Just two months into his WWE return, Cody Rhodes has already reached the top of the card.
Rhodes and Seth Rollins’s rivalry will culminate as the two face off at Hell in a Cell on Sunday. Assuming that their Hell in a Cell match goes on last, it will be the first pay-per-view Rhodes has headlined since making his return to WWE at WrestleMania 38 in April.
The timing of Rhodes’s return has been fortuitous for both him and WWE. With undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns now working an at least somewhat reduced schedule, the company is in need of another top star. Rhodes is the right person for that spot. After six years away, the former AEW executive vice president is a fresh face to the WWE audience. Fans have never seen this version of Rhodes in WWE before. He’s been allowed to be himself and maintain the presentation that made him a superstar outside of WWE. Thus far, Rhodes’s return to the company has been as big of a success as anyone could have hoped for. Hell in a Cell is an opportunity for Rhodes to show he’s capable of carrying a WWE PPV as the main attraction.
Rhodes vs. Rollins is the only match Sunday that will be taking place inside of Hell in a Cell. It will be the third straight PPV where they’ve faced each other—with Rhodes winning each of their first two meetings—but it doesn’t feel like Rhodes and Rollins’s feud has gone on too long. They’ve done a great job of ramping up the intensity leading into this final match. Rollins has grown more and more desperate to defeat Rhodes with each loss. Rhodes has been unable to move on and has had to fend off attacks by Rollins. Hell in a Cell is a fitting place for their feud to end.
Hell in a Cell matches will never be able to recapture the magic they had when they were first introduced 25 years ago. They’re too overdone now. But Rhodes vs. Rollins should be the best version of what a modern-day Hell in a Cell match can be. Rhodes has always thrived in these types of gimmick matches, doing everything he can to convey the gravity of the stipulation and make it stand out from an ordinary match. Rollins just had a great Hell in a Cell match against Edge at Crown Jewel in October, and this has the potential to be even better.
The other top match at Hell in a Cell will see Bianca Belair defend her Raw women’s championship against Asuka and Becky Lynch in a triple-threat match. It was originally supposed to be Belair vs. Naomi for the title, but WWE had to change its plans when Naomi and Sasha Banks walked out of Raw last month.
Hell in a Cell will stream live on Peacock/WWE Network at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday. The PPV is being held at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill.
Here’s a full rundown of the card, along with predictions for each match:
Hell in a Cell match: Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins
Though he’s already beaten Rollins twice in a row, there’s no other option here than Rhodes winning again. Rhodes needs to definitively win his first feud back in WWE. If he loses at Hell in a Cell, Rhodes’s first two victories will be overshadowed. People will just remember that Rollins ultimately won the feud in the end.
Rhodes set his sights on winning the WWE championship when he returned to the company. Defeating Rollins on Sunday will help Rhodes gain momentum as he moves closer to achieving that goal. With Money in the Bank taking place next month, Rhodes should be the heavy favorite to win the briefcase and set up a future world-title showdown against Reigns.
Prediction: Cody Rhodes wins
Bianca Belair vs. Asuka vs. Becky Lynch for the Raw women’s championship
The originally scheduled Belair vs. Naomi match at Hell in a Cell was seemingly meant as a stopgap to save both Belair vs. Asuka and Belair vs. Lynch for future PPVs. Instead, those two matches have been combined into one triple threat.
Belair vs. Lynch at SummerSlam (the same PPV where Lynch defeated Belair in 26 seconds one year ago) should still be the ultimate direction for WWE. It’s likely that Asuka and Lynch will end up costing each other the match at Hell in a Cell, leaving them both able to claim that they would have defeated Belair if it was one-on-one. Belair can then defend against Asuka at Money in the Bank.
Prediction: Bianca Belair retains
Mixed tag match: AJ Styles, Finn Bálor and Liv Morgan vs. The Judgment Day (Edge, Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley)
The Judgment Day will team up as a trio for the first time Sunday. The group began to form when Priest helped Edge defeat Styles at WrestleMania 38. Ripley was then added to the faction’s ranks at WrestleMania Backlash, coming to Edge’s aid when Priest was barred from ringside for Edge’s rematch against Styles.
Bálor and Morgan have helped Styles even the odds against The Judgment Day, but Edge, Priest and Ripley shouldn’t lose in their first match together. The biggest question is whether we’ll see another new member added to their group. Tommaso Ciampa was discussed as a potential member of The Judgment Day at one point. Joining the faction would give his main-roster career some direction.
Prediction: The Judgment Day win
Kevin Owens vs. Ezekiel
Owens vs. Ezekiel has been one of the most fun WWE story lines in quite some time. Owens and Ezekiel deserve so much credit for how perfectly things have gone. On paper, the idea of Ezekiel pretending that he isn’t actually Elias but is instead Elias’s younger brother seems absurd. But he’s played the role so well that fans are going along with it. Even though Owens is obviously right, Owens somehow looks out of his mind for insisting that Ezekiel and Elias are the same person.
Ezekiel’s ruse shouldn’t be exposed anytime soon. Owens will be driven even further into madness with a loss Sunday.
Prediction: Ezekiel wins
Handicap match: Bobby Lashley vs. Omos and MVP
The handicap stipulation could end up extending things, but this will hopefully be the end of Lashley and Omos’s feud. Lashley should get a decisive victory by taking out both Omos and MVP.
Lashley and Omos are 1–1 against each other in PPV matches heading into Hell in a Cell. Lashley defeated Omos at WrestleMania 38, but MVP turned against Lashley the next night and became Omos’s new manager. Interference by MVP then led to Omos defeating Lashley at WrestleMania Backlash.
Lashley has also won a steel cage match against Omos on Raw, but the victory only came when Omos threw him through the side of the cage.
Whether it’s challenging Reigns or facing Brock Lesnar when Lesnar returns, it’s time for Lashley to move on to better things.
Prediction: Bobby Lashley wins
Theory vs. Mustafa Ali for the United States championship
Three months after publicly requesting to be released from the company, Ali made his return to WWE television in April. Things haven’t gone well for him since then, with Theory getting the best of Ali in advance of Hell in a Cell. That’s all hopefully leading to Ali winning the United States title in his hometown of Chicago. Ali has the potential to be one of the best babyfaces in WWE if given the chance.
Prediction: Mustafa Ali wins
No holds barred match: Madcap Moss vs. Happy Corbin
Following an angle where he was stretchered out three weeks ago, Moss returned to SmackDown this Friday looking for payback against his former tag team partner Baron Corbin. Moss’s return came with a character change, dropping his old comedic gimmick for a more serious persona.
The no holds barred stipulation stems from how Moss and Corbin’s match on SmackDown ended. Moss couldn’t control his anger and attacked Corbin with a steel chair.
Moss has the potential to be a future main-event star in WWE. This is where that ascent should begin.
