee bouts and more for RAW’s Hell in a Cell 2016 event.

Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado & Sin Cara vs. Tony Nese, Drew Gulak & Ariya Daivari

Predictions & Winners: The Cruiserweight roster is full of awesome Superstars who’re always exciting to watch. They’re going to get the Kickoff Show match spot at HIAC and put on an exciting 6-man sprint. We love Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado, Tony Nese and Drew Gulak, so this should be a fun one. We’re gonna have to pick the majority babyface team for the win in this one. Question: where the hell is Jack Gallagher? We hope he gets called up to the main roster soon. And Kalisto should definitely get switched over to RAW to join this group of guys. It fits him so much better.

The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and/or Xavier Woods) (c) vs. Cesaro and Sheamus (WWE Raw Tag Team Championship)

Predictions & Winners: Let’s just leave that whole New Day/Anderson & Gallows debacle behind us. It was filled with unfunny skits and left the The Club looking much weaker than they’ve even been in the eyes of fans (including us). Big E, Kingston and Woods are still enjoying the most successful Tag Team Championship run in recent memory. As for Cesaro and Sheamus, they’ve been at each other’s throats while in the middle of a competitive Best of Seven Series. Due to their final match being a draw, Foley saw fit to award both men with a tag team title shot and decided to put them together as a duo. Both teams will finally do battle at HIAC. While we could totally see WWE shocking the world and making the strange bedfellows the new champions, New Day’s record breaking run seems like it won’t be ending due to some thrown together tag team. You can count on the miscommunication between Cesaro and Sheamus costing them the match and award New Day the win. From this point on, Cesaro and Sheamus will engage in one more battle. And we’re betting it’ll involve a Loser Leaves WWE match (if the rumors of Cesaro leaving are true, this is the most expected way he’ll be written off TV).

T.J. Perkins (c) vs. Brian Kendrick (WWE Cruiserweight Championship)

Predictions & Winner: TJP’s introduction to the RAW brand as the Cruiserweight Champion and weight division standard bearer has been pretty cool thus far. Rising from the indies all the way up to WWE’s main stage has breathed new life into Monday’s show. TJP has a win over THE Brian Kendrick, but Kendrick managed to get a tap-out victory against the champion. So this bout is the ultimate tie-breaker to end it all. This match will definitely be one of the better bouts of the entire evening due to two elements: the presence of two awesome Cruiserweight stars and Brian’s hunger to finally become champion during his final run. Expect plenty of near falls and desperation on Kendrick’s part, but TJP will ultimately prevail. Kendrick will finally shake TJP’s hand, get some applause from the crowd and walk off into the sunset. So who’s TJP set to defend his title against next? A shocker in the form of Neville.

Sasha Banks (c) vs. Charlotte (Hell in a Cell Match for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship)

Predictions & Winner: This is a landmark match, ladies and gentleman. The Women’s Division is truly in revolution mode now that two of the division’s biggest stars will face off in the HIAC. Banks will once again go to war with Charlotte and this time, they’ll make history in the process for being the 1st Women’s Hell in a Cell Match. Don’t expect anything to insane to transpire here, though. Charlotte’s not gonna throw caution to the wind to pull a Moonsault off the top of the cell and Sasha’s not doing anything too risky either. We can’t see WWE letting these ladies go THAT far. But there’s going to be some great moments strewn throughout this matchup. This war will conclude with Banks retaining her newly won title after a hard fought contest that was once relegated to just male Superstars.

Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson

Predictions & Winner: The Club is dusting itself off after the letdown they were a part of called “The New Day Feud.” The less said about that one, the better. Thankfully, Anderson and Gallows have ditched the funny ha ha hijinks and are back to kicking ass and taking names. They’ve set their sights on WWE’s most fun-loving tag team: Enzo Amore and Big Cass. This matchup seems more of a concentrated effort to get some much needed credibility back to AJ’s former running bodies. It’ll be a nice back and forth affair, but ultimately it will come down to The Club adding a victory to their shoddy PPV win-loss column.

Roman Reigns (c) vs. Rusev (Hell in a Cell Match for the WWE United States Championship)

Predictions & Winner: Reigns is no longer insufferable. He still elicits a few boos from the crowd, but at least he’s no longer being shoved down out throats in the main event scene. His beef with Rusev has been pretty entertaining; its brought the US Championship to a better spot on the RAW card and given Rusev some new blood to contend with. Reigns has been on the winning end of this feud’s PPV matches since it began and that’s a trend that’s going to continue here. Rusev and Reigns will go all over the HIAC and use weapons to destroy each other. This HIAC bout will play the part of the most brutal affair that will take advantage of the structure’s most dangerous aspects. Once the final pin is counted, it will come courtesy of a devastating Spear from (STILL!) the US Champion Reigns.

Bayley vs. Dana Brooke

Predictions & Winner: Honestly, we don’t really care about this feud. Bayley’s ascension to the main roster on RAW started out great, but now it’s fallen into a stagnant state. And Dana Brooke’s been a complete bust ever since she got stuck being Charlotte’s side piece. Dana Brooke wins here because…well, just cause we can see WWE wanting to keep this beef going on to keep Bayley busy for a few months.

Kevin Owens (c) vs. Seth Rollins (Hell in a Cell Match for the WWE Universal Championship)

Predictions & Winner: We enjoyed this main event from Clash of Champions and don’t mind witnessing it for a 2nd time. Especially now that the HIAC will encase both Superstars for their championship rematch. Rollins is tired of getting screwed over repeatedly by HHH, Y2J and Owens himself. We’re sure he’s thinking that getting his hands on RAW’s main champion in the HIAC means no outside interference will disrupt him. And that’s where he’s wrong. Oh so dreadfully wrong. This match will go long and entertain, but some form of heel trickery will lead to Owens winning again. A Y2J run-in will get shut down quickly, but some other form of shocking outside interference will cost Rollins the match. Owens retains here, while Rollins goes on to start his mission to permanently eliminate the threats that have costed him the Universal Championship.