Post by DTP. on Nov 18, 2007 9:11:36 GMT -5
SOURCE: Wikipedia
In Your House: Bad Blood 1997: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker
The Hell in a Cell match was first introduced by The Undertaker at the Badd Blood pay-per-view event on October 5, 1997 in St. Louis, Missouri, when he challenged Shawn Michaels for the number one contendership to the WWF Championship. The Undertaker had been feuding with Michaels since SummerSlam 1997, where Michaels was a special guest referee in a match between the Undertaker and Bret Hart for the WWF Championship. In the match, Michaels swung a steel chair at Bret Hart, but missed and hit the Undertaker instead, costing him the match and the Championship. Out for revenge, the Undertaker devised the Cell not only to prevent Shawn Michaels' D-Generation X allies from interfering, but also to create an environment that would cause Michaels the most pain.
From the beginning the Undertaker dominated, though Shawn Michaels was able to fight back several times. At one of Michaels' most offensive points in the match, he had managed to tangle The Undertaker in the two top ropes, immobilizing him. Michaels then proceeded to charge the subdued man, only for The Undertaker to flip him over the top ropes and onto a cameraman. Frustrated that this wasn't the first time that a cameraman has gotten in his way, Michaels proceeded to beat the cameraman while he laid on the ground. After several more minutes of Michaels having the upper hand, Sgt. Slaughter came down to ringside and ordered the cage door unlocked to bring the cameraman out for medical care. At this time, Shawn Michaels hit his finisher, Sweet Chin Music, on the Undertaker, but instead of Michaels covering for the pin, the Undertaker did his signature sit-up (a move he does when it seems an opponent has him beaten, only for him to sit back up, revitalized, in accordance with his Deadman gimmick) and went back on the offensive. With the door now open, Shawn forced the referee aside in an attempt to escape the Undertaker, leading to both men battling outside of the cage. The Undertaker started by ramming Michaels head first into the cell several times, leaving his face a bloody mask. Michaels escaped by delivering a low-blow to the Undertaker and climbing to the top of the Cell. Naturally, The Undertaker followed, and once on top, he bodyslammed and backdropped Michaels on the roof. Again trying to outrun the Undertaker, Michaels began to climb back down the Cell. He was left hanging off the side when the Undertaker stomped on his hands, causing him to fall through the Spanish announce table at ringside from a height of around 10-12 feet. In reaction, Jim Ross yelled, "My God, he may be broken in half! Michaels may be broken in half!" This spot is seen as a precursor to a far more famous fall taken by Mick Foley from the very top of the cell.
The Undertaker climbed down the cell and continued his assault, dragging Michaels back into the cage and the ring ("Back into Purgatory," as Jim Ross stated). After giving Michaels a clothesline, a chokeslam from the top turnbuckle, and a vicious chair shot (Michaels stated in his autobiography that after this shot he felt as if his own eyes were about to "pop out of his head"), it seemed that the Undertaker was bound for victory. However, when he gave his signature throat slit signal (indicating his finisher, the Tombstone), Paul Bearer and Kane entered ringside to interfere in the match, while Vince McMahon yelled, "Oh my God, wait a minute. It's Paul Bearer! It's Paul Bearer! And that...that's got to be Kane! That's got to be Kane!" This match was the first appearance of Kane, the Undertaker's on-screen half-brother. Kane ripped the door of the Cell from its hinges and confronted the Undertaker in the ring. After a brief stare-down, Kane performed his own version of the Tombstone Piledriver on the Undertaker and exited. Michaels then, with great effort, crawled out of a pool of his own blood and onto the unconscious Undertaker for the pin, gaining the contendership that would set the stage for the infamous Montreal Screwjob one month later. [1]
[edit] RAW (June 1998): Steve Austin & The Undertaker vs. Kane & Mankind
The second Hell in a Cell match was booked as a build up for King of the Ring 1998, where Steve Austin was booked to face Kane for the WWF Championship, and The Undertaker was booked against Mankind in another Hell in a Cell match. Paul Bearer was inside the Cell with Kane and Mankind by his side and challenged Austin and The Undertaker to fight Kane and Mankind inside the Cell. Stone Cold came out and waited for The Undertaker on the ramp, but Undertaker never showed. Kane, Mankind and Austin fought outside the cell, and Paul locked himself inside the cage to protect himself. However, The Undertaker came out from under the ring and began to brutalize Paul Bearer. Kane noticed and tried to get in, but the cage door was locked. Austin continued to beat up Mankind while Kane tried to save Bearer. Kane eventually climbed to the top of the cage trying to get in to help Paul Bearer, but he could not, and The Undertaker continued to beat up Paul Bearer. Austin eventually got a chair and nailed Mankind with it a couple of times, then made his way to the top of the cage and attacked Kane as The Undertaker continued to work on Paul Bearer. The match became a no contest.
