10 Wrestling Moments That Changed Everything

5. Mick Foley's Hell In A Cell Bumps

Mankind The Undertaker King Of The Ring 1998
WWE.com

The first ever Hell In A Cell match at In Your House: Badd Blood between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels marked a stunning evolution for cage bouts in the WWF. It was also a great match generally, and that's why Mick Foley decided to put his life on the line come the 1998 King of the Ring show just shy of nine months later.

Knowing he couldn't match Michaels' dramatic performance, Foley (as Mankind) chose to litter his match against 'Taker with potentially fatal bumps that raised the bar for what was expected from Cell matches going forward.

The spectacular visual of Foley being thrown from atop the structure onto a ringside announce table and being Chokeslammed through the Cell roof will be replayed forever. Though historic, they also increased the need for other dangerous stunts. Otherwise, HIAC matches would be boring, right?

WWE temporarily managed to push the reset button slightly on this by toning Cell matches down considerably, but they'd never satisfy in the same way again unless they featured reckless bumps. That's why Shane McMahon felt compelled to jump off the thing twice, at WrestleMania 32 and Hell in a Cell 2017.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.