wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s WWE From the Vault Review #2: Forgotten Hell in a Cell Matches
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-I have a couple things I wanted to check out from The Vault and this one caught my eye. Scrolling through social media videos tipped off one of the matches included, and I figured I might as well check out everything they have here. The whole video runs 50:21. Let’s get to it!
-We start with RAW a few weeks before King of The Ring 1998 as Paul Bearer is in the ring with Mankind and Kane. They are inside Hell in a Cell and throw out a challenge to The Undertaker and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Taker and Austin obviously accept and it’s go time.
Hell in a Cell: Steve Austin and The Undertaker vs. Mankind and Kane
RAW: June 15, 1998; San Antonio, TX
-Taker’s music hits, but he is a no show. He gets announced again and nothing. Austin slams the door on Mankind and the match is on as Austin is short a partner. Austin and Kane brawl on the ramp as Paul Bearer locks himself inside The Cell. I am sure that won’t backfire on him. Sure enough, Taker comes up through the ring and Paul is SCREWED! He boots Paul in the face as Kane and Mankind try to break the door down. Austin pulls Mankind away as they brawl up the aisle. Kane climbs the cage and is trying to break through the roof while Paul Bearer gets thrown into the cell. Bearer is bleeding as Taker grinds his face on the Cell. Kane is still stuck on the roof. Austin continues to beat on Mankind and sends him into The Cell. The crowd is chanting for Austin just so we know who the real star is. Austin grabs a chair and Mankind takes a shot to the back, which is surprising as I was expecting a head shot. Wait, there’s the head shot as Austin swings for the fences. Taker DRILLS Bearer with the ring steps in the head. Austin climbs the cage and the place erupts as Kane and Austin fight up there. For some reason we don’t get the entire match here and just move on as Kane and Taker are fighting on the roof. Boo! Give me the whole match! I can’t remember if it went off the air with no winner and only the live crowd got the result, but they should have given us everything here. Anyway, it ran just over 10 minutes and Taker/Austin end up getting the win.
Hell in a Cell: Kane vs. Mankind
RAW: Aug. 24, 1998; Philadelphia, PA
-Mankind wants to climb, but the refs pull him down. That’s one way to tease it but not deliver so Foley doesn’t try to kill himself again. Kane meets him on the floor and Mankind smashes the door on him. Mankind tries to throw some chairs on the roof but can’t do it and one bounces off and hits Lawler at the announce table. Mankind climbs and Undertaker is here to pull him down and Mankind goes crashing through the announce table. That was obviously much safer, but the crowd is satisfied as they start a “Foley” chant. Kane chucks Mankind into the Cell and then slams the door on Mankind’s head. They eventually end up in The Cell and the door is locked. Kane uses the stairs to Mankind’s head and then another shot to the back. Kane DIVES OVER THE TOP and lands on Mankind who cracks the back of his head off the Cell Wall. Kane chucks the stairs at Mankind, but he is gone as he crawled to another side of the ring. He finds a chair and BLASTS Kane in the face. Thumbtacks are introduced but Kane lands a running boot. Mandible Claw but he releases to land right hands. He hits a SWEET piledriver and Kane lands in the tacks off the bounce. JR reminds us that Kane and Mankind are the reigning Tag Champions. Kane sits up and BLASTS Mankind in the head with a chair. Chokeslam from Kane as Taker continues to look on from outside The Cell. Tombstone from Kane and he looks over to Taker. He tells him to finish it and Kane TEES OFF WITH ANOTHER SICK CHAIR SHOT TO THE HEAD. ANOTHER ONE! Tombstone on the chair, but Austin is here as he was under the ring and he stomps the hell out of Kane while Taker is locked outside. The ref calls for the bell which is dumb at 7:38.
