WWE Bad Blood 2024: Top 5 Hell In A Cell Matches

The Devil's Playground returns this Saturday.

First WWE Hell In A Cell match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. /

On October 5, 1997, history was made at WWE Bad Blood in St. Louis when Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker battled in the first ever Hell In A Cell match.

Now, 27 years to the day, the demonic steel structure returns for the 53rd time on Saturday when CM Punk and Drew McIntyre settle their score once and for all inside Hell In A Cell at WWE Bad Blood from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

Careers have been made, history has occurred, and many injuries have happened. But the Hell In A Cell has always proven to be the ultimate battleground to settle rivalries.

Many great matches have been had inside "The Devils Playground" and somehow we narrow the list down to five.

1) Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker: October 5, 1997

Some will argue why this tops the list. It's quite simple, actually. This was the first one and there really wasn't a blueprint on how to do the match. Plus, it was the best one bell-to-bell. All you wanted to see was The Undertaker exact revenge on "The Heartbreak Kid" for costing him the WWE Title against Bret Hart two months prior at SummerSlam. And now, Michaels would have nowhere to escape and no help from now WWE CCO Paul "Triple H" Levesque, Chyna, and "Ravishing" Rick Rude.

So Michaels and Undertaker went about 30 minutes in a bloody back and forth. A grueling contest that saw each competitor using the cage as a weapon, using steel chairs, and at one point, they got to the outside, and Michaels came crashing down from the side of the cage.

With the help of a memorable debut of Kane, Michaels won the classic affair.

2) Mankind vs. The Undertaker: June 28, 1998

If we are talking historical context, the match from the 1998 King of the Ring is what other cell matches have tried to live up to in terms of violence.

Coming in, Mankind and The Undertaker were in two different directions. Mankind just returned to his initial WWE character a few weeks prior after two unsuccessful attempts to wrestle the WWE title from "Stone Cold" Steve Austin as his alter ago Dude Love. And "The Dead Man" was coming in with two wins over Kane and had set his sights on Austin.

But the old rivals from the majority of 1996 and early 1997 went to battle, and what a spectacle we saw from the outset. Mankind climbed to the top of the cell and demanded The Undertaker meet him up. So he did. After a brief exchange, The Undertaker threw Mankind off, and the man known as Mick Foley crashed through the Spanish Announcer's table in what is, without a doubt, the greatest bump in WWE history.

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Somehow, someway, Mankind finally got put on stretcher. The match arguably should have been stopped right there and then. For some reason, it was not. Mankind rose from the stretcher and climbed back up where The Undertaker remained. They started firing off punches when The Undertaker choke slammed him. Well, Mankind was only supposed to land on the cage.

Instead, the top of the structure collapsed and Foley landed in a crashing thud on to the mat with a chair meeting him on the way down. You legitimately thought Foley was again severely hurt and should have been sent to the hospital immediately. But again, it was not, as Mankind made it back to his feet after several minutes. The Undertaker ended up winning, but no one really remembers that.

All people remember to this day are the two sensational bumps from Mankind. Many have tried to top the moment, but it will never be duplicated. If it wasn't for this match, it's safe to say Foley wouldn't be the legend he is thought of today.

3) The Undertaker vs. Triple H: April 1, 2012

Going into this match at WrestleMania 28, it had been dubbed, "The End of An Era", as you had Levesque, The Undertaker and Michaels inserted as the special guest referee. Three of the biggest names in WWE with Triple H and The Undertaker on the last couple holes of their career and Michaels hanging it up two years prior at WrestleMania 26.

Triple H really wanted to get revenge for losing at WrestleMania 17 and 27 to "The Phenom". He wanted the score settled inside the steel structure and The Deadman obliged. With Levesque's best friend as the referee, it looked like the vaunted undefeated streak would come to a close.

What we got was first class storytelling with each guy unwilling to give and leave every drop of blood, sweat and tears inside the ring. That resulted in the greatest near fall in WrestleMania history when Michaels hit his "Sweet Chin Music" superkick and Levesque nailed his finisher, The Pedigree. However, The Undertaker rose from the dead and kicked out at a nail biting two count, which left Michaels in shambles. Moments later, The Undertaker dropped the boom with a his Tombstone Piledriver for the three and the victory.

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"The End of an Era" occured with that count. In a moment that will live the test of time, all three walked the ramp and embraced each other in the ultimate sign of respect.

4) Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks: October 30, 2016

At this point in time, including already two on this Hell In A Cell PLE, there had been 35 HIAC matches and none had involved women.

That changed as Flair and Banks headlined this PLE inside the barbaric cage to become the first women's match to main event a WWE Premium Live Event. And they didn't disappoint.

Flair wouldn't even let Banks get inside the Cell and attacked before the bell even rang. They ended up brawling into the crowd at the TD Garden in Boston. Then Flair climbed the cell wall and powerbombed Banks through an announcer's table. Banks got put on a stretcher but got off and made it into the ring.

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For over 22 minutes, Flair and Banks doled out the punishment as they wanted to prove who truly was the best female wrestler in WWE. In that night, it proved to be Flair, who regained the Women's title for the third time. But a new respect was born between the rivals.

5) Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker: October 20, 2002

Heading into this match, no one knew how to take Lesnar yet. He was big, strong, and athletic. Some would say he had everything to be a once-in-a-lifetime performer. He'd bulldozed through Hulk Hogan and defeated The Rock at SummerSlam 2002 to become, at the time, the youngest WWE champion.

Before this contest at No Mercy, they met the month before at the Unforgiven PLE, which ended up as a non-finish. So the revenge bout came inside the Cell. The Undertaker had already competed four times inside the structure and knew what to expect. On the other hand, no one knew if Lesnar could handle the pain he was about to endure. He barely had been on the main roster for seven months.

This was going to make or break Lesnar. He needed to show he could be a bonafide main event player. He got put to the test and passed with flying colors.

They went over 27 minutes in a back-and-forth bloody brawl. In the end, all Lesnar needed was one F5 for the win, and Lesnar was a made man. During this time period, The Undertaker wasn't doing that. He was the locker room leader. If he didn't see the opponent's value, he wouldn't do the honors. Yet, he saw what Lesnar could bring to the table and made him into a legitimate attraction in one fell swoop.

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