10 Best WWE Hell In A Cell Matches EVER - According To Dave Meltzer

1. The Undertaker Vs Shawn Michaels (Badd Blood, In Your House, *****)

Batista Triple H Vegeance 2005 Hell in a Cell
WWE

Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker contested what many people consider to be the greatest match in WWE history at WrestleMania 25, but Dave Meltzer had already afforded them a perfect score 12 years earlier for the first and best Hell In A Cell match ever.

Like the exhausting Steve Austin/Bret Hart WrestleMania war that challenged it for Match Of The Year honours in 1997, the Badd Blood made the very best of having all the ingredients necessary in assembling a bonafide classic.

The Cell itself was both novel and needed. Replacing WWE's traditional blue bar cage with the wire mesh and a roof was as much to do with creating an antidote to antagonists as it was aesthetics. Shawn Michaels had, in the main, escaped The Undertaker's wrath thanks to endless interference from his soon-to-be-DX comrades Triple H, Chyna and Ravishing Rick Rude. The locked steel structure would negate his numbers game.

Few took a sh*t-kicking better than Shawn Michaels, particularly as a heel when he didn't need to pepper the contests with hope spots and comebacks. Subsequently, the match was a protracted massacre, with half of Shawn's offence motivated by sheer desperation in between running like f*ck from a vengeful 'Deadman'.

And yet, the snivelling little turd still escaped with a win. Kane's spectacular debut could have found no better home than the 'Devil's Playground', and his legitimately shocking arrival crafted a grand conclusion to a war for the ages.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett