The 2012 Hell in a Cell was the fourth annual

Hell in a Cell Hell in a Cell is a professional wrestling steel cage-based match which originated in 1997 in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It features a large cell structure, a four-sided cuboid made from open-weave steel mesh chain-link f ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

(PPV) event produced by WWE. It was held on October 28, 2012, at

Philips Arena State Farm Arena is a Multi-purpose stadium, multi-purpose arena located in Atlanta, Georgia. The arena serves as the home venue for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It also served as home to the Atlanta Thrasher ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. The event drew a total of 199,000 buys, which is an improvement over the previous year's event, which drew 182,000 buys. Eight matches were contested at the event with no matches on the pre-show. In the main event,

CM Punk Phillip Jack Brooks (born October 26, 1978), better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw brand. Regarded as ...

defeated Ryback in a Hell in a Cell match to retain the

WWE Championship The WWE Championship, also referred to as the Undisputed WWE Championship since April 2024, is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown bran ...

, ending Ryback's undefeated streak. In other prominent matches,

Big Show Paul Donald Wight II (born February 8, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under his real name of Paul Wight. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) f ...

defeated Sheamus to win the World Heavyweight Championship and Eve Torres defeated Layla and Kaitlyn to retain the WWE Divas Championship.

Production

Background

was a

(PPV) event produced annually in October by WWE since 2009. The

concept A concept is an abstract idea that serves as a foundation for more concrete principles, thoughts, and beliefs. Concepts play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied within such disciplines as linguistics, ...

of the event came from WWE's established

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. The 2012 event was the fourth Hell in a Cell and was held on October 28 at

Storylines

The

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

at Hell in a Cell featured professional wrestlers performing as characters in scripted events pre-determined by the hosting promotion, WWE. Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, '' Raw'' and '' SmackDown''. The main program involved

defending his

against Ryback, contested inside Hell in a Cell. At Night of Champions the previous month, CM Punk and

John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American actor and professional wrestler. As a wrestler, he has been signed to WWE , where he is the current WWE Championship, Undisputed WWE Champion in his record 14th reign, which is ...

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 was undefeated since re-entering WWE in April (not including his time as the character Skip Sheffield), had attempted to confront Punk with Punk usually escaping. This culminated on an episode of ''Raw'' where WWE Chairman

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon ( ; born August 24, 1945) is an American businessman and former professional wrestling promoter. McMahon, along with his later-estranged wife Linda McMahon, Linda, is a co-founder of the modern WWE, the world's largest ...

arrived and forced Punk to choose whether he wanted to face John Cena or Ryback. However, when Punk took too long to decide, with Cena's endorsement, McMahon made the decision for it to be Ryback. It was announced that it would be a Hell in a Cell match. At Night of Champions, Layla was originally set to defend the WWE Divas Championship against Kaitlyn, but at the event, Kaitlyn was attacked by a villainess in a masked disguise. Eve Torres replaced Kaitlyn and defeated Layla to capture the Divas Championship, and after Eve's successful defenses against Kaitlyn and Layla on back-to-back episodes of ''Raw'', Aksana was revealed as Kaitlyn's attacker on the October 26 episode of ''SmackDown'', committing the attack under Eve's orders. It was later announced that Eve would defend the Divas Championship at Hell in a Cell in a triple threat match.

WWE Tag Team Championship #1 Contenders tournament

The lead up to the event featured a tag team tournament to decide the number one contenders for the

WWE Tag Team Championship The WWE Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE ...

. (*)-The final was originally scheduled for October 15 but was postponed due to Mysterio's illness.

Event

Lilian Garcia was involved in a car accident before the event in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, Tony Chimel substituted for her. When Jerry "The King" Lawler had been recovering from a heart attack, Michael Cole was joined in commentary by

Jim Ross James William Ross (born January 3, 1952) is an American professional wrestling commentator, sports announcer, and podcaster, better known by the ring name Jim Ross (often shortened to JR). He is signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he ...

and John "Bradshaw" Layfield.

