Hell in a Cell 2012

Hell in a Cell 2012 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which took place on October 28, 2012 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. It was the fourth annual Hell in a Cell event. The event was sponsored by WWE '13.
==Background==
Hell in a Cell featured professional wrestling matches which involve different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that are played out on WWE's television programs. Wrestlers will portray villains or heroes as they follow a series of events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. The lead up to the event will feature a tag team tournament to decide the number one contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship.
The main feud from Raw involves CM Punk defending his WWE Championship against Ryback, contested inside Hell in a Cell. At Night of Champions the previous month, CM Punk and John Cena fought each other to a draw when Cena left his shoulders down while pinning Punk, making it a double pin. Following this, he continuously challenged Punk to a rematch, even while recovering from an arm surgery earlier in the month; Punk refused to accept. All the while, Ryback, who is still on an undefeated streak since arriving in WWE, has shown interest in fighting Punk through repeatedly attempting to attack Punk, who usually escapes. This culminated on an episode of Raw where WWE Chairman Vince McMahon arrived and forced Punk to choose whether he wanted to face John Cena or Ryback. However, when Punk started teasing everyone about who he wanted to face, McMahon came out and said his time was up and he would make the decision, later revealing during a contract signing that Punk would face Ryback.
The Divas feud heading into Hell In A Cell was between Eve Torres, Layla, and Kaitlyn over the WWE Divas Championship. At Night of Champions, Kaitlyn was originally scheduled to compete against Layla for the Divas Championship, but she was attacked backstage and replaced by Eve, who went on to win the title. After Eve successfully defended her title against Kaitlyn and Layla in back to back weeks on Raw, it was revealed on the October 22 edition of the program that Aksana attacked Kaitlyn under Eve's orders. On the October 26 edition of SmackDown, Aksana confessed to attacking Kaitlyn, and SmackDown General Manager Booker T announced that Eve would defend her Divas Championship against Layla and Kaitlyn in a Triple Threat Match at Hell In A Cell.
The secondary feud heading into Hell In A Cell was between Kofi Kingston and The Miz over the WWE Intercontinental Championship. In July, Miz won the Intercontinental Championship when he defeated Christian at Raw 1000. For the next few months he would engage in title defenses against Christian, Rey Mysterio (at SummerSlam) and even Cody Rhodes, Mysterio and Sin Cara last month at Night of Champions in a fatal four-way match. On the October 17th episode of Main Event, Kofi Kingston defeated Miz to win the Intercontinental Championship thus earning his fourth Intercontinental title. It was announced that Kingston would defend his title against Miz in a rematch at Hell In A Cell.
==Event==
The first match of the night was between Randy Orton and Alberto Del Rio. Orton won the match after he reversed an enzuigiri kick into an RKO.
The second match saw Rhodes Scholars (Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes) take on Team Hell No (Kane and Daniel Bryan) for the WWE Tag Team Championship. Rhodes and Sandow earned their title opportunity after winning a number one contenders' tag-team tournament. After a long period of being isolated, Daniel Bryan was able to tag in Kane, who built momentum and looked to be setting up for a chokeslam on Rhodes. However, Bryan tagged himself into the match and delivered a diving headbutt from the top rope, covering Rhodes. Kane, upset about being tagged out of the match, broke up the cover and proceeded to argue with Bryan. The action spilled outside the ring, where Bryan accidentally hit Kane with a running knee after Sandow and Rhodes had taken him out with baseball slides. This distraction allowed Rhodes to hit Cross Rhodes on Bryan once he re-entered the ring. An infuriated Kane entered the ring and broke up the pin, and continued to attack both Rhodes and Sandow despite not being the legal man, which forced a disqualification. Bryan and Kane retained the championships as a result, and continued to argue with each other after the match.
The next match was between Kofi Kingston and The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship. Miz targeted the leg of Kingston during the match, removing Kingston's knee padding and applying a boston crab. However, Kofi was able to escape the hold and hit Trouble In Paradise for the victory. After the match, Kingston thanked Miz for bringing out an extra determination in his character.
The fourth match saw Justin Gabriel take on Antonio Cesaro for the United States Championship. Cesaro won the match after he connected with an uppercut on Gabriel, who was attempting a Suicide Dive out of the ring, and then hit the Neutralizer.
The fifth match was between the team of Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara and the Prime Time Players. Mysterio and Cara picked up the victory when Mysterio hit a 619 and body splash on Darren Young after Sin Cara had taken out Titus O'Neil outside the ring with a splash from the top rope.
