Mankind vs. The Undertaker was a
professional wrestling match between
Mankind (Mick Foley) and
The Undertaker (Mark Calaway) of the then-
World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and took place inside a
Hell in a Cell
Hell in a Cell is a professional wrestling steel cage-based match which originated in 1997 in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It features a large cell structure, a five-sided cuboid made from open-weave steel mesh chain-link fenc ...
, a high
steel cage
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
structure with a roof. It was the third Hell in a Cell match in history, and took place at the
King of the Ring
King of the Ring was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event produced by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. The PPV event was held annually in June and was established in 1993 when the promotio ...
pay-per-view on June 28, 1998, at the
Civic Arena in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Though the match had received little build in the way of
storytelling before the event due to the unpredictability of the WWF's ''
Attitude Era
The Attitude Era was a term used by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE) to describe the company's programming from November 9, 1997 to May 6, 2002. It started during the Monday Night Wars, a pe ...
'', the two characters had an extensive
backstory
A backstory, background story, back-story, or background is a set of events invented for a plot, presented as preceding and leading up to that plot. It is a literary device of a narrative history all chronologically earlier than the narrative of p ...
that motivated both performers heading into the match.
The match would immediately set the standard for future Hell in a Cell matches, due to Foley taking two dangerous and highly influential
bumps
A bumps race is a form of rowing race in which a number of boats chase each other in single file, each crew attempting to catch and ‘bump’ the boat in front without being caught by the boat behind.
The form is mainly used in intercollegiat ...
from the top of the cell in an attempt to surpass the previous Hell in a Cell in 1997; planned beforehand with veteran wrestler
Terry Funk, the first came when The Undertaker threw Mankind through an announcer table positioned on the arena floor, but the second occurred unintentionally when The Undertaker performed a
chokeslam
A chokeslam is a type of body slam in professional wrestling, in which a wrestler grasps an opponent's neck, lifts them up, and slams them to the mat. It is common in televised wrestling because it is simple and relatively safe, yet looks powerf ...
on Mankind through the roof of the cell. The match was nearly stopped as a result of both incidents, but continued at the urging of Foley.
Foley received numerous legitimate injuries performing the stunts, and though the match had little impact on his career in the short-term, it took a severe physical toll on him in the long-term, and eventually became the match he is most remembered for following his retirement in 2000. The match received instant critical acclaim from the wrestling media and is widely regarded as a classic match in the careers of both wrestlers, as well as one of the greatest and most important Hell in a Cell matches and wrestling matches in general. The commentary duo of
Jim Ross
James William Ross (born January 3, 1952) is an American professional wrestling commentator currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator, analyst, and senior advisor. Ross is best known for a long and distinguished career as ...
and
Jerry Lawler also received praise, Ross in particular making some of his most famous calls during the match which have overlapped into
popular culture.
Background
Upon debuting with the
World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in April 1996, Foley's character
Mankind immediately began feuding with Calaway's character
The Undertaker,
and the pair would go on to wrestle a series of matches, beginning with their first PPV match at the
King of the Ring
King of the Ring was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event produced by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. The PPV event was held annually in June and was established in 1993 when the promotio ...
PPV event in June, followed by the first ever
Boiler Room Brawl
Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
at August's PPV event
SummerSlam.
During the match
Paul Bearer
William Alvin Moody (April 10, 1954 – March 5, 2013) was an American professional wrestling manager and licensed funeral director. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE) where he performed under ...
(William Moody), The Undertaker's long time
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
,
turned on him by hitting him with an urn, allowing Mankind to apply the Mandible claw for the win.
This twist allowed the rivalry to continue into October's
In Your House 11: Buried Alive PPV event, where the two competed in the titular
Buried Alive match
Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
in the main event; The Undertaker won the match after a
chokeslam
A chokeslam is a type of body slam in professional wrestling, in which a wrestler grasps an opponent's neck, lifts them up, and slams them to the mat. It is common in televised wrestling because it is simple and relatively safe, yet looks powerf ...
into the open grave.
At the following month's
Survivor Series PPV event, The Undertaker returned to face Mankind, this time with Bearer hanging above the ring in a steel cage, with a stipulation that if The Undertaker won the match, he would be able to exact revenge on Bearer.
The Undertaker won the match, but interference from
The Executioner (Terry Gordy) enabled Bearer to escape.
