Mankind vs The Undertaker: The night of living hell

What a monumental matchThere arguably has not been a match as affiliated with its stipulation as much as this one has.In the theme of Hell In A Cell month, this article brings back to life the most famous Hell In A Cell match ever, and there are several big reasons for that. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was witness to one of professional wrestling’s most infamous nights, and it always will be considered that way.At King Of The Ring 1998, in the initial phases of The Attitude Era and among intense competition with World Championship Wrestling in the Monday Night Wars, WWE dished out of its deepest bucket and dug out something which nobody expected.In a pay-per-view themed for King Of The Ring, which was a match in the midcard and saw Kane win the WWE Championship, the most talked about match was this, and there is good reason for that.Let’s remember the night that changed wrestling.

#1 The Build-Up

Terry Funk is responsible for changing wrestling

This one is a little different. I’m not going to talk about the story build-up to the match, but rather the booking decisions going into it and how they took place.

While discussing about the match, Terry Funk (who, by no means, is a traditional wrestler) and Mick Foley were talking about the first ever Hell In A Cell match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker from the previous year at Badd Blood, and were thinking of ways to better the things that happened in that match. One of the prominent spots saw Michaels fall off the side of the cell, through the announcer table.

While trying to come up with something to beat that, Funk had mentioned as a joke “Maybe you should let him throw you off the top of the cage”. It seemed likely that Funk needed reminding of the fact that it was Mick Foley he was talking to, and both men actually planned a few more spots for the match, which were all dangerously approved by Foley.

#2 The Match

The match began atop the cell. Mankind entered first and climbed up, and when The Undertaker entered, he too followed suite. The brawl atop the cell was for a short time, and the ending was dark for Foley.

Big spot number one: The Undertaker tossed him right off the top of the cell, and Foley plummeted 16 feet through the announcer table (in true WWE tradition, the Spanish one). Medics at ringside immediately attended to him, and he was escorted on a stretcher up the ramp, but Foley got up, with a dislocated shoulder, smiled and climbed back up, where The Undertaker still stood.

The two men once again brawled on top, but that also soon ended, and this time, it was also bad news for Mick Foley.

Big spot number two: The Undertaker had picked up Foley for a chokeslam in his usual fashion, and delivered it, right in the middle of the roof of the cell. The impact didn't end there for Mick though, as he fell right through the roof and crashed into the ring, his second massive fall in a matter of minutes. This time, he was knocked unconscious, but somehow made it back to his senses and continued on with the match, momentarily gaining the upper hand.

After delivering a piledriver to The Undertaker, Foley stepped outside the ring and found a sack full of thumb tacks. He brought it into the ring and threw them across the floor, and after several attempt to use them against The Deadman, it turned against him.

Big spot number three: The Undertaker delivered the second chokeslam of the night to Foley, this time onto the Thumbtacks which ended up being littered all across his back. Then he delivered a Tombstone Piledriver and that the end of the match, at last.

The Undertaker may have won the match, but the night belonged to Mick Foley. It made his career. It immortalised him.

#3 The Aftermath

Would you believe that Mankind actually involved himself in this match?

Did you think that was the end for Mankind? No, it wasn’t. The main event that immediately followed, between Kane and Stone Cold, was a first blood match, and at the time Mankind was a “Paul Bearer Guy”, as was Kane.

The Cell, shattered, was brought down over the match, and at one point Mankind interfered despite his physical condition but was met with a stunner from Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Undertaker would then interfere and in an attempt to hit Mankind with a chair, struck Austin by mistake and caused him to bleed. The referee, who didn’t see that it wasn’t Kane that caused the blood, assumed it was him and declared him the winner and new WWE Champion.

The next night on Raw, Stone Cold would win his championship back, and he and The Undertaker would team up against Mankind and Kane at the next pay-per-view, Fully Loaded: In Your House, and that feud would go on for a while.

Nothing can change the fact that this match is elemental in the way wrestling was looked at and what it is today. Nothing has quite matched the bar that this match set, but it has set an example for wrestling worldwide and immortalised Mick Foley.