YMMV / Hell in a Cell

• Badass Decay: Hell in a Cell was supposed to be a gimmick match that laid feuds to rest, but John Cena refused to take a break from pursuing Randy Orton and Alberto Del Rio after losing to them in the Cell, killing off some of its appeal.^note Though for the Del Rio case, CM Punk was involved in the contest as well, making it a triple threat for the title (in fact, Punk was the one Del Rio pinned to win the title), and that there wasn't that much bad blood or heat between Cena and Del Rio to begin with — in fact, there was probably more bad blood between Punk and Cena at that point, or at least more reason for them to be in the Cell together instead. If that sounds convoluted, it's because creative was intent on pushing Del Rio but had written themselves into a corner by making Hell In A Cell an annual pay per view.
  • While Hell in a Cell has lost most of its mystique after it was changed from a special decisive feud-ender to just another yearly PPV that would happen regularly regardless of the heatedness or hatred of the feuds being contested in it, it still had some appeal left. But after the main event HIAC matches of both the 2018 and 2019 events ended in a no contest finish, the stipulation has basically lost all credibility and most critics and fans are calling for it to be retired altogether. Fortunately, WWE clearly learned their lesson for the 2020 pay-per-view.
• Crazy Is Cool:
  • During his infamous HIAC Match with The Undertaker, Foley was being taken out on a stretcher, but got up, jogged back to the cell, and climbed back up to the roof. With a dislocated shoulder. And if that doesn't convince you: after the match was finally over, Foley was again being stretchered out, but having been wheeled out once he refused to do so again, and with the help of a couple of WWF officials, walked to the back under his own power. Keep in mind, this is a man who had intentionally been tossed off the top of the sixteen-foot Cell, then unintentionally got choke-slammed through the top of the Cell down to the ring, and afterwards admitted that he couldn't remember a good portion of the match. He also refused to go to a hospital following the match, because he was scripted to interfere in the main event, and even asked 'Taker backstage if they'd remembered the thumbtacks while dozens were still stuck in his skin. Of course, the main event didn't seem very "main event" after all of this. Keep in mind, the main event was "Stone Cold" Steve Austin finally losing his first WWF championship.
  • 'Taker himself often looks somewhat beside himself whenever questions about this match come up in the rare interviews he's done, in stark contrast to his image. Foley says in Have a Nice Day that he legitimately believed that he had accidentally killed Foley after he fell through the top of the cell to the ring below; Callaway's memories of this match probably aren't very pleasant, especially when you keep in mind that it kept going on after the fall. The fact that he actually, if briefly, broke character during the match when Foley got up from the stretcher and started yelling at him to climb back up to the top of the cage is just another level of awesome Foley managed to achieve. And then there's this (abridged) conversation he and 'Taker had in the back, after the match:
    Foley: Hey, did I ever get to use those thumbtacks on you?
    Undertaker: (pointing at the numerous tacks in Mick's forearm) Mick, look at your arm.
    Foley: But did I use the tacks?
    Undertaker: Yeah, Mick, you used the tacks.
    Foley: Oh, good. (walks away)
• Cry for the Devil: It was hard not to feel bad for Edge in the summer of 2008, really. His (kayfabe) romantic relationship with then-SmackDown! General Manager Vickie Guerrero, which at first appeared to be nothing more than a shrewd career move, was later shown to be real and heartfelt. On the day of their wedding, when Triple H revealed that Edge had been cheating on his fiancee with wedding planner Alicia Fox, the heartbreak was truly something to behold. Edge went overnight from being his usual jerkass self to begging Vickie for forgiveness. But Vickie was so vindictive that she booked her would-be husband in a Hell in a Cell match against The Undertaker. Edge was terrified, and desperately asked Mick Foley for advice on how to win the match. When Foley refused to help him, Edge snapped and smashed Foley through a table. He had passed the Despair Event Horizon by this point and even lashed out at his own (adopted) family, vowing to Vickie that "I'm gonna drag you down to Hell with me!" And at the conclusion of the HIAC match, Edge actually was metaphorically sent to Hell. But of course, he proved three months later to be Not Quite Dead.
