According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Vince McMahon and Triple H were going back and forth over if the Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte Women’s Hell In A Cell match should close the show. H and a ton of WWE Executives were pushing for the match to close out the show, and Vice reportedly budged the night before the pay-per-view (PPV).
Also it was reported that the original plan had Banks retaining the title all the way up until the production meeting the night before the show, so the Banks vs. Flair feud could be put to bed for the time being and Charlotte could move on to a program with Bayley.
Vince had a change of heart the night before, according to someone from Vince’s ‘inner circle’, and that only a few people close to him were aware of it. Top officials also had told everyone else a different finish at the production meeting Saturday night.
Dave Meltzer also noted that the change was not due to any heat on Sasha, or her being injured, or trying to keep Charlotte’s 13-0 PPV streak intact. The streak is just a matter of coincidence and is not a part of any long-term plans.
Meltzer also reported that two big spots were taken out of the match as well, out of fear that Banks would suffer an injury. Ric Flair commented on this during an appearance on Busted Open Radio, stating that a moonsault by Charlotte from the top of the cell was originally planned:
“They took two huge spots out of the match, during the match, because they were afraid Sasha [Banks] was going to get hurt. If the original plan had been, there were two things and I don’t want to say what they were, but you can only imagine. One of them involved a moonsault.”
