WWE Hell in a Cell 2016: Results and observations from the show

History was made on multiple fronts at the TD Garden in Boston Sunday night when WWE presented its annual Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.

It did so by putting its women at the forefront of the company in a way it has never done before.

Before I go into details, however, here are the full match results:

- Kickoff match – Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado & Sin Cara def. Tony Nese, Drew Gulak & Ariya Daivari

- WWE United States championship (Hell in a Cell) – Roman Reigns def. Rusev

- Bayley def. Dana Brooke

- Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows def. Enzo Amore & Big Cass

- WWE Universal championship (Hell in a Cell) – Kevin Owens def. Seth Rollins

- WWE Cruiserweight championship – Brian Kendrick def. TJ Perkins

- WWE Raw Tag Team championship – Sheamus & Cesaro def. The New Day via disqualification

- WWE Raw Women's championship (Hell in a Cell) – Charlotte def. Sasha Banks

Women's match closes out a WWE pay-per-view

Although WWE advertised Hell in a Cell as featuring a triple main event, the final match is what is typically looked at as the most important one on the show.

There are exceptions to that train of thought, but more often than not, the final match of a professional wrestling card is seen as the main event. That even goes for boxing and mixed martial arts.

Mike Tyson never fought in the opening bout while he was heavyweight champion of the world.

With that being said, WWE made history Sunday when it put a women's match in the final slot of one of its traditional pay-per-views.

NXT had a women's match in the main event of a Takeover event in October of last year, but those are not pay-per-views. Those are exclusive to the WWE Network.

At Hell in a Cell, Banks and Charlotte went on last in a match that was already historic regardless of its placement, as it was the first-ever women's Hell in a Cell.

The match was the culmination of more than a year of the company touting its women's (formerly divas) revolution. At first, the so-called revolution was merely corporate speak and lip service, but WWE went all-in Sunday night.

The match was complete with epic entrances as Charlotte went to the ring atop of throne fitting a queen and Banks entered the arena in a Cadillac Escalade flanked by private security.

WWE properly set the stage for two of the best female wrestlers in the world to make history.

Some may ask what took WWE so long to put a women's match in the main event of a pay-per-view. It is a valid question, as WWE has been presenting pay-per-views since the 1980s, but the company still deserves credit for taking the step.

As the saying goes, it is better late than never. It is nice to see that WWE has an open mind when it comes to the viability of its women's division.

Hopefully, it continues to have that open mind moving forward.

Charlotte is the queen once again

Making history was one thing, but Banks and Charlotte still had to deliver on all of the hype, and in a lot of ways they did.

The match began like a climactic fight between heated rivals should begin — with chaos. Charlotte attacked Banks before the match even started and before the Cell was fully lowered.

The fight outside of the Cell resulted in Charlotte power bombing Banks through one of the announce tables, injuring Banks' lower back. Banks sold the injury the rest of the way.

She was initially going to be taken out of the arena on a stretcher, but fought her way off it a la Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 30 and the match officially commenced.

I thought the women did as much as they could possibly do to make the match memorable without taking a bunch of unnecessary risks. Outside of one instance when a wooden table didn't quite cooperate, I thought everything clicked.

That was until the very end when Banks attempted to power bomb Charlotte through a table on the opposite side of the ring. However, her injured back gave out, which allowed Charlotte to hit natural selection to win the match and claim the WWE Raw Women's championship for the third time.

This was when WWE sort of lost me. I know some fans, including everyone in the arena in Boston, wanted Banks to win in her hometown and receive a lengthy title run as a result.

I thought Banks would win, but not because I have some personal stake in her success. I thought she'd win so that this feud would come to a proper conclusion.

By having Charlotte win the title again, it means Banks is due for an automatic rematch, which means this feud isn't quite over just yet unless Banks waits a while to invoke her rematch clause.

If Banks won, Charlotte doesn't get another rematch and the feud effectively ends (for now), as it should inside a Hell in a Cell.

What I really had an issue with was how anticlimactic the finish felt. It came way out of left field and didn't really fit the historic nature of the match.

WWE has done this multiple times in the past and I don't understand why. I'm not against having abrupt finishes because it keeps fans attentive and on their toes. It makes every pinning predicament mean something.

However, I don't think this was one of those times. This should have ended like a rock concert where the band just rapidly plays its instruments before closing its set or a fireworks display when the grand finale is a flurry of pyrotechnics.

Instead, we got the equivalent of a generic rim shot or one firecracker being shot into the sky. It felt very odd.

Finish aside, I thought Banks and Charlotte did an amazing job of living up to the historic hype. The match was a lot of fun and was given its rightful billing. The ending, however, did not do the match any justice.

Jericho helps Owens retain

Owens is still the WWE Universal champion thanks in part to his very best friend Chris Jericho.

You're probably wondering how Jericho got involved in a Hell in a Cell match. Well, he waited for the Cell door to be opened so that doctors could tend to the official working the match, as he was sprayed in the face with a fire extinguisher by Owens.

Once inside the Cell, Jericho locked the door and did everything he could to help his best friend in the whole wide world retain his title.

After the match, Jericho doled out some extra punishment to Rollins by hitting him with a code breaker.

I thought Owens and Rollins had a very good match that almost helped people forget just how lackluster the creative end of their feud was. Fortunately, WWE's wrestlers are so good in the ring that you can sometimes look past the less-than-stellar storytelling.

With that said, one has to wonder what is next for all everyone involved. One idea that comes to my mind is Jericho and Rollins splitting off into their own rivalry, especially after the way Jericho trashed-talked Rollins after the match was over.

But where does that leave Owens, the Universal champion?

If the new WWE Network show, Raw Talk, was any indication, it may be Reigns, who successfully defended his United States championship in the first Hell in a Cell match of the night against Rusev.

Reigns made it very clear on Raw Talk that he wants the Universal title. Since his feud with Rusev has finally come to an end (at least I hope that is the case), it would make sense for Owens and the Universal title to be his next order of business.

New Cruiserweight champion

Speaking of business, it picked up in the cruiserweight division, as Kendrick defeated Perkins to claim the WWE Cruiserweight championship.

Kendrick won the title by essentially playing Perkins for a fool. Remember when Kendrick begged Perkins to let him win the match? Remember when I said that didn't make any sense given that Kendrick has already defeated Perkins in the past?

Remember when I said that Kendrick has to be playing the role of the disingenuous heel?

Well, it turned out that I was right. The only problem was that Perkins had no idea. Apparently, it is still real to him, as he foolishly believed Kendrick.

At the end of the match, Kendrick faked a knee injury, which made Perkins all sympathetic. When the right moment arrived, Kendrick suckered Perkins into the captain's hook, forcing him to submit.

Kendrick playing possum and fooling Perkins was a great heel tactic. Unfortunately, it made Perkins look incredibly silly. Kendrick literally said on Raw Talk he knew Perkins was soft and had too big of a heart, essentially saying he knew he was a sucker.

I'm sure this will end with Perkins changing his stripes in some way to avoid being played again, but in the meantime, he looks silly, which is what almost every other babyface WWE looks like on a regular basis.