[edit] King of the Ring 1998: The Undertaker vs. Mankind
The Hell in a Cell match at King of the Ring 1998 between The Undertaker and Mankind (Mick Foley) has since become one of the most famous professional wrestling matches in history. In preparing for the match Mick Foley asked longtime mentor and friend Terry Funk for his advice on how to top the first Hell in the Cell, which Foley considered a great match. Funk's fateful advice was to start the match on top of the cage. In his autobiography, Have a Nice Day, Foley jokes (after a previous Funk suggestion had caused both men serious burn injuries in Japan), "You'd think I would know better by now than to listen to Terry Funk."
When the match started, both men climbed on top of the cage before the bell had even rung. As the two walked on top of the cage, one of the caged sections buckled and broke through under their weight. After a short battle, The Undertaker threw Mankind off the top of the cage through the Spanish announcers' table 16 feet below, narrowly avoiding monitors and other A/V equipment. Emergency medical technicians and other staff quickly rushed to his aid, while announcer Jim Ross screamed "Good God almighty! Good God almighty! That killed him! As God as my witness, he is broken in half!" Foley was lifted onto a gurney, and the technicians started to wheel him up the aisleway. Meanwhile, Undertaker remained atop the cage, which had begun to rise back towards the ceiling to allow room for the EMTs to wheel Mankind away on a gurney. Even though the fall from the cage was planned and well executed, Terry Funk and Vince McMahon (who evidently didn't know the table spot was coming) broke kayfabe — at the time, both were involved in feuds with Mankind — to come down ringside and check on Foley's condition. Later, Foley would later claim that he had introduced the idea of the throw from the top of the cage earlier in the day. The Undertaker at first resisted, asking him, "Mick, do you want to die?", but reluctantly agreed.
As he was being wheeled up the aisle, Mankind got off of the gurney, and, despite having a dislocated shoulder, walked back towards the ring and climbed back on top of the cage, much to the delight of the fans. The match continued, even though the roof of the cage was buckling under both of them with every step they took. During the ensuing fight, The Undertaker chokeslammed Mankind on the roof of the cage. The section of the cage roof that Foley landed on gave way and Foley fell hard into the ring where he suffered a concussion and was knocked out cold for around a minute and a half. Mick Foley later acknowledged that the chokeslam through the roof spot was an accident, but there is no evidence to suggest this is true and clear-cut evidence to the contrary[2]. Terry Funk wrote in his autobiography that both falls, including the second one through the cage, were planned. Some sources, including Power Slam magazine and Pro Wrestling Torch, reported that Foley denied planning this bump to placate his wife, who was furious with him after the match. The weight from the two wrestlers (almost 600 pounds) on top of the cage both before and after Foley's fall was said to be a key reason for the collapse of the cage. Making matters worse, the ring was one of the older style rings used by the WWF, which had less give to its surface so as to make the matches more realistic looking on television. A steel chair lying on the roof of the cage fell through and struck Foley in the face, dislocating his jaw and knocking out one and a half teeth as well as creating a large cut beneath his lip (The Undertaker has since stated in interviews that after the fall, he thought for sure Foley was dead). Upon seeing the fall, Jim Ross yelled out, "Good god, good god!" and Jerry Lawler famously said, "That's it, he's dead." Ross continued, "Will somebody stop the damn match?! Enough's enough!" Terry Funk and other personnel immediately ran into the ring to aid Foley.
