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History had its eyes on Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair at WWE Hell in a Cell. Well, they did not throw away their opportunity. In the first-ever WWE pay-per-view to be main-evented by a Women’s division match, The Boss and The Queen absolutely turned the world upside down with the Raw Women’s Championship hanging in the balance.
In grand fashion fitting of the milestone moment, The Queen was carried out to the ring on a litter by men adorned in gladiator uniforms before the Boston native Banks was driven in a decked-out Escalade. Banks and Flair entered the ring where it would happen, clearly believing that the world, or Universe as it may be, was not big enough for the both of them.
As the Cell began to descend, though, Charlotte bombarded her before the unforgiving structure could fully close. The two rivals then began to battle on the outside, taking it into the crowd and then to ringside, as Sasha, who was clinging to the Cell itself, was then ripped off the twisted steel and powerbombed through the announce table in a sight that had to be seen to be believed. Banks bounced. Like, legitimately bounced.
The Boss was incredibly worse for wear, with the officials pleading with her to stop the contest. When Banks collapsed in pain, a stretcher was called for. As they began to announce Charlotte as the new Raw Women’s Champion via forfeit, Banks rose straight up from the ashes like the phoenix. And after defiantly taking out a few EMTs, she surged into the Cell and started taking it to The Queen with the fury of a hurricane.
The tide turned several times over, with Banks finding short, but effective, spurts of offense, until Flair used her strength to regain control. Whether it be suicide dives, shots into steel chairs, doing their best Spider(wo)man impressions by jumping onto the Cell, or introducing tables into the mix, both Superstars managed to stay alive and continue on with the fight.
The clash reached its apex when Sasha set up a table in the corner and, after attempting to Powerbomb her through it, The Boss’ back gave out after all the damage she suffered through. Charlotte then proceeded to viciously pelt Banks into the table two times over, and then connected with Natural Selection for the victory. Wow. Just wow.
The story of the night? Hell in a Cell doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saints. Hometown heroes and fairytale endings be damned. History will tell Charlotte’s story on this night, and deservingly so. Although, if anything was clear as WWE Hell in a Cell went off the air, it was that these two women and the Women’s division at large would have many, many more stories to tell.