With no manager, The Undertaker was developed into a more human character, with a gothic and
rebellious attitude, proclaiming himself to be "The Lord of Darkness". He would win the
WWF Championship
The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two world titles on WWE's main roster, alongside SmackDown ...
at
WrestleMania 13
WrestleMania 13 was the 13th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). The event was presented by PlayStation and held on March 23, 1997, at the Rosemont Horiz ...
in March 1997, and the rivalry with Mankind would be briefly renewed when they competed for the championship at the
In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker PPV event in April, with The Undertaker ultimately retaining.
Commentator
Jim Ross
James William Ross (born January 3, 1952) is an American professional wrestling commentator currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator, analyst, and senior advisor. Ross is best known for a long and distinguished career as ...
cites the feud, and Calaway's eagerness to work with Foley, as helping persuade
Vince McMahon of the merits of Foley and the Mankind character; McMahon initially had no desire on bringing Foley into the WWF, describing his style as "degrading" and thought Foley himself lacked any talent,
but eventually relented to pressure from Ross, who had personally known Foley from their time at rival promotion
World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Foley had become famous for wrestling a violent and "
hardcore
Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to:
Arts and media Film
* ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film
* ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott
* ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...
" style,
and in 1995 had been crowned "King of the Deathmatch" by Japanese promotion
International Wrestling Association (IWA) at their
Kawasaki Dream
The International Wrestling Association of Japan, more commonly known as IWA Japan, was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion operating from 1994 to 2004 and again from 2010 to 2014. It was formed by Víctor Quiñones as a successor to the W ...
event, defeating
Terry Funk in a tournament final, a match Foley has said he is the most proud of.
In regards to Foley's risk taking, former WCW executive producer
Eric Bischoff stated that, when Foley had worked for him in the early 1990s, he "wanted to become more physical and more violent, bloodier, and more over the top" and that he had a "bizarre dark side that he needed to explore and feed". Speaking in 2021, Ross said of Foley: "I know Mick appreciated the concern that we all had for him, especially me, because I put my reputation on the line to get him hired. But, you couldn't convince him, he only had one style. He would listen, he would thank me for the concern or anybody else that was speaking to him but it wasn't going to matter. He was a wild horse, he’s going to run".
First Hell in a Cell match
The first Hell in a Cell match took place at the WWF's
Badd Blood: In Your House PPV event in October 1997, and was between
Shawn Michaels (Michael Hickenbottom) and The Undertaker. The Hell in a Cell match concept was the brainchild of
Jim Cornette,
and according to Hickenbottom was inspired by a 1983 match in
Georgia Championship Wrestling
Georgia Championship Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades before, the National ...
between heated rivals
Tommy Rich
Thomas Richardson (born July 26, 1956) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tommy “Wildfire” Rich. He is a one time former National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion and Smoky Mountain Wrestling ...
and
Buzz Sawyer
Bruce Alan Woyan (June 14, 1959 – February 7, 1992) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Buzz Sawyer.
Professional wrestling career
Sawyer started wrestling in 1978 (other sources state 1979) in the National Wr ...
, known as the
Last Battle of Atlanta. The match was designed to prevent interference from other wrestlers, as well as to allow for the match and the rivalry to reach a definitive conclusion,
with the "cowardly" Shawn Michaels character spending portions of the match trying to elude The Undertaker. The conclusion arrived when
Kane (Glenn Jacobs), the storyline brother of The Undertaker, débuted by tearing down the cell door and costing The Undertaker the match.
During the match, Hickenbottom performed a stunt where he dangled off the roof of the cell and crashed through the announce table, setting a "dangerous precedent".
The match received widespread acclaim, including receiving a
rating of five stars out of a possible five by professional wrestling journalist
Dave Meltzer for his ''
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts.
Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four We ...
''.
Prelude to the pay-per-view
On the June 1, 1998, edition of ''
Raw is War
''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show f ...
'', having spent months alternating between the characters of Dude Love and Cactus Jack, Foley would revert to the Mankind character,
and formed an alliance with Kane. The pair would challenge The Undertaker and WWF champion
Stone Cold Steve Austin to the second
Hell in a Cell
Hell in a Cell is a professional wrestling steel cage-based match which originated in 1997 in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It features a large cell structure, a five-sided cuboid made from open-weave steel mesh chain-link fenc ...
match on the June 15 episode of ''Raw is War'', with the match ending in a
no contest.
This set up the double main-event for the June PPV
King of the Ring
King of the Ring was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event produced by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. The PPV event was held annually in June and was established in 1993 when the promotio ...
