Posted in: Doctor's Orders
Doctor's Orders: A Look Back at Hell in a Cell
By Dr. CMV1
Sep 22, 2011 - 11:26:26 AM

I don’t know about you, but Hell in a Cell is quite possibly my favorite gimmick match. The overall quality produced by it over the years has been phenomenal and, even though it has been toned down in recent years with the WWE going PG, I think the wrestlers have done a nice job of adapting to still be able to tell good stories in the ring. With Hell in a Cell being the next PPV on the docket, I thought I’d attempt to rank the HIAC matches up to this point. There have been 21 of them and, to illustrate my point about the quality of this gimmick, I have developed a CMV1 statistic that the top 16 Cell matches have averaged, based on the CMV1 rating, 4-stars per match. That’s a wildly successful gimmick, by the Doctor’s Orders. That being said, it will make ranking those top 16/21 a bit of a chore. So, let’s first go back and take a look at the history of Hell in a Cell.

It’s hard to believe that it has been nearly 14 years since the first Hell in a Cell match at IYH Badd Blood in ’97. HBK and Taker actually started their classic series of matches separated by 12 years within the confines of the Cell (*****), inaugurating the gimmick in the WWE. Sometimes, it can take a while for a new match to really catch on, but thanks to those two, the first HIAC may always be the best. Their case is made by a brilliant 30-minute performance packed with the hills and valleys necessary for this to be almost universally rated at 5-stars by the wrestling media. The structure was so imposing to look at, but here you had two consummate pros having a classic inside the Cell before turning it up a notch by venturing to the top of it. Kane’s debut was the final piece of a wonderfully put together puzzle. The success of the first led to three more HIAC matches the next summer. 1998 saw the only two TV Cell matches, more or less used to hype King of the Ring and Summerslam, respectively. Stone Cold and Taker teamed up to take on Mankind and Kane (N/A) 13 days prior to KOTR. It was a great way to hype a PPV and give the fans a memorable TV segment, but it segued into one of the most memorable Cell matches of all-time between Taker and Foley.

Will anyone ever forget Mankind vs. Undertaker from KOTR ’98 (****1/4)? What can be stated about this match that hasn’t already been said? Foley became a legend for all times in a matter of two bumps in 16 life- shortening minutes. No one in WWE history has ever been that badly beaten in a match. In as many ways as it was Foley’s night, it wasn’t Foley’s night. He took two of the biggest bumps in mainstream pro-wrestling history within minutes of each other and became revered for it. No one will ever be able to top that, in my opinion. However, my bet is that he lost years off his life in the process. The unfortunate day that I hope never comes when Foley is pronounced dead of “unknown” causes, I will immediately think of this match. You’d think he’d have learned his lesson, but he had another Cell match on Raw two months later against Kane (**). In that match, he took a bump off the side of the Cell through the announce table. It was a lot to bump like that for a match that ultimately meant nothing for him, but it was the last halfway decent Cell match for about 18 months. Taker stepped back inside it at Wrestlemania XV against the Big Bossman (*1/2). The build-up to that match was actually rather good, but the match was dull and uneventful. It would have fit in better with today’s audience than the one back then that had been conditioned to see people nearly kill themselves in efforts to get themselves and the gimmick over.

Luckily, Foley found a new dance partner to venture into Hell with in February 2000 (****1/2). He put his career on the line against Triple H’s WWE Championship and the two proceeded to have one of the best matches in history. They gave you everything you’d ever want from a gimmick match, as they each bled profusely before Foley went through the announce table off the side of the Cell, a barbed wire wrapped 2X4 was introduced, they fought on top of the Cell, the 2X4 was lit on fire, and Foley was backdropped through the top of the Cell back into the ring for the finish. Foley put his body on the line like no one else was willing to do one final time. Not since has he been that careless with his own life (nor has anyone else in the WWE). You have to love him for doing it, but question his sanity at the same time. At least the bumps he took were better controlled than the ones from his first Cell match. Triple H and Foley had great chemistry. Later that year, as the Commish, Foley booked a six-man HIAC (***3/4) for the title. It was a hardcore match mixed with HIAC and was quite a cluster you-know-what. Rock, Austin, Trips, Taker, and Kurt Angle all bladed, while Rikishi was thrown off the top of the Cell into the bed of a truck. It was quite a sight to see four different guys on top of the Cell at one time and the result was always in doubt. I just didn’t like how discombobulated everything was and how much of the match took place near the entrance. At that point, it was basically just the six of them tossing each other into cars.