Preliminary matches

The event opened with

Randy Orton Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He has been signed to WWE since 2000, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. Orton is widely regarded as one of t ...

facing Alberto Del Rio. Orton won the match after Del Rio missed an Enziguiri and performed an RKO on Del Rio for the pin. Next, Team Hell No ( Kane and Daniel Bryan) defended the WWE Tag Team Championship against Team Rhodes Scholars ( Damien Sandow and

Cody Rhodes Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes (born June 30, 1985) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. As of April 2022, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. He is also known for co-fou ...

). Kane was disqualified after he attacked Sandow and Rhodes, meaning Team Hell No retained the titles. After that,

Kofi Kingston Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah (born August 14, 1981) is a Ghanaian-born American professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Kofi ...

defended the Intercontinental Championship against

The Miz Michael Gregory Mizanin (born October 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, actor, and television personality. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name The Miz. Mizanin first gained fame a ...

. Kingston executed Trouble in Paradise to retain the title. In the fourth match, Antonio Cesaro defended the United States Championship against Justin Gabriel. After countering a Suicide Dive with a European Uppercut, Cesaro executed the Neutralizer on Gabriel to retain the title. Next, Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara faced the Prime Time Players ( Darren Young and Titus O'Neil). Mysterio and Cara won after Mysterio performed a 619 and a diving splash on Young. After that, Sheamus defended the World Heavyweight Championship against

. Big Show dominated Sheamus throughout the match. Big Show executed a Chokeslam on Sheamus for a near-fall. Sheamus executed White Noise on Big Show for a near-fall. Big Show executed a WMD on Sheamus for a near-fall. Sheamus executed a Brogue Kick on Big Show for a near-fall. Sheamus attempted a second Brogue Kick but Big Show avoided and executed a second WMD on Sheamus to win the title. In the seventh match, Eve Torres defended the WWE Divas Championship against Layla and Kaitlyn in a triple threat match. In the end, Eve executed a

senton bomb Aerial techniques, also known as "high-flying moves" are performance techniques used in professional wrestling for simulated assault on opponents. The techniques involve jumping from the ring's posts and ropes, demonstrating the speed and agility o ...

on both Kaitlyn and Layla, pinning Layla to retain the title.

Main event

In the main event, CM Punk defended the WWE Championship against Ryback inside Hell in a Cell. Ryback gained the early advantage but

Paul Heyman Paul Heyman (born September 11, 1965) is an American professional wrestling manager, former executive, promoter, and commentator. He is signed to WWE as the on-screen manager of Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, and Bronson Reed, and is widely regard ...

distracted Ryback, allowing Punk to spray Ryback with a fire extinguisher. Punk attempted to attack him with a steel chair but Ryback countered with a big boot, causing the chair to hit Punk, and threw Punk into the cell wall. Punk attacked Ryback with a Kendo stick but Ryback was unaffected and performed a Meat Hook Clothesline on Punk. Ryback attempted Shellshocked but the referee Brad Maddox inexplicably stopped Ryback and attacked him with a low-blow. Punk pinned Ryback with a roll-up as Maddox made a fast count, thus Punk retaining the title. After the match, Maddox attempted to escape from the cell but was attacked by Ryback. After chasing Heyman, Punk attempted to escape by climbing the cell but Ryback followed him and executed Shellshocked atop the cell.

Aftermath

Brad 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 Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that o ...

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 Survivor Series, branded as Survivor Series: WarGames since 2022, is a professional wrestling event produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving ( ...

in a triple threat match with John Cena. 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 Punk retain the title.

Results

References

External links

Official Hell in a Cell site
{{WWEPPV, Hell in a Cell

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2012 in Atlanta Professional wrestling shows in Atlanta 2012 WWE pay-per-view events October 2012 in the United States