Opinion: The 5 Greatest WWE Hell In A Cell Matches (So Far)

5. The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels (Bad Blood 1997)

Bad Blood 1997

I end this list where it all began; the first ever Hell In A Cell Match. With the mixture of Shawn Michaels' pure athleticism and speed & Undertaker's sheer strength and dominance, you had a recipe for a classic match. And boy oh boy did it deliver. This feud had been building since Summerslam of that year, where special guest referee Michaels' wound up inadvertently costing The Undertaker the WWF Championship in his match against HBK's bitter rival Brett Hart. What followed was pure torment and torture against an unapologetic Michaels' at the hands of The Deadman. And if we've learned nothing over the years, it's that it really isn't a good idea to aggravate The Undertaker. It hasn't ended well for a good many men over the course of nearly three decades.

Both men were busted open fairly early in the match, with Michaels' looking like a tomato by the end. This was a true battle between two legends in their primes. You had all the components that would go on to become expected staples of the HIAC match; steel chair shots, table spots, and more than a few head slams into the steel cage. The Undertaker was at his particularly violent best at this time, and he methodically and sadistically pummeled The Heartbreak Kid. Unwilling to give up, Michaels' played to his strengths with high flying maneuvers & seemingly unending amount of comebacks. The match was kicked up to a whole other level, however, when the lights went out and the crowd was suddenly introduced to The Undertaker's kayfabe brother Kane, lead by Taker's longtime manager & Kane's father Paul Bearer. The masked seven-foot-tall monster proceeded to rip the door off the hinges of the steel structure before confronting, and tombstoning, his brother. But not without providing enough of a distraction for Michaels' to capitalize and take home the win. The extreme physicality of the match paired with the complete shock of The Big Red Machine's debut makes this a match that cannot be missed.