The Undertaker jumped down through the new hole in the cage roof (despite a broken foot which he suffered before the match, which nearly caused him to lose his balance when he landed) and improvised a bit with Funk to give Foley a few minutes to recover. Despite suffering from a head injury, Foley was able to continue and finish the match. The Undertaker deliberately over-sold Mankind's offensive moves in order to work at a pace more conducive to Foley's heavily injured state.[citation needed] Shortly after Foley recovered from the second fall, he knocked The Undertaker off the top rope, and the camera panned around Foley to show the now infamous picture of Foley apparently smiling while one of his broken teeth, which he had aspirated into his sinus cavity, protrudes from his left nostril. Lawler could be heard on commentary asking on more than one occassion "What is that sticking out of his nose!?" In his first autobiography, Foley wrote that he was trying to show off the hole below his lips by sticking his tongue through it, but because of his thick beard and excesses of blood, the hole was not seen and this was misinterpreted as a sick smile. As the two brawled in and out of the ring, Foley manged to reach under the ring and pull out a blue burlap sack, which contained hundreds of thumb tacks that he spread across a section of the ring. Jim Ross, aghast at what he was witnessing, remarked on commentary "This is Off-The-Page!"
Foley applied the Mandible Claw to The Undertaker, who managed to reverse the hold and first backdropped, then shortly thereafter chokeslammed Foley onto the pile of thumbtacks. The Undertaker then delivered the Tombstone Piledriver to win by pinfall. Despite his injuries, Mankind managed to go ahead with his planned interference in the main event later that evening, a First Blood Match between Kane and Steve Austin (in which the Undertaker also interfered).
In the end, the match left Foley with a dislocated jaw, a dislocated shoulder, a bruised kidney, 2 broken ribs, one and a half missing teeth, a concussion, and 14 stitches for the cut beneath his lip. He took 2 months to recover. In one of Mick Foley's autobiographies, he said he could only remember bits and pieces of the 1998 Hell In A Cell match up until the second fall, and absolutely nothing of the match after that, and had to rewatch the entire event in order to write about it in any detail. Additionally, he wrote that his wife frantically tried to call him immediately after the match, and pleaded with him to never do anything like that ever again. Vince McMahon even reportedly gave very serious thought after the match to never holding another Hell In A Cell, due to the severity of the injuries that Foley had sustained. By Foley's own admission, some of those injuries have never fully healed.
A humorous anecdote Foley has shared several times, including his first autobiography, was when he and the Undertaker were receiving medical attention backstage shortly after the match. Still dazed, he reportedly turned to the Undertaker and asked "Did I use the thumbtacks?" (the use of thumbtacks had become something of a trademark of Foley's during his time in Japan), to which The Undertaker replied, "Mick, look at your arm!", as there were thumb tacks still stuck there. Foley also wrote that the Undertaker was extremely concerned during the match. He thought that the first time he threw Foley off the top of the cell that he had paralyzed him and ended his career, and that the second time that he had killed him, but The Undertaker continued the match without breaking character. He was also relieved when Foley was able to get back up both times and continue the match, especially since he and Foley are very good friends in real-life.
Many elements of this match, including the fall through the roof of the cage, were reused in Foley's second Hell in a Cell match against Triple H at No Way Out 2000. Video clips of the two falls have been some of the most replayed clips on WWE television. [3]
[edit] RAW (August 1998): Kane vs. Mankind
This little remembered match between Kane and Mankind occurred in August 1998 on an episode of RAW is WAR, a mere two months after King of the Ring 1998. It is often forgotten due to its lack of hype and the fact that it occurred on broadcast television rather than pay-per-view.
