The Date: 28 June 1998
The Venue: Civic Arena; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The Commentary: Jim “J.R.” Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler
The Referee: Tim White
The Stakes: Hell in a Cell match between heated rivals

The Build-Up:
The Undertaker had been a force of nature within the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) ever since debuting as part of the “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Team on this day at the 1990 Survivor Series. Over the years, the Deadman built up an impressive list of rivalries with some of wrestling’s most talented, and notorious, names, and one of his strangest and most bloodthirsty foes was Mick Foley. Foley, who had made a name for himself as the “King of the Deathmatch” and putting his body on the line in hardcore matches in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Cactus Jack, debuted as Mankind on 1 April 1996 and one of his first feuds was against the Undertaker. The two battled in the first-ever Boiler Room Brawl and the Undertaker’s long-time manager, Paul Bearer, even allied with Mankind back in the day, a partnership which was reignited after Kane made his dramatic debut and began targeting his older brother. Mankind became embroiled in the ongoing feud between the Undertaker and Kane, which included an on-again/off-again partnership between the Brothers of Destruction but, with Kane booked to challenge for “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s WWF Championship at this same event, the Undertaker looked to end to his rivalry with Mankind in the second-ever Hell in a Cell match. The Undertaker had, of course, been involved in the first Hell in a Cell match the previous year; the structure, a wire-mesh cage with a roof and a locked door, was, at the time, regarded as the WWF’s most dangerous match ever and this match went a long way to not only cementing Foley as an absolute madman (whose career was noticeably shortened by this match) but evoking an unrivalled sense of danger surrounding the Hell in a Cell thanks to both men, but particularly Foley, putting their bodies on the line for the sake of our entertainment.

The Match:
It has to be said that there wasn’t a massive amount of build-up towards this match; instead, it was more like the WWF had pressed “Play” after pausing the Undertaker/Mankind rivalry for a while, and the main reasoning behind Foley wanting to put the Undertaker through hell was because the Deadman had attacked Paul Bearer, who was managing Kane at the time, who Mankind referred to as “Uncle Paul”. Indeed, even Foley later admitted that a big part of the reason for his ridiculous stunts in this match came because the feud didn’t have much momentum behind it and the Undertaker was currently dealing with a broken foot, so Foley was worried that the match would suffer as a result. This (and the anticipation for the main event) may explain why Mankind entered to next to no reaction from the crowd, but they soon perked up when Foley tossed a steel chair up to the roof and then clambered up the chain link wall to await the arrival of the Undertaker, which perfectly played into the mental instability of the Mankind persona as hyped up by J.R. and The King on commentary. The Undertaker received a far more rapturous response from the crowd upon the sound of his gong alone and, despite his broken foot, followed his rival up to the cell roof.

With the chain link roof buckling under their combined weight, the two exchanged blows and Mankind immediately landed chair shots to the Undertaker’s back. Looking to end his undead opponent early, Mankind prepared to deliver a suplex to the Deadman but the Undertaker fought back with his patented strikes, which knocked Foley loopy, then sent Mankind right off the roof and crashing through the announce table below! J.R.’s response summed up this heinous, absolutely insane spot perfectly: “Good God almighty! Good God almighty! They’ve killed him!” and one look at Foley’s prone body amidst the table debris makes it hard to argue with this statement! The crowd went absolutely bonkers, electrified by the unforeseen moment, and even the Undertaker later admitted that he was certain Foley was dead. If this were to happen in today’s climate, J.R. and The King’s declaration that the match was over would probably be true and this basically stopped the proceedings for about ten minutes as referees, doctors, Vince McMahon, and even hardcore legend (and Foley’s friend and mentor) Terry Funk rushed out to tend to Foley. No matter how many times you watch the replay (and it’s shown again and again to buy the guys time), it never fails to make an impact (literally and figuratively) as Foley’s body plummets right off the top and absolutely decimates the announce table. However, halfway up the entrance ramp, Mankind clambered to his feet, shoved aside the WWF personnel, and scrambled back up to the top of the cell for more! The Undertaker obliged by Chokeslamming Foley through the cell roof! Mankind landed with an almighty thud and had his face smashed by the errant steel chair, which caused a tooth to come out of his nose! This second fall was completely unexpected for everyone involved and, for the second time in the match, Foley was legitimately believed to be dead by everyone present. Terry Funk, Sergeant Slaughter, and WWF referees desperately tried to revive Foley and buy the two time to recuperate; Funk even took a Chokeslam from the Deadman that literally slammed him right out of his shoes(!) to give Foley a couple more seconds to get back in the game and, beyond all expectations, the match continued for about another ten minutes despite Mankind continually crumbling like a sack of potatoes from the Undertaker’s lightest touch. Again, this would never happen today; the match basically gets back on track, with the cage door being locked and the two continuing to fight, despite the fact that Foley is severely concussed and probably has some internal injuries.