The 6-man was the last we’d see of the Cell until 2002, when Triple H started challenging Taker for “ownership” of the gimmick as their feud-ending matches. Trips battled Chris Jericho (****) and it became clear that night that they were simply trying to find some way to keep the gimmick fresh without people being thrown off the top and nearly killing each other. No one has gone off the top since 2000 and I doubt anyone will again. Trips and Jericho actually finished their match on the top of the Cell. It was great to see the first go round, but it doesn’t stand the test of time. Five months later, Taker stepped in with the very game Brock Lesnar (****1/4). It was amazing how good Lesnar became so quickly. This was his second classic match in just three PPVs as a headliner. Unreal. Keep in mind that was in the span of three months. If a Daniel Bryan or CM Punk does that, it’s awesome but it’s not the same because they have been wrestling for a decade. Lesnar had been wrestling for all of two years when he went out and tore the roof of arenas with Rock and Undertaker. This was the type of match that makes you realize how important blood can be in a gimmick like this. Elimination Chamber and TLC don’t need it, but HIAC is about personal rivalries and blood is very welcome. Taker did an awesome blade job and his face was the very definition of crimson mask.

Before Hell in a Cell became its own PPV, they tried to make the gimmick special to the month of June (and to Triple H) for a while. Trips wrestled Kevin Nash in the Cell at Badd Blood ’03 (***1/4), getting about as much out of Nash as anyone could have at that stage of his career. The next year, he faced HBK to end their off-and-on feud of the previous two years. HBK vs. HHH (****) was the longest HIAC match and some came to compare it to an Ironman match. I think that comparison is great because, in many ways, it was like the first Ironman match. When I first saw it, I loved it. I thought the story told was awesome and you never knew who was going to win. However, with each subsequent viewing since the first, it has become more and more difficult to sit through. It was, at times, very slow, and while it told a great story, they didn’t hold the attention of the live crowd nor could they hold mine again. Some matches age like a fine wine; this one aged like a wet turd. Triple H’s last singles HIAC match, though – against Batista at 2005’s Vengeance (****1/2) - has aged phenomenally. I’ll be honest when I state that this is not a match that one would seemingly consider for the top spot when ranking the Cell matches…at least not at first glance. Yet, I think when you dive a little further into it, you might find yourself surprised when you give it a second look. Batista and Triple H tore the house down with this match. It doesn’t wow you with stunts, but it doesn’t need to. If you want to see a great match inside the confines of the Cell, you should watch this again. The stars aligned on that night in June 2005 to ensure that the Trips-Batista rivalry would feature one classic match.

I had somewhat hoped that, perhaps, a classic distinction could be reserved for a match between Randy Orton and Taker. They had a nice series of matches in ’05, but none of them were great. Their HIAC at Armageddon (****) gave them a chance, but they didn’t deliver that good of a match. Instead, they had a very good one. This was during the time when the WWE was still transitioning the Cell to its current format. It featured several swings in momentum over the course of 30-minutes, which is something I miss from the lengthier matches that were once commonplace twenty years ago, but it was lacking that certain something to push it over the top. In contrast to a hopeful classic was the culmination of the rivalry between DX and the McMahons at Unforgiven 2006. Vince and Shane employed the help of Big Show (***3/4). This match wasn’t designed to blow the roof of an arena. What it was designed to be was entertaining…and that it very easily accomplished. The DX vs. McMahons feud was a lot of fun. It brought something different to the table and opened up the creative department’s happy-go-lucky side a bit.

Taker had another opportunity for a classic Cell match at Survivor Series ’07. Disappointment would best describe his match with Batista (****). Despite the rating, I had hoped for more given their chemistry shown throughout their feud. It certainly was not bad; in fact, it was very good. However, it was a lot more like Taker vs. Orton from ’05 than Batista vs. Trips from ’05, in that it was very good, but could have been excellent. The Deadman did deliver a classic at Summerslam the following year, though, against Edge (****1/2). It was a fantastic match that put the finishing touches on a feud that produced a match of the year candidate at three separate events. Taker vs. Edge HIAC is one of the better matches of the last several years. One could argue that this was the best HIAC match of all-time, and it was easily the best since they switched to the new, taller cell. They did a great job of incorporating bits and pieces from each of the matches in their lengthy feud. Really and truly the blueprint for the modern era HIAC match, it managed to incorporate much of what made the original Cell matches popular while also putting over the finality of a feud.

