For 23 Years the Hell in a Cell structure has produced some of the best and most memorable moments in WWE history, and with the show coming up in a couple of weeks I thought it would be intresting to look back at the first Hell in a Cell Match.
Bad Blood 1997 Shawn Micheals vs Undertaker – At Summerslam, Shawn Micheals was the special guest referee between Bret Hart and The Undertaker. The finish came when Shawn attempted to hit Bret Hart with a steel chair but accidentally hit Undertaker, costing him the WWE Championship as a result. As a result, this would royally piss off the Undertaker. Undertaker swore revenge on Shawn Micheals and faced him at Ground Zero in September, which would turn into one of the wildest brawls in WWE history. It soon became clear that WWE had a serious problem on it’s hands. Undertaker was hell beant on murdering Shawn Micheals and would stop at nothing to accomplish his goal. A standard steel cage match would not contain this fued, so a new structure called Hell in a Cell was constructed, with the idea of no one being able to escaspe it.
In the 23 years since this match, there have been only a few that really capture what Hell in a Cell should be used for more than the original. This match is one of the best matches WWE would ever produce. Thirty non stop minutes of The Undertaker beating the hell out of Shawn Micheals.
This would be the last WWE match until the year 2011 to recieve five stars from Dave Meltzer. Not only is this match great, but you could argue it’s overshadowed by the greatest debut in WWE history. Throughout 1997, Paul Bearer was blackmailing The Undertaker that his brother Kane, who the Undertaker thought was dead, was actually alive and that he would bhe coming for his revenge.
Kane marches down to the ring, rips the door off the cell and takes out the referee. Kane confronts the Undertaker and lays him out with a tombstone piledriver, allowing Shawn Micheals to get the pin. With this victory, Shawn Micheals would become the number 1 contender for the WWE Championship.
Overall, this Hell in a Cell match isn’t just the first, it is also the best one.
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