; Austin and Kane in a First Blood match for the championship, while The Undertaker and Mankind would be booked for a Hell in a Cell match. The event was scheduled to take place at the
Civic Arena in
Pittsburgh, from
Freedom, Pennsylvania
Freedom is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, located along the Ohio River northwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 1,495 at the 2020 census. Originally founded as a steamboat building town, chief industries later includ ...
, where Foley had trained to become a professional wrestler at
Dominic DeNucci
Domenico A. Nucciarone (January 23, 1932 – August 12, 2021) was an Italian-American professional wrestler and trainer better known under his ring name of Dominic DeNucci. He held over a dozen championships around the world in the 1960s and 197 ...
's wrestling school, bringing his career full circle.
According to WWE producer
Bruce Prichard
Bruce Prichard (born March 7, 1963) is an American professional wrestling executive, booker, and producer and a former manager, commentator, and occasional professional wrestler. In addition to his corporate roles with WWE, Prichard has also a ...
, the original plan for the PPV was for Mankind to challenge Austin for his championship, before Vince McMahon changed the direction in an attempt to be unpredictable.
Subsequently, the match had little promotion or
storyline building.
Calaway went into the match with a fractured ankle, but was adamant he would go through with the match and stunts as planned,
later saying that it was of such great importance that he "had to do it".
Foley credits head-writer
Vince Russo for believing in the Mankind character, giving him confidence heading into the PPV.
Planning the match
Before the match, Foley and fellow wrestler Terry Funk were in
Stamford, Connecticut, to watch and discuss the previous year's Hell in a Cell,
brainstorming ideas about how to try and top that match,
with Funk saying "maybe you should let him throw you off the top of the cage".
When presented with the idea of throwing Foley off the top of the cage, Calaway was hesitant,
going as far as to ask Foley, "Mick, do you want to die?"
Writing in his autobiography ''
Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks'', Foley recalls being asked by Calaway about why he wanted to execute the plan, and his response being "I'm afraid this match is gonna stink. You can't walk, and, let's face it, I don't have any heat. We've got a heck of a legacy to live up to, and I don't want this match to ruin it. If we can start it out hot enough, we can make people think we had a hell of a match, even if we didn't". Ultimately, Calaway reluctantly agreed to perform the spot. Foley sold him on the idea by saying they could not only begin a match in a way nobody had ever done, they could then have a unique match.
Foley later admitted that he had lied to McMahon, firstly regarding climbing the cell earlier in the day to acclimatise with the situation, as well as about his comfort in performing the stunt, reasoning that had he already been on top of the cell, he "would have realized that getting thrown off was a terrible idea".
In a 2018 interview with former wrestling announcer
Sean Mooney
Sean Edmund Mooney (born May 21, 1959) is an American news anchor and former World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) play-by-play announcer. He now works as an anchor for KVOA, the NBC affiliate in Tucson, Arizona and the National Wrestling Al ...
, match referee
Tim White said that although he knew some of the planned moments, he recalled feeling like he was "having a heart attack through the whole match", while commentator Jim Ross remembers hearing rumours backstage of Foley's plans, but dismissed them as absurd and unrealistic.
Match details
Mankind's two falls
Mankind came out first and once he reached the cell, he threw a
steel folding chair on top of the structure and began to climb to the top.
The Undertaker then made his entrance, and followed Mankind by climbing to the top. Once on top of the cell, Foley considered aborting the planned stunt, but quickly changed his mind, later telling Ross he "wanted to create a moment" for the fans.
The pair began exchanging punches and moved towards the edge of the cell.
Then, in an "unbelievable moment", The Undertaker grabbed Mankind from behind and threw him from the top of the structure, propelling him through the air,
sending him crashing through the Spanish commentators' table and landing on the concrete floor of the arena,
which triggered Ross to famously shout, "Good God almighty! Good God almighty! They've killed him!" and "As God as my witness, he is broken in half!"
Ross later said his reactions were real,
and Calaway said he experienced an
out-of-body experience
An out-of-body experience (OBE or sometimes OOBE) is a phenomenon in which a person perceives the world from a location outside their physical body. An OBE is a form of autoscopy (literally "seeing self"), although this term is more commonly us ...
in the moment, visualising himself watching Mankind fly off the cage.
It was seen as extra surprising as stunts involving announce tables are usually telegraphed by a performer removing bulky CRT monitors to protect the recipient.
Mankind remained motionless underneath the broken table, while The Undertaker remained on top of the cell.
Medical personnel came out to check on Foley, as did Funk and various others,
including McMahon who broke
kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe, as a noun, is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not staged. ...
by looking legitimately worried about someone his Mr. McMahon character was supposed to dislike.
