To answer the question - moot at this point for you I'm sure, but this is a Question and Answer site after all - What looks and acts like a blown head gasket, resulting in coolant in the cylinder, when the head gasket is fine:
- cracked head
- warped head
- improperly torqued ore loose head bolts (torque them down in a pattern)
- missing parts (o-rings, dowel pins, etc) after engine reassembly.
- Old gasket material not fully removed
- the head gasket really is blown you just can't see it