WWE: 10 Awesome Matches That Showcased Great Ring Psychology

8. Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker - Bad Blood (1997)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coa9zWwAGh8 Hell In A Cell matches aren't exactly known for smart, logical storytelling. Especially not ones involving The Undertaker. His match with Mankind features two of the sickest bumps ever seen in wrestling, but little inbetween. It's a great spectacle, but not a great match. The less said about Wrestlemania 15 the better. The six men Armageddon battle was pure chaos. His match with Edge was a fun stunt filled brawl, but any match that ends with flames coming from the canvas is hardly going to be up on Flair/Steamboat level. Kane vs Undertaker in 2010 ended, that's the only nice thing you can say about it. The Wrestlemania bout with HHH is the only one the comes anywhere near this. And it isn't even that close. Here we have Shawn Michaels at his heavy bumping best, while Taker stalks the cell like a demon. It's like Shawn is trying to survive a horror film. This is the perfect use of this gimmick: after costing Taker the title at Summerslam and months of being extremely obnoxious with D-Generation X, that little punk Michaels was going to have nowhere to run in the cell. He sells it like he's walking to his death, terrified as D-X are forced to leave ringside. He does everything he can to avoid The Undertaker. The commentators put over the idea of the dead man slowly ripping him apart piece by piece. Shawn pulls everything out the bag to gain an advantage, but nothing works. He realises if this keeps up he'll be leaving Missouri in a very bad way. In a brilliant act of desperation he attacks a cameraman, forcing medical staff to open the cell so he can get out. The Undertaker is a wrecking ball and the only way Shawn Michaels is surviving is by using his brain. Finally able to escape, they fight down the aisle and Undertaker drives Shawn into the cage, which cuts the Heartbreak Kid open badly. Now it's a blood bath and Shawn cannot escape. He even tries to climb the steel, which ends in disaster as he crashes through the ringside table. Back in the ring, Michales is a corpse. Taker calls for the Tombstone and the lights go out. It's Kane! He tombstones his dumbfounded brother into oblivion. A barely mobile Shawn Michaels drags himself across the Dead Man with his last ounce of strength, winning the match. As D-X carry him out the arena, HBK looks unable to believe he got out alive, never mind win the match. OK, the Kane bit wasn't exactly classic match psychology, but in this scenario it worked. Everything before that was pure gold. Sorry Foley, this is the best HIAC match of all time.