The most notable part of the match once again involved Mankind falling from the cell. The Undertaker, still somewhat involved in a feud with Mankind, pulled him off the side of the cage whilst he was paused at the halfway point of the structure. However, the landing was botched, with Mankind's lower body destroying the Spanish announcers table that was supposed to break his fall, and his head, back and shoulders directly hitting the concrete floor from a height of fourteen feet. In his second autobiography Foley says that this fall actually hurt him more than his infamous bump from the very top of the cage in the previous cell match.
Mankind pulled a bag of thumbtacks from beneath the ring, and executed a modified piledriver than cause Kane to land on the tacks. However, Kane looked set to win the match after hitting Mankind with a steel chair three times, followed by a chokeslam and two tombstone piledrivers, the second onto the steel chair. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin then burst from underneath the ring and attacked Kane. The Undertaker, watching from outside the locked cage, attempted to break into the cage through the roof, but was thwarted by Vince McMahon who used the controls to raise the cage. The match was declared a no contest.
[edit] WrestleMania XV: The Undertaker vs. Big Boss Man
This contest took place at WrestleMania XV and featured the bodyguard of The Corporation, Big Boss Man, against the leader of the Ministry of Darkness, The Undertaker. It is the shortest pay-per-view Hell in a Cell match to date (lasting 9:46), and is noteworthy mainly for its bizarre ending. After the match was over (which ended with Big Boss Man receiving a Tombstone Piledriver and being pinned by The Undertaker), The Brood was lowered from the ceiling to the top of the Cell, where they lowered a noose to The Undertaker. The Undertaker proceeded to hang Boss Man from the cell as it rose to the rafters. It was suggested during the match, that the hanging was the "symbolic" hanging of The Corporation by the Ministry of Darkness, as opposed to a literal execution attempt. Bossman returned to action a few weeks later, with no mention of the hanging spot. [4]
[edit] No Way Out 2000: Triple H vs. Cactus Jack
After Triple H defeated Cactus Jack in a bloody Street Fight at the 2000 Royal Rumble to retain the WWF Championship, the two booked a rematch for the title: Hell in a Cell at No Way Out 2000. Stipulations held that if Cactus Jack did not win, Mick Foley would be forced to retire.
Things got violent quickly. Some of the highlights of the match were Triple H throwing the steel steps at Cactus Jack, Cactus Jack jumping off the top rope to the outside of the ring crushing Triple H with a steel chair, and Triple H getting his face grinded into the side of the cell. At one point Triple H was going to give Cactus Jack a pedigree on the steel steps, but Cactus reversed it and spring board launched Triple H face first into the cell. Cactus threw the steel steps at Triple H, who got out of the way. The steps then broke through the side of the cell. Cactus Jack then rammed his body into the hole, making it big enough for him and Triple H to get through. After Triple H was piledriven into one of the announce tables, Cactus pulled out a barbed-wire 2x4 and struck Triple H with it several times in the forehead. Soon after, Triple H climbed to the top of the Cell, and Cactus attempted to follow. However, Triple H stomped his hands, and Foley fell off the Cell and through the Spanish announce table.
After managing to climb to the top, Cactus resumed his offense with punches. After back-and-forth exchanges where both wrestlers came very close to the edge of the cage, Cactus Jack set his barbed-wire 2x4 on fire. After Triple H got back to his feet, Jack struck him with the weapon. He then tried to piledrive Triple H onto the 2x4, but Triple H countered with a back body drop. The cage roof broke under Foley's weight, causing him to fall into the ring. Upon impact, he broke through the canvas, which had been rigged to collapse to make the fall safer for Foley. After the fall, a shocked Triple H re-entered the cell. After watching Cactus lie motionless for a few minutes, Triple H poked his arm with his foot. Jack rose his arm, which prompted the fans to begin cheering and Triple H to seethe in shock. Cactus began to emerge from the hole in the ring, and tried to get to his feet. Triple H connected with several punches and then hit his finishing move, the Pedigree, to win the match by pinfall and retain the World Wrestling Federation Championship.
