Hell in a Cell (2022)

The 2022 Hell in a Cell was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was the 14th annual and final Hell in a Cell and took place on Sunday, June 5, 2022, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event was replaced by Night of Champions in 2023. This was also WWE's last non-WrestleMania PPV to take place on a Sunday until the second night of SummerSlam in 2025.

Seven matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Cody Rhodes defeated Seth "Freakin" Rollins in a Hell in a Cell match. In other prominent matches, The Judgment Day (Edge, Damian Priest, and Rhea Ripley) defeated AJ Styles, Finn Bálor, and Liv Morgan in a six-person mixed tag team match, Bobby Lashley defeated Omos and MVP in a 2-on-1 handicap match, and in the opening bout, Bianca Belair defeated Asuka and Becky Lynch in a triple threat match to retain the Raw Women's Championship.

Production

Background

Hell in a Cell was a professional wrestling event produced annually by WWE since 2009. The concept of the event came from the promotion's established Hell in a Cell match, in which competitors fought inside a 20-foot-high roofed cell structure surrounding the ring and ringside area. The main event match of the card was contested under the Hell in a Cell stipulation.

On October 25, 2021, WWE revealed their 2022 major event calendar for the Raw and SmackDown brands, with an event slotted for Sunday, June 5, 2022, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. On March 4, 2022, that event was revealed to be the 14th Hell in a Cell, and was the third Hell in a Cell to not be held in the month of October after the September 2018 event and the 2021 event (which moved the series up to June). It aired on pay-per-view (PPV) worldwide and was available to livestream on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in international markets.

Storylines

The card included matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.

After defeating Seth "Freakin" Rollins at both WrestleMania 38 and WrestleMania Backlash, Cody Rhodes was granted a United States Championship match against Theory on the May 9 episode of Raw. However, during the match, Rollins attacked Rhodes, costing Rhodes the title. The following week, Rhodes challenged Rollins to another match, this time inside Hell in a Cell, which Rollins accepted.

At Night 1 of WrestleMania 38, Bianca Belair defeated Becky Lynch to win the Raw Women's Championship. On the April 25 episode of Raw, Lynch wanted a rematch, but Asuka interrupted, making a surprise return after nine months of inactivity due to injury. WWE official Adam Pearce gave Asuka a chance to face Belair in a championship contender's match on the May 9 episode; however, the match ended in a no contest after Lynch attacked both competitors. The following week, Asuka defeated Lynch to earn the right to face Belair for the Raw Women's Championship at Hell in a Cell. (This was originally supposed to be a six-pack challenge also involving Doudrop, Nikki A.S.H., and WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Sasha Banks and Naomi, but got changed when Banks and Naomi walked out before Raw due to legitimate creative frustrations.) On the May 23 episode, Lynch was given another chance to face Asuka with the added stipulation that if Lynch won, she would be added to the championship match at Hell in a Cell. Lynch defeated Asuka, turning the bout into a triple threat match.

At Night 2 of WrestleMania 38, Bobby Lashley defeated Omos. The following night on Raw, Lashley's manager, MVP, turned on Lashley and aligned with Omos, who then defeated Lashley at WrestleMania Backlash with the help of MVP. On the May 16 episode of Raw, Lashley defeated Omos again, this time in a Steel Cage match, when Omos threw Lashley through the cage, allowing him to win by walking out of the cage. The following week, with Lashley wanting to put an end to their rivalry, he challenged MVP to a match where the winner would choose the stipulation of his match against Omos at Hell in a Cell. With the help of Omos, MVP defeated Lashley by countout. Omos and MVP decided that the stipulation at Hell in a Cell would be a 2-on-1 handicap match with Omos and MVP facing Lashley.

