When is a Hell in a Cell match not a Hell in a Cell match? When WWE says so. The Hell in a Cell structure has been used a couple times that arent counted in its history. During the 1998 King of the Ring PPV, there was a cell match between Undertaker and Mankind, but the cell also dropped during a First Blood world title match between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kane. The Big Red Monster would go on to win that match and the title, but it is not counted as a cell match. The other time Hell in a Cell came into play was a match WWE would rather forget: Kennel from Hell. This dandy of a match was a Hardcore title match between Al Snow and Big Boss Man at 1999s Unforgiven. The match came about after Boss Man kidnapped, killed and fed Snows dog Pepper to him. As a result, the two met in the first and only Kennel from Hell match, which consisted of a steel cage surrounded by the Hell in a Cell structure. Attack dogs surrounded the cage (still inside the cell) and the goal was to escape the cage and then escape the cell. One thing that is interesting is that WWE does count a Hell in a Cell dark match that occurred at the go-home Raw before the 2011 Hell in a Cell PPV. The match came after Raw went off the air, which is interesting because those matches often are only for the live audience and arent referenced or acknowledged in official WWE canon.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
