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Background
The Hell in a Cell match was first introduced at In Your House: Badd Blood on October 5, 1997 at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri. It featured The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, who had cost The Undertaker a WWE Championship bout (where he was special guest referee) against Bret "The Hitman" Hart two months prior at SummerSlam. They fought one-on-one at In Your House: Ground Zero, but the match went to a no contest after they kept knocking out officials who were trying to restore order in the match.
Their next match was meant to be a normal steel cage match, but the WWE took it one step further: instead of a normal steel cage enclosing only the ring, a bigger steel structure with a roof was made enclosing not only the ring but also the surrounding ringside area. Therefore, there is a wider space between the ring apron and the cell walls. And unlike a steel cage match (wherein escaping the cage is one way to win), the only way to win this match called the Hell in a Cell is via pinfall or submission; there are no count-outs or disqualifications.
Generally, the combatants battle inside the cell while the cell's door is locked and chained to keep out Superstars who would try to interfere in the match. However, there have been Cell matches wherein the wrestlers have fought outside (and even on top of) the cell, as well as non-participants interjecting themselves in the match:
- In the first Cell match, the door was unlocked to allow the removal of an injured cameraman. This led to Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker fighting outside the cell, eventually climbing the structure and fighting on top of the cell.
- Also in the first Cell match, Shawn Michaels was hanging on the edge of the Cell when The Undertaker (who was standing near the edge of the cell) stepped on the hands of HBK, who then fell on the announcers table outside the cell.[1]
- In the Mankind vs The Undertaker match, both the competitors climbed to the top of the cell and started their match there, resulting to Mankind falling 16 feet onto the announcers table as well as him being Chokeslammed by The Undertaker through the top of the Cell.[1]
- In the Triple H vs Cactus Jack match, Cactus Jack threw steel steps at Triple H but missed and damaged the wall, then charged repeatedly towards the cell wall until it broke for the two to get through.[1]
- In the Six-Man match at Armageddon, Vince McMahon used a truck to pull off the door of the cell while attempting to destroy the cell and stop the match. This led to all six Superstars brawling outside and on top of the cell. Rikishi was thrown off the roof of the cell onto the truck by The Undertaker.[2]
- In the Triple H vs Chris Jericho match, the door was opened with bolt cutters to allow the removal of legitimately injured referee Tim White. This was the last Hell in a Cell match where the wrestlers climbed and fought on top of a cell, and the first and only Cell match where someone (Chris Jericho) got pinned on top of the cell.[1]
- In the Edge vs The Undertaker match, Edge launched himself from the steel ring steps and speared The Undertaker crashing through the cell wall and landing outside the cell.[3]
Hell in a Cell matches are rare in the WWE as it is designed to end the most intense feuds and to "shorten careers."[4] The Superstars who fight inside the Cell usually beat each other so badly that their rivalry will be ended forever. There have only been 16 such matches in the WWE, 14 of which are seen only on pay-per-view events due to the logistical difficulty in setting them up, the match's dangerous nature, and its perception as a special attraction. However, there are two Cell matches that have been shown on TV, both in 1998 on Raw.
The cell and the match itself are billed as very dangerous by WWE announcers and Superstars.[5] Jim Ross, who have called many Hell in a Cell matches, have described the cell as "two tons of unforgiving steel" and as a "perverse, vile, diabolical structure." Jerry "The King" Lawler, Michael Cole & Tazz have described the match as the most gruesome in the WWE.
Match History
| Number | Match | Event and Date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Shawn Michaels defeated The Undertaker (with interference by Kane) | In Your House: Badd Blood October 5, 1997 |
30:00 |
| II | The Undertaker and Steve Austin versus Mankind and Kane went to a no contest | Raw Is War June 15, 1998 |
10:38 |
| III | The Undertaker defeated Mankind | King of the Ring June 28, 1998 |
17:38 |
| IV | Mankind versus Kane went to a no contest (with interference by Stone Cold Steve Austin) | Raw Is War August 24, 1998 |
7:41 |
| V | The Undertaker defeated The Big Boss Man | WrestleMania XV March 28, 1999 |
9:46 |
| VI | Triple H defeated Cactus Jack to retain the WWF Championship | No Way Out February 27, 2000 |
23:59 |
| VII | Kurt Angle defeated The Undertaker, Triple H, Steve Austin, The Rock and Rikishi to retain the WWF Championship | Armageddon December 10, 2000 |
32:14 |
| VIII | Triple H defeated Chris Jericho | Judgment Day May 19, 2002 |
24:31 |
| IX | Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) defeated The Undertaker to retain the WWE Championship | No Mercy October 20, 2002 |
27:18 |
| X | Triple H defeated Kevin Nash to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (with special guest referee Mick Foley) | Bad Blood June 15, 2003 |
21:01 |
| XI | Triple H defeated Shawn Michaels | Bad Blood June 13, 2004 |
47:26 |
| XII | Batista defeated Triple H to retain the World Heavyweight Championship | Vengeance June 26, 2005 |
26:54 |
| XIII | The Undertaker defeated Randy Orton (w/ "Cowboy" Bob Orton) | Armageddon December 18, 2005 |
30:31 |
| XIV | D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) defeated Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon and The Big Show | Unforgiven September 17, 2006 |
25:04 |
| XV | Batista defeated The Undertaker to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (with interference by Edge) | Survivor Series November 18, 2007 |
21:25 |
| XVI | The Undertaker defeated Edge | SummerSlam August 17, 2008 |
26:41 |
Notes:
- The cell itself was used during a First Blood Match between Steve Austin and Kane at King of the Ring 1998, but it was not officially a Hell in a Cell match. (The cell had been used earlier in the evening for the match between the Undertaker and Mankind.) The cell was only lowered twice during their match.
