By Steve Ward
WWE resurrected it’s Bad Blood moniker following a several year hiatus for tonight’s Premium Live Event (that still doesn’t sound right) which emanated from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. This evening’s show had a special start time of 6 pm ET to cater to those who wanted to also watch UFC 307 at 10 pm ET (a downside of WWE being under the same umbrella as UFC - TKO Holdings). Additionally, the card for tonight’s event was rather slim at five matches, as opposed to AEW’s regularly robust shows, and would be headlined by Roman Reigns teaming up with Cody Rhodes to face Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu.
Hell In A Cell Match
Drew McIntyre vs. CM Punk
Winner: CM Punk via pinfall
The longstanding, bitter rivalry between these two combatants would come to a head tonight as they would do battle in Hell In A Cell to mark the third encounter of their trilogy - with each man holding a win over the other. This match was the bloodiest encounter I’ve seen in WWE for more than a decade as both men were busted open early in the match (a sign of WWE looking to potentially ditch the PG era) and took each other to the limit with the use of tables, ring steps, and wrenches to name a few weapons put to use. In the end, Punk wrapped his knee in a chain before delivering his fourth Go To Sleep to finally put away the Scottish Psychopath.
WWE Women’s Championship
Nia Jax (c) vs. Bayley
Winner: Nia Jax via pinfall
Bayley sought to regain the title she lost to Jax at Summerslam (with an assist from Tiffany Stratton) tonight. Tiffany Stratton again made her presence felt in the contest after the referee was inadvertently pancaked by Nia Jax. This allowed the champ to regain momentum as she executed a Samoan Drop from the turnbuckle and the followed it up with her version of the Bonzai Drop to retain her title.
Finn Balor vs. Damian Priest
Winner: Damian Priest via pinfall
Balor and Priest have been embroiled in a bitter feud since Finn betrayed his former Judgement Day brethren at Summerslam costing him the World Heavyweight Championship in the process and tonight the animosity would spill over. In the closing moments of the match, Carlito and JD McDonagh made their way to ringside in an attempt to give Balor the edge. Balor was able to execute his patented Coup de Grace three times but his fourth attempt would prove to be his downfall as Priest countered with the South of Heaven to solidify his victory.
WWE Women’s World Championship (with Dominik Mysterio in a shark cage)
Liv Morgan (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
Winner: Rhea Ripley via DQ
Mysterio viciously betrayed Rhea Ripley at Summerslam costing her the coveted Women’s Title and subsequently seeing her ousted from the Judgement Day. To help ensure “Dirty” Dom would not interfere in the bout, he was suspended in a shark cage above the entryway. Late in the match, Dom managed to get the cage open but fell out of the door and found himself hanging upside down. This prompted Rhea to take a kendo stick to Dom until she was jumped from behind by a returning Racquel Rodriguez. This led to a disqualification of Liv Morgan, however, a title cannot change hands by DQ so Liv escaped with her title.
Solo Sikoa & Jacob Fatu vs. Cody Rhodes & Roman Reigns
Winners: Cody Rhodes & Roman Reigns via pinfall
Cody recruited his former bitter rival and the man he took the Universal Championship from at WrestleMania, the “Original Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns, to battle the new tribal chief Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu. In the closing moments of the match, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa made their presence known to turn the tide back in favor of Solo and Jacob. This didn’t last long as an individual concealing his face with a bandana emerged from the crowd to neutralize the Tongans with a pair of super kicks. The man then revealed himself as Jimmy Uso who had been out of action since April. This supplied just enough of a distraction for Roman Reigns to break Solo in half with a devastating spear to cap the victory for his team.
Following the match, the New Bloodline proceeded to beat down Cody Rhodes only for Jimmy Uso to convince Roman to return to the ring and save him. Once the dust settled The Rock’s music echoed throughout the arena as he stood in the entryway and stared down the Universal Champion, Cody Rhodes to close the show.
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