As a result, Mick Foley was forced into "retirement". However, he would return one month later to headline WrestleMania 2000 along with Triple H, The Rock, and Big Show. [5]
In Your House: Bad Blood 1997: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker
The Hell in a Cell match was first introduced by The Undertaker at the Badd Blood pay-per-view event on October 5, 1997 in St. Louis, Missouri, when he challenged Shawn Michaels for the number one contendership to the WWF Championship. The Undertaker had been feuding with Michaels since SummerSlam 1997, where Michaels was a special guest referee in a match between the Undertaker and Bret Hart for the WWF Championship. In the match, Michaels swung a steel chair at Bret Hart, but missed and hit the Undertaker instead, costing him the match and the Championship. Out for revenge, the Undertaker devised the Cell not only to prevent Shawn Michaels' D-Generation X allies from interfering, but also to create an environment that would cause Michaels the most pain.
From the beginning the Undertaker dominated, though Shawn Michaels was able to fight back several times. At one of Michaels' most offensive points in the match, he had managed to tangle The Undertaker in the two top ropes, immobilizing him. Michaels then proceeded to charge the subdued man, only for The Undertaker to flip him over the top ropes and onto a cameraman. Frustrated that this wasn't the first time that a cameraman has gotten in his way, Michaels proceeded to beat the cameraman while he laid on the ground. After several more minutes of Michaels having the upper hand, Sgt. Slaughter came down to ringside and ordered the cage door unlocked to bring the cameraman out for medical care. At this time, Shawn Michaels hit his finisher, Sweet Chin Music, on the Undertaker, but instead of Michaels covering for the pin, the Undertaker did his signature sit-up (a move he does when it seems an opponent has him beaten, only for him to sit back up, revitalized, in accordance with his Deadman gimmick) and went back on the offensive. With the door now open, Shawn forced the referee aside in an attempt to escape the Undertaker, leading to both men battling outside of the cage. The Undertaker started by ramming Michaels head first into the cell several times, leaving his face a bloody mask. Michaels escaped by delivering a low-blow to the Undertaker and climbing to the top of the Cell. Naturally, The Undertaker followed, and once on top, he bodyslammed and backdropped Michaels on the roof. Again trying to outrun the Undertaker, Michaels began to climb back down the Cell. He was left hanging off the side when the Undertaker stomped on his hands, causing him to fall through the Spanish announce table at ringside from a height of around 10-12 feet. In reaction, Jim Ross yelled, "My God, he may be broken in half! Michaels may be broken in half!" This spot is seen as a precursor to a far more famous fall taken by Mick Foley from the very top of the cell.
The Undertaker climbed down the cell and continued his assault, dragging Michaels back into the cage and the ring ("Back into Purgatory," as Jim Ross stated). After giving Michaels a clothesline, a chokeslam from the top turnbuckle, and a vicious chair shot (Michaels stated in his autobiography that after this shot he felt as if his own eyes were about to "pop out of his head"), it seemed that the Undertaker was bound for victory. However, when he gave his signature throat slit signal (indicating his finisher, the Tombstone), Paul Bearer and Kane entered ringside to interfere in the match, while Vince McMahon yelled, "Oh my God, wait a minute. It's Paul Bearer! It's Paul Bearer! And that...that's got to be Kane! That's got to be Kane!" This match was the first appearance of Kane, the Undertaker's on-screen half-brother. Kane ripped the door of the Cell from its hinges and confronted the Undertaker in the ring. After a brief stare-down, Kane performed his own version of the Tombstone Piledriver on the Undertaker and exited. Michaels then, with great effort, crawled out of a pool of his own blood and onto the unconscious Undertaker for the pin, gaining the contendership that would set the stage for the infamous Montreal Screwjob one month later. [1]
[edit] RAW (June 1998): Steve Austin & The Undertaker vs. Kane & Mankind
The second Hell in a Cell match was booked as a build up for King of the Ring 1998, where Steve Austin was booked to face Kane for the WWF Championship, and The Undertaker was booked against Mankind in another Hell in a Cell match. Paul Bearer was inside the Cell with Kane and Mankind by his side and challenged Austin and The Undertaker to fight Kane and Mankind inside the Cell. Stone Cold came out and waited for The Undertaker on the ramp, but Undertaker never showed. Kane, Mankind and Austin fought outside the cell, and Paul locked himself inside the cage to protect himself. However, The Undertaker came out from under the ring and began to brutalize Paul Bearer. Kane noticed and tried to get in, but the cage door was locked. Austin continued to beat up Mankind while Kane tried to save Bearer. Kane eventually climbed to the top of the cage trying to get in to help Paul Bearer, but he could not, and The Undertaker continued to beat up Paul Bearer. Austin eventually got a chair and nailed Mankind with it a couple of times, then made his way to the top of the cage and attacked Kane as The Undertaker continued to work on Paul Bearer. The match became a no contest.
