WWE: Has The Hell In A Cell Match Lost Its Aura?
This past weekend was the 15 year Anniversary of one of WWE's most memorable PPV events, Badd Blood 1997. Outside of the usual big yearly events the company holds, this is still one PPV that often gets talked about due to its main event - Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker in the first ever Hell In A Cell match. This match was and still is very highly rated, and, accompanied with the debut of Kane, was a match that fans would never forget. Since then, there have been 25 Hell In A Cell matches over that 15 year span. With the match type now having its own dedicated PPV each year, is the match in danger of losing it's once atmospheric aura? Has it already passed? Do we just see it as a cage match for the modern day? At what averages out at 1.66 matches of the type per year, it would be hard to argue that it has been seen too much when you look at it purely based on figures. When the Heavyweight Championships of the company have generally changed hands more often than that in previous years, it would be easy to think that WWE would've used this match type more in the current, fast moving product. Comparing the current match ups to those gone by, can a Hell In A Cell match still be seen as the most brutal match in the company by fans? After Badd Blood 97, the next major Hell In A Cell match was Mankind vs The Undertaker at King of the Ring 1998. This match would, in a lot of peoples eyes, become the most synonymous with the match type, due to the bumps Mankind took and Jim Ross' classic commentary during the encounter. It could be argued that the way this match went actually tarnished all future Hell In A Cell matches, as for a few years after this match many fans always expected something extreme to happen when the massive structure surrounded the ring.