2009 ushered in a new era for the Cell. It became its own PPV, but the style also changed dramatically. No more blood meant the loss of an important intangible in putting over the finality of a rivalry once reserved for matches like the Cell. The star since that change has been Randy Orton, who has excelled despite the handcuffs. He had a very good match with John Cena (****) at the inaugural HIAC PPV, showing off some of the best character work that he had ever done. His heel character was hitting its stride in early ’09 when he main-evented Mania, but it was in full gear when he wrestled four PPV matches against Cena later that year. Orton’s facial expressions and desire to win the title were excellent. The requisite near falls needed to push this bout to the 4-star level were there and they told a story that drew in the crowd and kept their feud alive for another month. HBK made his last Cell appearance and Trips made his last one to date at the same event, battling Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase (***1/2) in the conclusion of their three-PPV rivalry. As with their other matches, the HIAC bout was quite good. I liked Legacy’s approach to the match and their divide and conquer strategy. This was actually a good feud that elevated Rhodes and Dibiase. It’s a shame that their push wasn’t followed up. That’s a problem nowadays. Anyhow, this was one of the more creatively booked of the Cell matches that have come since the 2008 Edge-Taker bout laid the blueprint for the modern Cell bout. Taker and CM Punk also had a Cell match (**1/2) at the ’09 HIAC PPV, but they didn’t perform at the level of their peers. You know, I’d love to see what these guys could produce if they were booked somewhat as equals instead of Punk being presented as two notches below the Deadman. In 2009, Punk was not looked at as a guy who could realistically hang with Taker, despite his great work during the initial Summer of Punk. I’d love to see these guys go at it at Wrestlemania 28.

Last year was the second annual HIAC PPV. Orton continued to show that the Hell in a Cell gimmick is slowly becoming “his” gimmick like it belonged to Taker and Trips before him. He has not yet had a classic inside the Cell, but he’s doing well. His style perfectly fits the nature of the specialty. He’s so good at telling stories in the ring, as evidenced by what he did with Sheamus last year. Put me down as one of the people that really liked their HIAC match (****). It was the bout that fully sold me on what Sheamus could do and showed that he had quickly become one of the top wrestlers in the company. Taker and Kane had a Cell match, too (**1/2). It’s a shame. Taker used to own the Cell. His first few Cell matches were the stuff of legend, but his last two have been very lackluster by comparison. It’s not that this match with Kane was bad; it just wasn’t as good as you hope it could be. Taker needs to stop Celling it…his last two efforts have been average.

I took a day off recently to go back and revisit some of the Cell matches that I had not seen but once or twice. After a personal “Hell in a Cell” day, I am quite confident in the following rankings…

1) Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker – One of the top 10 matches of all-time
2) Triple H vs. Cactus Jack – Incredible battle between classic rivals
3) Undertaker vs. Edge – The modern masterpiece for this gimmick
4) Batista vs. Triple H – Right on par with the best
5) Mankind vs. Undertaker – Amazing flash and wasn’t about substance
6) Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker – Underrated war w/ great athleticism from Brock
7) Triple H vs. Chris Jericho – Well organized and supremely entertaining
8) Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H – Phenomenal story told, but a little slow
9) John Cena vs. Randy Orton – Great piece of work in a great rivalry
10) Randy Orton vs. Sheamus – Methodical bout that splits opinions
11) Batista vs. Undertaker – Right on par with their other great matches
12) Randy Orton vs. Undertaker – 30-minutes of quality wrestling
13) 6-Man Hell in a Cell – Really good, but too much Attitude-era style for me
14) Degeneration X vs. McMahons/Big Show – Thoroughly entertaining…
15) Degeneration X vs. Legacy – Very nice story that was uniquely booked
16) Triple H vs. Kevin Nash – About as solid as can be, but nothing more
17) Undertaker vs. CM Punk – Good match, but needed more time to excel
18) Undertaker vs. Kane – Given the chance to be great, but simply wasn’t
19) Kane vs. Mankind – Would be quite a TV main-event in the modern era
20) Big Bossman vs. Undertaker – About as bland as you’ll get from the Cell
21) Undertaker/Austin vs. Kane/Mankind – More of a segment than a match