No Contest at 7:38
-Dumb ending as there should never be a non-ending or DQ in a Cell Match (sadly, they didn’t learn that lesson). For a little over 7 minutes it was what you would expect from a Cell Match featuring Mankind. This was basically playing the hits in a much faster pace. That ending though but I guess this was just there to build to SummerSlam. **1/2
-After the match, Kane gets drilled in the head with a chair and then gets dropped with a Stunner. Taker is on the roof trying to break in and creates a hole, but the cage starts to lift towards the ceiling as I believe it was Vince protecting his SummerSlam Main Event. Kane eats another Stunner as the crowd goes crazy.
WWE Championship: Hell in A Cell: John Cena (c) vs. CM Punk vs. Jack Swagger vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio
Sept. 26, 2011; Kansas City, MO
-This is the one everyone wanted to see from this collection as this was a dark match after RAW with no commentary. Cena and Punk are already down as Swagger, Del Rio, and Ziggler beat on them. The fascinating part is with no commentary you can hear every spot being called by the men in the ring. It’s wild they would put this out there and I am sure there are some out there they aren’t all that thrilled we were given this much of a peak behind the curtain. I mean you kind of have to know what to listen for, but it’s pretty blatant. We get a comedy spot with Punk switching hands to hang on the ropes while Ziggler wildly swings at him. Punk gets tossed to the floor by Swagger as the kids in the crowd start a Cena chant. Cena: “Swagger hit your bomb brother and tell Ziggler to get out of the way.” Ziggler hits a Swagger Bomb for two and Punk tries to steal a pin as well. Del Rio wraps Punk’s knee around the post as Cena starts a comeback, but Swagger runs him down with a clothesline. Cena tells him to go for another bomb, but he will miss and he will toss him out. Well, that’s what happen as Swagger misses and Cena tosses him to the floor. Cena runs through his offense on Del Rio and sets for the AA. Del Rio fights out and hits a backstabber. Punk with a GTS. Ziggler with a Zig-Zag! Swagger back in with an ankle lock on Ziggler, but Cena grabs Swagger and hits the AA to retain at 5:06.
Winner and Still WWE Champion: John Cena via pin at 5:06
-Just a safe Dark Match for the fans with the added bonus of having the Cell even if it was never used. Definitely something you should see just to hear the spots and a chance to listen to a match up that close with no commentary. **
WWE Universal Championship: Hell in A Cell: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Rey Mysterio
SmackDown: June 18, 2021: ThunderDome
-We are in the pandemic era with this match taking place in The ThunderDome. This is also the first Cell Match on Network TV as SmackDown as on Fox at this time. It’s always the ugly RED CELL! Which looks even worse with the blue aesthetic of SmackDown. We got this match because The Hell in a Cell PPV was that weekend and since everything was coming from The ThuderDome, they decided to run a Cell Match on SmackDown and RAW to go with the two planned for the PPV. So, this is the first of 4 Cell matches over a 4 day period. Thankfully, we have only had 4 Cell Matches total since. Roman was even a year into his reign as Champion at this point. Rey immediately brings a chair into the match and lands one shot, but Roman rips it away from him and stalks Rey around the ring. He walks into a fire extinguisher as Rey blinds him and then hits him in the head with it. Another shot and he shoves Roman back into the ring. McAfee on commentary reminds us this match was to be on the PPV, but it was changed. Rey uses a toolbox to the head as they throw to a commercial, but this is YouTube, and we just pick up after the break with Rey hitting a baseball slide into a chair against Roman’s back. He wraps the chair around Roman’s neck and runs him into the ring post. Cool! Seeing Rey go violent is interesting and makes all the sense for this match. Reigns gets in one shot and goes for a spear, but Rey moves and Reigns goes through a table that was leaning against The Cell. Roman back with a knee to the gut and then drops an elbow. Rey back as he tries a sunset flip powerbomb, but Roman punches him in the face. Roman sets for a powerbomb, but Rey tries a rana to counter. Roman SWINGS HIM INTO THE CELL! Sick! Roman just CHUCKS REY into the side of The Cell as we skip another commercial break. Roman lays the bad mouth on Rey and then goes crazy with knees and forearms in the corner. Superman Punch! Heyman: “He will acknowledge you.” Roman yells for someone to acknowledge him as the baddest dude on the Earth and McAfee does so. Rey blocks a second Superman punch and goes for a 6-1-9 but Roman decks him with a right hand. Spear misses and Roman ends up going shoulder first into the poster. 6-1-9 and Rey starts laying in chair shots. He hits a Frog Splash on the chair and Roman, which is kind of dumb and leaves both men down. Rey up first and heads back up top and hits another Frog Splash that gets two. Rey back up again but Roman catches him and POWERBOMBS HIM FROM THE RING INTO THE SIDE OF THE CELL! Damn! Heyman yelling “Oh My God,” was a wonderful touch. Guillotine is academic as Rey taps at 10:14 (16:00 if counting commercials from the original broadcast).
