WWE In 1997 | Wrestling Timelines

The other greatest WWE match ever takes place at In Your House: Badd Blood, when Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker do battle inside of Hell In A Cell for the first time. 

The match is absolutely incredible. Two wrestlers with a sublime grasp of their character, ideal contrasts to one another, enter their very best individual performances. They are enclosed in a brand-new, impossibly alluring structure - pitched by Jim Cornette and Michaels, and their shared love of the Last Battle Of Atlanta - that warrants the corny but chillingly effective hyperbole of Jim Ross. 

That WWF ring canvas is glorified concrete, and Michaels hurls his body against the thing with light-switch quickness to put ‘Taker over as an invincible, absurdly overpowered threat. Shawn does an outstanding job of selling the idea that the cage will mangle his skin before bouncing off the thing with several perfect, flailing bumps. The inherently ludicrous premise of the Undertaker character has never felt more credible. 

Both men escape the cage, a sequence enabled by an awesome spot in which a ringside camera operator, built as inexperienced and out of position earlier in the match, eats Shawn’s landing off a back body drop. A blood-drenched Shawn - blading is now permitted, it’s all change all the time - takes a terrifying plunge from the external side of the cage and through the announce table. This is sensational. Shawn’s selling is even better; it looks like he’s getting murdered. The preceding scene, in which ‘Taker and Michaels tease the idea of plummeting to their doom atop the cage, is the most terrifying sequence in WWF history. 

The match ends when Kane finally debuts; in an overdue disruption of the Monster Of The Week formula, ‘Taker’s brother rips the cage door off its hinges. The red and black look, the gigantic frame, the Michael Myers-style emotionless presence: it’s one of the greatest debuts ever, if you ignore the awkward moment in which Kane must readjust himself to face the hard camera when dropping ‘Taker with the Tombstone and gifting Shawn the win. 

It’s a great night for Shawn Michaels, and a terrible night for Bret Hart. The narrative thrust and tonal shift of the WWF is a bullet train in 1997. The new hyper-obnoxious Michaels is the top heel in the promotion by October. In the same month, Bret’s excellent update on the anti-America heel device feels as ancient and one-dimensional as it always was because he’s lumbered with the masked Patriot character: a laughable anachronism in a more realistic new world. Bret and the British Bulldog defeat the Patriot and Vader, but it really doesn’t feel like a win. The 23 minute Flag match is crushingly lifeless, and Bret knows that Shawn has scooped his heat.