Ranking the top 5 Hell in a Cell matches of all time

In WWE, there are many stipulation matches that the company has used over years to conclude longstanding feuds, but few of them reach the levels of brutality that the fans often see in a Hell in a Cell match.

These days, the concept has become a bit watered down due to WWE rounding out the edges in its product and the questionable booking by the promotion. You could argue that this version of WWE doesn’t need to book any more Hell in a Cell matches, but the company probably has Cell toys to sell, so they continue to use it.

It does help that the match has plenty of great history to draw from, and that cache of credibility is what gets fans excited about these bouts regardless of any previous misuse. So, let’s discuss that history.

These are the top five Hell in a Cell matches of all time

5. Batista vs. Triple H- World Heavyweight Championship (Vengeance 2005)

Going into Vengeance 2005, WWE relied on three things to sell that show: seeing two world title matches thanks to how the company structured that year’s WWE Draft Lottery, the much-anticipated Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle rematch (that equaled their WrestleMania 21 classic), and the big blowoff to Triple H and Batista’s feud. Fittingly, the latter took place inside Hell in a Cell.

Helmsley and “The Animal” had put together a pair of solid-to-good matches at WrestleMania and Backlash 2005, but the company (and probably Triple H) felt that their new babyface star needed one more big match with “The Game” to cement his status as a main event star.

This Hell in a Cell match accomplished that with room to spare. The two mutilated each other inside the big cage — Triple H even used a barbed wire-wrapped chair on Big Dave at one point — before things boiled down to what they usually boil down to in a heel Triple H match: the sledgehammer.

However, Helmsley didn’t get to use his trusty weapon, as Batista hoisted him up and delivered a thunderous Batista Bomb onto the ring steps before his former Evolution stablemate could take a swing (kudos to both for the great “will Triple H hit Batista with the hammer mid-move tease). A great match that gives WWE evidence that beating a guy three straight times establishes the winner more than trading wins does. Hopefully, we see the same with Cody Rhodes.

4. The Undertaker vs. Mankind (King of the Ring 1998)

Is there any “Top Hell in a Cell matches” lists that exist without this match on it? It would almost be sacrilege to do so, one would think, even knowing that lists like these are at the whims of the author’s personal tastes (with some criteria in place, surely).

All that to say, it’s hard to blame anyone, particularly younger fans, who look at this and go “There’s nothing to this match outside of the Mick Foley dives off of and through the cage”, but in the context of having only seen one other PPV Cell match, and in that one, Shawn Michaels had only dared to do a safe fall from halfway up.

Watching a man fall from the top of the cage ONCE, let alone twice in one match was a shocking thing to see. It was also the point, as Mick Foley has said that they structured this match with the intention of differentiating it from the Michaels/Undertaker Cell match from 1997 knowing that he and Taker couldn’t top that effort workrate-wise.

Suffice to say, the plan worked, as this match still gets talked about to this day, including for the negative implications it had on Foley’s body and future Cell matches.

3. Triple H vs. The Undertaker- special guest referee: Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania XXVIII)

If for no other reason, this match is here for the tremendous false finish spot that made everyone believe for a split second that The Undertaker’s undefeated WrestleMania streak was over. You know the one: Triple H slips out of the Tombstone Piledriver attempt, pushes Taker into Shawn Michaels’ direction, Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music, Hemsley follows with the Pedigree and goes for the pin, and Taker kicks out at two!

Aside from being an excellent nearfall sequence, it tied perfectly into the story of whether Michaels, who served as guest referee for this match, would screw over Taker to help his best friend while also getting revenge for his consecutive losses to Taker at ‘Mania XXV and XXVI, the latter of which ended his full-time in-ring career.

To be clear, the rest of the match was outstanding, too. Sure, the “end of an era” stuff was ridiculous, but given that the supposedly “once in a lifetime” match between John Cena and The Rock happened on the same show, you gotta take the hyperbolic taglines for what they are.

2. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks- SmackDown Women’s Championship (Hell in a Cell 2020)

Dating back as far as their NXT days, Bayley and Sasha Banks are incapable of having bad matches with each other, so expectations for their 2020 Hell in a Cell encounter were high, especially with the match serving as the payoff to a month’s-long feud that started with them as teammates (tag team championship teammates, even).

As they’ve done every time WWE has asked them for a classic match, they delivered. Considering the more subdued environment the two are in, Banks and Bayley crafted a bout that reached those limits of animosity and viciousness while also mixing in plenty of creative spots that made the Hell in a Cell concept feel fresher than it has in a while (mainly, the kendo stick spots).

Sure the story surrounding the chair (apparently the same one Bayley used to injure Banks with, kickstarting their feud) bogged the match down a bit, but even that’s a small nitpick for what was an otherwise outstanding conclusion to this program.

1. Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker (Badd Blood: In Your House)

When most fans think of Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker matches, their minds go to those classics at WrestleMania XXV and XXVI, but this match at Badd Blood: In Your House in 1997 — the inaugural Hell in a Cell match — might be their best.

The climax to a feud centered around Michaels constantly cheapshotting Undertaker with a chair and fleeing, WWE kept the story for this one simple: Michaels tries to escape Takers wratch but can’t because of the cage, and once Taker gets his hands on Michaels, he beats the stuffing out of him (of course, Michaels bounces around like an overinflated basketball to maximize Taker’s offense) and the fans ate up every morsel of that narrative.

Aside from the Taker/Michels conflict, WWE also teased Kane’s impending arrival, and that came to fruition during this match’s finish.

Taker’s “brother” ripped the cage door off its hinges and delivered a Tombstone to his storyline sibling, allowing Michaels to score the win. It undercut the point of the cage, but what a memorable debut for the future Hall of Famer, and it took nothing away from this brilliant de-facto number one contender’s match that set in motion evertthing that would happen at Survivor Series 1997.