• Franchise Original Sin: Originally, the entire point of the HIAC stipulation was that it gave the furious babyface (initially The Undertaker) an opportunity to get his hands on the cowardly heel (initially Shawn Michaels) with no chance for the heel to escape, since they were locked into an enclosed cage together. In the first HIAC match, Michaels had to use devious trickery (injuring the cameraman inside the Cell, forcing officials to unlock it to get him medical attention) to get out, and he tried to climb the Cell to escape Taker. In the second^note Actually the third, since a second one had been held on the June 15 episode of RAW to promote the dual main event of King of the Ring 98, but that one is usually forgotten match, between Undertaker and Mankind, the match started on top of the Cell (because Mankind was crazy). Over the years, the stipulation has become less about putting two wrestlers who hate each other in an enclosed space to fight to the finish, and more about just using the Cell for setting up spots, with wrestlers smashing through the cell walls or climbing up on top of it almost as a matter of course, which has also led to the decay of its "ultimate feud-ender" reputation.
  • The famous shot of Foley’s fall off the cell inspired a wave of similarly dangerous stunts in both WWE and other promotions from performers trying to match it or even top it. This helped give rise to the “spot monkey” style of wrestling much maligned for replacing real wrestling technique for flashy but dangerous spots.
• Harsher in Hindsight: The legendary HIAC 1998 match can be harder to watch when you know about the numerous serious injuries Mick sustained during it. To make a long story short, of all his matches that Mick has written about - including his infamous "I Quit" match with The Rock - the 1998 Hell In A Cell is the only one that Mick had to watch on tape in order to write about, as he doesn't remember a lot of it. That's how punishing it was for him.
• Nausea Fuel: Cody Rhode's revealing his torn pec injury in the 2022 PPV. A lot of reactors looked in horror at how severe it was and the audience is stunned silent.
• Never Live It Down:
  • Big Boss Man was involved in two of the most infamous(ly bad) cage matches in WWE history, in the same year: the HIAC match with The Undertaker at WrestleMania XV and the HIAC-derivate "Kennel From Hell" match with Al Snow.
  • The main event of 2019's edition of the PPV (Seth Rollins vs. The Fiend) went down being seen as one of the worst main events ever, with an extremely controversial referee stoppage finish that elicited thunderous boos from the crowd. The end result was Rollins' already faltering main event being sent into full-blown X-Pac Heat territory, on top of him getting the brunt of the backlash. The two's quick rematch at Crown Jewel crowning The Fiend as Universal Champion and a Face–Heel Turn was seen as a desperate two-fold Author's Saving Throw to try to contain the damage.
    • The referee for the match, Rob Zapada, probably won’t live down stopping the match simply for safety reasons, either.
    • For added bonus points, in amazingly poetic fashion, the Trope Namer for the aforementioned X-Pac Heat, Sean Waltman, was present at the live watchalong and instantly called out the horrendous finish:
      "How the hell do you get DQ'd in a Hell in a...friggin' Cell!?"
• Overshadowed by Controversy:
  • No Mercy 2002 featured a HIAC match between Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker, but the pay-per-view will always be remembered for the Triple H vs. Kane title unification match, built upon one of the most infamous angles in professional wrestling history: Katie Vick.
  • The 2018 and 2019 Hell in a Cell will always be remembered for the no-contest results of the main event matches, which drew overwhelmingly negative reactions from fans. Fortunately, at the 2020 event, the headlining matches all ended with a conclusive finish.
• Shocking Moments: The Undertaker-Mankind match has Undertaker chokeslam Mankind into a pile of actual thumbtacks. It’s only the third most gruesome bump of the match.
• Signature Scene:
  • Almost every single one of the non-HIAC PPV matches have fit this role in the past.
    • Bad Blood 1997 had The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels, especially the debut of Kane at the end.
    • King of the Ring 1998 had the entirety of the match between Mankind and The Undertaker, but especially the moment when Undertaker hurls Mankind off the top of the Cell and through the Spanish Announcer's Table, the single most famous fall in wrestling history. It’s followed very closely behind by the legitimately worse second fall through the cage.
