Shawn Michaels Shares Original Inspiration for the First Hell in a Cell Match: The Last Battle of Atlanta

– WWE.com recently interviewed Shawn Michaels, Bill Apter, Paul Ellering, and Tommy Rich on the special, The Last Battle of Atlanta match, which was the basis for what ultimately became the first Hell in a Cell match later in 1997. Below is an excerpt of Michaels discussing the match’s creation. The Last Battle of Atlanta Match was between Tommy Rich and Buzz Sawyer in 1983. The match is now available as part of the Hidden Gems collection on the WWE Network.

Michaels on discovering Tommy Rich and GCW: “My buddy Kenny Kent and I used to watch Georgia Championship Wrestling at his place [in San Antonio] every Saturday. We were watching channel 17, WTBS. When he came in [to Georgia] against The Freebirds, they showed him in a black Firebird Trans-Am. Oh my God, it was the coolest thing. “Wildfire” Tommy Rich was coming.”

On getting the idea for Hell in a Cell from the Last Battle of Atlanta: “Undertaker and I had done a Lumberjack Match the month before [the first Hell in a Cell Match]. The next logical step is a cage. I can remember saying, ‘We’ve done cage matches.’We had that big blue steel cage that was brutal. It hurt so bad. It was tight up against the ring. I remembered years ago, Buzz Sawyer and Tommy Rich in The Omni, they had a top on the cage. I remember suggesting that. I had no idea the cage itself would turn into what it turned into.”