Winner and Still WWE Universal Champion: Roman Reigns via submission at 10:14
-As noted this was still early in Roman’s run as he was just a ruthless machine with the trash talk and swagger to match. This was before he become Bloodline dependent and just SMASHED people. I can see why this was left off the PPV as Rey had no real chance and it made SmackDown feel more important. I enjoyed Rey being super aggressive and props to him for getting thrown all over the Cell in impressive fashion. ***1/2
WWE Championship: Hell in A Cell: Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Xavier Woods
RAW: June 21, 2021; ThunderDome
-Since SmackDown had a Cell Match, RAW was given one the day after Hell in a Cell. For Lashley he is pulling double duty as he defended his Championship the previous night inside The Cell against Drew McIntyre. He could have came in after 20 Cell Matches and a broken leg. Nobody was buying Woods as having any chance here. Woods starts fast with a shotgun dropkick, but Lashley catches him in the corner and lands some shoulders. Neckbreaker gets a two count. Kofi is at ringside for Woods and MVP is at ringside for Lashley. Flatliner from Lashley! Another! And then another one though elevated this time and it gets two. Woods gets thrown to the floor and he gets a chair, but Lashley catches it and throws it at Woods. He then punches the chair into Woods’ face. Cool! Spear in the corner misses as Lashley goes into the post. Woods with a dropkick through the ropes and then another one. He tosses the chair at Lashley which knocks him off the apron and into The Cell. Woods lands a few chair shots as we head to a break, but this is YouTube. Lashley is back in control gets low bridged and crashes to the floor. Woods tries a baseball slide, but Lashley traps him in the ring apron and mauls him. Kofi calls Lashley out for his cheap tactics, but I mean, it is Hell in a Cell. Lashley stands on Woods’s face and neck as he brings a kendo stick into the ring. Wood ducks a clothesline and kind of gets a chop block. That looked weird! Woods with the kendo stick and he starts to wear Lashley out with it. He uses the end to choke Lashley and lands another shot to the back. MVP yells that Woods. Lashley gets the kendo stick, but Woods gets a victory roll into a face plant for a two count. He charges in the corner and gets put on the apron, but lands a head kick. Tornado DDT gets two! Woods gets a table that was prepped in the corner. Superkick puts Lashley on the table. Woods heads up, and drops the elbow for a two count. Graves points out that Woods overshot and ended up hitting with hip more than elbow. Woods charges and Lashley runs him into a chair in the corner. Spear and Hurt Lock finish at 10:00 (13:40 with original commercial break).
Winner and Still WWE Champion: Bobby Lashley via submission at 10:00
-Again, Woods had no chance, but this was a solid Cell Match. Not as good as The Roman/Rey one, but Lashley didn’t get the chance to throw Woods all over The Cell. Lashley’s run against New Day all paid off when Big E cashed in on him later in the year. For now this was just a way to give Lashley back to back Cell wins and cement him as a dominant Champion. ***
-Thanks for reading!
