WWE Hell in a Cell 2015: Results and observations from the show

My expectations weren't that high heading into Hell in a Cell, but WWE surpassed them with a very good showing in Los Angeles on Sunday night.

A couple of great matches, some sensible booking and a very big surprise made Hell in a Cell the best pay-per-view since WrestleMania, in my humble opinion.

There was a lot to take away from this event, which means we have a lot to unpack, but before we do that, let's go through the full match results from the Staples Center:

- Kickoff match - Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro & Neville def. Rusev, Sheamus & King Barrett

- WWE United States championship – Alberto Del Rio def. John Cena

- Hell in a Cell – Roman Reigns def. Bray Wyatt

- WWE Tag Team championship – The New Day def. The Dudley Boyz

- WWE Divas championship – Charlotte def. Nikki Bella

- WWE World Heavyweight championship – Seth Rollins def. Kane

- WWE Intercontinental championship – Kevin Owens def. Ryback

- Hell in a Cell – Brock Lesnar def. The Undertaker

The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar was awesome

Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker literally tore the ring apart. That's how good this match was.

While I was admittedly lukewarm to yet another encounter between the two greats, they delivered once again at Hell in a Cell. Not to mention, the right man won, which made the entire affair all the more satisfying.

For a Hell in a Cell match in 2015, Lesnar and The Undertaker essentially pulled out all of the stops. Lesnar was busted open early in the match. Not long later, so was The Undertaker.

I'm not an advocate of cutting your own skin, but blood really does add to a match such as Hell in a Cell. The match is supposed to be brutal, and the blood only adds to that story.

That's not to say Lesnar and The Undertaker used a blade during their match Sunday night — they very well could have been cut open the hard way — but the visual of both men bleeding only added to the stakes of the match.

Lesnar and The Undertaker used weapons, but the biggest one was the ring itself, as Lesnar tore up the canvas to expose the wood that lies underneath.

Just so people know, it's not just a bunch of springs under the mat. It's not as soft as a baby's bottom, either. It's legitimately hard and can be really, really painful.

While I've watched matches in which those parts of the ring were exposed, I don't think it has ever been done in WWE. I'm sure someone will correct me, but it showed the lengths these two warriors would go to not only to beat each other, but also to give fans a memorable match.

My only gripe with the match, and with the story of the last two matches overall, was that a rivalry between two ultimate tough guys such as Lesnar and The Undertaker comes down to who hit the other in the groin first.

The Undertaker hit Lesnar in the groin at Battleground, did it again on Raw and used it to help him win at SummerSlam and Lesnar returned the favor at Hell in a Cell.

While that was my one gripe with the match, it was a minor one. The match overall was a lot of fun, and both men are to be commended for their efforts, especially The Undertaker, who you can never tell if he's just selling or is really in so much pain after a match that he can barely stand.

While it can be hard to watch him take all that punishment, it never gets old seeing him put on another classic.

The Wyatt Family abducts The Undertaker

This is where things got interesting.

The Wyatt Family, with Luke Harper in tow, with a post-match tribute to The Undertaker from the fans, surrounded him.

The Undertaker, outnumbered and badly damaged from his Hell in a Cell match, attempted to put up a fight, but quickly succumbed to The Wyatt Family's numbers.

After beating him down, The Wyatt Family carried The Undertaker off to end the show.

On the bright side, this should set up a Survivor Series match with The Wyatt Family going up against The Undertaker, Kane and two others.

The downside is that those two others will probably be Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. While that sounds cool on paper, WWE has spent the last month telling us that the Reigns-Wyatt match Sunday was the end of that particular rivalry.

Instead, we might see them go up against each other again at Survivor Series. None of this is set in stone, but this seems to be the logical road for WWE to take.

My other negative about this was that no one came out to help The Undertaker. Not one person. Not Kane, not anyone.

Where was everyone? Did they all just bounce?

If The Undertaker has all this respect, why wouldn't anyone help him? Maybe I'm nitpicking, but I figured someone would help even the odds. It would have made for a much hotter end to the show instead of The Wyatt Family just carrying off The Undertaker's limp body.

Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt was very good

Speaking of Reigns and Wyatt, the supposed end to their feud was a very good one, as both men put on memorable performances inside the Hell in a Cell.

In fact, they put on probably as good a Hell in a Cell match as you could within WWE's structure in 2015, which is one of no blood (usually) and no one climbing to the top or falling off the Hell in a Cell structure.

With that being the case, Reigns and Wyatt did as much as they could to make this match feel worthy of being inside the Hell in a Cell.

Unfortunately, this might not be the end. Maybe it will be, but it doesn't look like it.

Alberto Del Rio returns, beats John Cena

With John Cena's U.S. open challenge taking place at a pay-per-view for the first time, it was expected that WWE would provide a major surprise as Cena's opponent.

WWE delivered, as Zeb Colter rolled out in a motorized chair to introduce the returning Alberto Del Rio as Cena's challenger.

While reports have been swirling of Del Rio's WWE return for weeks, this was still very shocking, as Del Rio left WWE on some very bad terms last summer after an altercation with the company's social media manager in which Del Rio slapped the man and was fired soon after.

Although that social media manager is no longer employed by WWE, it seemed a long shot that Del Rio would return to the company. In listening to multiple interviews with Del Rio and people close to him, he seemed happy not being under the WWE umbrella, as it allowed him to control his own destiny.

Del Rio was working with AAA, Lucha Underground and had even done some work with Ring of Honor, but as it always does, WWE called him back, and he returned the call.

Plus, there's the old notion that money talks and everything else walks or takes the bus. While money might not be Del Rio's sole motivator in going back to WWE, it more than likely played a part, as WWE is the place where wrestlers can make the most money and gain the most exposure.

I'd also imagine that WWE apologized for what happened last year, and the fact that the social media manager was no longer with company probably probably made Del Rio a little happier.

He was probably a lot happier that he got to pin Cena cleanly in the middle of the ring to win the U.S. championship on his first night back with the promotion.

While Cena is taking a little break from WWE, I'm certainly intrigued to see what's next for the U.S. title now that Del Rio has it.

A slew of champions retained

All the other titles stayed put.

First, let's get to the ones that everyone saw coming. Seth Rollins was almost a lock to retain his WWE World Heavyweight title, but did so in surprisingly clean fashion.

While shocking, it was the right way to go. Rollins' lack of credibility has not given him heat. It's only hurt the title he is carrying.

Charlotte was also essentially a lock to hold on to her Divas championship. The match was better than I expected. It even included a very dangerous-looking Alabama slam on the ring apron, but Paige's coming out to celebrate with Charlotte and Becky Lynch was just bizarre.

Not even a month ago, she cursed out the entire divas division and now she's being friendly again with no explanation other than that she's just another crazy, deranged woman who takes her cues from the movie Fatal Attraction.

Kevin Owens was a lock to hold onto his Intercontinental championship. However, his postmatch interview was more entertaining than the match.

The shocking outcome for me was The New Day retaining over The Dudley Boyz. I'm not upset by this outcome, but I figured The Dudley Boyz would get one last, brief run with the tag championships.

That still could happen, I guess, but I figured it would happen at Hell in a Cell.