3. Edge vs. Undertaker - Hell In A Cell Match (2008)
Summerslam 08 featured the Hell in a Cell payoff match to the Edge vs. Undertaker rivalry that main-evented WrestleMania that year and headlined three other PPVs, as well. Their series of matches may have been the most underrated championship feud of all-time. They had so many great matches in such a short span, including the supremely undervalued TLC match from two months prior to Summerslam. Taker was Edges greatest opponent and Edge, quietly, one of Takers. Their Hell in a Cell match was a classic that redefined what to expect from the modern version of the gimmick. Edge vs. Taker is the modern blueprint. Long gone are the days where a guy like Mick Foley is jumping off the Cell, which is of course considerably taller than it used to be. Yet, with Edge spearing Taker through one of the Cell walls, we were given the sight of how to still have a violent edition within reason. The creativity, perhaps, should now stem not from what you can do off the top, but in how you can bust through the sides. A second spear involving all three announce tables took the hardcore nature up a notch, as well, so when you add in the tables, ladders, and chairs, the storytelling that pieced together the key moments of their on-again, off-again 18 month saga, and the satisfying babyface victory, you have one of the top 5 matches in Summerslam history.
"The Doc" Chad Matthews has written wrestling columns for over a decade. A physician by trade, Matthews began writing about wrestling as a hobby, but it became a passion. After 30 years as a wrestling fan, "The Doc" gives an unmatched analytical perspective on pro wrestling in the modern era. He is a long-time columnist for Lordsofpain.net and hosts a weekly podcast on the LOP Radio Network called "The Doc Says." His first book - The WrestleMania Era: The Book of Sports Entertainment - ranks the Top 90 wrestlers from 1983 to present day, was originally published in December 2013, and is now in its third edition.
Matthews lives in North Carolina with his wife, two kids, and two dogs.