- The cell was also used in a Kennel from Hell match between Al Snow and The Big Boss Man at Unforgiven 1999. The match was a cage match inside a Hell in a Cell cage, and the space between the cage and the Cell cage was occupied by "rabid" dogs. These "rabid" dogs were more interested in sniffing each others butts.
Notable Hell in a Cell moments
Towards the end of the first-ever Hell in a Cell match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, Kane made his debut.[6] The match became the only Hell in a Cell match to earn a five star rating from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
During the Hell in a Cell match between Kane and Mankind, Undertaker got involved on Kane's behalf and pulled Mankind off the cell wall causing him to fall through an announce table.
The Undertaker vs. Mankind, the third ever Hell in a Cell match, occurred at King of the Ring 1998. A couple of minutes into the match, The Undertaker threw Mankind off of the top of the cell, which was a full 16 feet, onto the Spanish Announce team table. The footage of that fall has since become one of the most used videos in professional wrestling history[7], and inspired play-by-play commentator Jim Ross to utter what is considered the most memorable comment in the history of pro-wrestling: "Good God almighty, good God almighty! That killed him! With God as my witness, he is broken in half!" [8] Later, back on the roof of the cell, Undertaker chokeslammed Mankind through the roof onto the unbudging ring below (this was a botch and was never supposed to happen), causing commentator Jim Ross to scream "Good God, good God, will somebody stop the damn match?! Enough is enough!" while his broadcast partner Jerry 'the King' muttered softly "That's it; he's dead". Even though they tried to stretcher Foley out of the arena, he got off the stretcher and went back to the ring to finish the match. The match was named PWI Match of the Year in 1998 and is the only Hell in a Cell match to win the award. The match is on the Mick Foley's Greatest Hits and Misses DVD. It is also on Tombstone: The History of The Undertaker.
The Undertaker vs. Big Bossman Hell in a Cell at Wrestlemania XV was the shortest Hell in a Cell ever, and is noteworthy only for its bizzare ending where the Brood assisted the Undertaker in hanging Bossman from the Cell, representing the "symbolic" hanging of the Corporation by the Ministry of Darkness.
The Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels match was by far the longest Hell in a Cell match ever, clocking in at over 45 minutes. It was exceptionally brutal and bloody, and included the use of the steel steps, tables, ladders, and chairs.
The Edge vs Undertaker match was also one of the most brutal matches in Hell in a Cell history. Edge speared the Undertaker off the steel steps and through the cell. After that tables, chairs, ladders and TV monitors were involved The match also included the Undertaker's first ever Con- Chair- To in his career and also The Undertaker chokeslammed Edge over the top rope through two tables. After the match, as The Phenom exited the cell, he saw Edge moving on the TitanTron. He then returned to chokeslam the immobile Edge off a ladder and through the ring. The hole where Edge had been was then set on fire.
Legacy
On October 14, 2008, WWE is scheduled to release a three-disc DVD set entitled Hell in a Cell: The Greatest Hell in a Cell Matches of All Time.[9]
References
- ^ a b c d e "A Hell-ish history in steel".
- ^ "Deadman's History of Hell".
- ^ "WWE SummerSlam: Edge vs The Undertaker".
- ^ "Specialty Matches: Hell in a Cell".
- ^ "What makes it hell?".
- ^ "In Your House: Badd Blood". World Wrestling Entertainment. October 5, 1997.
- ^ Mcavennine, Mike (2007-05-21). "Go to "Hell"", SLAM! Sports. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
- ^ "Deadman's History of Hell".
- ^ "WWEShop.com -- Hell in a Cell DVD".
