HIAC: Why Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte Disappointed

Last night at HIAC, Sasha Banks and Charlotte not only made history by participating in the first ever women’s Hell in a Cell match, but they also took the last main event slot of the PPV, turning this into the biggest statement WWE’s made in regards to the women’s revolution to date. The expectations were sky high and the girls gave it their all. However, unlike the spectacular first ever Iron Woman match, which coincidentally also featured the Boss, the HIAC bout left the fans rather disappointed. What went wrong? Here’s why HIAC failed to deliver.

The first main problem that Sasha and Charlotte were facing was that the expectations were too high. The WWE sold the match well, maybe even too well. The fans expected a historical moment; they expected something they had never seen before; they expected so much that at one point, nothing that could have happened inside the HIAC would have ever met the expectations. It can’t be denied that both Sasha and Charlotte took a lot of rough spots last night. One could think the ladies would go easy on each other, especially after the Boss’s recent injury, but they didn’t. The brawl before the match even started was already rough and dangerous. Sasha took such a beating that you’d either wonder how stupid she had to be to agree to this in her health situation, or you’d respect the hell out of her for laying it all out in the name of wrestling. Yet, with this being a global entertainment product, the fans chose to ignore the sacrifices and focused on complaining about the spots that did not work out very well.

As much passion as the girl put in the HIAC match, unfortunately, the props didn’t cooperate at all times. Tables not breaking, or breaking at the wrong time seemed to be the theme.  The worst one was the finishing sequence. Charlotte had to repeatedly toss Sasha at the table in numerous desperate attempts to break the table, until finally deciding to opt for a pinning sequence once everything else had failed. Whether it was wrong positioning, or just the fact that the Boss is super lightweight compared to even the smallest guy in the locker room, the table refused to give in and the spot looked awkward. In all honesty, things like that happen to anyone. It might have been the first women’s HIAC match, but it wasn’t the first time a table failed to break in the WWE. However, the match, being as important as it was, the scrutiny became harsher and the focus on the negatives – stronger.

Maybe the WWE Universe would have had a more merciful outlook on the HIAC ordeal, if the final booking hadn’t left them utterly disappointed. Having Charlotte win was a surprise in the worst possible way. The decision to have the Boss lie down for the Queen wasn’t a shocker.  Rather, it was a case of people’s eyes rolling to the back of their heads and voices uttering “Ugh, not that again”. Most probably, the idea was to have Sasha lose in her home town, making Charlotte look even more villainous and getting a strong heel reaction, but the actual effect it had was losing the crowd completely along the way and leaving the fans, feeling deflated at the end of the night. The prospect of seeing the endless continuation of the Charlotte vs. Sasha feud did not appeal to the WWE Universe and it became the cause of most of the outrage online. The fans walked into HIAC, expecting a glorious final chapter of the Charlotte/Sasha rivlary and got just another installment, instead.

The end of Sasha’s second short-term reign got the people talking about “playing hot potato” with the title.  The constant change of champions makes the RAW Women’s Championship and everyone involved with it look weak. Sasha is meant to be the top face of the division but she can’t survive a single title defense and Charlotte is so OP that now the fans are starting to think she’s more likely to break Ric Flair’s record than John Cena is. The bad booking of the top names in the division only draws attention to the terrible booking of all RAW female talent because when future options are discussed, there seems to be no woman, who looks credible enough to take on neither Charlotte, nor Sasha.

In the end of the day, the HIAC’s failure to satisfy the fans wasn’t due to lack of skills or devotion from the women involved. It had a bit to do with bad luck with props and a lot to do with bad creative decisions.

What do you think? Comment below with your thoughts, opinions, feedback and anything else that was raised