10 Times WWE Ripped Off WCW And Nobody Noticed
4. Hell In A War Games
This is another concept that was so fresh and exciting that folks didn't stop to think of the past.
In 1997, the WWF debuted the fearsome Hell In A Cell structure. It was much larger than the standard steel cage, and came armed with a roof that'd (theoretically) stop anyone from escaping. What does that sound like? Why it's the NWA/WCW's ancient War Games match!
OK, so War Games had two cages, but that intimidating size was the same kind of appeal that HIAC had when it was introduced. From a distance, both cages looked very much alike, and it's clear that there was some WCW inspo coursing through Titan Towers when McMahon's organisation were dreaming up a new match type.
The WWF had never used a cage that looked anything like War Games before. Their structures had always been garish, blue-barred classics that contrasted vividly with the mesh preferred elsewhere. Hell In A Cell was a departure from the norm influenced by WCW traditions.