Following the Raw branded No Mercy pay per view where Brock Lesnar successfully defended the Universal Title against Braun Strowman, WWE returns with the SmackDown branded Hell in a Cell pay per view at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Featured matches for October 8, 2017 include Jinder Mahal defending his WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura, Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon inside a steel cage (with a bizarre “falls count anywhere” stipulation) and The New Day defending their tag team titles against The Usos ALSO inside of a steel cage. It’s going to be a rocking time in Motown on Sunday night.
Before we get to the odds for any of those matches though it’s time for our usual disclaimers. First of all the betting odds for pro wrestling don’t reflect actual amateur wrestling experience, nor athletic prowess, nor even sheer physical size. In fact unless a wrestler goes into business for himself (which is a quick way to get fired) he or she has no say in the actual outcome. Therefore what you are actually betting on is the WRITERS and even more so Vince McMahon’s power to veto any script they write and make his own. Long odds indicate that a story is written months in advance and the story isn’t likely to be changed. Narrow odds mean anyone with a pen could change the script at any time.
It’s always a good idea to check the odds right up until showtime, because that’s when final decisions are made and lines sometimes swing wildly. Right now Kevin Owens is -420 over Shane McMahon at +300, but gut instinct tells me that could change before the show starts, particularly with a “falls count anywhere” modifier added in the past week. Why would you need a pinfall to count anywhere in the arena when the whole idea of a steel cage is to keep you locked INSIDE said same cage? You might hold your bets ’til an hour before the kickoff show just in case, or if you think they’re tipping their hand on Shane with the stipulation, take him as a dog now while you still can.
The safer money is probably on Jinder Mahal retaining his WWE title at -190 to Shinsuke Nakamura at +150, but I have one conspiracy minded friend who swears they will have Mahal lose on Sunday just so he can win it back when WWE goes on a tour of India in December. It’s a nice theory that he’d get the “big pop” from the crowd being he’s of Indian descent (even though he’s Canadian born and hails from Calgary), but wouldn’t he be just as a big of a hero if he ARRIVED as the champion? That’s why I don’t quite buy it.
Finally you can expect that anything’s possible between The Usos and The New Day with the current lines a coin flip at -105 and -135 respectively. Personally my own theory is that they are trying to have these two teams fight each other until the end of time so I suspect The Usos win to keep the feud going and have The New Day chase them to get the belts back — AGAIN. As always these previews are for entertainment purposes and if you wager please bet only what you can afford. Enjoy Hell in a Cell on WWE Network!