At Night 2 of WrestleMania 38, Edge defeated AJ Styles after interference from Damian Priest. Edge and Priest would later form a faction named The Judgment Day. At WrestleMania Backlash, despite Priest being banned from ringside, Edge again defeated Styles after interference from Rhea Ripley. On the following Raw, Ripley said that she joined Judgment Day to become better, and defeated Liv Morgan. Later that night, Finn Bálor defeated Priest via disqualification after interference from Edge. Styles then attacked Edge, but Judgment Day gained the upper hand. On the May 16 episode, Morgan joined Bálor and Styles' alliance. The following week, Ripley and Priest defeated Styles and Morgan after interference from Edge. Afterwards, a brawl between the two teams broke out, with Judgment Day standing tall again. On the May 30 episode, a six-person mixed tag team match pitting Morgan, Styles, and Bálor against The Judgment Day was made official for Hell in a Cell.

On the May 30 episode of Raw, in the middle of Mustafa Ali's match, United States Champion Theory attacked Ali, causing Ali to win via disqualification and earn himself a United States Title match, where Theory easily retained. Later that night, Theory's protégé, Vince McMahon, wanted Theory to defend the title against Ali in a "fair match" at Hell in a Cell.

At Night 1 of WrestleMania 38, Madcap Moss distracted Happy Corbin, causing him to lose his match. On the following SmackDown, Corbin attacked Moss, beginning a rivalry between the two which led to a match between the two being scheduled for WrestleMania Backlash, which Moss won. On the following SmackDown, while Moss was talking about his win over Corbin at Backlash, Corbin attacked Moss, ending the attack by placing a chair on Moss' throat and slamming Moss' André the Giant Memorial Trophy on the chair. The next day on Talking Smack, it was reported that Moss suffered a (kayfabe) cervical contusion. Moss returned on the June 3 episode of SmackDown, where he lost to Corbin via disqualification after using a steel chair. Later that night, a No Holds Barred match between the two was made official for Hell in a Cell.

On the April 4 episode of Raw, while Kevin Owens was talking about his loss at Night 1 of WrestleMania 38 two days earlier, he was interrupted by Ezekiel. Over the coming weeks, Owens claimed that Ezekiel wasn't Elias' younger brother, but Elias himself. On the May 23 episode, after Ezekiel's match, Owens challenged Ezekiel to a match at Hell in a Cell, which was made official.

Event

Preliminary matches

The event opened with Bianca Belair defending the Raw Women's Championship against Asuka and Becky Lynch in a triple threat match. Asuka caught Belair in an Armbar, but Belair countered and slammed her onto the top turnbuckle. Lynch performed a Natural Selection on Belair. Lynch performed a Top Rope Leg Drop on Belair, but Asuka broke up the pin. Belair slammed Asuka onto Lynch and performed a handspring into a Standing Moonsault onto both for a nearfall. Asuka performed a Codebreaker on Belair and then caught Lynch off the ropes into another Codebreaker for a nearfall on both. Asuka placed both in a Double Ankle Lock, but both made it to the ropes. Lynch performed a Manhandle Slam on Belair, but Asuka broke up the pin. In the end, Lynch threw Belair out of the ring and performed a second Manhandle Slam on Asuka. Belair returned to throw Lynch out of the ring and pinned Asuka to retain the title.

Next, Bobby Lashley took on Omos and MVP in a 2-on-1 handicap match. In the climax, MVP drove Lashley out of the ring with the Player's Boot. Omos tackled Lashley through the barricade, but Lashley made it back into the ring at nine. Cedric Alexander came out and entered the ring, but was thrown out by Omos. That distraction from Alexander allowed Lashley to perform a Spear on Omos and force MVP to submit to the Hurt Lock to win the match.

Then, Ezekiel took on Kevin Owens. Owens performed a Tornado DDT for a nearfall. Owens went for a Swanton, but Ezekiel got his knees up. Owens performed a Pop-Up Powerbomb for a nearfall. Ezekiel went up top, but Owens crotched him on the ropes. Owens knocked Ezekiel off the ropes and then performed a Cannonball in the corner. Owens performed a Stunner on Ezekiel to win the match.