Mankind was placed on a stretcher and began to be wheeled out of the arena.
However, Mankind got up from the stretcher and fought off the officials, to climb again onto the top of the cell,
with The Undertaker doing likewise. After a brief brawl, The Undertaker performed a chokeslam on Mankind which sent him through the panel of the chain-link cage.
The steel chair would also fall through, hitting Mankind as it landed and knocking him unconscious;
it was the first time in his career that he had been legitimately knocked out during a match.
On commentary, Ross said "Good God... good God! Will somebody stop the damn match? Enough's enough!", while
color
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associa ...
commentator
Jerry Lawler added, "That's it. He's dead".
According to both Foley, Calaway and Prichard, the second bump through the cell roof was completely unplanned,
Calaway would later say that he thought Foley was legitimately dead following the second fall,
and asked Funk to check if he was still alive,
while Foley would describe Ross' commentary as "not part of a wrestling match, but a legitimate cry for my well-being".
Foley later said that the only reason he survived the fall was because he did not take the chokeslam properly, as he had been too exhausted to lift his body weight in response to the chokehold.
In his memoir ''
Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks'', Foley called it both the best and worst chokeslam he ever took, saying that despite its looks, he would have likely died if he had landed properly.
Foley would later explain that the roof of the cell was supposed to sag sufficiently so that The Undertaker could kick Mankind through, allowing him to dangle by his feet and eventually fall in a rotation to land on his front.
Years later, Calaway would note that just before executing the chokeslam, he had been standing with his left foot on the same panel that Mankind fell through, but decided to place it on the support bar the panel was attached to have more stability for lifting Mankind.
Writing in his autobiography ''More Than Just Hardcore'', Funk wrote "watching from the back, I thought he was dead. I ran out here and looked down at him, still lying in the ring where he'd landed. His eyes weren't rolled back in his head, but they looked totally glazed over, like a dead fish's eyes".
In 2021, McMahon told
A&E that he was "freaked out" by the incidents.
Conclusion to the match
The Undertaker climbed down and chokeslammed Funk, a move which was not pre-planned, but which Calaway explained happened because he couldn't "just stand there and look around". After getting up and being attended to again by medical personnel, television cameras showed a lingering shot of Mankind smiling through his bleeding mouth and lips, with a loose tooth hanging beneath his nose, the tooth having been knocked out due to being struck by the chair.
At the urging of Foley, the match continued for a while longer, eventually reaching a conclusion with Mankind being chokeslammed by The Undertaker onto a pile of thumbtacks,
followed by The Undertaker executing his
finishing move
Finishing can refer to:
*Finishing (whisky), a whisky making method that involves aging of multiple casks
* Finishing (bookbinding), the process of embellishing a book
*Finishing (manufacturing), processes that are applied to a workpiece's surface ...
, the
Tombstone Piledriver, and pinning Mankind to end the match.
Aftermath
Foley received a "rarely seen" standing ovation for the match.
In the main event of the PPV between Steve Austin and Kane, the cage would be lowered again when both The Undertaker and Mankind interfered,
as Kane won the WWF championship. The fourth Hell in a Cell match took place on ''Raw is War'' two months later, a singles match between tag team champions Mankind and Kane, concluding their alliance, with the match featuring another bump through an announce table, this time with Mankind halfway up the side of the cage.
In a 2020 interview with ''Wrestling Inc'', Foley recalled that there was no mention of the match on the following night's ''Raw is War'', as there was a belief that it was not a big moment due to the long history between the two wrestlers. Foley has said that although this match grew in legend, the reality was that his career remained "somewhat sluggish" for sometime afterwards until Foley further developed the Mankind character, and fans began to get behind him. Mankind would go on to become a three-time WWF Champion in the year following the match, and would be inducted into the
WWE Hall of Fame
The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously i ...
on April 6, 2013, while The Undertaker would develop his '
undefeated WrestleMania streak' and win five more world championships before eventually retiring in 2020.
Foley suffered several injuries in the match: a concussion, a dislocated jaw and shoulder, bruised ribs, internal bleeding, puncture wounds, and several teeth knocked out.
After considering retirement, believing wrestling had passed him by, the match made Foley change his approach to wrestling, concluding he could not continue taking such dangerous bumps, leading his Mankind character to become a more gentle one who would later
form a tag-team with
The Rock and use an anthropomorphic sock named "Mr. Socko".
Backstage after the match, McMahon said to Foley, "You have no idea how much I appreciate what you have just done for this company, but I never want to see anything like that again."
