1. The Undertaker Vs. Mankind, Hell In A Cell - King Of The Ring 1998
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P35Y_3fLht0 The match which may feature The Undertaker dishing out more punishable-by-law violence than any other match in the history of WWE only lasts for 17 minutes and ten seconds. That being the case, it's only fair that a good two-thirds of that 17-plus minutes is spent wondering if Mick Foley is dead. Intriguingly, the "big spot" of Mankind getting tossed off the side of the cage through the Spanish announcer's table happens so quickly in the match that if you blink you'll miss it. Mankind starts the match on top of the cage, Undertaker climbs to the top of the cage, they brawl around for a bit (in an expected plodding manner given that their standing on a mesh-like netting of twisted steel) and once by the edge, Taker hip tosses "Mrs. Foley's baby boy" off the cage, obliterating a table 20 feet below on impact. This is where the scary moments begin (and let's REALLY break down how scary they are, shall we?). There's this worked shoot thing where Terry Funk runs out to check on Mankind. He's closely followed by storyline commissioner Sgt. Slaughter. The third man out? Dr. Francois Petit, the then shoot physician on-call at all of the company's events. Had Dr. Petit ever a) been seen and b) been identified on TV before? No. Absolutely not. Clearly, this was a stunt, and clearly this was a stunt that I'm certain 100% of the people not named Mick Foley or Mark Calaway knew could go terribly wrong. Mankind is rolled away on the stretcher, then gets off the stretcher and heads back to the ring, climbing up to the top of the cell (where Undertaker awaits after he himself was on the edge of the cell as it was briefly raised to the roof of the building...not being facetious but, #OWENHART anyone?). Almost immediately after getting to the top of the cell, Mankind's chokeslammed through the cage itself to a mat 20 feet below. If Foley doesn't control his own bump (somewhat), he breaks his neck. If the ring is not 110% properly constructed, Foley breaks his back. Amazingly, the cage itself recoils and hits Foley in the face, popping one of his teeth through his nose. Amazingly enough, outside of what I'm certain is some level of internal bruising or bleeding, Foley survives. Of course, the match continues after another moment wherein officials check on Mick Foley's condition, and the opponents brawl around a bit. Namely, they go outside and using ring steps and chairs in a (strange for this match) safe, yet spectacular manner. Once back in the ring, Mankind subdues The Undertaker, goes outside the ring again, retrieving a thumbtack-filled bag from outside the ring. Back in the squared circle (and after spreading the thumbtacks on the mat) the tacks backfire as part of Mankind's offensive game-plan and Taker chokeslams his now very battered opponent into the tack-filled mat. Amazingly of all of the incredibly violent maneuvers in the match, this is the one that is the least potentially damaging. One Tombstone Piledriver later, and the match is over. Had this match not been held under the auspices of a World Wrestling Federation event sanctioned by the Athletic Commission of the State of Pennsylvania, what The Undertaker did is scary because it's so vicious that could be perceived as criminal and charged as second-degree attempted murder. You may think it ridiculous, but given how coldly executed it all appears, it could be true. Instead of having his arm raised in victory, Mark Calaway could have faced five to 15 years in prison. That's a beyond scary notion to consider.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.