J.R. and The King continued to express shock and awe at just how physically tough and reliant Mankind was, and Foley proved to have a little fight left in him as he interrupted the Undertaker’s signature rope walk to send the Deadman crashing crotch-first to the ring ropes and then made himself a meme with his bloodied smile. Staggered, limping, and favouring his ribs, Mankind knocked the Undertaker to the outside but was in too much pain to lift the steel steps. The Undertaker, however, had no such qualms and repeatedly rammed the steel steps into Foley’s arms and head at ringside! Somehow, Mankind dodged the Undertaker’s torpedo dive through the ropes, causing the Deadman to crash head-first into the cell, and then grated the Undertaker’s already lacerated forehead against the chain link wall to really get the crimson flowing. Mankind then hit the Undertaker with a Pulling Piledriver onto the steel chair, but ‘Taker kicked out at two so Mankind delivered a leg drop onto the steel chair after laying it across the Undertaker’s bloodied face, but was again frustrated by a two count. The Undertaker then got dropped by Mankind’s signature Double-Arm DDT and Foley pulled out a bag of thumb tacks(!) and sprinkled them everywhere, much to the commentators’ shock and the crowd’s delight! Mankind delivered shots to the Undertaker’s head, sending the Deadman teetering, only to be shut down by the last reserves of the Undertaker’s strength. Mankind resorted to applying the Mandible Claw to try and cause the Undertaker to black out, which resulted in Foley clambering behind the Deadman and ultimately sealing his fate as the Undertaker staggered to his feet and dropped Mankind, back-first, right onto the thumb tacks! With dozens of the sharp pins sticking into this flesh and tattered clothes, Mankind walked right into a Chokeslam onto the tacks and, finally, mercifully, was put down with a Tombstone Piledriver. For their efforts, the crowd gave both men (but particularly Mick Foley) a standing ovation and filled the area with applause as doctors and WWF officials were finally able to attend to Foley’s battered, bloody body but, in a final show of guts and perseverance, Foley refused to be stretchered out and was instead assisted to the back by Funk and Slaughter to a standing ovation.

The Aftermath:
As impossible as it may be to believe considering the horrific abuse they suffered in this match, neither Mankind nor the Undertaker were done on this night; both men ended up interfering in the main event, which saw Kane emerge as the WWF Champion after Steve Austin got busted open, and two months later Mankind was back in a Hell in a Cell match as he faced his former partner one-on-one on an episode of Raw is War. Foley’s injuries in this match were substantial and greatly contributed to the softening of his Mankind character, who eventually became a loveable goofball and enjoyed a successful tag team run alongside The Rock before Foley was given the company’s biggest prize and, eventually, made plans for his in-ring retirement. As for the Undertaker, he shifted into the main event picture soon after, forming an alliance with Kane and targeting Steve Austin and the WWF Championship before eventually getting back into it with his brother. This wouldn’t be the last time the Undertaker and Mankind met in the ring, either; they fought on Raw is War two nights later, battled over the WWF Tag Team Championships, and were included in multi-man championship (or contender) matches throughout 1998 and 1999. While Foley would later end his lengthy and storied career in another Hell in a Cell match, this particular contest would be one of the defining moments of his career; while the actual in-ring work was somewhat pedestrian, the match impressed on sheer spectacle alone and has been evoked (for better or worse) in video packages, hype for the brutality of the match concept, and in subsequent Hell in a Cell matches.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

What did you think to the battle between Mankind and the Undertaker in Hell in a Cell? How would you rate it against their other matches and against Hell in a Cell contests? What was your reaction when Mankind went sailing off the top of the cage? Do you think the match should have ended right there, or after Foley’s second fall? How are you celebrating the Undertaker’s debut this year, what are some of your favourite matches and moments from his long and distinguished career, and what dream match would you have liked to see him involved in? Whatever your thoughts, drop a comment below and or let me know what you think about the Undertaker on my social media.