Foley recalled that, after the match and still feeling the effects of the concussion, he turned to Calaway and asked "Did I use the thumbtacks?". Calaway responded sternly "Look at your arm, Mick!", at which point Foley discovered a significant number of thumbtacks still lodged in his arm. Russo was also surprised at Foley's demeanour after the match, recalling him questioning Russo about the quality of the match and if it was good as the previous Hell in a Cell. Foley wrote in his first book that his wife Collette cried during a post-match phone conversation between the two, and this made Foley strongly consider retiring from wrestling,[Foley, ''Have A Nice Day!'', pp. 663–664] something that Foley did eventually do on a full-time basis in 2000. Fittingly, his last match as a full-time wrestler was also a Hell in a Cell match at No Way Out in February 2000; Foley decided to replicate his fall through the roof of the cell during the match and proper precautions were taken to ensure his safety performing the stunt.
Reception
Writing in his ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter
The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts.
Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four We ...
'', wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer awarded the match four-and-a-half stars out of a possible five, saying he would never forget the performance of Foley. Meltzer said Foley had made himself an "all-time legend", and would forever be associated with Hell in a Cell in the same way Bret Hart
Bret Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legend's contract. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling backgr ...
would always be linked with the Montreal Screwjob
The Montreal Screwjob (also called the Montreal Incident; French: ''Le Coup Tordu de Montréal'' lit. Montreal's Twisted Coup) was an infamous unscripted professional wrestling incident that occurred on November 9, 1997, at the Survivor Series ...
, but questioned the future of wrestling if people tried to emulate or one-up the performance of Foley. Fellow wrestling journalist Wade Keller wrote in the ''Pro Wrestling Torch'' newsletter that Foley had taken the "two most incredible bumps" in wrestling history, and that it had been the decade's "most memorable match". He predicted that the match would become a "source of inspiration and jealousy" for other wrestlers, but that it had the potential to become an "infamous and regretful" match. John Powell of ''Slam Wrestling'' thought that Foley's stunt was reminiscent of one performed by Jimmy Snuka
James Reiher Snuka (born James Wiley Smith; May 18, 1943 – January 15, 2017) was a Fijian American professional wrestler. He is better known by the ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka.
Snuka wrestled for several promotions from the 1970s to 2010 ...
, an event Foley had witnessed live 15 years prior. He described Foley's performance in the match as "unparalleled, memorable", and the match as a whole as "classic". The match was voted '' Pro Wrestling Illustrated''s Match of the Year for 1998.
Michael Landsberg
Michael Elliott Landsberg (born July 22, 1957) is a Canadian sports journalist and the former host of TSN's, ''First Up with Landsberg and Colaiacovo'', and former host of TSN's '' Off the Record with Michael Landsberg'' from 1997 to 2015.
B ...
called it "maybe the most famous match ever", while David Shoemaker heralded it as the pinnacle of Foley's career. A contemporary review on ''411Mania'' awarded the match four-and-a-quarter stars out of a possible five, describing it as "the epitome of a spectacle". Writing for the same website in 2002, Scott Keith gave a scathing review, criticising the lack of wrestling involved as well as the bumps themselves, and awarded the match one star, but also said it is a match worth viewing "to make your own judgment". In a review for the 20th anniversary of the match, John Pollock of ''Post Wrestling'' wrote that "it is hard to isolate one specific aspect" of the match, and said it turned Foley from a "cult favourite to a legend". ''Inside Pulse'' awarded the match four-stars out of a possible five, describing it as "one of the most memorable matches in the history of professional wrestling", while ''Writebase'' praised it as a match "without comparison on a grand stage".
Legacy
Both participants have said that the original Hell in a Cell match, between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels at Badd Blood: In Your House on October 5, 1997, was the superior of the two matches; in 2003, Calaway named the Badd Blood contest as his favorite match, while both Foley and Moody have called it the greatest Hell in a Cell match ever. In 2011, Foley's match was named as the number one " OMG!" incident in WWE history, and has been ranked highly amongst the greatest matches and top moments in the history of Hell in a Cell matches. It has been described as Jim Ross' most famous line of commentary, which Foley has categorized as being a part of popular culture, and was described by '' Paste'' magazine as commentary that "heightened your experience because he was articulating your surprise". The match has been included on several best-of WWE DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
releases, showcasing matches from the careers of both Foley and Calaway, as well as of the King of the Ring
King of the Ring was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event produced by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. The PPV event was held annually in June and was established in 1993 when the promotio ...