    • No Way Out 2000 had Triple H vs Cactus Jack where Triple H back body drops Foley through the top of the cage and he smashes through the ring.
    • Armageddon had the 6-man Hell in a Cell match which features Kurt Angle, Triple H, Rikishi, The Undertaker, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and The Rock. One particular spot included The Undertaker chokeslamming Rikishi off the cell and into the pine chip filled truck.
    • Judgment Day 2002 had Triple H pedigreeing Chris Jericho on the top of the cell.
    • No Mercy 2002 had Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker.
    • Bad Blood 2004 had Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels which lasted 47 minutes and 26 seconds, making it the longest HIAC match in history.
    • Vengeance 2005 had Batista and Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship.
    • Armageddon 2005 had The Undertaker vs Randy Orton.
    • Unforgiven 2006 had the match between DX and the McMahons and The Big Show.
    • Survivor Series 2007 had Batista vs. The Undertaker; this also included Edge making his surprise return costing The Undertaker the match.
    • SummerSlam 2008 had The Undertaker vs. Edge which included the spot where he sends Edge to "hell" after the match.
    • WrestleMania 28 had The Undertaker vs. Triple H — End of an Era.
    • WrestleMania 32 had The Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon which included the spot where Shane jumped off of the cell and crashed into the table after The Undertaker quickly moved out of the way.
    • Crown Jewel 2021 had Edge vs Seth Rollins.
  • This, of course, doesn't mean that the eponymous PPV didn't have its moments:
    • Hell In A Cell 2010 had John Cena losing to Wade Barrett, thus (reluctantly) becoming member of The Nexus.
    • Hell In A Cell 2012 had CM Punk vs. Ryback.
    • Hell In A Cell 2015 had Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker.
    • Hell In A Cell 2016 had the first ever women HIAC match with Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte Flair.
    • Hell In A Cell 2017 had Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens (which also saw Sami Zayn's Face–Heel Turn) and the Tornado Tag Team match between The New Day vs. The Usos.
    • Hell In A Cell 2018 had Becky Lynch winning the Smackdown Women's Championship from Charlotte Flair and Brock Lesnar interrupting the Universal Championship match between Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman.
    • Hell In A Cell 2019 had the infamous Seth Rollins vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt match for the Universal Championship, wherein a no-disqualifications match somehow ended in a disqualification.
    • Hell In A Cell 2020 had Roman Reigns defeating Jey Uso in a "I Quit" match, Sasha Banks defeating Bayley to win the Smackdown Women's Title, and Randy Orton defeating Drew McIntyre to win his 14th world championship.
    • Hell In A Cell 2022 had Cody Rhodes battling and defeating Seth Rollins inside HIAC despite suffering a torn pectoral muscle, the reveal of the torn pec itself memorable for how severe the injury was.
• Tough Act to Follow: The King of the Ring 1998 match between Mankind and The Undertaker not only outshone the eponymous tournament (thus reducing Ken Shamrock's draw power) but also every other HIAC match which came afterwards. Foley thought Undertaker's HiaC with Shawn Michaels was this (and he still personally believes that it was superior to his own match with Taker), but it turned out that his own HiaC debut against Taker would set the standard for the match, and be the measuring stick by which not only his own matches, but every Hell in a Cell match that followed would be stacked up against. It's generally agreed that no subsequent HiaC has met that standard, except possibly HHH vs Taker at Mania and Cody Rhodes vs Seth Rollins at HIAC 2022, but given the toll the match had on Foley's body, it's also generally agreed that's a good thing.
  • Stone Cold Steve Austin is very keen to note whenever the match is brought up that he and Kane had the wholly impossible job of topping it as the main event.
• Unexpected Character: Was anyone predicting Alberto Del Rio to return at Hell in a Cell 2015? After he left he seemed to be about one rung below CM Punk on the Ret-Gone ladder — especially when you consider he was released to avoid a potential lawsuit from a guy who made a racist joke, who eventually left the company anyway.

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