The sixth match was the World Heavyweight Championship match between Sheamus and the Big Show. This match was billed as the first meeting between the two, and the build-up had centered around which was the stronger maneuver, Sheamus' Brogue Kick or Big Show's WMD (Knockout Punch). The majority of the match was dominated by Big Show, who used his superior size and strength to manhandle Sheamus. However, Sheamus was resilient and continued to kick out of numerous moves including a chokeslam. Sheamus was able to hit White Noise on Big Show, however Show responded by delivering a WMD, and Sheamus became the first person to kick out of the knockout punch. Sheamus then recovered and hit Big Show with a Brogue Kick, and Show in turn became the first person to kick out of that maneuver. Sheamus set up for a second Brogue Kick, but Big Show was able to avoid the kick and hit a second WMD to secure the pinfall victory, winning the WWE's World Heavyweight Championship for the second time.
The next match was a Divas Championship triple-threat match between Eve Torres, Layla and Kaitlyn. The match came about after Eve had arranged for Kaitlyn to be attacked backstage and subsequently won the Divas Championship at Night of Champions. Eve won the match and retained the championship after Kaitlyn hit a running powerslam on Layla, only for Eve to land a senton bomb on both Divas and pin Layla for the victory.
The main event was the Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Championship between Ryback and CM Punk. The match started with Ryback getting the better of the early exchanges, only for Paul Heyman to provide a distraction outside the cell, allowing Punk to spray Ryback with a fire extinguisher and attack him with a steel chair. Ryback countered however with a big boot, and then threw Punk into the cell wall. Punk was able to gain the upper hand when he threw Ryback into the ring steps and then attacked him with a Kendo stick, however Ryback was unfazed by the attack and hit Punk with a Meathook Clothesline. Ryback set Punk up for his signature maneuver, Shellshocked, however the match referee Brad Maddox inexplicably stopped Ryback from executing the maneuver and hit him with a low-blow. This allowed Punk to perform a roll-up, and Maddox lent weight and performed a fast three-count to allow Punk to retain the title and hand Ryback his first defeat in WWE. After the match, Maddox attempted to escape from the locked cell but was unable to do so before being brutally attacked by Ryback. Ryback then turned his attention to Punk, who was exiting the now-opened cell. After chasing off Heyman, Ryback went after Punk who tried to escape by climbing to the top of the cell. Ryback followed him and executed Shellshocked on top of the cell as retribution for his defeat.
==Aftermath==
Maddox explained on Raw that he had intentionally cost Ryback the match as a way of making a name for himself and 'becoming famous' after he had been told that he would never achieve his initial dream of becoming a WWE Superstar. Maddox then demanded a WWE contract and a match with Ryback; Mr. McMahon sarcastically replied that Maddox would be given a 'million dollar contract' if he was able to beat Ryback. The match took place the following week, with Maddox being defeated in a squash match and leaving the arena in an ambulance. Ryback then continued his feud with CM Punk, and went on to challenge for the title once again at Survivor Series. It was later revealed on an episode of Raw that Paul Heyman had paid Brad Maddox to make an interference in the match and help CM Punk retain the title.
The rivalry between Eve Torres and Kaitlyn continued on; with Kaitlyn earning another shot at the Divas Championship after defeating Layla in a #1 Contender's Match. At Survivor Series, the evil Aksana again attacked Kaitlyn before she went out to face Eve, but Kaitlyn fought her off. However, Eve defeated Kaitlyn to retain the title.
==Results==
;
;
*Randy Orton defeated Alberto Del Rio (w/ Ricardo Rodriguez) (17:40)
*Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow) defeated Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane) (c) by disqualification in a WWE Tag Team Championship Match (11:11)
*Kofi Kingston (c) defeated The Miz to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship (10:21)
*Antonio Cesaro (c) defeated Justin Gabriel to retain the WWE United States Championship (7:22)
*Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara defeated The Prime Time Players (Darren Young & Titus O'Neil) (12:27)
*The Big Show defeated Sheamus (c) to win the World Heavyweight Championship (20:26)
*Eve Torres (c) defeated Layla & Kaitlyn in a triple threat match to retain the WWE Divas Championship (7:33)
*CM Punk (c) (w/ Paul Heyman) defeated Ryback in a Hell In A Cell Match to retain the WWE Championship (11:21)
===Tournament brackets===
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
*Jim Ross
*Michael Cole
*John Bradshaw Layfield
*Marcelo Rodríguez (Spanish)
*Carlos Cabrera (Spanish)
;Interviewers
*Josh Mathews
*Matt Striker	
;Ring announcer
*Tony Chimel
*Justin Roberts
*Ricardo Rodriguez (ADR only)
;Referees
*John Cone
*Jack Doan
*Mike Chioda
*Scott Armstrong
*Brad Maddox
==See also==
*List of WWE pay-per-view events
*WWE Event History
*Hell in a Cell
*Event gallery
==DVD release==
* Hell in a Cell 2012 on DVD
==External links==
* Hell in a Cell 2012 Official website
* Hell in a Cell 2012 at CAGEMATCH.net
* Hell in a Cell 2012 at Online World of Wrestling
* Hell in a Cell 2012 on WWE Network
Category:Events with Hell in a Cell matches
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:Hell in a Cell PPV
Category:2012 pay-per-view events