10 Most Perfectly Timed Wrestling Spots Ever

3. Mankind's Infamous Hell In A Cell Bump

Triple H The Undertaker Shawn Michaels WrestleMania XXVIII
WWE

Mick Foley was f*cked either way.

One of the reasons that his most notorious ever bump resonated as it did - in addition, of course, to him launching into it from the top of the Hell In A Cell structure - is that the table f*cking exploded. It wasn't a compressed sawdust table that crumpled pleasingly. It was the thicker announce table, and Foley flattened it on impact. It exploded so quickly that half of it had landed on his head before the camera operator even found him.

Much as it barely protected his fall, just imagine how badly the spot would have went, had he missed by even a fraction. Several old school minds have criticised Foley for it - friend Jim Cornette included - as some artless short cut to a cheap pop that encouraged a generation to destroy themselves. It was so much more artful than that. The physical timing, and his measurement of the distance between the platform and the object was great working, even if it was barely a work.

Foley has expressed his irritation in later years that the full match is reduced to this one moment, but the moment in itself casts Foley as a great bump artist.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!