[edit] King of the Ring 1998: The Undertaker vs. Mankind
The Hell in a Cell match at King of the Ring 1998 between The Undertaker and Mankind (Mick Foley) has since become one of the most famous professional wrestling matches in history. In preparing for the match Mick Foley asked longtime mentor and friend Terry Funk for his advice on how to top the first Hell in the Cell, which Foley considered a great match. Funk's fateful advice was to start the match on top of the cage. In his autobiography, Have a Nice Day, Foley jokes (after a previous Funk suggestion had caused both men serious burn injuries in Japan), "You'd think I would know better by now than to listen to Terry Funk."
When the match started, both men climbed on top of the cage before the bell had even rung. As the two walked on top of the cage, one of the caged sections buckled and broke through under their weight. After a short battle, The Undertaker threw Mankind off the top of the cage through the Spanish announcers' table 16 feet below, narrowly avoiding monitors and other A/V equipment. Emergency medical technicians and other staff quickly rushed to his aid, while announcer Jim Ross screamed "Good God almighty! Good God almighty! That killed him! As God as my witness, he is broken in half!" Foley was lifted onto a gurney, and the technicians started to wheel him up the aisleway. Meanwhile, Undertaker remained atop the cage, which had begun to rise back towards the ceiling to allow room for the EMTs to wheel Mankind away on a gurney. Even though the fall from the cage was planned and well executed, Terry Funk and Vince McMahon (who evidently didn't know the table spot was coming) broke kayfabe — at the time, both were involved in feuds with Mankind — to come down ringside and check on Foley's condition. Later, Foley would later claim that he had introduced the idea of the throw from the top of the cage earlier in the day. The Undertaker at first resisted, asking him, "Mick, do you want to die?", but reluctantly agreed.
As he was being wheeled up the aisle, Mankind got off of the gurney, and, despite having a dislocated shoulder, walked back towards the ring and climbed back on top of the cage, much to the delight of the fans. The match continued, even though the roof of the cage was buckling under both of them with every step they took. During the ensuing fight, The Undertaker chokeslammed Mankind on the roof of the cage. The section of the cage roof that Foley landed on gave way and Foley fell hard into the ring where he suffered a concussion and was knocked out cold for around a minute and a half. Mick Foley later acknowledged that the chokeslam through the roof spot was an accident, but there is no evidence to suggest this is true and clear-cut evidence to the contrary[2]. Terry Funk wrote in his autobiography that both falls, including the second one through the cage, were planned. Some sources, including Power Slam magazine and Pro Wrestling Torch, reported that Foley denied planning this bump to placate his wife, who was furious with him after the match. The weight from the two wrestlers (almost 600 pounds) on top of the cage both before and after Foley's fall was said to be a key reason for the collapse of the cage. Making matters worse, the ring was one of the older style rings used by the WWF, which had less give to its surface so as to make the matches more realistic looking on television. A steel chair lying on the roof of the cage fell through and struck Foley in the face, dislocating his jaw and knocking out one and a half teeth as well as creating a large cut beneath his lip (The Undertaker has since stated in interviews that after the fall, he thought for sure Foley was dead). Upon seeing the fall, Jim Ross yelled out, "Good god, good god!" and Jerry Lawler famously said, "That's it, he's dead." Ross continued, "Will somebody stop the damn match?! Enough's enough!" Terry Funk and other personnel immediately ran into the ring to aid Foley.
