Did The WWE Mankind Vs. Undertaker Hell In A Cell Match Do More Harm Than Good?
The Undertaker is one of wrestling’s biggest legends. After humble beginnings most fans have forgotten as Mean Mark Callous he made the unlikely gimmick of The Dead Man his own for a remarkable three-decade run in WWE, highlighted by his undefeated streak at WrestleMania, WrestleMania main events, world title wins, and much more. Mick Foley proved one of his best foils—not a physical specimen quite like The Phenom, but a relentless madman who could absorb the most brutal punishment The Undertaker had to dish out and keep coming at him in unconventional ways. In the end, their feud is best remembered for the King of the Ring 1998 PPV, where they clashed in a Hell in a Cell Match that immediately became one of the most iconic bouts in pro wrestling history.
The Hell In A Cell Match Between The Undertaker And Mankind Was An Instant Classic
Few matches in WWE history have taken on as much of a life of their own as The Undertaker vs. Mankind in Hell in a Cell, complete with a laundry list of facts and trivia gathered by fans over time. The match had an unlikely start, beginning on top of the Cell before The Dead Man threw his rival off it, through an announce table. The battle raged on with another huge spot that saw Mick Foley crashing through the roof of the cage to the mat below. The Hardcore Legend wasn’t done yet, though, fighting valiantly onward once he regained consciousness.
The match was a spectacle unlike anything fans had seen before, selling The Undertaker as a destructive force at a new level, and cementing Foley as someone capable of absorbing inhuman degrees of punishment.
The Undertaker And Mankind Raised The Bar Too High For Big Bumps
While the spectacle of Mick Foley’s two big bumps at WWE King of the Ring 1998 was mesmerizing and unforgettable for the fans, there’s also a segment of the audience that found it all uncomfortable to watch. After all, The Hardcore Legend weathered two bumps that stood to risk his career, if not his life.
Related: 9 Biggest Bumps Of Mick Foley’s CareerThe problem with this spectacle was that it recalibrated fans’ expectations about the kinds of bumps they could expect pro wrestlers to take. Particularly in the context of Hell in a Cell Matches, the question became not whether the match would be good or even brutal, but how big the bumps were going to be. That includes Rikishi taking his big bump off the Cell on the flatbed of a truck at Armaggedon 2000, spots like Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins and later Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks taking elevated bumps off the side of the cage, or Shane McMahon’s attempted elbow drops off the roof against The Undertaker and Kevin Owens.
In short, seeing dangerous big bumps became less a special happening than what fans expected from this genre of match, to detriment of performers’ safety and arguably to the quality of the matches outside those climactic moments.
The Undertaker And Mankind Set A Precedent Around Working Hurt
One of the realities of why The Undertaker and Mankind worked the match they did at King of the Ring 1998 was that both men came into the PPV hurt. The Undertaker, in particular, was working with an injured foot and the pair were both concerned because fans had already seen them work quite a few matches opposite one another.
Combine how the performers started the match with Foley continuing to work after his first big bump, then being knocked unconscious by his second only to carry on from there, and this match established unfair expectations for what a wrestler might be willing to work with. While wrestling promotions like WWE have generally grown more protective of wrestlers’ wellbeing, it still remains the case that a number of high-profile bouts have included one or more performers going into action already hurt.
Sometimes, wrestlers have to be protected from themselves, and The Undertaker vs. Mankind arguably set an unhealthy standard for what they could be expected to work through.
The Undertaker Vs. Mankind Has Remained The Most Famous Hell In A Cell Match For Over 25 Years
The Undertaker and Mick Foley deserve credit for putting on as physically punishing and outside the box Hell in a Cell Match as they did in 1998. However, there’s a real case to be made that it’s a problem this bout remains the most famous Hell in a Cell Match over 25 years later, still considered by a lot of fans the greatest match of the whole genre.
Related: 10 Best Hell In A Cell Matches Ever, RankedMatches like Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker before this one, Edge vs. The Undertaker at SummerSlam 2008, Triple H vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 28, and Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins this past year were certainly better bouts by any purist standard for wrestling action and psychology. However, The Undertaker vs. Mankind remains the standard for fans in ways that are unfair to the wrestlers delivering at the highest level of their craft.
The Undertaker vs. Mankind justifiably holds a special place in wrestling history. However, between setting unrealistic or unhealthy expectations around big bumps and working hurt, as well as diminishing the considerable accomplishments of wrestlers to follow the match may well have done more harm than good in the long term.
