While all of the bouts on this list have taken a cue from MMA, none were so blatant as the first-ever Lion's Den match at SummerSlam 1998. With Ken Shamrock's fame having come from competing in the UFC during the promotion's early days, WWE tried to create a match that would take place on his turf - the octagon. Shamrock was feuding with Owen Hart in the summer of '98, and despite "The World's Most Dangerous Man's" capabilities, Hart was able to get the better of him via cheap tactics. At Fully Loaded, they battled in the actual Hart family dungeon, and Owen scored the win when he knocked Shamrock out with a dumbbell. The next month, Shamrock would have the home field advantage. Owen enlisted Shamrock's UFC rival Dan Severn to help coach him for the match, and he used a pro wrestling-style approach (whipping Shamrock into the cage, for instance) to gain an early advantage. Still, the former UFC Superfight Champion was able to use his surroundings to his benefit, clawing up the cage to escape a Sharpshooter, then grabbing the Ankle Lock for the submission win.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
