Falls Count Anywhere

06/05/2009

Poppin' Fresh...

This week, I thought I’d talk about what the Hell in a Cell match means in the view of overall wrestling. It’s interesting to note that the Hell in a Cell DVD from the WWE is really good stuff, especially the first two disks. Yeah, there’s a great Randy Orton vs. Undertaker match, and the HHH vs Batista match ain’t bad, but the first two disks are really awesome. It really does have something to do with the fact that the entire WWF/WWE has changed so much.

Let us look at the first few Cells. There was Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker match which was a classic at the time, quite possibly in the top four or five best WWF matches of all-time at that point, and watching it today, it’s amazing. Michaels gives a performance that even tops his Ladder match with Razor Ramon at WrestleMania X, and since he has UT working right there with him, it’s an incredible match. I give it 4 3/4 stars because of the ending that introduced Kane to teh world. Hard to believe he’s been around for 12 years now.

Mick Foley and Undertaker were in the second one, which was really a stunt show that seriously damaged Foley and gae him that most serious injury of his career with the tooth being pushed up through his nose. It was a stunt show more than a match, but it had images that have stuck with fans ever since. I’d say it’s worth 4 stars.

There was the classic Mick Foley vs. HHH match which might well be the best match of Foley’s career. It was a violent and beautiful match with emotion beyond almost anythign else I’ve seen. That was 2000 and HHH was at his absolute peak. I’d say this was a 5 star match.

There were others in the pre-2000 era that were really good, but they sort of blend together. I will point out the match with Rikishi, HHH, The Rock, Kurt Angle, Steve Austin and The Undertaker. Kurt won the match and it was an awesome brawl that wasn’t contained by the cage. It was one of those matches where everything could have gone wrong, but on that night, it was amazing. Personally, this is what I call a 5 star match. It went more than 30 minutes and it was worth every second.

In 2002, Chris Jericho took on HHH in a really good Hell in the Cell, but it wasn’t nearly as good as the Foley match. Still, I’d say it was a 4 and a half star effort. There was Brock vs. The Undertaker which was good,l though only a Four Star match. The longest ever Cell match was Triple-H vs. Shawn Michaels in a match which went more than 45 minutes. I watched it and thought that it actually went a little too long, especially since they had some spots that set-up too long. Still, Shawn gave a fantastic performance and HHH was good as he usually is during big matches like this.

Now, they’ve had some good Hell in a Cell matches since 2004, but nothing as memorable as those in the 1997-2000 timeframe. The Undertaker vs. Edge match from the 2008 SummerSlam was really fantastic, though Edge has better stuntshow matches on his resume (Tables, Ladders and Chairs, the Ladder match with Flair, etc) and Undertaker’s matches in those early Cells was great. Batista’s matches with HHH and Undertaker were both good, but far from great.

The trouble is that the stars have aged and those amazing performances from the late 1990s have piled up with injuries and other problems. While HHH can still pull it out, he’s slowed a touch. Undertaker always puts out his best in the Cell, but he’s showing his age a fair bit. While Randy Orton had a good one, he’s not able to project drama like Shawn Michaels or HHH, though he’s often touted as the replacement for both, and Batista is good, but he’s older than HHH! That’s a fact I always found strange.

We haven’t seen a Cena Hell in a Cell yet, which could be interesting because he’s a great Big Match wrestler and he could probably give a great performance. Edge had one great Cell match, but I don’t know how many more years he can remain the best working heel in the business.

One thing that also hurts modern Cells is that the product has been pulled back. When the WWF was trying to fight off WCW, they’d go to the limit, and while pulling things back to prevent injuries has helped, it doesn’t promote these matches as being particularly memorable. if you asked me to describe moments from those first three or four Cells, I easily could, but that’s not possible with the later ones because they’ve avoided many of the kinds of bumps and so fort, or they’re just retreading the old spots. Either way, it doesn’t stand out much anymore.

If you can, get the Hell in a Cell DVD and enjoy them. They’re great matches and the DVD is hosted by Mick Foley, who give good insights. It’s a strong disk, right up there with the Starrcade DVDs and the Mr. Perfect one as well...both of which I’ll write up in future editions!

A couple of notes - Ric Flair is all but a sure thing to leave retirement and wrestle again. It’s a shame as he got a great send-off with one of the most dramatic and emotional matches of the decade, but he thinks he can still go. It’s a shame that he’s coming back, though he’s probably still pretty good. Very few get that kind of send-off and stay gone. Terry Funk’s done come back a dozen times, and he’s had that sort of retirement ceremony several times.

Mirko CroCop, the Pride legend who was something of a wash-out in UFC, is coming back to the UFC to compete. It might be because they’re having trouble selling tickets for the Colonge, Germany show on June 13th, but they’re bringing him back for a few shows. I always liked CroCop. I hope he does better this go ‘round. I’d really like to see him face Brock.

John Tolos, Classy Freddy Blassie’s legendary opponent from the early 1970s in one of the hottest feuds of that decade, passed away this weekend. He was in his 70s. He was a big star in California and a great talker. He was in the WWF for a while as a manager and was a tag team legend with his brother Chris Tolos. The Monsel’s Powder blinding angle he worked with Blassie was copied by Bill Watts in Mid-South in the early 1980s with Junkyard Dog as Blassie and Michael Hayes as Tolos. It’s still the top-drawing feud of all-time in New Orleans. Tolos and Blassie set a few records themselves for doing it the first time. I believe the California gate record until the WWF broke it at some point.

That’s all for now!

Chris Garcia