Matt O’Brien writes and maintains the Wrestleview.com poll every two weeks
With WWE’s second annual Hell in a Cell pay per view now past, The Undertaker added yet another Cell match to his resume. Since the match’s inception, Taker has been the most consistent performer in the Cell.
The most recent poll on Wrestleview.com asked what the best Hell in a Cell match in which The Undertaker had participated. The results are as follows:
Shawn Michaels 28% (1,138 votes)
Mankind aka Mick Foley 53% (2,173 votes)
Brock Lesnar 8% (334 votes)
Randy Orton 3% (105 votes)
Edge 3% (143 votes)
Batista 2% (73 votes)
Kane 3% (116 votes)
Other 1% (46 votes)
Total votes casted: 4,128
For thirteen years the Hell in a Cell match has been WWE’s be-all end-all match.
Coming in with an overwhelming lead in the voting was the Undertaker-Mankind match from the 1998 King of the Ring show. When someone mentions Hell in a Cell, the first image that comes to mind for most fans is Mankind being tossed off the top of the Cell like a ragdoll through and announcer’s table several feet below. Foley would continue the match by climbing back up the Cell only to be choke slammed through the top of the cage to the ring below. It was one of the worst bumps a wrestler could take. But the match didn’t stop there. They continued to beat each other down, even using thumbtacks in the process. In the end, the wrestling world stood in awe of what they had just witnessed. Today our readers still feel the same way when they look back on all the Cell matches.
At a distant second place was the original Hell in a Cell match between Taker and Shawn Michaels. It was new, it was innovative, and it was the birth of a new breed of cage match. The match had two months of build and determined who would go on to face Bret Hart at the infamous Montreal Screw Job. Cell matches aside; many feel this was the best match of each man’s career. While many view the Mankind match as the greatest Cell match, many still look to the original as the greatest of all time.
The rest of the matches on the list ended up with single digits of the percentage of votes. Ahead of the remaining matches at third place was the Brock Lesnar match from No Mercy 2002. If you had to show someone one match to show them what Hel in a Cell is all about, it would be this one. It’s brutal, violent, and a classic brawl that was a bright spot during a rough time for WWE. For Lesnar, his program with Taker, specifically this match, added a whole new dimension to his character. In fact, Lesnar became a baby face during the fallout.
Three matches on this list came in with three percent of the votes each, all separated by just a few votes. Coming in with 143 votes was the Edge Cell match from Summerslam 2008. Taker and Edge began their feud in spring of 2007 which finally culminated a year and a half later. In one of the great scenes of the last few years, Taker gave Edge a choke slam at the end of the show that planted him through the ring, sending Edge hell. With 116 votes was Taker’s most recent Cell match against Kane. The Cell match has changed in recent years since WWE has implemented their PG mentality. Gone are the days of participants bleeding profusely. Still, several voters still believe that the most recent Cell match of Taker was his best. The other match that came in with three percent of the votes was the Randy Orton Cell match from Armageddon in 2005. Earlier that year Randy Orton had come as close as any to ending Taker’s Wrestlemania streak. The feud broke brand barriers and eventually settled on Smackdown and headlined a pay per view.
Coming in at the bottom of the pack was the Batista match as well as the Other category. Matches included in that category include his very theatrical match with Big Bossman at Wrestlemania XV, his match from the first HITC ppv against CM Punk and a riot of a match that took place at the 2000 Armageddon pay per view where Taker and five others; Rock, Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Rikishi, and Triple H, fought in the first ever multi-way Hell in Cell match.
A huge thank to all those who voted in this poll as there were over 4,000 votes!
Be sure to check out our most recent poll asking how the presence of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff has affected TNA.
Matt O’Brien
Columnist, Wrestlview.com
mattman5436@yahoo.com