The Undertaker jumped down through the new hole in the cage roof (despite a broken foot which he suffered before the match, which nearly caused him to lose his balance when he landed) and improvised a bit with Funk to give Foley a few minutes to recover. Despite suffering from a head injury, Foley was able to continue and finish the match. The Undertaker deliberately over-sold Mankind's offensive moves in order to work at a pace more conducive to Foley's heavily injured state.[citation needed] Shortly after Foley recovered from the second fall, he knocked The Undertaker off the top rope, and the camera panned around Foley to show the now infamous picture of Foley apparently smiling while one of his broken teeth, which he had aspirated into his sinus cavity, protrudes from his left nostril. Lawler could be heard on commentary asking on more than one occassion "What is that sticking out of his nose!?" In his first autobiography, Foley wrote that he was trying to show off the hole below his lips by sticking his tongue through it, but because of his thick beard and excesses of blood, the hole was not seen and this was misinterpreted as a sick smile. As the two brawled in and out of the ring, Foley manged to reach under the ring and pull out a blue burlap sack, which contained hundreds of thumb tacks that he spread across a section of the ring. Jim Ross, aghast at what he was witnessing, remarked on commentary "This is Off-The-Page!"
Foley applied the Mandible Claw to The Undertaker, who managed to reverse the hold and first backdropped, then shortly thereafter chokeslammed Foley onto the pile of thumbtacks. The Undertaker then delivered the Tombstone Piledriver to win by pinfall. Despite his injuries, Mankind managed to go ahead with his planned interference in the main event later that evening, a First Blood Match between Kane and Steve Austin (in which the Undertaker also interfered).
In the end, the match left Foley with a dislocated jaw, a dislocated shoulder, a bruised kidney, 2 broken ribs, one and a half missing teeth, a concussion, and 14 stitches for the cut beneath his lip. He took 2 months to recover. In one of Mick Foley's autobiographies, he said he could only remember bits and pieces of the 1998 Hell In A Cell match up until the second fall, and absolutely nothing of the match after that, and had to rewatch the entire event in order to write about it in any detail. Additionally, he wrote that his wife frantically tried to call him immediately after the match, and pleaded with him to never do anything like that ever again. Vince McMahon even reportedly gave very serious thought after the match to never holding another Hell In A Cell, due to the severity of the injuries that Foley had sustained. By Foley's own admission, some of those injuries have never fully healed.
A humorous anecdote Foley has shared several times, including his first autobiography, was when he and the Undertaker were receiving medical attention backstage shortly after the match. Still dazed, he reportedly turned to the Undertaker and asked "Did I use the thumbtacks?" (the use of thumbtacks had become something of a trademark of Foley's during his time in Japan), to which The Undertaker replied, "Mick, look at your arm!", as there were thumb tacks still stuck there. Foley also wrote that the Undertaker was extremely concerned during the match. He thought that the first time he threw Foley off the top of the cell that he had paralyzed him and ended his career, and that the second time that he had killed him, but The Undertaker continued the match without breaking character. He was also relieved when Foley was able to get back up both times and continue the match, especially since he and Foley are very good friends in real-life.
Many elements of this match, including the fall through the roof of the cage, were reused in Foley's second Hell in a Cell match against Triple H at No Way Out 2000. Video clips of the two falls have been some of the most replayed clips on WWE television. [3]
[edit] RAW (August 1998): Kane vs. Mankind
This little remembered match between Kane and Mankind occurred in August 1998 on an episode of RAW is WAR, a mere two months after King of the Ring 1998. It is often forgotten due to its lack of hype and the fact that it occurred on broadcast television rather than pay-per-view.