PPV and Hell in a Cell matches. Foley and Ross believe that, although there have been better wrestling matches within Hell in a Cell, it was "the most memorable" and almost impossible to exceed. To commemorate the 15th anniversary of the match, WWE conducted an oral history with Foley, Ross, and White, while Calaway was included for an updated 20th anniversary version.
Foley has been described as the MVP
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a partic ...
of Hell in a Cell matches, not only for his role in this match, but also for his last match as a full-time wrestler at No Way Out in February 2000; wrestling under his Cactus Jack persona, he competed for the WWF Championship against Triple H, with the match ending when Triple H backdropped through the cage and breaking the ring in a planned stunt. In 2018, Foley toured a one-man show
A solo performance, sometimes referred to as a one-man show or one-woman show, features a single person telling a story for an audience, typically for the purpose of entertainment. This type of performance comes in many varieties, including auto ...
titled ''20 Years Of Hell'', discussing the match in length to an audience, and later filmed a special for the WWE Network exactly 20 years after the match, but said that for years he disliked being known primarily for this match, as there were many other aspects of his career of which he was proud. Speaking with Ross for his podcast ''The Ross Report'' in 2018, Foley said that he was "proud to say that this match is something that I no longer run from" because of how brutal and important the match was, and also due to the "many memories it holds for people", and also believes it is "cathartic" to discuss. Foley believes it is the thing most wrestling fans remember him for, while several mainstream media outlets have also ranked it as being among the greatest moments and matches in both Foley's and Calaway's careers, as well as in wrestling history.
Many future matches attempted to replicate some of the spots from the match at King of the Ring, most notably during a Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania 32
WrestleMania 32 was the 32nd annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on April 3, 2016, at the AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. This was the last Wrestle ...
in April 2016 also featuring The Undertaker, where his opponent Shane McMahon
Shane Brandon McMahon (; born January 15, 1970) is an American businessman and professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he was a wrestler, producer and minority owner. He is the founder and executive chairman of Ide ...
paid homage to Foley's first fall by performing a diving elbow from the top of cage, breaking the announce table when The Undertaker moved at the last moment; Michael Cole on commentary yelled "for the love of Mankind" in tribute to Foley. Although many fans regard the match as a classic, it has generated controversy as well. Critics charge that the falls in the match were so extreme and they set the bar for further bumps too high, that the inevitable attempts to equal or surpass them would be very dangerous for any wrestlers involved. Writing for ''Cultaholic'', wrestling author Justin Henry ranked the two bumps as being amongst the top three most brutal bumps in the history of Hell in a Cell, but recognised that attempts at similar bumps had petered out over the years. WWE continues to have Hell in a Cell matches on an annual pay-per-view of the same name, with the match stipulation losing its lustre because of this.
In 2019, Meltzer wrote that "with 20 years of perspective", the match was "a terrible thing because of all the stunt bumps it encouraged and how guys got into the business thinking they could get over by doing that stuff rather than wrestling". Meltzer also wrote that a New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) match of Kota Ibushi versus Tetsuya Naito
is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the leader of the ''Los Ingobernables de Japón'' faction.
Tetsuya Naito began training for a professional wrestling career in 2000, initially under Anim ...
at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall
Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on June 9, 2018 at the Osaka-jō Hall, in Osaka. It is the tenth event under the Dominion name and the fourth in a ro ...
was the modern successor, in terms of lacking safety for the wrestlers, but is "probably going to be copied and admired". Pollock argues that the match was a negative for both Foley and for professional wrestling as a whole. Foley acknowledged in 2014 while being interviewed about the Monday Night Wars that, had the match taken place today, WWE would have immediately stopped the match after the first fall off the top of the cage "and rightfully so". In his autobiography '' Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks'', Foley wrote that he could not remember much of what happened, and he had to watch a tape of the match to write about it, and in 2020, Foley said he still suffers with injuries sustained in the match, particularly having to have false teeth replaced, and also suffers with chronic pain
Chronic pain is classified as pain that lasts longer than three to six months. In medicine, the distinction between acute and chronic pain is sometimes determined by the amount of time since onset. Two commonly used markers are pain that continue ...
.
Notes
References
External links
WWE.com photo gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Undertaker Vs. Mankind
Hell in a Cell
History of WWE
1998 in professional wrestling
Professional wrestling controversies
Professional wrestling matches
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
Professional wrestling in Pittsburgh
June 1998 events in the United States
The Undertaker
Professional wrestling rivalries