WWE Hell in a Cell 2017 review: What we learned, takeaways, future projections

WWE United States Championship Triple Threat Match

AJ Styles (c) vs. Tye Dillinger vs. Baron Corbin

What we learned: We learned a couple of things here. First, we learned that AJ Styles can carry a match with absolutely anyone, but maybe we already knew that. Secondly, we learned that the push for Baron Corbin isn’t over just yet.

After losing his Money in the Bank briefcase and jobbing to John Cena in the curtain-jerker at SummerSlam, it looked as if Baron Corbin had lost all of the momentum he had picked up over the summer. However, he was immediately placed into the United States Championship picture with AJ Styles, but even that looked like it was just something to get Styles through a month or two before moving on to something else. I thought he’d pick up a fairly quick win over Corbin here and that would be that.

However, adding Tye Dillinger to the mix added another layer to this story, and I think it’s been done quite well. After picking up a surprise win over Corbin on SmackDown Live, Dillinger was put into the match on the kickoff show to make this a Triple Threat, which did make for an interesting twist. Triple Threat bouts are tough to manage, and this one certainly stuck to the regular formula of someone being on the outside for a while while the two other participants fight it out, but after they got past that, this turned into a solid affair.

They told a good story at the start of the match with Styles and Dillinger teaming up on Corbin, which also plays well into his Lone Wolf gimmick, and there were some fantastic sequences involving all three men as the match went on. Styles kicking Dillinger onto Corbin for a near fall was done very well, and overall, Styles just looked phenomenal (wrestling puns are awesome) as he usually does.

The finish was done perfectly as Styles hit the springboard forearm on Dillinger, only for Corbin to seize the opportunity by kicking (and kicking very hard) Styles out of the ring and covering The Perfect 10 to pick up the three count and win his first title in WWE. Very fun match overall.

What’s next: The beautiful part of this booking is that nobody was hurt here. This was easily Tye Dillinger’s biggest match since being called up to the main roster, and him taking the pin wasn’t a surprise. They can chalk that up to this being his first big opportunity and that he’ll have plenty of chances throughout his career. AJ Styles lost his title but didn’t take the pin, which is a pretty common finish for a Triple Threat. He can say that although he lost the United States Championship, he didn’t lose the match and can invoke his rematch clause, something he already said he would do on Tuesday night. Perhaps he gets his title back and this can continue, or maybe he loses and can move to chasing the WWE Championship, something he said he’d like to do anyway in his pre-match interview.

As for Corbin, he can now boast that he overcame the odds and the conspiracy to win his first title, and I really do think he can be a good heel champion. His in-ring work still needs some improving, but he is getting better and being in there with AJ Styles certainly doesn’t hurt. Putting the title on him now doesn’t hurt anything, and there’s little risk in it. If he can get his momentum all the way back, then it looks like a brilliant move by creative that they gave him another shot. If it doesn’t work, they can just yank it from him and be done with it.