The most notable part of the match once again involved Mankind falling from the cell. The Undertaker, still somewhat involved in a feud with Mankind, pulled him off the side of the cage whilst he was paused at the halfway point of the structure. However, the landing was botched, with Mankind's lower body destroying the Spanish announcers table that was supposed to break his fall, and his head, back and shoulders directly hitting the concrete floor from a height of fourteen feet. In his second autobiography Foley says that this fall actually hurt him more than his infamous bump from the very top of the cage in the previous cell match.
Mankind pulled a bag of thumbtacks from beneath the ring, and executed a modified piledriver than cause Kane to land on the tacks. However, Kane looked set to win the match after hitting Mankind with a steel chair three times, followed by a chokeslam and two tombstone piledrivers, the second onto the steel chair. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin then burst from underneath the ring and attacked Kane. The Undertaker, watching from outside the locked cage, attempted to break into the cage through the roof, but was thwarted by Vince McMahon who used the controls to raise the cage. The match was declared a no contest.
[edit] WrestleMania XV: The Undertaker vs. Big Boss Man
This contest took place at WrestleMania XV and featured the bodyguard of The Corporation, Big Boss Man, against the leader of the Ministry of Darkness, The Undertaker. It is the shortest pay-per-view Hell in a Cell match to date (lasting 9:46), and is noteworthy mainly for its bizarre ending. After the match was over (which ended with Big Boss Man receiving a Tombstone Piledriver and being pinned by The Undertaker), The Brood was lowered from the ceiling to the top of the Cell, where they lowered a noose to The Undertaker. The Undertaker proceeded to hang Boss Man from the cell as it rose to the rafters. It was suggested during the match, that the hanging was the "symbolic" hanging of The Corporation by the Ministry of Darkness, as opposed to a literal execution attempt. Bossman returned to action a few weeks later, with no mention of the hanging spot. [4]
[edit] No Way Out 2000: Triple H vs. Cactus Jack
After Triple H defeated Cactus Jack in a bloody Street Fight at the 2000 Royal Rumble to retain the WWF Championship, the two booked a rematch for the title: Hell in a Cell at No Way Out 2000. Stipulations held that if Cactus Jack did not win, Mick Foley would be forced to retire.
Things got violent quickly. Some of the highlights of the match were Triple H throwing the steel steps at Cactus Jack, Cactus Jack jumping off the top rope to the outside of the ring crushing Triple H with a steel chair, and Triple H getting his face grinded into the side of the cell. At one point Triple H was going to give Cactus Jack a pedigree on the steel steps, but Cactus reversed it and spring board launched Triple H face first into the cell. Cactus threw the steel steps at Triple H, who got out of the way. The steps then broke through the side of the cell. Cactus Jack then rammed his body into the hole, making it big enough for him and Triple H to get through. After Triple H was piledriven into one of the announce tables, Cactus pulled out a barbed-wire 2x4 and struck Triple H with it several times in the forehead. Soon after, Triple H climbed to the top of the Cell, and Cactus attempted to follow. However, Triple H stomped his hands, and Foley fell off the Cell and through the Spanish announce table.
After managing to climb to the top, Cactus resumed his offense with punches. After back-and-forth exchanges where both wrestlers came very close to the edge of the cage, Cactus Jack set his barbed-wire 2x4 on fire. After Triple H got back to his feet, Jack struck him with the weapon. He then tried to piledrive Triple H onto the 2x4, but Triple H countered with a back body drop. The cage roof broke under Foley's weight, causing him to fall into the ring. Upon impact, he broke through the canvas, which had been rigged to collapse to make the fall safer for Foley. After the fall, a shocked Triple H re-entered the cell. After watching Cactus lie motionless for a few minutes, Triple H poked his arm with his foot. Jack rose his arm, which prompted the fans to begin cheering and Triple H to seethe in shock. Cactus began to emerge from the hole in the ring, and tried to get to his feet. Triple H connected with several punches and then hit his finishing move, the Pedigree, to win the match by pinfall and retain the World Wrestling Federation Championship.
As a result, Mick Foley was forced into "retirement". However, he would return one month later to headline WrestleMania 2000 along with Triple H, The Rock, and Big Show. [5]
